Hi Ron,

Cars and Guns like any other manufactured product are tangible goods that can be bought and sold. In a private enterprise situation, both seller and buyer arrive at a price that suits them. Or they don't and no transaction takes place.
The same applies to every product or natural resource that individuals or nations wish to trade.

Due to barter being impractical for many transactions money was created as a means of exchange. Money itself has no intrinsic worth.

However, in the free enterprise system we have today money is manipulated by the likes of the stock exchange to create money out of other money. This distorts the value of real goods and services and hence we have boom and bust which causes the chaos we see today.

Private enterprise and Free enterprise are two totally different animals.

The first is a form of self-regulated capitalism that has proven to be more or less a fair and successful method of conducting transactions. It provides the best method for those who are prepared to work to receive a fair reward for their efforts.

The second is, in my opinion, a fraudulent and criminal system perpetrated by individuals who contribute nothing to the world. They are motivated by simple personal greed unimaginable to most of us.

I fear most Americans, when reading attacks on capitalism, wrongly interpret that to mean an attack on America itself. That is not the case. Americans should simply take note of what one of America’s greatest sons had to say:

@unknownuser said:

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
Thomas Jefferson

Regards
Mr S

As I said in my previous post:

@unknownuser said:

If the monetary system used is, at root, dishonest then it follows that everything else flowing from it is corrupted.

The former chairman of the Nasdaq stock market has been arrested and charged with securities fraud, in what may be one of the biggest fraud cases yet.
Bernard Madoff ran a hedge fund which ran up $50bn (£33.5bn) of fraudulent losses and which he called "one big lie".

For more info (and don't believe for a minute that this is a one-off) visit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7779442.stm

The capitalist economic model is mostly conducted through the use of smoke and mirrors. We are all locked in to it, through no choice of our own, and because we have seen the collapse of various "socialist" economic systems we are all too scared to consider any alternatives.

We are in the horrible position of wanting to see the downfall of all these economic criminals but know that hundreds of millions of innocent victims (us!) could have our lives destroyed in the process.

Between a rock and a hard place comes to mind.

Regards
Mr S

@unknownuser said:

I'm talking about anyone involved in the fraudulant behavior! The real money didn't disappear, it's still out there somewhere...in the hands of crooks it doesn't belong to.

The fundamental reason for all the chaos is that the Capitalist monetary system is essentially a scam.

I strongly recommend listening to the following: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=z13TzFBtsWw
It lasts just over an hour, but it is an audio only clip so you can listen while you work etc.

It as an explantion, in laymans terms, of how so-called "national" banks such as the "Federal Reserve" or the "Bank of England" are actually cartels and NOT national banks controlled by their respective governments.

You may not agree with all that he says, I don't myself, but a lot of it helps make sense of the boom and bust nature of the capitalist system.
If the monetary system used is, at root, dishonest then it follows that everything else flowing from it is corrupted.

What does the future hold?
Well, we can all speculate, but what is certain is that no political or economic system lasts forever. As has been said before, "We live in interesting times".

Regards
Mr S

Well, well,

I clearly remember all those of a left/liberal persuasion, when speaking of Mugabe, declaring their full admiration and support for him. Similar to what they display nowadays for Mandela. Of course, at that time, Mugabe was fighting the evil white crypto fascist Ian Smith. So, of course, that makes it OK. Right on.

When I, and others, pointed out his Marxist beliefs and his thinly disguised intention of becoming a dictator, we were dismissed as "right-wing" nuts.

What was once the breadbasket of Africa has now become a basket case.
Congratulations to all those simpering left/liberals without whose help it couldn't have happened.
Well, I take great pleasure in saying I told you so!

Here is another "right-wing nut" prediction for you.
The same mess and probably much worse is going to take place in South Africa.
Just wait until "Saint" Mandela dies and the almost insane Jacob Zuma (or others of the same ilk) is in power.
Sit back and watch as old tribal loyalties come to the fore with the usual decline in to chaos that follows.

PS:

In 1961, Mandela became leader of the ANC's armed wing "Spear of the Nation".
He waged a guerrilla war in which many civilians became casualties.

