Lumion is a great place to work with GE mesh because it can handle such a large ground image.
You can push your Google snapshot image to ballpark 16000x16000 depending on your video card. That gives you lots of detail for painting in Corel or PS.

How many plug-ins are needed to do a days work...
Since 2008 I have loaded just over 300 plugins.
Only 7 of them are still on my desktop.
Sorta like the i-Tunes software quality record.
It's just like collecting shiny marbles.
And now a nice case to put them in.

Dan has some great products and deserves attention but rendering requires 1000's of hours at the helm and that he does not have.

Lumion has a new release. I believe it will do what you want. It has a pricetag but there is a free version for experimenting.

If it was made using Sketchup any old doodle would do. If it was handed over to their corp artist and made elsewhere? Says a bit about the union. An intelligent CEO would have his artists embrace Sketchup as the sole tool for this.

@unknownuser said:

The system is programmed that once you subscribe to premium membership, you automatically become a member of the Premium users usergroup (his is how we can organize certain permissions on the forums)

The new site is a pass but the move to privatize is a step backwards. Good luck with your private forum guys.

You spent considerable time creating the scene, materials, lighting, plants and then rendering and the image result is a success. The filtered watercolor is an imitation of the rendering. If the watercolor was created by hand and not a biproduct of the model it would then have a ranking against your rendering. From a practicle standpoint it seems hard to sell customers on digital NPR....most want to see images that portray fine material details, one against the other.

I thought people stopped using client side mail 10 years ago??........You can still get client side?...What ever would you want it for....seriously?

Google paid the anti to get into the phone business....The phone business has brought the biggest giants to their knees.
I can't imagine giving away Sketchup. I think that Google is floundering internally..there would be no reason to sell other than to shore up a cash-flow blip on the near horizen. I'm not on topic here but it will be interesting to see what happens to the cash...if we hear nothing, it was necessasy to keep their metrics looking strong and keep the stock floating....with emphasis on float!

..no not fully guess work but for the name change.

Trimble is about to baptise The 3Dwarehouse and GE.

@unknownuser said:

the SketchUp engine will be integrated into Trimble's current solutions in its Engineering and Construction, Field Solutions and Mobile Solutions segments.

I think it will be all good but the focus is moving with a big step towards engineering. Those that have turned GE and the warehouse into assets (in whatever disipline) are going to win big.

On the tool kit...So far it has been an extravaganza. There will have to be a more unified approach to the new core....Engineers are not going to except that your ruby could damage their infrastucture. This will be good for ruby developers although it will require more scrutiny of the ruby supply chain.

This is what I hear with ear to the ground. Don't quote me. My hearing is bad
At the top of their list is a plan to capture ruby revenue. A panel will choose a select group of rubies and start to negotiate with the owners. This ruby set will be provided with a permanent front end in SU. You can bet they will be in the positioning application vertical.

Since they are trying to capture a ruby revenue stream they will create a STK that must be used to develop and install/register. You will have to use their kit.

Then look for a complete name change in the new year. Trimble will attempt to raise the profile from blue jeans to shirt and tie. The “sketchy” reputation is something they will quickly position themselves to resolve. As for the name change. No serious Sketchup user will drop the tool because of a name change but new customers will turn their heads. The word Sketchup will disappear forever.

Set your browser to http://www.forums.trimble-u-cation.com….....lol

@unknownuser said:

That should be Goodbye Google Earth,

No it is going to become the focus of their activity...they are in the positioning business.
Good news for the arch-vis community.

Hello Google Earth....goodbye subdividing, smoothing and the nurb nation.....Blender anyone?

Lumion - render time 14 seconds. No postpro, no 2d or billboard or clips...all3d and movie ready.
The movie from which this was taken is 45 seconds long and rendered in just over an hour.
Seems hard to beat.