@unknownuser said:

kwistenbiebel wrote:
Hi Jeff ,
Nice to see you here (I remember your appreciated input on Pushpullbar ages ago).
I like your renderings and I second your opinion on the lack of 'beveling' capability of sketchup.

Have you thought of copying your first post in this thread and pasting it in to a new thread in the Ruby section as a 'wish'?

I would be very very very happy when a ruby wizard could make a 'one click' solution ruby for bevelling all corners on a selected object/group/component.
My work using SU-Maxwell combo also suffers from the same lack of beveling.
See example (all corners are way to 'hard edged', especially on those brick walls)

hey kwistenbiebel,

How ya been. How's everyone at PP2?

The bevel script that I use now never seems to work properly. One corner is always scrambled or the bevel is a reversed (extruded). I'm sure it must be user error. Anyway, a better script for entire objects would be nice. I don't know if it is possible and it would make editing a nightmare. Tough request.

Nice image. I like the lighting. Very natural. The edges are sharp as a razor blade. That IS the issue that distracts from reality.

How is the grass done? Added in Photoshop?

@unknownuser said:

Jackson Barkess wrote:
I'm pretty happy with my external renders in Vue, but still not there with interiors. You're so right about low-poly curves and bevelled corners; I've had to resort to having low and high poly versions of some components if they're going to be anywhere near the foreground in renders.

Jackson

Yea, thats the problem. I have been doing that a bit too. I have a mixture of high and low-poly sketchup components and a mixture of .3ds and .objs from manufacturers and other assorted sources. Too much to keep track of at times.

A lot of renders will do a pretty good jobe with exteriors. The interiors are the killers. Maxwell seems to make it look pretty natural without a lot of fuss.

Lewis,

Studio is the standalone MaxwellRender version. Just about like any other renderer interface. Use the Sketchup to export and .mxs file without actually rendering it directly from SketchUp. Then open the .mxs file with Studio and set all your other info, date time, HDRI's material tweaks etc. It''s a lot better that it use to be.

The one thing Maxwell has going for it now is they have removed the two processor limit per license restriction. Use as many as you have per machine. They also allow for three or four other render nodes with that one license. With 8 core machines that means you may have up to 32-40 processors working on one image at a time. That's about the only hope Maxwell has to keep up with the speed of the other available softwares. Maxwell does a better job, but is it good enough to justify the extra time? Probably not in ninety-percent of the typical render jobs. This additional processor availability helps level the playing field.

http://www.maxwellrender.com/

The plugins can be found here too.

With the improved performance of 1.5 and the better gui of Studio, I've decided to give Maxwell one more chance.

The plugin is still bad on the mac (even with the latest update), so exporting an .mxs from SketchUp and opening with Studio is the way to go.

I think the shot below shows the fundamental problem with a SketchUp/Maxwell workflow. While the lighting is excellent and the materials look good for the most part, the geometry is just not up to the needs of a renderer like Maxwell. The fundamental basis for using SketchUp is ease of use and low-poly modeling. This is where things fall apart. The low-poly work is pretty obvious in high-end renderers (see table base and top). For the most part you can get around this by making a circle 96 segments instead of 24, but then then working with a decent size model thongs start to bog down. A room full of high-poly chairs and tables gets pretty messy, pretty quickly.

I've also found the there is a real need for the little things to look good to make a render look real. One of the biggest problems is the sharp edges on everything from furniture to the walls to . . . everything. Everything, no mater how small, has a bevel at the corner that captures a highlight. You can do a little of this work in SketchUp but then file size becomes and issue and editing becomes a mess. Believe it or not, this lack of a highlight along edges makes all the difference in the world in a render. It's not feasible to do this in SketchUp on a large scale.

These are just a few issues that have to be overcome before the SketchUp to Maxwell combination will ever be top notch. I really don't think it will happen because SketchUp is what it is because of the simplicity.

Conclusion to this ramble–I don't have one. I wish there was an easy way to solve some of these issues because I love SketchUp, but I think it's a matter of pushing a software beyond what it was meant to do. Of course, none of this will stop me from playing.

For you sticklers–pay no attention to the relationship between the pendants and the can lights. Shocked This was thrown together for a test.

I don't mind Whaat. Fire away! I just had two margaritas and a chilles rellenos at Panchos in Vancouver, it's BC Day weekend, and our hotel overlooks the English Bay and the fireworks that begin in 3 hours!