He was a terrorist who killed innocent people.
But his cause, according to the liberal/left, was a just one.
So today they regard him as Saint Mandela.
Almost makes me want to vomit.

Regards
Mr S

Hi,

Well I have to make an exception concerning Luxology with regard to my comments on software developers.
I have received a very swift and helpful response and links provided to download the importer for OSX and PC.
A very good result. I will now bother to take a look at modo302.

See below the for response I received (I received 3):

Email 1

@unknownuser said:

Hi Mr S-

Immanuel Martin here passed along your email which contained a kind offer to post something on our behalf in the SketchUp forum.

I am looking into a method where we can provide the importer directly if people email us.

But pls do not publicly commit to that as it may be difficult to implement as the method of loading in software to a user's account
is currently predicated on a store transaction (free or $$).

Just a few other comments, also not for public posting at this time. I provide these comments to you so you have additional context.

1. There have been numerous installation problems reported by modo users with this plug-in. We are still chasing down why it is not installing correctly on some systems.

2. The SKP plug-in is indeed "free". We have assigned a nominal value of $99 but there is no way to buy it by itself. This is just to give the plug-in "value". The plug-in is provided in the Trial version of modo just like the Rhino plug-in is. The free Trial evaluation of modo consists of the software and online documentation/help files. This is a 100% feature complete version of modo with no output restrictions. The $25 version of the software is where we group other items of value that are generally only provided to people who have purchased modo but are also things that modo prospects might be interested in seeing. From time to time we add more to this list and recently just added the SKP importer. While this might appear to be "charging for translator", the translator is only one small component of the extra value and the $25 is immediately refunded upon a purchase of modo. We have heavy demand for both versions of these modo evaluation versions.

3. We will be releasing a new Architectural Interior Lighting and Rendering tutorial in the next day or so. This is NOT based on a SKP import workflow, but I mention it just because it is for architects.

4. This is a "community release" of the plug-in, pls notice that there is no press release for example. We are exposing it to the existing modo community before making huge fanfare to the world at large.

5. Here is an interesting thread posted yesterday in our Forum, from a fellow using a SKP file: http://forums.luxology.com/discussion/topic.aspx?id=30561
   Pls note that he posts several versions of the movie as the thread progresses.

6. modo is indeed a complex and also sometimes can be a quirky application. It is not a plowhorse, it is more like a temperamental racehorse. I have personally worked on 3ds max and Maya as a product manager and modo is BY FAR my favorite 3D application. But it is not for everyone. It can buck you off -- but the ride is amazing. I think that a person coming to modo from SketchUp might find the program rather overwhelming. After all, it has much more functionality. We do not claim modo is the easiest to use or the most powerful. But there is something about modo that really pleases many who get into it.....and we receive new amazing customer images everyday from people using it.

I will get back to you on the 1st item above (my 2nd sentence above). And I thank you for writing us. Pls feel free to keep in touch with me.

Thanks,
Bob Bennett
Luxology LLC

Email 2

@unknownuser said:

Mr S,

I trust you saw my earlier email about the SKP importer for modo 302.

I am pleased to report that we have implemented a method where people can obtain the SKP importer
at no charge whatsoever.

This is a direct result of your email.

Please tell people on that SKP forum that they can email the following address

david at luxology dot com

and they will receive instructions on how to get the SKP translator at no charge.

Thanks,
Bob Bennett

My Reply

@unknownuser said:

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the quick response and feedback.
Its a good job that it is now close to Xmas as I will have to eat a big slice of humble pie!
In the discussion forums I agreed to send Luxology an email but expressed the view that most software houses don't usually offer any help until after they have got your money. And with some of them, not even then.

I will be delighted to report that you have proven me wrong in every respect.
I will pass on the information you have provided.

Could you send me the importer?
I will download the modo302 trial from our website.

Thanks again.

Regards
Mr S

Email 3

@unknownuser said:

Mr S,

You can get them here:

http://content3.luxology.com/download/product/plugin/skp/modo_SKP_plugin_OSX.dmg
http://content3.luxology.com/download/product/plugin/skp/modo_SKP_plugin_Win32.exe

Was not trying to get you to eat humble pie, just sharing info. We are very open, just not "perfect."

