@unknownuser said: School officials say a new DVD will be sent to students once it has been reviewed. That means they all want to see it. No doubt the new DVD will have better camera angles and lighting.

I've had no compatibility problems with Windows7 with the 3D applications I've tried. Sketchup, Rhino, Vue, 3DMax, Bonzai ... there's been some more trials I've tried, but I can't remember right now. Basically - I think that if it worked on Vista it works on W7. The only thing that you need to pay special attention to is applications that require drivers. But usually Vista drivers will work.

Wrong sort of 3d i think pilou.

Seems like an awesome movie

@unknownuser said: The other type of voting pattern springs from the view that the Red (Labour) party represents the average working man. The Blue (Conservatives) tend to support those who think they aren't working class. IMHO: The problem is that now the labour party in the UK considers anybody that has a career and can pay for their own existence as middle class as these people are more likely to display independant thought, not being solely reliant on the state and so are less likely to vote labour. The labour party deems people that don't want to work as "working class".

Dear Mr. S, Well, your wide skills base suggests that you shouldn't have any problem finding another job, but one possibility that comes to mind would be to re-train as a Design and Technology teacher http://www.tda.gov.uk/recruit.aspx?ilewa=10000437. On the freelance side, I suggest you put a portfolio of your work together and mail-shot all the small architectural practices in your area. Most will be shedding staff (my neighbour is a young architect, and so I know what is happening), but they still need to work, and so buying in help as and when they need it makes sense as then they don't have to the meet the monthly overheads (salaries, NI, pensions etc). I cannot imagine you not getting work, particularly if you can offer complete confidentiality, something I think many architects would worry about. Signing a confidentiality agreement should sort that out. There may be a niche market in helping people visualise and plan a new house extension before employing the services of an architect and/or builder. It has been my experience that architects tend to design what 'they' think you should build', and not what was requested at the initial briefing meeting. This leads to delays and extra costs as a compromise is sort. Just a few thoughts. Good luck! Kind regards, Bob

Hi Anssi, Thanks for the response. This is a decision that has been taken by those "higher-ups" in the company. I have to hope that they know what they are doing. Powerdraft will replace AutoCAD LT (used by the majority of our staff) and Microstation V8 will replace the full version of AutoCAD. As I understand it AutoCAD was originally created for Engineers not Architects. Microstation, ArchiCAD etc were built from the ground up for Architects. Whether this makes any real difference in use I have yet to see. With regards to BIM software I am not quite sure what to make of this. On the one hand, it makes sense to have software that can generate 3D data from your 2D data input. In theory this should make producing 3D images a lot simpler and less error prone. I have heard that Revit is a very clever piece of software. But it does not have (as some try to claim) a magic button that can produce professional 3D results. I have also heard that practically no-one outside of the demonstration team can use it in a productive manner. (OK, I may be exaggerating a little here, but you know what I mean) The management of my company do not want their Architectural staff wasting valuable time trying to learn and understand lighting, texturing, composition and the hundreds of other issues associated with creating professional 3D imagery. They want their Architectural staff producing working 2D CAD drawings that generate actual income! I think they have a very good point. Most of the 2D CAD operators I know do not seen to understand (or find very difficult) the concept of 3D. Management can't presume to think that just because some staff use Microsoft Word every day that automatically gives them the skills to become a great novelist. They may not even grasp basic spelling or grammar! Or just because someone can use Microsoft Paint they will also be expert users of Adobe Photoshop. The skills required to produce professional 3D results, seems to me, to require a great deal of dedication to learning a range of skills well beyond the normal requirements of most 2D CAD operators. It also requires an active imagination and what I can only describe as an "eye" for being able to visualise a 3D image. Quite simply, not everyone has this, no matter how good the software. Anyway, I would appreciate reading any further thoughts on this subject. Regards Mr S

Just discovered the actual Ruby I required was this: HideAll.rb by Todd Burch Similar to the "Isolate" function in 3DS MAX. A compact, neat and helpful tool. Visit: http://www.smustard.com/script/HideAll Regards Mr S

Hi Guys, I've stayed away from this thread so far, just didn't want to read / hear about more Doom & Gloom. Now that I read the posts I found it quite positive and realistic in many ways. Even the 'Buy Off' idea, €1M for over 50s. As we all know only too well the Building Industry has been devastated World wide and this is having a pretty depressing effect all round. However the Building Industry will be needed in the future so anyone that is unemployed should keep their hands in and learn new skills in ready for the day that things pick up again. I'm wondering if SketchUcation could play a part in generating some employment to expert SketchUp and associated program users by way on On Line Training / Consultancy Work. I'd like to bounce a few ideas off anyone that now finds they are low on work and willing to investigate the possibility of working through a 'SketchUcation Online Agency' whereby Online Training / Consultations could be booked, paid for and supplied via SketchUcation. Rather then hog this thread I will start a new topic and see how it goes. Look out for 'SketchUcation Online Services Agency' http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=179&t=18363&p=149171#p149171 Mike

what about procedural texture generators (Genetica, TextureMaker, FilterForge, MapZone). anyone knows how to use any of them?

Mr S, I suppose a twilight zone is a great way to describe it. I work from home, I have an office just off the family room so I can work and still be part of the general family activities. I have a laptop in the lounge so that I can carry on working and watch movies with the family too. I work with clients from all time zones and very often you will see me online at 3am in the morning (like right now it's after 4am) which is normally because I'm on a call or conference with a client in Aus or India, etc, or I'm working to a deadline. As things get even more bleak in the economy so does my work hours as I need to source work from markets and industries than normally I would refuse which as a result has me forced to learn new apps, and outputs in order to stay a viable resource. I indeed do have the ability to retain info fast, as long as I understand how something works it's stuck in my head, but as far as details like names and dates go, I'm useless at that.

@gaieus said: I also used to use AVG and I did like it although for some reason, this Avast sems top be more "convenient" for me now. But I can't say anything wrong about AVG The same for me, I've nearly tried every product and ended since one and a half year with avast and am satisfied, regarding terms of reliability and resource charge.

Well, I wouldn't call the "old" behaviour a bug but maybe a feature everyone disliked Actually, at least inferencing works/ed in changed axis mode in SU 6 as well.

@gaieus said: @mr s said: ...and made beautiful women find me irresistible. Didn't Whaat or Fredo write a plugin that did just that?...

Well put, Toxic, I I changed some words (mainly like "Africa" and such) it would be valid for many post Eastern Block countries as well where the late 80's and early 90's seemed to bring in some fresh air but instead of liberty, many just fell in poverty while suddenly billionaires arose from the nowhere.

Done. [image: kwuj_Bart.jpg]

Ah yes, I've seen it (also posted in the CB about it). Tell me about a project like this; after all I'm an archaeologis (on top of all; specilised in Roman age). I have already digged up the contact details of the leader of the projet and will email him immediately (just trying to find my words after the shock)

Mr S., what a great web site!! A word of advice to others, I think it's better to watch the split screen presentation, so click on the duelity button, not the creationism or evolution buttons. Pretty well sums up the whole discussion, IMO.

I'm using TotalCommander from Ghisler soft. http://www.ghisler.com I have always worked with this type of file manager since using diskMaster on the Commodore Amiga. I have tried many variations on Windows and this IMHO has to be one of the best. Warning: it's shareware, but very useful and cool! Even the rich library of available plugins.