Two hours and one thread. Not bad Whaat. Keep em coming. I've always liked the look of Indigo renders, but I'm on a mac and haven't even loaded up a Bootcamp Widoze yet or I'd give it a whirl.

Try to get the aluminum mullions more "aluminumy" and the floor needs a bit of a sheen. The radiosity must of been up high becuase you have a lot of bounce color in the ceiling.

I would like to see more.

Yes, I'm sure he does Mike. He just moved and has a lot of work ahead of him. He seemed to imply that he would be extremely busy getting his new home in order. Life beyond SketchUp! Very Happy

Yes, Tim writes reviews for several magazines. He just wrote a nice review of Cheetah3d for 3D World. He also reviews software for Architosh.

http://www.architosh.com/features/2006/ ... odo_1.html

@tim danaher said:

Jeff --

You forgot the most important thing about the modo-SU import plug-in: they charge $99 for it...

Tim, You never looked better!

As for the the 99 bucks, yea I don't WANT to pay for it, but if it saves a lot of time then I don't mind.

As an edit to my above post:
Lux needs to rework the importer so it only opens the SketchUp layers that are currently turned on. That would be a help.

Yes, Modo sucks for modeling architecture. The tools just aren't there despite what Lux might claim.

The new beta translator has problem importing models. It will sometimes take three or four times for model to come in properly. It doesn't not handle "round" well yet. Faceted edges on curves come in as individual polys so there is no smoothing once in Modo. There must be a way you can merge geometry, but I haven't messed with it.

Also, there are times that the imported geometry cannot by selected. It's very strange and seems to import duplicate geometry with some odd icons. None of this geometry can be selected using poly, edges or vertices. I just keep reimporting and eventually it will work properly.

On the plus side Modo's renderer is fast, very fast. And the basic animation tools for movies work well too. Modo's speed is especially helpful with rendering animations.

The SketchUp to Modo pipeline works pretty well using objs. I would stick to this for the meantime for any serious work.

Actually it's not bad. But, it is a fun little surprise for those who don't know what happens when cream and lime juice meet in your mouth.

Cement Mixer

One shot glass of Baileys
A tablespoon or two of lime juice on top. (Do not mix).
Swish around in mouth
Try to swallow.

Attended a seminar last week at NeoCon, the annual design show at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. It was called–"Is the Honeymoon Over? Hand vs. Computer Perspective Sketching Methods and their Consequences". Mainly a result of a survey of professional designers by Jill Pable

The speaker was the author of the white paper–Jill Pable, Ph.D, IDEC, IIDA, assistant professor of interior design, Florida State University. Check it out.

http://mailer.fsu.edu/~jpable/

@unknownuser said:

The only other Argentine to win a major was Roberto de Vicenzo in the 1967 British Open at Hoylake.

Yea, you're right. First US Open, second major.

Angel couldn't wipe the grin off his face for Tiger's last three holes.

thought there was one in the 60's or thereabouts.

@ross macintosh said:

Lee Valley Tools sell some nice models: http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&cat=2,2160&p=51170

They also have a sharpening kit for Jeff.

I tried the sharpening kits, but the edges did not cut it, pun intended.

I used one for the last three years on my yard in town. The Scotts Classic.

http://www.cleanairgardening.com/scotclasreel.html

Problem is after three years it got dull and I couldn't find anybody in town that would sharpen the blades. I tried the do it yourself kit, but could never get the nice edge on it. I'm back to the gas and oil-spewing 5HP Briggs and Stratton for now.

The reel mowers, if adjusted correctly will cut the grass like scissors and leave it happy and disease-free. Don't let the weeds get to long though.

@shaun tennant said:

I'd still rather ride a cheetah - now that would be an adreneline rush.. will it be the speed that kills ya or the teeth and claws + animal rage?

ALA Harold and Kumar go to White Castle?

Looks like a casket with fins. Nice and quite appropriate.

@ehaflett said:

Tough question, so my answer is break away from the mainstream, Robert! I often get tired of the guitar/bass/drum/vocals formula and reach for some Morphine. They invented and perfected the sax/bass/drum/vocal formula. Great stuff you should check out. A bit dark but give it a shot.

I love Morphine. Really have to dig the sax. I makes my wine glasses vibrate when it's cranked.

Can't have a fajita without a margarita Shaun. That's a sure cure for your headache. Guarantee.

Happy birthday to you both.

How long will it be before Google is walking through my living room. Wow.