@notareal said:

Worth to read http://www.sketchupartists.org/tutorials/sketchup-and-kerkythea/sketchup-and-kerkythea-fast-start-4architects/
and naturally classic KT tutorials master list http://www.kerkythea.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5720 (probably you find most answers to your question in the topic)

Thanks very much notareal! Every little bit helps.

@gaieus said:

Well, LumenRT, when already rendered is supposed to be a "real time" application while Kerky and Twilight are PR raytracers so you cannot really compare them but they are definitely a good choice.

Right. Shouldn't have compared them.

@gaieus said:

As for tutorials: don't forget the very obvious and look at the user manuals provided by the developers for Kerky (although this may look like a bit outdated, most of what's written in it is still valid):
http://www.kerkythea.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=42&func=select&id=6
and Twilight:
http://www.twilightrender.com/downloads/user-manual

Thanks once again!

Just thought I'd mention that, after some long hours of research , and mostly a recommendation from a trusted source , I decided to go with KerkyThea and Twilight.

As a complete noob to all this stuff, I figured I shouldn't spend much time learning something that was only gonna be good for 15 or 30 days, so I went with freeware, and these seemed to be 2 of the best out there, especially considering the online support they have with the forums...etc. You just can't beat free software.

So I thank you ALL for your posts, and if anyone would like to recommend some good beginner tutorials for KyrkyThea and/or Twilight, I'll be very grateful ! I'm sure I can find many many tutorials online, it's just hard to narrow it down and choose just one sometimes.
I must have about 5 different SketchUp tutorial series saved on my computer since I started using SU. It gets a little frustrating going from one series to another, and not sticking to just one. Oh well, at least there's lots to choose from, and not the other way around aye? I shouldn't complain.

Thanks again everyone!
Sincerely, Drey

@unknownuser said:

Striclly speaking the best free rendering will be Blender with its incredible render Cycles

And the more fun Lumion free version

Thanks ALOT for the suggestions. I'll check em out!

@rich o brien said:

LightUp is a render app that allows you to navigate around like LumenRT.

Worth reading through its user manual as it does contain great info.

Good to know! Thanks very much! I'll check it out.

Also, Is there any freeware out there that is worthwhile? (While were on the subject )
(I have searched the forum, and the net for info/suggestions on Rendering software/freeware. I just haven't found anything that really stuck out as being a clear cut favorite for the majority of SketchUp modellers. Except for VRAY, which has it's own SubForum here, so I'm assuming it's popular, but is it the same kind of software, somewhat easy to learn, and worth checking out?

Thank again!

@unknownuser said:

LightUp ?

Thanks for the reply Pilou. I thought LightUp was only for Lighting though. It's not? Is it for all material rendering also, like LumenRT?

EDIT below
EDIT#2 below

*OP
I saw an ad for LumenRT yesterday that intrigued me. So I wanted to try it. Wen to their site, signed up for the trial. They said they'd email me a DL link. Never did. It's been over 24hrs, I check my spam filter, clicked on their email trouble link there. Nothing has worked. I even tried DLing it off of C net.com, and there it says I have a firewall setting stopping the download, which I don't !? Frustration!

Is there ANYWHERE else I could DL this software, the trial I mean?

Please?

Or can someone suggest a software that is similar?

Thanks alot!

Oh, and I'm sorry if this is posted in the wrong forum, I'm still not sure where this should fall. Let me know if so, thanks!*

%(#0000FF)[EDIT
It looks like I'm at a dead end as far as LumenRT goes. So I figured I'd change my OP to ask about what OTHER software programs would be worth trying that is comparable to what LumenRT does? I have no experience with this type of software, so I'm not very fussy about the output, just as long as it doesn't have too steep of a learning curve I guess.]

%(#800000)[EDIT#2
Sorry for all the edits,
Just wanted to add that I was finally able to DL and install LumenRT. I'm foolin around with it now and it seems very simple to use. Especially for a beginner like myself. As for the quality, to me it's very very good because I have nothing really to compare it too. It's pretty cool that you're able to navigate your model in real-time after the render, but it's very hard on resources and you need a minimum of 512MB of video memory for smooth navigation.

If navigation is unimportant to you, and you just want to be able to render a scene, or scenes, then guddyup! This program is awesome! You can always lower the quality to navigate, set up your next scene, then set the quality high again for your next scene. As long as you don't try to navigate on high quality, you're golden.(I'm just noticing that the first model I'm trying to render with LumenRT has taken 25 minutes so, but it's my fault for adding about a dozen trees(with hundreds of leaves)! Oops. I'm assuming that's what's making it take sooo long to process)]

Thanks once again guys for comments and-or advice-crits!