Keep in touch pls.

Bob

I'm quite impressed with this response.

Regards
Mr S

Hi Guys,

I will post my views to Luxology.
The thought hadn't really occurred to me.
Probably because of past experiences, I expect the following:

1. No response.
2. A thanks for taking an interest in their product, then no further response.
3. A reply informing me that this "feature" is something their marketing department has decided is the best strategy for selling their product. (This usually means they are not interested in hearing potential customers views).

Just to make myself clear:

I fully understand that software companies seek to make money like any other business.
I dont understand how they think that placing obstacles or restrictions on their software will help increase their user base.
They are in a very competitive market. Anything that marks them out as different they should be promoting, not wasting time in charging for something like an import feature.

If no charge is made for any of the other importers in their program then they shouldn't be making a special case of charging for the SketchUp importer.

I would be particulary angry if, as it appears here, that after paying my money to try out this software the SketchUp import feature doesn't even work as advertised.

I, as an end user, shouldn't have to pay anything for the privilege of road-testing their importer.

If I receive any response from Luxology I will share it with you.

Regards
Mr S

I don't believe it.
That last one actually had me swallowing hard and shaking myself back to my usual cynical self. Thanks for some rare uplifting reading.

Regards
Mr S

Hi Earthmover,

I would only consider trying modo if I could spend 30 days using it and finding out what the workflow between it and SketchUp would be like.
If the sketchup plugin isn't available for me to use, then I would never be able to find this out.
If Luxology want to make it difficult for me and other SketchUp users to try out their software, then they have been very successful.
I won't bother.
A shame really. A good example of a software company actually making potential new customers decide not to try it out.

Do they charge for the other import options in their software?
If not, why charge for the SketchUp import option?

You would think that they would make a point of shouting out loud about how their software makes it easy for SketchUp files to be imported in comparsion to other high-end 3D apps. Not waste time trying to rake in a few dollars when they should be trying to widen their user base. Oh well!

Regards
Mr S

Hi Voder Vocoder,

Please don't take offence, but I couldn't resist adding this to one of your pictures. It was just the first thing that I thought of when I saw your post.

Regards
Mr S
=======

Hi Pete,

Really nice images.

Can I ask you a couple of questions?

Have you used one of the default Visopt render settings for this?
If so, which one did you use?
Do you know whether in your setup parameters you used the physical or standard camera setting?
You say the render was fast. How fast?
There are reflections in the windows. Did you use a Vray or SketchUp material?
I mentioned on a previous post of yours that I love the hazy dreamy look you had produced on some images. I assumed this was a setting you used in Vue. Now I'm not so sure. Is it a Photoshop effect applied?
Is there any particular technique you would attibute to your file sizes being so compact?

Hmm.. thats more than a couple of questions, sorry.

Regards
Mr S

You must be crazy.
Have you ever read any of the political discussions posted here?
If you had, you couldn't possibly suggest giving us military capabilities!

Regards
Mr S

Hi,

I don't think this guide is really needed here (except when politics get discussed) but I thought some of you may enjoy it. It's quite a good all-round guide illustrated with old school graphics.
Visit: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=onCPJH6swoY

Regards
Mr S

Anybody know the lucky people who were given this fantastic project to work on?
I wish somebody had asked (and paid me) to help create Ancient Rome in SketchUp.
What a dream job!

Visit: http://earth.google.com/rome/

Regards
Mr S

Hi Pete,

Thanks for taking the time to answer all my questions.
Lots of useful points to think about there.

I liked this the best:

@unknownuser said:

I don't know about yourself, but there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to earn a living, eat, drink, sleep and spend at least some time with your family.
There isn't, thus one needs to move computer to lounge/dinning area, get very comfortable chair (for sleeping in) and a side table for eating purposes (a mini refrigerator is an added advantage), Full size cut-outs of yourself placed in strategic parts of the house may work on the family issue.

Maybe if they could speed up the human cloning project that may help?

Regards
Mr S

Hi Pete,

Just come across this post and visited your site.
You have created some beautiful images there.
Also visited the Vue 7 site you provided a link to.
WOW! That looks like Hollywood quality standard.

