Thanks Csaba, yes that is exactly what I need, a layout document.

We would probably need to transfer it with "Transfer Big Files" or something like that.

Thank you in advance for all very kind offers.

Construction Documents: Architecture, Engineering will do,
Not furniture so much as it doesn't show all the goo gaws and do hickeys.
Thanks.

Ok, I have a lot of nerve, but I am asking anyway.

In my SketchUp Classes I leave no more than half an hour to cover Layout.
There is a lot of "how to" to cover and there is no time to show how thorough a document can be created.
It would be great to have a sample document, already done, which we can explore a little in class, impress the folks and then allow them to take a copy home to spend time "deconstructing" it, as a learning exercise.

Does anyone here have one that they might be willing to share for such a purpose? Credit will be given of course.

Thanks so much.

Ah yes, many shoes have been ruined that way.

Again, from hand rendering: Atmospheric perspective is implied when items that recede in the background are both less detailed and become progressively more blue because the atmosphere particles between the viewer and the item viewed are thicker the more the depth.
When I was doing illustrations in Piranesi, it was very easy to apply all surface colours with a "depth" fade. I always painted over a white surface ( I was careful NOT to us a grayscale version of the colours applied in SketchUp because the grays then are not really shadow areas, they are the tonal value of the colours applied) with gray shading that I would change to a blue hue in areas in shade and a purplish hue on the sunward side,but that is a whole other topic. So that when the colours applied faded they would fade to whatevers was beneath, white generally so less saturated. As a second step, I would sample the sky colour and use a semi transparent version of it as a reverse fade toward the viewer: So more transparent blue far away and less so as you approach the viewer. I would paint bucket the background trees with this semi transparent blue which also would fade as the trees approach the viewer. Doint this would serve 2 purposes, the semi-transparent blue/white colour would de-saturate the background trees and also obscure the details as the colour shifs would merge close to the blue paing colour. I often exaggerated this, as artists often do, in order to really get the sense of depth.

This works with Photorealistic work as well and really does improve the image. However, this does not rely on sliders or settings or anything technical. It is something that is measured by the eye. It can be done in Photoshop as well because one can apply colours in fades, whether you have Photoshop 3D or not.

Changing the colours of the shadows and applying some reflected light (that is incorporating colours of items around the structure on the surface) would go a long way to making it look more like real life and less like CG, also.
There is an additional step. It has to do with focus. Entourage such as trees and plants is necessarily supplied at sharp focus as it is not possible to create sharp focus from difuse. The opposite IS possible however, and foreground details may be "DE-emphasized" so that it allows the viewer to focus on the central object. In my opinion "blurring" objects is NOT the same as less focus. In order to de-emphasize, I sample a midtone colour of the object that I am trying to lower in focus and paint bucket a semi-transparent version of this over that object. Again the colour distinctions begin to fade as the paint bucket makes them merge and the details are lost.

You don't need to use entourage out of the box, you can make it fit the purpose, the perspective and the lighting by using "paint".

I am attaching 2 pictures, a "Before" and "After" so to speak of an example used from my Chapter on Composition from Bonnie Roskes Piranesi Book.
Please note, the "Before" has many more things wrong with it from a compositional or rendering perspective, than were addressed in the "After". The "After" is NOT intended to be an exampler of a "fixed" or "good" rendering. What IS illustrated, amongst a few other issues addressed in it, is the result of some of this "atmospheric" as well as "de-emphasizing" paint bucketing.

Eric, because I was staying in Denver and not Boulder, I really didn't have the time I would have liked to chat with many of you guys. I really wish I would have had more of an opportunity to talk with but I am so glad to have met you in person at last.
Now, as to Tina Anne Styles, I am sorely disappointed she was a no show. I don't have too many gal pals around here and it would have been nice to meet.

So maybe: Next Year in Jerusalem! as they say ( or as we say)
Meaning 2 years from now in Boulder?

How nice to be remembered! Thanks Guys.

