I have this handrail structure modeld that would need to be 3d printed. I would like to make the frame round instead of square. Do you have any ideast how this could be made with round edges?

I have been testing MyArchtectureAI quite some. I also purchased the Pro version with unlimited credits. In my case the results are not that great even when doing editing. There are just too many random AI stuff happening.

I just tested Archfine.com and it gave excellent results. There was editing needed because AI didn't get creative. Unfortunately it was not possible to do more test because it was possible to do only 1 test render with the free version.

It seems that the solutions (Visoid, Archfine, Viz Maker) that use NanoBananaPro are giving the best results. https://vizmaker.vizacademy.co.uk/ has also somekind of integration with Sketchup but it seems to just export the image, no material info or anything. Viz Maker has also quite good edit possibilities.

Lately I have been testing multiple AI Rendering solutions for my Sketchup models. Do you have any experience or recommendations for AI Rendering solutions?

I have been testing for example the below ones but there sems to be so many of these solutions. Based on first round of testing Visoid has given the best results in my use case.

In my case I have used direct Sketchup image export or then I have done a quick rendering in D5 Render and finetuned the D5 output with these tools.

Many of these solutions give nice looking renders but I still find the biggest challenge to be the lack of control. For example, it would be essential to be able to edit/render only certain materials/textures/parts of the model (colors/material IDs).

• https://www.visoid.com/
• https://vizmaker.vizacademy.co.uk
• https://rendair.ai/
• https://www.myarchitectai.com/
• https://mnml.ai/
• https://www.lovart.ai/

@Rich-O-Brien Thanks for the suggestion.

I noticed this tool few weeks ago and this would be perfect for "tracing roads" because you can define the road width separately. Unfortunately I have not found a way to include coast line in this tool and the water/sea areas are not properly defined. Hopefully this tool will be even further developed.

I am getting back to this topic. Qgis seemed to be quite some work to lear so I have been trying to use Inkscape for the purpose. My workflow has been:

• Create an road/street/coastline/water network image with external mapping solution
• Import the image to Inkscape for tracing the lines (center lines)
• Export the traced map in dxf format and import this to Sketchup as dxf

Has anybody else been using similar workflow (Inkscape + dxf export/import)? Do you have the same prblem with lines not connected or have you been able to solve this in Inscape or Sketchup, see below images?

DXF import to Sketchup:

Problem with lines not connected:

Do you know if there is any simple way or extension to import streetmap data into Sketchup?

I would like to create a wireframe (centerline of each road) out of this map. Before tracing all the roads I wanted to check if there are any tools/extension/workflows to make it easier than just tracing all the roads with pen tool?

My target is to 3D print the road network and I have been using/testing SVG import but when doing this I am not able to control the width of the road that needs to be exact width to have a nice and clean 3D print.

What would be the best way to crate a shell/single surface out of this Cat Mask 3D model?

I would like to create a surface of the "front side" of this model and then create a defined thickness for the model, with Shell type of Plugin, see link to image below. The reason for this is that I plan to 3D print this and therefore I would like to have certain thickness.

My plan was to use a Front view and Prallell Projection Gamera and select only visible faces but this still select also the faces in the back.

Do you have any good ideas/means for selecting only "Front side of the model" in complex geometry like this?

Do you have any ideas/tips/plugins (free or paid) for modeling this kind of vase? I have been thinking about using Flowify Plugin but the geometry gets somehow broken.

I was running D5 Render with my old desktop computer with GTX 1060 and it was running somehow OK, about 4-5min per single render for simple scene. I recently bought a new laptop computer with RTX3060 and I works pretty good, about 40-50sec per similar render.

I have been using D5 Render for a couple of months and I have to say that this is just great for non-commercial use. Earlier I have been using Twilight Render and Thea Render but D5 Render is much easier and quicker to use and I still get the good enough results for non-professional use. The only downside is that you will need decent spec for your computer.

Does anybody have any experience with this 3D model library? It states that it includes over 500,000 Sketchup models with only 70 euros.

https://lab3dstudios.com/

Getting back topic also because in another discussion I got really good tips when looking for a replacement for old Brick'n tiles software.

