Hi Freec
That's a nice model you've made. One tip is to play with the shadow setting's light and dark sliders to optimize how your models look. The tower is looking very dark and difficult to see all the detail you've put into it.

Regarding studying architecture...
At 17 you likely have a bit of time before you apply to a school of architecture. As you may know they can be very competitive to get in ---> lots of applicants for relatively few spots. If you want to stand out from the crowd I'd suggest keep developing a portfolio of your sketchup models + your paintings. For SketchUp modelling I'd suggest focusing more on developing sculptural ideas rather than buildings. In my opinion, the downside of doing building designs for a entrance portfolio is schools might interpret them as you already think you are an architect. They of course want their students to develop into architects and most schools use curriculum designed to gradually help students develop particular skills sequentially. Many schools will avoid the applicants who seem too skilled as those skills can be a poor fit with the majority of unskilled freshmen and they know that often the pre-skilled student can have trouble getting back to the basics they are trying to teach. What I'm trying to say is schools can be more interested in someone with a clear affinity to three-dimensional form - such as sculpture - that suggests an aptitude for design. Even in your paintings I'd suggest a focus on expressing the form of your subjects. Schools will really like seeing that your eyes & mind 'feel' the sculptural form of things around you and that you can express it graphically. For most schools, I'd suggest more abstract expressionistic paintings would impress more than detail-oriented realism.

I realize others may have very different ideas about what a school wants. I do however remember talking to the guy who looked after admissions of the school of architecture I went to. He had just returned from a conference he had with others doing the same job at other schools. He told me that one thing discussed at the conference was how most schools require applicants to do a brief essay on why they'd like to study architecture. He said the vast majority of applicants write stuff about how good they already are at designing buildings. Apparently those are the applicants who are first rejected. In general they are more impressed by students who express how a great building has made them feel. When an applicant understands that architecture is about the 'experience' of it, and that they'd like to be the one making that experience for others, then that applicant goes to the front of the list.

I hope my points give you something to think about. I wish you the best.

Regards, Ross

Looks good Jon! When I first went to the page the youtube movie loaded with an error. When I returned to that page later it loaded fine.

I have a question about your pic where you set a trampoline flush with the ground. Can you share some tips on how to do that? For instance how deep did the hole have to be? How did you support the sides of the hole or was that needed at all?

Regards, Ross

John -- every time I see an Australian vehicle I can't help but think of the bush mechanics of the central desert. I happened upon the tv program a few times and it was among the most entertaining TV I've ever seen. One time my then six-year old son saw it with me. He watched with his mouth wide open in curious amazement. I probably had my jaw dropped too.

Regards, Ross

Okay, okay -- I only wish I had a SketchUpMobile. My real car is a new Dodge Calibre which I'd highly recommend for anyone wanting good value in a economy car. A good practical family car.

We also have an 97' Escort Wagon which has served us well. We recently rewarded it with some body work and a new paint job even though it spends most of its time in the garage. Looks like new.

Regards, Ross

Here's my SketchUpMobile...

What happens to me fairly often is upon trying to submit a reply I'll get a message that I need to log in. I do but then the whole message I was trying to submit gets wiped out and the back button won't get it back. As a slow typist given to relatively long posts this is very frustrating. When I start I am definitely logged in and, although I am slow, an hour typically wouldn't have transpired. I also add that my internet connection is fairly stable so I don't think it is a factor.

Regards, Ross

(To get around this problem I often select all my text and "copy" so that if I experience the glitch I can paste my reply text back in and try again. The problem is remembering to do that copying).

Ivica -- the zoomed in views look even better than the overall scene. They imply more of a story happening there.

Coen -- Yikes! I hope your infection isn't itchy! I hope you are fully recovered soon.

Regards, Ross

I think it looks cool too. Nice reprieve from the hot summer weather many of us are experiencing.

Is the look of falling snow derived by modifying my Cat Scratch Fever style over at FormFonts? If you do some closer shots the Blizzard style, modified or unedited, might offer some possibilities.

Regards, Ross

Jerry -- It is very nice of you to share your SU models. When you attach one it works out that you are sharing it with others. If you were thinking others would only look at it and not save it for potential use in their own models, then you are mistaken. Many of us have large component collections gathered from SU files others have posted in the various SU forums.