You seem to have used a variety of rendering software.
I noticed that Vue seems to be able to produce a wonderful atmospheric look to the finished images.
Some of them seem to have a dreamy hazy look which I haven't seen elsewhere.
They look really nice, I will have to try it out.

I see you use 3DS MAX and SU Podium as well.

I have a couple of questions for you...

What makes you choose a particular rendering solution for each individual project?

How long did it take you to import your SketchUp files and create your Vue scenes?

How long did your Vue renders take to complete?

Which rendering solution do you find the "easiest" to use?

I assume SU Podium would be your choice when fast results (compared to MAX or Vue) are required?

Which package handles native SketchUp files (not including SU Podium) best?

If you don't import native SketchUp files, which file format do you choose to export as, 3DS, OBJ, FBX etc?

Do you have experience of using Vray or Modo?

I don't know about yourself, but there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to earn a living, eat, drink, sleep and spend at least some time with your family.
For this reason I don't want to avoid spending weeks or months studying how to use a program that I end up never really using.

I would really appreciate hearing your views.

Regards
Mr S

@alan fraser said:

It may seem an obvious point, but how exactly is a video over 20 years old relevant to the world today? That was from another political age; it might as well be an interview with Albert Speer.

There may be a few ageing die-hard commies lurking in the woodwork or on university campuses somewhere, but they are as irrelevant an ineffectual as this completely anachronistic name-calling.
Soviet-style socialism is dead and discredited; outperformed and undermined by western capitalism to the point where it simply imploded. Everyone with any sense and any influence in the west knows that. They were even having to import advanced office equipment by the backdoor, just so that they could get hold of the silicon chips and reprogram them for their missile guidance systems.

This is just pure bogeyman under the bed stuff. We'll be getting scare stories on Islamofascists and taqiyya next.

Just to be clear, I have never said that I believe Obama is a Marxist.
As I have made clear in other threads, I believe Obama and McCain are simply political careerists.
The video clip I provided a link to was to show how political careerists can be "useful idiots".

20 year old videos can be just as interesting as literature produced hundreds or thousands of years ago. The Greeks and Romans produced much that is still relevant today. We can discuss what we believe to be relevant. But just because something is old doesn't make it irrelevant. And yes, even watching an interview with Albert Speer can provide useful insights.

I would suggest that Western captialism won only the economic war against "Soviet-style socialism" (call it what it was, communism), but in the West the left won the political and cultural struggle. That Soviet-style socialism as an economic system is dead and discredited is true, but the recent debacle with the Western capitalist system would hardly suggest it to be a great alternative. Like the Soviet economic system it came very close to imploding. In fact, you could argue that it did implode and that it is only being kept up and running with smoke and mirrors.

No political, economic or cultural system lasts forever.
They are all replaced by, or evolve in to something new.

There are indeed many die-hard commies still lurking in our universities.
There are also a surprising number of leading members of New Labour who also used to be members of communist and other assorted extreme left wing movements.
Oh, I know, I know, they all grew up and left behind those silly childish thoughts and became moderates.
Amazing isn't it how only left-wing extremists can reform and become pillars of the establishment. Similar to how only left-wing terrorists can become University lecturers.
Of course, only nasty, small minded, ring-wing bigots point these things out.

Because of political correctness (a cultural and political victory for the left) I will avoid going on to discuss the issue of Islam.

Regards
Mr S

Hi RickW,

Marxism means nothing to most Americans.
In Europe, many regard it as a popular way of looking like a "cool rebel".

These are best described as "useful idiots".
Visit: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k6KUDv1wzraWhwlBt1
A Soviet defector explains how liberals and left-wing idealists are used.

Because of the collapse of the old Soviet Union, liberals and left-wing idealists will try and convince you that there is no longer any threat. Ho-Hum.

Regards
Mr S

The question has to be:
How much longer are Google going to wait before they offer to employ you full-time as a leading developer of SketchUp?

This looks like another fantastic tool.
I just hope SketchUp 7 can produce something as clever and useful as this.

Nice video presentation as well.

Regards
Mr S