I don't believe that the problem lies with the recording of the screen shot. The video transitions are already choppy when played right from Sketchup or thru the Smooth Animation video. My problem lies somewhere in the basics of the animation programs I am using. I think it is partially that I am trying to use sketchup as an animation tool when there are probably better tools out there for this purpose. I just don't have the skills to use the more advanced animators at this time. But thanks for the heads up on FRAPS, I did check it out and it may come in handy at some point

Another solution : Use Twilight for render the Mover animation! You will have a perfect quality but maybe a longer timer to render By Ecuadorian

thanks, I checked out the thread and one of the things he says is that his plug in is NOT intended for object animation. That could be my problem. I may need to look for a plug-in that is more object oriented.

I use WinMovieMaker. It comes with windows, and includes a limited amount of editing capabilities. Don't know how Smooth Animation works. I create a sequence of scenes (transision 4 sec, delay 0), export as .avi at 30fps, then move it into WinMovieMaker to edit. The final .wav movie is played back with WinMediaPlayer.

Hi Mogogirl, hi folks. Make sure that you have not smoothed some edges accidentally. If this is the case, applying paint to one face that has some edges smooted will cause the color or texture to be applied also to the faces sharing smoothed edges with this face. If not sure, can you post your model by attaching it to a post. You don't need to post the whole model, only the problematic part. Just ideas.

Glad we could help Mary

Unbelievable clarity in that communication. I doubt the other side will want to show it to a jury.

There is also IDX Renditioner (with a free trial, too). All these applications have the basic concepts about reflections, bump maps and such to make your renderings more (or less) photorealistic. Once you have the basic idea, the the rest is just to get used to the UI of the different applications.

Thanks all. Being new to this animation and rendering thing I wasn't sure if 800 frames was huge or not. That was my main concern. Thanks for the answers on that. I feel better knowing it's probably just a normal size. I will probably try a save overnight tonight when I leave work. I think that will give it time to save all the frames without interrupting my work schedule. I'll let you know later in the week how it turns out! Mary

@mogogirl said: I think I've found the answer to my own question. I don't believe you can export animation with the demo version of Twilight. That's actually not right... Even with the demo version you can render animations... Check the Animation tab in the Settings window (where you also select resolution, render method etc...) @mogogirl said: However for $59 (until Sept. 24) I think I'll invest in the program, it appears to be a good one and worth the money. Most definitely... It's a real bargain... I'm sure you won't get disappointed...

Well, the above animation was also exported (true that via another plugin which is - on top of all - a photorealistic renderer). Twilight can export animations both from Sketchy Physics (above) and Proper Animation (although they may be able to export it by themselves, too now already).

Well, duh, that was easy...lol. Thanks so much...it looks great now! That's why I'm still a newbie:)

I got it, thanks. I just worked backwards from your suggestion and re-grouped everthing and then double-clicked and painted individual surfaces. It's working now. THANKS!

nice to hear u use kerkythea to... its a good render engine... im new in sketchup to and in the render images i,m new to..

Cool,Mary. You only need to grasp the concept once and from then on, it will seem to be easy. Such "layered and scened" animations are always a bit of a hasle however so once you understand the logic, you may really wish to look into plugins that automate and make this process easier.

Just realized that my first model had nothing on the underside of the roof...it was hollow! I filled in under the eaves and tried to add a little detail to look like a gutter around the roof using the follow me tool. I also added some shadows just to make it a little more appealing. Here's the updated model. waterwheel.skp

I actually purged components and materials (now there were a lot of these) when downloaded but it only shrunk it by about 10%. That motorbike is a killer.

Hi Mary, File size of a model using images (photos you've taken) can go up to the skies if you don't optimize your images. It is a simple process you do in a 3rd party application (image editor) when you crop everything off that you don't need in the image, resize it to something "reasonable" (definitely somewhere below 1024 pixels which is generally the "limit" of OpenGL display SU uses anyway) and even save it compressed. As for your lockup after importing the GE snapshot - it can even be related to your video card/driver which you haven't said anything yet. If it persists, try to go to Window (menu) in SU > Preferences > OpenGL and unable hardware acceleration. If it "seems" to fix your problem, there's definitely something going on with your graphics system (maybe you don't even have a dedicated card just an integrated chipset).