So what I'm trying to let you know is, if you are okay with others using your models to add detail to their own models then continue posting the models. You certainly are not obligated to do so and I think almost everyone appreciates seeing (and potentially saving for later use) the models. Please do include a jpg image. Many people will not bother to download and checkout a skp image without some sense that it will be worthwhile.

Most of us do only post the jpg's unless the posting is in the Components Forum. By posting jpg's alone we are allowing others to see and comment on our work without giving it away. The generosity of those who are willing to 'give away' is certainly appreciated, but there is nothing wrong with not providing the model file. Nobody should feel obligated to share their models. With regards to etiquette sometimes you'll see a jpg-only posting where others may start asking for the model file so they can use it in their own models. To many of us posting such a request in a thread can be rude. It has the effect of making the original poster feel obligated to share and can 'put them on the spot'. It is probably better to make such a request by private message.

Jerry -- much thanks for your contributions.

Regards, Ross

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I'm in the process of joining one of the local Rotary groups. It has me thinking about fund-raising ideas that I might be able to propose and get involved with.

The one most in my mind is belt-sander drag racing. A few years ago I saw a news feature about it on a tv news program. How it is done is a 50 foot double slot track is built of wood. It can be on the floor or elevated. Belt sanders are placed in the start position with extension cords laid out along side the track. The sanders have their triggers taped open and when a switch is throw to start the race they get juice and fly down the slot track. Sometimes the tracks are even fitted out to do 'photo-finishes'. The races are a family-oriented spectator event. In the one I saw on tv it was very popular for all ages -- they had brought in seniors from an old-folks home and they just loved it. The kids had fun too. The racers had fun. Everyone had fun. They had different classes of machines from stock to highly modified. Many of the people just decorated their sanders in silly fun ways that allowed them to still be used as sanders. Even very stock sanders can lead to very exciting races. There is lots of action as it doesn't take long to set up between heats. In the races I saw it was a stock Porter-Cable sander from the 1960's that won the whole thing. There are so many variables that it isn't the person with the most money who will win. It can be the kid with dad's old sander modified with barbie-doll heads who ends up winning.

It seems to me these belt sander races could be a good fund-raising event. It is likely the materials for the track could be donated by a building supply store. Community businesses could be solicited for prizes. Local businesses could be asked to put in entries or sponsor entries for things like local youth groups like sports teams etc.

There is lots of info about belt sander racing on the web as it is a growing 'sport', so it should be possible to learn all about what works and how to set such an event up.

Alan - it seems like belt-sander racing might be a good match for you and your woodworking mates!

Regards, Ross

Hey Anssi do you remember the early MacDraw? In the early days it was like a 'Pro' version of MacPaint offering more precision. I knew people who used to use it for CAD (and their construction drawings were criminally bad). Perhaps of interest is the fact that eBay was founded by the same guy who created MacDraw for Claris. He's now a billionaire more than eight times over. Here's the story.

Regards, Ross

It's a rainy Saturday morning here. For something to do I decided to pull out an old jpg export from SU and give a digital watercolour makeover. This one used only the one export -- I didn't use multiple exports like 'lines only' and 'colours only' for overlaying with this one. Xara Xtreme Pro (vector illustration software) was used to produce the effects by building them up with numerous filter-manipulated transparent overlays.

The bright-coloured landscape elements are my homage to Tom. To me those sorts of colours now always remind me of his work. I don't usually have such bright colours in my renderings but on a rainy day like this I needed the cheering up.

Regards, Ross

Thanks guys. The grass and landscaping against the barn was quickly added in Xara. Likewise in Xara I added some character to the featureless lollypop trees I had behind the building. The roadway was however in the model & the Podium render. The other thing I added in Xara was some minor highlights and shadowing to the rather featureless greenhouse I had modelled.

Regards, Ross

Here's a project I've been having fun with. It's a barn for a commercial tree farm. It's a bit more 'upscale' than the traditional barns of our region. The form though is fairly vernacular. It will be used for storing equipment plus have a work area, an office, washroom, and lunch room. There will be a loft over top of the office end of the barn. The rendering was created from a simple podium render. Then in Xara Xtreme Pro I added the sky, bushes, text and matting effect. Another thing I tried was to add a depth of field effect by blurring the far end of the barn. To do that a just did a gaussian blur on a copy of the podium render and then blended it with the other non-blurred podium render. While the result isn't photorealistic I do think it will help my client get a good idea of how it could look.

