Hi yNot

If you import the .bmp file it will remain a raster image. This is not editable from within sketchup. Your best bet is to render an image (as you've done) then import as a photo-match. You can then set up trees, people, etc in the foreground.

If you really want to edit a bmp in sketchup the only way to do it is to hit "explode" then draw boundaries round areas you want to change (hold down SHIFT to lock to the surface). When the area turns blue (skins over) you can use the materials browser to add whatever texture you want.

All the best
Rob

I could really, really, really do with that lisp script... but only have acad LT

I love the first image. The pedant in me says there's headroom problems with that spiral stair - but for a quick visual it's great!

I'd like to see the same image duplicated in Kerkythea. Anyone up for the challenge?

Hi Brad, Anssi

I'm exporting from sketchup to dwg, then xref-ing these files into Autocad. Whenever I change something in SU, I then re-export the dwg and "refresh" the xref in autocad. The problem is as Anssi says. When my drawing gets larger or smaller in Sketchup, the origin of the exported dwg file changes, so when I refresh in autocad... the xrefs move!

Anssi - good idea on setting up the views. Unfortunately, this is the way I have been doing it, so it doesn't solve the problem.

Brad - any help you can give on this is much appreciated. It's the fly in the ointment for me at the moment. I'm evaluating the SU/Acad combo as a BIM solution with a view to getting it adopted company wide, and without a fix on this I can't really recommend it.

Kind regards
Rob D

dwg and dxf exports used to export with a random origin so that you couldn't consistently xref it into your autocad drawing. Does anyone know if it was ever fixed? I've just come accross the problem again and it's quite annoying! There's a "preserve origin" option for imports but none for exports.

Rob D

Sorry Tom - not banner ads but G ads. No ads in the newsletter but over half the newsletter is devoted to Hypercosm. Is this forum now commercial rather than donation funded?

Ok. Please don't shoot me down in flames for this, but my first impressions on seeing the newsletter were "wow, what a good idea". Then I started reading it and this soon changed to "Am I just being marketed to here?...". Did anyone else here feel this? It just seems very out of place when the reason a lot of people came here in preference to G Groups was that they wanted to avoid banner ads ??

Hi Kwistenbiebel

I love you lighting setup. How did you get the nice Chrome effect on the chair legs?

Rob

I entirely expected to get a lot of stick over this by people backing up their favourite software. But come on, insulting me isn't going to do you or anyone any good. Posting a load of images you've done on Podium isn't going to change the fact that, for a similar quality of output, Podium was slower than Vue and KKt. If there's some obvious way to speed up Podium let me know. The scene is bland and simple for a reason.

My thanks to Shaun for a more measured response. Yes, this kind of comparison will irk some people. But it will help counless more.

Just a note about set-up times for everyone else reading this. IRender was the fastest because it has an internal material setup function. Kerkythea and Podium were about the same. Don't assume Podium sets up quicker just because it's internal to SketchUp - scenes can need a lot of tweaking. Using the SU2KT exporter to KKT is quick and hassle free, and saved time because a metal material came pre-loaded. Podium doesn't have this (yet).

Kerkythea

So the first four are done. The results so far tabulated:

Podium 18:47
Irender 0:25
Vue Esprit 2:12
Kerkythea 3:25

Remember, this test is to ascertain a benchmark for use of a renderer specifically with Sketchup, and with minimal experience and setup time, using presets where possible. These figures are to produce a "good" image with minimal tweaking, not the best possible image the software can offer. I think it's fair to say the IRender image failed this particular test since it couldn't handle global illumination i.e it's just a raytrace renderer. Vue needed a few cheats to correct the lighting and the scene needed to be re-framed within Vue because camera wasn't imported. It was the quickest and it will shine, I imagine, with exterior renders.
Podium and Kerkythea gave the most pleasing lighting for a similar amount of setting up. Both retained the Sketchup camera view which can be essential to your workflow. But the speed difference...

My tuppence worth...
I remember when as a 2D Autocad draughtsman I tried to get to grips with 3D for the first time. It was the concept of 3D space that was the big hurdle. I felt lost in the vast space - seemingly with no anchor. I must say it took me a good while, and a few tutorials to really get to grips with it - and all the while I felt uncomfortable.
It's much easier in SketchUp because of the blue line, but I still think this is the main issue with any 3D CAD. Kitchen design is actually 2D with one or two high level cupboards thrown in. In order for SU to compete, each furniture component should come with a 2d tile representing it in plan. Once a kitchen has been designed in plan using tiles, it's then a simple matter of clicking "reload" to replace the 2d with 3d components. Anyone know of a Ruby that could automate this?

Rob

The first few results for the Great Sketchup Render Test are in! I've posted the images and render times below for you to make your own comparrisons. A fuller review and explanation of methodology will be on my blog (http://provelo.co.uk/?p=20), but I've currently just got podium written up. Basically (i.e there's more to it), I take the same scene, lit just by the Sketchup sun, and see what the results are with minimal tweaking. Hope this comparrison proves useful! Here's the first few...

IRender
![IRender high setting, 25 seconds. Needed infill of ambient light as it was unable to calculate the light "bounce".](/uploads/imported_attachments/MgOO_IRender_high_25s.jpg "IRender high setting, 25 seconds. Needed infill of ambient light as it was unable to calculate the light "bounce".")

Podium

Vue

Thanks everyone for the tips. I'll try to incorporate your views so please keep 'em coming!

For me, the useful thing would be to have a benchmark for a "passable" render on several different programs. The majority of us just want to stick our SU model into a renderer, tweak a few materials, hit "render", and get something a little more realistic than SU output. So we might as well have that as the benchmark. Anything more than that starts to become a test of the users skill level, rather than the software, as a few of you have said.

I'm planning to do a comparison between all the rendering programs I can get my hands on so that we can get an idea of the quality and render speed differences between them all. Any advice on how to go about it greatly appreciated!

First off, a quick comparison between Podium and Kerkythea - because they're the most popular ones used with SketchUp.

Podium over 4 minutes, Kerkythea 50 seconds. That's a very significant time difference! Shadows, brick texture, reflections and general lighting seem better in KKT too. What do you think?

There's a Ruby available somewhere which automatically creates orthographic projections (ie. Top, left, right, front etc.) then exports them to .dwg files. Very useful but can't remember where I got it

Mateo

These are superb. I like seeing native sketchup output. It's so crisp and clear. Did you output construction drawings from this model?

Regards
Rob D

I work in Structural Engineering and one of the big time wasters is working out where columns should be placed so as not to clash with window openings, doors etc accross multiple floors. Here's a quick tutorial to help with that for Engineers and Architects. You might also find it useful if you want to see how SU and 2D CAD can work together sharing data as one drawing package.

http://provelo.co.uk/?p=14

Rob D