What are nowadays the good softwares for creating seamless tiling textures? For example there some manufacturers providing quite good sample textures for parguet. For example here: https://www.kahrs.com/en/wood-floors/frosted-oat-strip and I would like to try to make seamless textures out of these sample textures.

Is the Pixplant still one of the best softwares to create seamless textures or are there some better ones available nowadays? Pixplant is at least reasonably priced alternative. There were some positive comments about Materialize but somehow I have not been able to get it to work when trying with 2 of my computers.

https://www.pixplant.com/index.php
https://boundingboxsoftware.com/materialize/

@gus r said:

I am not aware of being able to use any source textures with the Poliigon generator.

Another option might be Architextures where you can upload a source texture. I created some textures there yesterday and uploaded some that I required. You can add textures. Not sure how many.

You can generate a basic diffuse or color map and a black and white bmp. I like to create a normal map using the Nvidia Texture Tools. That's for rendering.

It's $5.95/month.

Thanks for this tip. This seems like a perfect solution for my purpose. I just assigned for this at least for a month.

@rich o brien said:

This is quite good for a free alternative to node based procedural material creation...

Material Maker

Material Maker procedural textures authoring tool web page

(www.materialmaker.org)

I will also check the Material Maker. After a quick test this seems to be really comprehensive tool but it takes quite some time to learn to use it. I tested quickly some basic templates but even those included so many inputs/outputs that I got totally confused.

@gus r said:

Have you looked into Poliigon generators? They also use the sbsar method. I got the modern bricks generator and it's really good. They also have a marble tiles generator. They also have a color picker to adjust tones which can be used outside of the Substance Player.

This looks really nice / quick /simple solution. Is there some way to use a source image as an input texture? For example if I have a source texture from a tile manufacturer I could use the image and just create nice tiling texture with some variations for tiles to make it realistic. I checked some Poliigon generator tutorials but I didn't see any option to use source images.

Source image example:


bp station locations us

I have lately been getting back to 3D model rendering and I would like to create my own textures from product images.

What are the software (free or paid) that you are using nowadays to create your own tiling/seamless textures, see example below?

I am still dreaming about Bricks'n Tiles but unfortunately it is no longer available. I also have some really old Substance player (Make_It_A_Parquet) template but somehow it doesn't really work because I am not able to change the background color and there are some weird lines in the output.

Smart Offset...
Then invert selection and run FredoSpline > Convert Edges > Polycorner Arc

Thanks, I will test these!

I would like to create a some kind of voronoi structure for 3D models. Is there a plugin that would do a an rounded offset in 2D? Similar that I have created in the linked image.

I have to say that I have no experience with Resin 3D printers so far even though I have owned 1 of those over 1 year. I have several FDM 3D printers and I have been following Resin printing closely but not started yet because it is quite messy with playing resins.

I would just say that Uncle Jessy really knows what he talks about so maybe this video helps at least a little bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhIPzHfb-Ts

@annanikolson said:

Hi guys. I'm new to the forum, but I already have a little experience with sketchup. My question is probably more practical. Will it be convenient to use sketchup in the development of 3D models for a 3D printer? I recently bought it, and now I have a question - should I continue working in sketchup or master some new program like 3dsmax.

I just read several articles about 3D printers, about their device, about nozzles, filaments and much more. But I don't have a clear understanding if I can continue working in sketchup normally, or will it be a "pain"?

I have been 3D printing already 3 years and I am using pretty much only Sketchup for modeling the 3D printed parts. Sketchup works really well if you plan to print functional parts. In some cases I have been using some other 3D modeling software but this has been mainly when I have downloaded some parts from Thingiverse and I have needed to make some modifications.

Just a quick tip without trying the file.

If I am not able to solve the "solid problem" with Solid inspector I always quickly export the STL and open it with 3D Builder (Microsoft Windows free app). When you import the model into this app it says that the object is not a solid and there is single click option to make it solid. Then just Save it as STL or 3MF.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/3d-builder/9wzdncrfj3t6?activetab=pivot;overviewtab