Thank you a lot Xrok!
I didn't know there was such a clear tutorial about this!
I use a slight different workflow in PS, and obviously didn't know about the Z-depth image exporting technique
I think I'm gonna put a tutorial together anyway, and include some cases of blending between Sketchy images and actual renderings. I think it's always a good thing to have some portable PDF documents one can carry everywherem even with no internet connection...

Oh, I intended to aim the tutorial to Indigo/SkIndigo users, btw.

What do you think? Could it still be a nice idea?

Hi all!
I'd very like to write a tutorial on how to achieve DOF with the simple use of a plain image and a Z-depth output from the same POV, through Photoshop obviously.
It may come in handy for simulating some lens effects we often see nowadays, and to give much more sense-of-the-scale of our models.

Can anyone of you coders make a simple exporter?
I know there was a displaytemplate.rb which made this and others cool actions, but it doesn't work with my SketchUp6 pro version, sadly..
Moreover, the only feature I used for my renderings was just the Z-depth output

Oh, and if it could be possible to add sort of a MASK-like output (black sky white objects), that would be heaven! ...may sound as a silly request.... uhm....
BTW, here's my question! Can anyone do something in his spare time? No hurry obviously!

Impressive works, my friend!
I still have to trespass the "video" threshold
But whenever I will, you'll be the first I'll bother

Great work!

...I owed it to you

Thank you Chris!

PS. Rendered in Indigo. I'm trying a blend map between pure gold shader (metal nk) and stone (diffuse bumpy shader). One night of calculations. I was looking for an high-contrasted image, to give the all scene a dark overall feeling. What do you think? Volume light in postpro.

Yey! everything works allright now!!! Thank you so much!
Sorry to have been such a pain in the ***, chris...

Thank you again!

...Oh, BTW: I tried to use protrude.rb by Jim Foltz, and it appears to have the same problem.
I'm starting to feel like I've sort of a plugin conflict...

Hi Chris!
I made a rar file containing all that you requested.
-skp file
-greeble.rb
-progressbar.rb
-offset.rb
-screenshots of the problem

Thank you so much. You're so kind...

greeble test.rar

..I had NO generation at all, Pilou...

Oh, I use Windows Xp service pack2 or 3, don't remember..
Sketchy6pro.
..I'm gonna pm you the ".rb"s later, cos now I'm at home and I tried the plugin at work. But I can tell you I'm quite sure that all of them are the latest plugins available.
Moreover, my not-so-well-working-scene is really simple: a square 1m x 1m subdivided into smaller squares 10cm x 10cm. No groups no components nothing at all: just the square. If I select all and start the plugin I get the message i pasted previously..

I'm so embarassed to bother this much, Chris. But now it's become sort of a personal matter.

Hey!
..I'm sorry to report that I downloaded and installed the Smustard version of the plugin.
And that I tried to greeble a manually-subdivided plane which was not a group..

Hi Chris! Thank you for your answer!
I had already downloaded and installed correctly "progressbar.rb" cos it's a basic plugin for other applications too . BTW I re-downloaded and re-installed it, but unfortunately still nothing changes..
I didn't know anything about erasing the ' to get the current system unit settings: thank you. I asked since I'm not too familiar with anglo-saxon's units' system..

BTW, I followed your directions and this is what the ruby console tells me. I copy-paste it here:

Error: #<ArgumentError: comparison of Float with nil failed>
(eval):44:in >' (eval):44:in update'
C:/Programmi/Google/Google SketchUp 6/Plugins/clf_greeble_2.rb:173:in greeble' C:/Programmi/Google/Google SketchUp 6/Plugins/clf_greeble_2.rb:171:in each'
C:/Programmi/Google/Google SketchUp 6/Plugins/clf_greeble_2.rb:171:in greeble' C:/Programmi/Google/Google SketchUp 6/Plugins/clf_greeble_2.rb:259 C:/Programmi/Google/Google SketchUp 6/Plugins/clf_greeble_2.rb:259:in call'

Thank you so much, chris.

Hi Chris!
Thank you so much for this plugin!

I have some problems, though, unfortunately.. I installed everything (I hope) crrectly, your plugin DOES start but after the setting of the parameters, it just doesn't do anything. SIGH...

Oh, and another thing: the units in the parameters window are in inches, and don't match my file's unit system (which works in meters at the moment). Maybe this can give you some clues.

Sorry to bother you Chris...

Hi guys, thanks for your replies and for watching!!!

steelers: no warehouse for the chair and ottoman. I downloaded a 3ds model from http://www.e-interiors.net
They often have great models, though rarely (...or never) textured...

Frederik: thanks mate. Your comments are always appreciated.

Dzine: thank you for the kind words!

Hi folks!
Here is my current SkIndigo WIP (I posted it in the indigo forum too)..
Nothing special to say here: simple scene, simpler lighting , simplEST materials...
I'm just testing the layerblending feature right now (I find a few problems when dealing with emitter colours, perhaps it's just all about getting used to values and sliders ), and the displacement (applied to the carpet mesh). I'm not so fond of the leather mat, but for such a complex mesh it's ridiculously hard to get a texture mapped correctly, so for now it's basically a colour and a shader preset... Tips are VERY welcome!
The comic in the background is a picture I found in the internet: I owe the author the credits (man: it really lightens up my days when I have a look at it ), but the picture was a little blurred, so I don't know his name.. If in any way I overcome some Copyright laws, please tell me and I'll remove the picture immediately.

So, that's basically all. Now, GO WITH C&C!! always welcome

Hi all!
Thank you Whaat, your opinions mean a lot to me
Sadly, i no longer have the file accessible (damn server....), but in this weekend I'm gonna test some other things with the latest SkIndigo, so i can post something better for sure!
I don't remember the MNCR value, but i know i didn't adjust the default setting.
There are neither frosted glass nor diffuse transmitter shaders! Only phong for the floor and the woods, metals (nk) for the details of the drawer and some parts of the light fixtures, and transmitters (by temperature) for the panel and the cylindrical lights.

It cooked about 8 hours (last night).
I know it's a shame about the fireflies issue ...
But, you guys: it's just a test!
Really, i think that a fast test like this can simplify the individuation of problems, like the one of the little red spots you all noticed. So my test can be of help to Whaat solving little issues. I think it's a good thing after all.
BTW thank you all guys for your feedback! Sooooo appreciated!

First of all, thanks to Whaat for the improvements.
Ehi guys: nothing special! Only a simple scene to test multilight, displacement and other minor things.
Here is the result! Enjoy!

WOW
Dirk! Fantastic! I'm really shocked by your image! Stunning!
But what really hits me is the quality of your models and foliage! Where do they come from?

Please solo: TEXTURE IT!
It would be a masterpiece, i'm sure..

@solo said:

Here is the model for us all to play (I believe someone actually posted this one once, but to the life of me I cannot remember)

IT WAS ME! IT WAS ME! IT WAS ME! IT WAS ME! IT WAS ME!
THE YOUNG PIBUZ AT WORK!!!!!!!!
It was filled with metallic storages that time...

Ok guys, let's give it a go once again then!!!!
Now I'm a little busy planning my next sharing work, when i have some clearer idea i'll surely give this a go! looks really promising, and industrial themes always...poke me!