I too would like a better animaton interface in SketchUp. At lest for the camera.
Here is a mock up I've made som time ago. It is doable but would need some more advanced web dialog that I'm not capable of.
Image slightly too large. To view it all download it.

I use Vray for SketchUp at work and I get all the "old" PCs to put them in a renderfarm. Actually they are not that old and this way I can speed up rendering a LOT even on single images.
Works great.

I just meant that several new rubys are in the works that will make modelling soft objects easier. Like the Subdivide and smooth script.
http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=5687

What would be the method to make lets say a line tool not to use snap?

I mean modelling non geometric hard surfaces. Like a human.

Would it be possible to create ruby versions of the "default tools" that can be used without snapping?

@unknownuser said:

You can't stop snapping with the default toolset.
Todd

What do you mean by default toolset? I'd too be interested in getting a way of turning off snapping. Now with sub divide and smooth coming and SketchUp going in a direction with more soft objects modelling I believe it would be a great feature to be able to turn snap off.

@masta squidge said:

Couldn't you just go through the colors after you placed them all and then manually edit each one to the texture you want? this would automatically replace every color in the model with the texture you change it to. I do it on most of my models. Granted my models stink half the time but hey, it works. Like say, you want Grey (or is it Gray ) to be a wall texture on a bunch of different walls, but not all of them. Just paint the grey color on the walls then edit that material later. It also doesnt mess up the default colors of SU and on a new file they load default. Im guessing you use colors as placeholders (thats what I do) because textures slow down SU?

Or am I missing something totally and have no idea what you are talking about ?

I'm currently evaluating a possible future workflow for real time presentations. (Modelling in SketchUp, lightmapping in another program and finally viewing in a third.)
Doing it once or twice is one thing. Doing it a lot of times is another. Therefor I'm looking into a automated way of doing it.

TBD, I have to look into this further.

Thanks, I just tested the code and there seem to be something wrong with the file that it creates. I cant open it in any image editor I have including Photoshop. Says cant parse the file. Any ideas?

Ok, thanks.
I'm afraid it sounds a bit over my ability though.
Anyone else interested in doing this?

Would it also be possible to actually create a corresponding png or jpg texture from within SketchUp with that color and apply it?

Is there a way of auto exchanging all materials with just a color to a material with a texture of the same color? It's for exporting to a realtime "game" engine which needs textures on all materials.

Not sure I can contribute much, but I sure like to follow the development.

As the title says, what happend to it? Its gone? Even if a competition is over, (is it?) the thread should be left for reference. IMHO.

Great, thanks!
A question *(I havent tried it yet):*How "far" does the cutting go?
Meaning, in the video you dont have a object selected, so If there were two or more overlapping geometry with some distance in between, how far would it cut?

Edit: After a quick test it seem to cut "all the way" so my next question is: Whould it be possible to limit it to only cut on faces visible in the viewport or facing the camera?
I can think of many cases when I would want it to work like that.

Ha, funny thread.
Soo many I've tried and uninstalled. Can't remember them all but right at the bottom is Trojan Hunter. Once my PC got infected and I spent some time trying to find a cure and finally bought Trojan Hunter. And that thing installed dosens of more trojans. Had a hard time cleaning the PC.
I also began receiving LOTS of spam after that. Never had any problem with spam before on the email account I used to register the software.
Stay away from it!

The problem I have with Microsoft is that they belive to know how I want to used the software. And I hate that. I should deside how I want to do things not MS.

There is a bug in the latest version there should be a ] in this line:
menu.add_item(Traductor[DLG_MnuRedo]) { JointPushPull.redo }

I like the last one since the cliffs are not so straight lined profiled.
The other thing is that I think you should try to have more contrast between the forground and the background to have more depth in the image. Try using the dark forground from the first render with the brighter background from the last render. There could still be a stroke of light shining through in the foreground to give focus to it. Maybe also some color correction to have more warmth.

@unknownuser said:

Pixero - wow! that is really impressive. could you post your method please

My method isn't a "one click" solution. I use very different settings depending on the image but the basics is:
First color correct the image to brighten and saturate it a bit to make it look more like a painting colorwise. Then I usually use surface blur filter to get rid of some detail. (I Make most changes on a copy of the latest layer to be able to paint back detail with a layermask if needed.)
Then I apply some filters on the surface blurred layer. It can be water color, drybrush or paint daubs or poster edges depending on image. I then mix between different effects with layer masks and also applies the paper texture above. Usually scaled up 200-300%. I Also use bits and pieces from real watercolor painings to get the typical watercolor looks like blooms. Then I Use some photoshop brushes for some spatter effects to get those tiny human mistakes that help selling it as a painting.
Collageing and filtering in Photoshop is the best we can do until Moxi is ready: http://visgraph.cse.ust.hk/MoXi/

I'm interested in the rendertimes?

Looking good.

@unknownuser said:

Any tips how to 'light up' those chandeliers in PS?

Here's a tip for you: In PS create a new layer at the top and fill it with black.
Set blend mode to Color dodge.
Choose a soft brush and set Opacity and flow to something low like 25.
Select a color, white or preferably a orange-yellow and paint away your lights!
The more you paint the more light.

Its a small jpg. Here you go. Open in PS and Edit define pattern then use the paint bucket with the pattern on a new layer and set blend mode to. Linear burn. Try scaling it up to 200-400% for "bigger bumps".
Not always 100% opacity for that layer. Experiment. But dont stop at just using a paper texture. Look at paintings and try different PS brushes. There are some great for spatter and such.