For really thorough reviews with comparative photos shot with the camera and very detailed specs of the cameras I recommend looking at "Steves Digicams" reviews- link below.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/camera-reviews/

I have tried a number of cameras and from my experience and from recommendation of two professional photographers I know well, I agree with Paul Miller for you to look at the Canon line. They have a better color rendition than Nikon and have a good range of function and prices. Almost all of the SLR variety will allow manual focusing-but you need to disengage the auto focus. Manual zoom is a given. The Canons' have 10 and 12 megapixel cameras that should fit in your budget of below $1,000.00us The TI1 Paul mentioned earlier is a 15 megapixel with the features you are looking for including the budget
( with some shopping) live action screen and it will shoot videos. I have my sights set on one of these to replace my old Canon EOS Rebel

Good luck and let us know what you come up with.

Thanks for the link to your site - very well done, interesting and helpfull. (I have joined your mailing list)

Bride of Frankenstein, 2009. Elsa Lanchester had cooler hair however.

@massimo said:

@unknownuser said:

Overall -I am pleased --- but--- still would like the back button on components!

Jim, you have that in 7.1.

Thanks Massimo - been so involved in the project I didn't notice

I've been working on a project that has pushed SU 7.0 quite a bit. The task is to show potential storefront upgrades for two block of the Griffith Indiana downtown. The model for just the existing buildings grew so much I had to split it into separate blocks and only one side per file. The restored storefront versions are 70 to 80 Megs each. After upgrading to 7.1,I can now orbit and move around without taking a coffee break each time. Quite a bit of difference. I was a bit scared upgrading in the middle of a project like this, especially reading some of the horror stories on a few previous posts. So far, it has worked well, but I still have had several crashes but have not lost much. I assumed that models this large might tend to freeze up so I save often. Saves are quicker too. I havent tested the other upgrades and only briefly played with LO 2.1.

One issue I have noticed - in 7.0 and 7.1, after working on a model for a couple of hours, I notice that it becomes more prone to freezing up and notice that when selecting components, it will suddenly not alllow me to change to a different component folder. If I am in "Trees" I cant switch over to a "shrubs" folder etc. Then I know it is time for a save and I will end and restart GSU. All is normal after that - for a few hours.

Overall -I am pleased --- but--- still would like the back button on components!

thanks for these textures

Linea,

Thanks for the insight on full function and file sharing. This is definitely an application I will be transitioning to.

Mike- thanks for alerting us to this. DC is on my watch list too. I downloaded the free version when it came out and have used it a bit an found it enough like Acad to keep the learning curve down but haven't been serious about making the switch - (too many co-workers and consultants to deal with).

I have been following the news from DC and saw this interoperation with GSU mentioned but this video shows some real promise and power coming.

The x-ref reload is very powerful. Not sure if it can work the otherway - say a detailed Walden Pond cabin created in DC can be as simply transfered as a Sketchup model. Maybe in the DC Pro version?

I will keep a look out for additional videos. Thanks again for the heads-up.

Very slick. I Envy your "first attempt" don't think I could come close. Just curious, how long did it take you to model and render?

Thanks for getting back Chris.

I will try a clean install and copy a bit at a time from plugins only. I was using 6 with no problems with vista but will look into the compatability.

Checked out some of the videos - very interesting.

I know a number of parents that get their babies in the pool. Some too conventional busy body people think it is cruel or puts the kids in danger but I think it's great. I didn't really learn to swim until college so I was in greater danger all those years before. Better to learn at that age and aparently it's a natural or instinctive thing to do.

I have just upgraded to version 7 - and as I feared, there are some issues. Not major, small annoying things. I copied my plugins directly from V.6 to V7, along with materials, tools etc. The program works OK so far, but I keep getting the pencil on startup. Startup.rb and Smustard-app-observer.rb are both loaded, latest version. Is there something that conflicts with startup? It worked Ok in V6.

There is an error on start up menu also. Shape bender does start up but shows in the error box.See attached screen shot. These tools do seem to work once the program fully starts.

My tool bars are very jumpy. I have to fight with them to get them in some kid of order. This was the same on V. 6 but I got them where I wanted and didn't play with them again. Just curious if there is a way to make them behave.

thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Very nice Alan, seems like the leaf clusters are independant "follow me" groups that keep it looking 3D while spinning and up to a fairly high elevation.

Mike, thanks for the poswt. A very interesting read. A couple of items didn't show up - the Geocities/Athens.. link appears to be broken and the videos on another link showing monkeys walking on two legs have been pulled because of copyright claims by the BBC.

Aside from that, the articals explain a lot. Very plausible, but as John Hawks points out, not 100% scientific. Hawks by the way has some great pencil sketches in his blog.

Spent last week with our three grandchildren, mostly at a waterpark north of Chicago. I can see the aquatic ape in them (and me) as well as the fellow waterlogged bipeds that surrounded us for four days. I still smell of chlorine.

On a sort of down note on the human condition, here is a link to a fellow who traveled to and photographed Chernobyl, 25 years later. Very scary.

http://timmsuess.com/chernobyl-journal/

But a good lesson to not screw around with nukes.

I'm not sure how he did it, but look at the curved texture process on these fantastic locomotives

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=18169&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=45#p171629

I would like to see this "pelting" process.

Also, I think it was "Urgen" made great models of food containers along with many other items. Many were curved. I would suspect the same method used for a soup can would work for a curved building.

Sorry I'm not much help but might be a start for you.

I just wanted to add my "outstanding work" commendation to all the others. I am very envious of your skill level and eye for realism. Keep up the good work and please let us see more - you set the bar high for everyone, which is a good thing!

Khai at least for your example, it seems to me that creating a component and making copies or arrays where ever needed would be less memory use/poly creation and maybe quicker.

Nice exterior rendering. Have you done any plan renderings flat or 3D that you could share?

I received this notice today and found it interesting. They don't mention anything about GSU but it looks to be a perfect modeling solution candidate for some of our clever forum student members.

http://www.tilt-up.org/students/index.html

Good luck-

Jim

Wikipedia on magnetic pole shifting

Geomagnetic reversal - Wikipedia

(en.wikipedia.org)

Last time it happened was 780,000 years ago. I barely remember it happening but is surely the reason for my knee pain.

Geologists have found it is random, some periods as long as 10 million years between reversal, some periods 2x in 50,000 years.

The magnetic pole is presently 11 degrees off the axis and heading northwest, slowly, towards Siberia. We may experience a compass use surcharge from some enterprising Russians in a few decades.

Not much real danger coming in three years from crossing the glactic plain but it sure makes for good science fiction - that movie trailer looks great.