Regards, Ross

:thup: I really like the image Holgster. The composition is great and it does a really good job of effectively communicating the design and its materials. Using Mateo's birds is a great touch!

Regards, Ross

Hi kwick7 -- all registered users of Podium have access to the Beta. If your getting along fine with Kerkythea then you may never need Podium. If I'm not mistaken, Podium uses the Kerkythea rendering engine so it will never be any faster than it. What Podium does have going for it is the simplified user interface and the way it works inside SU as a plugin.

Thanks for the feedback Tina, Solo and nomeradona. The tips are appreciated too.

Regards, Ross

Yesterday I decided to have another look at Podium. I'm glad I did because the beta of 1.5 offers quite a bit. Over time I've realized that for a renderer to fit into my workflow it's going to have be easy. I don't need to achieve perfection -- just something I can use in a reasonable amount of time. The new Podium might just be the ticket.

For the attached image I just gave the pool water face some reflectivity and then told Podium to render with the 'noisy' setting. I then left the room to watch some tv with the family. Upon returning I found Podium had completed 150 passes and noise wasn't an issue in the render so I stopped it. I opened the jpg in Xara Xtreme Pro and added a little sharpening and adjusted the brightness and contrast slightly. That was about 1 minute of post processing. I'm pleased with the result especially since I know Podium is capable of better. I realize for instance that adding some bump mapping might have made a better result. Adding reflectivity to the glass would likely improve the results too. Even without such touches I'm pleased that it did so well basically just rendering the straight SU model.

Regards, Ross

Thanks for sharing this series with us Kwistenbiebel. It is great to see how it is progressing.

One little thing on the old car. The main material on the wheels (other than the rubber) is wood. It would most likely look like oak with a shellacked finished. Sometimes they are painted - probably because maintaing a good shallack finish was probably difficult. If I'm not mistaken all the metal work on the car would be brass (or nickle-plated brass). I'd suggest that metal might look more real in a matt finish and not so polished. Early tires were white rubber.

Model T's were not the cars of the rich so they were very utilitarian. For many years they were only sold with black bodies and the paint would not have been as glossy as modern car paint. Henry Ford said something like "you can get one in any colour you want -- as long as its black". If you want to be accurate you should find out what year your model is and use a colour offered in that year. It's liikely most owners today have them restored to an original colour.

Regarding the car if it is in the foreground...
An idea might be to put some cleaning products around. Like some polishing rags, a can of Turtle Wax, and some Brasso.

Regards, Ross

@unknownuser said:

@unknownuser said:

less than $10 US and about 5 minutes of your time to protect yourself.

Registering a name with multiple extensions can cost considerably more than $10 -- and the time and effort can be significant. While there are some registry services offering very low prices note that they are often tied to hosting services. Many people stick with tried and true (but relatively costly) services like 'Network Solutions' because they are suspecious of the crop of low-cost services that could turn out to be scammers or agressive marketers.

Also the reason Google.info goes to Google.com (or a localized country version) is because Google registered their .info and have it directed to their site. For companies like Google it makes sense for them to register every possible version of their name. For the rest of us it probably makes little economic sense. (I agree fully with what Jackson wrote).

********* NOW TAKE NOTICE KIDS! *********
There is a really cool web tool called Netcraft DNS Search that allows you to research what urls are DNS-registered using specific search terms. My link above shows there are 19 sites that use the word "entourage". It is a very useful tool for finding enfringements and great when choosing a domain name. My understanding is its only finding urls that are in DNS databases meaning real sites and ignores the speculatively registered domain names not currently active. Anyways, you can have hours of fun browsing the net using the tool. It makes an interesting way to explore it.

Regards, Ross

Happy Birthday Guys! I was trying to think of birthday songs for you. For reasons unknown my mind wandered to the Canadian band Big Sugar. You guys probably aren't familiar with them. Maybe the reason for my thinking of Gordie & his band is you guys seem really 'hip' and Big Sugar exude hip...

Birthday song for Gaieus
Birthday song for ypnos1

Happy B-day!
Regards, Ross