Sincerely, Drey

@chilledmonkeybrains said:

Hello all

Been messing about with Sketchup for the last year or two for the most part making architectural models, although I am also interested in creating mechanical objects, vehicles, robots and other subject matter specifically relating to historical and science fiction gaming.

Never really checked out any tutorials, but feel that I have probably reached a plateau in my self-development, so thought it would be wise to finally seek out advice from those more experienced than I!

Gonna have a wander around this forum to see what I can find, but in the meantime if anyone has some good links for architectural model making using Sketchup, then I would be very interested to hear from you!

Cheers

Chilled Monkey Brains

Best.Username.Ever.

@gaieus said:

Indeed, not a bad model especially for the first one.
Thanks very much! That is comforting to hear for a noob. I realize it's super simple, but for someone who is using this program for the first time, certain areas were a little tricky for me and had me wondering what was the best way to accomplish them. I'm still worried about doing things the long way, even if it gives me the desired result. I'd like to learn to be efficient also.

@gaieus said:

I have no idea of the "why" either but you can turn on hidden geometry (View menu) to see what's there. If the face is coplanar otherwise, you should be able to delete the hidden line dividing it.

There's something about this problem I forgot to mention before. The area where this line/division is appearing, is when I projected a texture and SU asked me if I wanted it to "Trim" the unseen areas, or something like that. That is where these flat surfaces have these damn seperations now. I've looked and looked for hidden lines everywhere, inside out, and nothing. It's only where I "trimmed" the projected texture. Next time I do this, should I NOT trim when it ask? Is there a way to get rid of this seperation now that it's there? If not then I guess not trimming the texture is the best way to avoid it.

@gaieus said:

That1s a fairly common (and good) technique. You may want to position that new texture however so those "grouts" line up with the neighbouring wall. Right click > Texture > Position...

Good good! I'm glad it is a technique that people use regularly. I was wondering if I was doing something very noobish by doing that, or if I should be using photo textures for every square inch of the building possible. I try to use photo textures if possible, as it looks so much better when you have a good pic, but I'm glad this way around it isn't frowned upon, lol. I was also unaware of the "position texture" option you pointed out. That is a life saver!! Thank you SO much for showing me that! It looks way better when you line up those things!

@gaieus said:

As John says, (especilly in this particular case), it would be better to edit that image and nicely clone some "carless" area into that part. Under Window > Preferences > Applications, you can set your preferred image editor. Then right click on that face and again texture > edit texture image... If it is a bigger texture wrapping around the model, you can first make the image on a particular face unique first. Right click > make unique texture (and now edit this image texture as per above).

EUREKA!!!! hahaha
That is how it's done!! I selected MS Paint to be my editor, and problem solved! Now, once I get used to it a little more, I'll make GIMP my default editor, and then the possibilities will be endless!!! Fantastic!

@gaieus said:

There is a plugin by Aerilius which will make a unique texture for each face (and supposedly with a better antialiasing algorithm than what native SketchUp has) and also resizes these textures to optimize them for GE:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=41441

I'll check it out for sure, thanks. (Not sure I understand what it is, but I'll check it out nonetheless lol)

As for being rejected by GE, I'm not too worried about that for this model. I was just using it as practice atm. Thanks for the info about the roof though. It isn't a concern for this area, or the main intersection where I live because the imagery is over 10 years old ffs.

I'm gonna be posting in the GEC about this soon enough, because I want to start modelling buildings around here, like I've said, but there's been SOOOOO many changes since the last sat images, it's not possible to add models at this time. If you check out these coordinates from Google Maps, and BING (which is up to date), the differences are incredible!

Google Maps - Corner of Champlain st and Acadia ave, Dieppe, NB

BING Maps - Corner of Champlain st and Acadia ave, Dieppe, NB

As you can see, there are about 5 new buildings on or around that corner, including the towns brand new town hall right on the corner there.

Anyways, thanks again for all your help! It's so very much appreciated! I hope I don't become a pain in the butt on the boards with all the questions and such. I try to search as much as possible for some answers before posting new threads, but sometimes, I can't help but ask, you know? Thanks again!

Sincerely, Drey

Thanks for pointing that out. I'll be sure to check that thread out!

Cheers.