Richard, thanks for the detailed novel

I did indeed learn quite a lot. have to have a go with onyx - your trees look awesome.

and I am getting tempted to try out the new Maxwell release...

cheers,

Jakob

why not but the test in a beautyful wrapping that pleases your eye?

but probably you are right - I am looking at it from an architects/artists point of fiew - this is a test solely for technical reasons...

[flash=600,338:2qhwga4r]http://www.youtube.com/v/i7_KjaefIJU[/flash:2qhwga4r]

Download -
xformclone.rb

Memory Copy(or an alternative name that sounds more impressive )

I think I came across this function years ago in Maya.

at the moment in SketchUp you can only create an array with one movement (move-copy/rotate-copy an object and specify the number of copies).
if you need to do more than one changes in position (like with a spiral staircase - rotate + move upwards) you have do do it manually and can't refer to the array function).

therefore it would be a great help, if you have a MemoryCopy function (for example shortcut Ctrl+Shift+C):

you move-copy an object, then do several modifications in position and scale withoud deselecting it. if you now hit the shortcut, SketchUp remembers all alterations that have been applied to it since the copying process and creates a second copy with all the alterations applied to it.

you can either press the shortcut repeatedly or type a number in the VCB to create multiple copies, all with the same changes...

xformclone.rb

this is true, after the discovery of this very useful command (Test.time_display) we dont need to have big models anymore. it is rather helpful to play with different style settings to find out how they influence the performance.
of course it still makes sense to have some scenes with different poly counts to check if the performance speed decreases proportional to the model complexity or if there are differences in hardware (for example that one crafic card is exactly the same speed as others with low poly but is much faster with hight poly)

anyway, my test results wit the city model:
(Core2Duo 3.00 GHz, 2 GB Ram, nVidia Quadro FX 1700)
(Hardware Acceleration, Fast Feedback, Anti Aliasing 4x)

Scene 1: 30.9 fps

Scene 7: 0.4 fps

and in Jackson's Cube model:

(17.1; 16.8) 16.8 fps

ps: nevertheless we should design a beautyful model that makes the whole process fun to watch. I think we first have to set up such a file, where we mind every factor that is important to know (textures, styles (like profiles), transparency (faster, nicer), low-/high-poly count, beauty ,...) and then we have to ask a ruby coder to write an automated script that runs the "Test.time_display" command, saves the result, proceeds to the next scene... finally displays all the gathered info in a window (like it does now after every test).
oh yes, is it possible to read out the hardware settings with ruby (or even the hardware components of the computer?)

wonderful, thanks a lot for sharing your test results, Brodie.

I think that is bringing us a huge step closer to what we want. did you just type the command into the ruby console? so this function is already implemented? then it should be really easy (for a ruby guru of course ) to automate this process...

oh, and you pointed out another important thing for the test file - textures and styles...
and the hardware settings (acceleration, fast feedback, anti aliasing - I don't think you can change those with a ruby script. perhaps everyone has to go to the same settings or at least report which settings are active, when he runs the test)

I will try and run the file with this test as soon as I get into the office...

didn't know that. but just tried it out and you are right! wonderful!

another thought: we have to ask people who do the test to shut down all other software. otherwise the results may be influenced negatively...

[Edit] and yet another thought: does all the grafical calculations like styles and shadows solely depend on the gpu? meaning that the cpu only has to calculate any geometry modifications. can't you seperate the processes like this?
(sorry if this question sounds stupid. but I have no idea of how such things work... )

we just need someone to write a script that puts the framerate in a text-file (I have unfortunately not the slightest idea of how to do anything in ruby).
the best way to put it, would be something like:

• scene1 to scene2 = 76 fps
• scene2 to scene3 = 44 fps
• scene3...

and then we need a nice test-file that not only tests your hardware, but also makes testing enjoyable (like starting with a small village with few simple houses, going to a city of decent size and finishing with a huge capital (loads of polygons) with a big castle or cathedral in the centre...

(that is a nice idea for the competition thread)

[Edit] I just used an old model to demonstrate, how such a scene could look like. of course it would be much more enjoyable, if you had a bit more variety... but as I said, this is only a first idea[]

I just spotted a problem (I think). how much do components affect cpu and ram? because the file size should be rather small for fast download - therefore should consist of components... but can we test all necessary information with that?

[Edit] I just used an old model to demonstrate, how such a scene could look like. of course it would be much more enjoyable, if you had a bit more variety... but as I said, this is only a first idea[]

benchmark_test.skp

Whaat, I completely understand, why you need this.

when I recently installed a v-ray trial version, exactly this happened to my SketchUp.

when I for example copied a complex object within the stage and hit Ctrl + Z, it undid the copying prozess for every single element seperately, until it ran out of memory cash...

I had to uninstall v-ray again to get rid of this unpleasant effect...

I really like this new render. especially the plants outside are absolutely to my favour (and the woman of course )

is there a way to show the framerate, with which SketchUp is displaying the model, when moved?
because that would be a very objective figure. (or is it possible to write a ruby that does that)

just click through the scenes in the test file (complexity increases). then there are some "framerate test scenes" where the complexity doesn't increase, so that you can have a look at the framerate when moving the model.

dumb question: are there different model-types or -settings that effect different hardware components (like styles = gpu, poly-count = cpu and ram...)? the test file should mind these factors as well.

...now that I think of it. could't one of the ruby masters write a script that produces a text file with framerates achieved during the test? then we could open the test file, start the ruby, start an animation (with scene delay). when the animation is finished, either upload the text file here or post the results...

I think the realization of this plugin would need combined forces of all our ruby scripters. it is very difficult to achieve, uniting mesh deformation skills (bevel) and automatic texturing...

ok. my component window freezes too if I try to show all the used comps.

I therefore copied the stage's content into a new SketchUp file. I am afraid, I lost some unused components, some textures and layers.

but you can open it now without problems...
DEP-MAIN ENTRANCE_NEW.skp

a serious misreading of the title of this thread gave me the idea for another verry useful ruby script:
(Freud sends greetings )

The Gay-Scale

following SketchUp's characteristic of an easy to use interface, a single slider bar allowes you to set your model to the right gay-ness.
smoothing and brightening up the colours a bit make your model look more friendly in just one mouse click!

(left cube: 89% straight; right cube: 97% gay)

@rsw said:

To be honest its a bit of trial and error at the moment.

isn't the whole life like that

I really like the vicious BMW like look of your new model - you are definitely getting there!

a very good tip to do it in pieces. didn't know that gives the same result (wasn't aware of the "extend to neighbors" function either of course).

yeah, lets wait for SU7. I still haven't given up hope that Google will do something truely amazing...

JClements, that would be a damn handy tool and a wonderful addition to the weld-script...

cheers, Frederik.

I only knew Deep Exploration - and that is not free. I just tried to export a 3D-PDF the other day with adobe acrobat (in vain of course )

you can try it here

this is under the name "Dennis Technique". as far as I know Marshall developed it further...

[Edit] just saw, that Marshall has written some comments in this file...[]

really nice images. I like the first ones more!

strange is, that I see a shadow - but below the plane on which your building is standing.

can you ceck, that this ground-plane is allowed to recieve shadows (right click, element info > check box "recieve shadow" has to be active)?