I'm so glad I dropped in. The very best wishes Mike. Happy belated birthday greetings!

Just in case,

Styles>Edit>Face Settings Enable Transparency (ticked) Transparency Quality > NICER

Yes?

No one has worked on it since V5 and frankly there were bugs in it in the WIN workings even then.
You can still find the download but it automatically installs under the @Last Folder in SketchUp5 Plug Ins folder. I have all the files ( there seems to be a license file that comes with it and installs under the SketchUp5 Folder) so I can provide.

I don't think that Google has made it a priority to work on this. Would it be kosher if someone here picked up the slack and fixed it? Is anyone interested?

You CAN get vector DWG exported from Layout. It is a setting option. You need to change your Layout Image to vector first.

Take a look at this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWCve65JJhI&feature=player_embedded - Drafting in LayOut

I am leaving on the Saturday so I will be available to party on Friday TOOOOO!

But I will be staying in Denver with a friend so maybe I should get a car.

Any of you guys remember Ray Brown from the old forum and from time to time on this one? I nominated him and he is coming as well and he too is leaving on Saturday.

Can't wait!

Don't want to take all the credit but Mario from Quebec is one of my babies too. Good on me.
I have about 6 invites left so contact me if you are serious and I can use them wisely.

thanks so much Csaba. Now I can write that letter.
Even I have trouble with some of the new specialties they have. When I went with my son to the information day there were all kinds of new disciplines. How about this one: BioInformatics.

Czaba, do they really use this word in Hungary instead of "Computer"?
That is how Google translates it but I was certain you all just say Computer, no?
Just like Science Fiction, or Sci Fi, is "SciFi".

SO then how do you say that someone is studying "Computer Science" in School? How about "Cognitive Science"?

How about "Artificial Intelligence". My son is starting University next year and that is his dual major so that he can specialize in "Artificial Intelligence" but I don't know how to write it in Hungarian so my 80 year old aunt will understand. Help please?

TIG mentioned "materials" in the style settings and maybe you didn't catch that.
That could be a biggy.

Materials could create a great deal of overhead by requiring SKetchUp to recalculate the perspective representation of the brick and roofing etc in perspective as it orbits. If you change the "face style" setting to just "shaded" instead of the default "shaded with textures" you may find an improvement.

BTW: what is way too soon? You don't have a lot of repetitious trees or curvy things in place?

Have you considered using SimuTerra along with SketchUp?
http://www.compuneering.com/simuterra.php

It is inexpensive and will save you hours of time as well as accomplish what you cannot accomplish in SketchUp alone.

SimuTerra is listed on the SketchUp site as a SketchUp partner and back in V5 there was even a Plug-In version.

Erez Anzel still supports SimuTerra though he is working on other things these days. I know many users who swear by this product.

Take a look, try the trial download (MAC version is available) and see if it won't help you.

That is a really open ended question. More specific information would be required to be of any real help.
If you have the insertion of entourage working only some of the time, my first guess would be that you accidently leave one of the "locks" on when you are placing entourage, sometimes. Make sure all locks: colour, material, orientation, plane are all OFF when placing entourage or it won't work.

Aside from that obvious one, I would need more specifics for each given problem. Hope that helps a bit.

Fond memories Csaba. That is why I so wish you would be willing to take some kickbacks from your association with SkechUcation and let us fund your trip. I'm good for a share. I would love to see you again.!

I don't know there Csaba, I can make some mean errors in Hungarian I tell you.

For instance: when I was in Hungary in 1975 I expressed surprise that they were still using salt containers as opposed to salt shakers, but when I said salt shaker I accidentaly said : só szorzó (salt multiplier) instead of só szóró (salt spreader or shaker).

Small difference to me, big difference to the folks who were listening and falling down laughing.

I won't tell what other gaffs I made but suffice it to say the family found me very entertaining.

sketchup will not import PDFs. You can change it to another image file type. Import into sketchup.
Then you must scale it using the tape measure tool. Then you will need to draw edges over it.