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Oh, man, oh, man,
As I was reading your posts, I started thinking "BIOS", and was cringing at the mention of hard-drives, CDs, etc.
I was mentally composing a response, when I got to your last posting... Whew! (Like a short horror story. Just after Halloween, too!)
Glad to read your recovery report.
Taff
SketchUp is just a tool, as is, say, ... a telephone. I don't hear anyone asking "I now have a telephone, who should I call?" (You're obviously going to call someone you know; someone important to you.)
The same applies to SketchUp. Model something you know; something important to you.
I know, I said SketchUp is "just" a tool, but I agree it's a really cool tool! Learn all you can about SketchUp's features, study as many tutorials as you can find, read the Users Guide, and practice, practice, practice. When the time comes to model something really important to you, you're more likely to have the required skills.
Taff
Using Whaat's plugin, texture from NASA's "Blue Marble" project, and a 4096-pixel OpenGL-texture registry hack, I'm delighted to find that I can reproduce (totally within SketchUp) results comparable to the Blue Marble globe images on the NASA webpage! (No external rendering - these are cropped SketchUp screen grabs.)
(I was inspired to try this after seeing José Manuel's model at the 3D Warehouse...
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=65929d262a58d9e8fdaa51cdb5785d22
...and wondered whether I could push texture resolution to its max.)
Marvelous tool, Dale You've fulfilled a wish! 
(...and, of course, I used a geodesic sphere to provide the triangular tessellation.)
Taff
Bep,
I fondly remember "Tin Tin" from my youth!
For rendering, I would keep the "comic book" look. An exaggerated FOV also helps to achieve the appearance of comic illustration.
I had fun with your model. Here's a screen-grab, straight from SketchUp:
Thanks for "the gift,"
Taff
bernhard,
There is a centerpoint plugin provided with SketchUp, which will insert a guidepoint at the center of circles, arcs and polygons. You have to enable the SketchUp extensions:
"Window > Preferences > Extensions" and check the box for "Ruby Script Examples"
When you right-click on a circle boundary (not the face,) the context menu will now include a "Point at center" option.
Taff
bernhard,
The "follow me" tool extrudes a profile face along a path, and doesn't copy or bend existing constructions. There's no default tool to "bend" a construction around a path. However, you can copy constructs in a radial array, around the centerpoint of your circle.
The attached is not a tutorial, but the end result of radial copying of a component around the circle centerpoint. Take a look at the individual parts of the model, and read in the Users Guide the description of "radial" copying. The method is something you should master, as you are likely to need it often.
Taff
@unknownuser said:
":2qzfuidq]...I checked my reg for the "max" file,none there
The "MaxGLSize" DWORD value does not appear in the registry by default; you have to add it to the "...\SketchUp6\Textures" key, as described in the initial post of the original discussion:
Maximum OpenGL resolution
Based on comments, it appears that all three (hardware, driver and registry setting) have to support the higher resolution.
Taff
Hi, Jim (et.al.)
Last month, there was an article in PC Magazine,...
...How to Upload High-Quality YouTube Videos
I haven't tried it myself, but the article might provide the info you need.
(It's apparent that vimeo still beats YouTube, hands down.)
Taff
bernhard,
So, which driver worked for you?
(You are on Vista, right?)
This info could benefit others...
Taff
mirjman,
Hmm... I know that OpenGL definitions (versions) have progressed through greater-and-greater resolutions (the latest version supports 4096!)
Perhaps the SketchUp OpenGL registry setting is not all that's required. Surely the graphics hardware/driver also has to support the higher resolutions. (I would first suspect the driver.)
You may be able to find out more information from the ATI website, regarding your current driver. It sounds like your experiments should have produced similar results to mine (i.e.; your testing method sounds valid.)
You might also try the realtech-vr GLview testing program.
When I run a GLview test of my OpenGL card/driver, "Max texture size" is included in the report:
%(#008000)[Renderer: Quadro FX 1500M
Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
Memory: 256 MB
Version: 2.1.1
Max texture size: 4096 x 4096
...]
Taff
@unknownuser said:
":37r9m15m]...tested it by applying the same image at different resolutions to two planes...
Wait a minute, ...what?
To test SketchUp's ability to display a texture at two different OpenGL registry settings, you only need ONE plane. I saved a 'model' with a single plane, textured with a 2048x2048-pixel image. I saved the model with a top-view, zoomed-in to an area of interest.
I grabbed a screen shot, closed SketchUp, changed the registry setting, re-opened SketchUp and the model (with the top-view, as previously saved) and grabbed another screen shot. As you can see, they're obviously different. The only change I made between screen grabs was the registry setting (1024 vs. 2048).
When the OpenGL registry setting is "1024," the detailed 2048x2048 texture is resampled for screen display, down to 1024x1024. When the registry setting is "2048," the detailed texture is not resampled, and the extra detail is retained.
By comparing two different texture images, you're potentially introducing additional variables. Making a single change (i.e.; the registry setting) ensures that only one variable can possibly affect the test results.
Any help there?
Taff
@unknownuser said:
":1s57y9pz]Am I missing something here? ...I had no noticeable change in the display.
I don't know what to tell you. The registry change makes a noticeable difference, both on my display and in printouts.
Taff
DELL Precision M90 / 2 GB RAM
nVidia Quadro FX 1500M / 256 MB
nVidia driver: Forceware 162.65
bernhard,
I have a Quadro, as well, and it works great. I downloaded a new driver from nVidia (as opposed to Microsoft or DELL):
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us
Windows Vista 32-bit drivers:
Quadro 178.26 / Oct 15, 2008
Quadro 169.96 / Jun 6, 2008
Quadro 169.47 / Apr 3, 2008
Quadro 169.39 / Feb 22, 2008
ForceWare 162.65 / Nov 9, 2007
ForceWare 162.67 / Dec 11, 2007
Windows XP drivers:
Quadro 178.26 / Oct 15, 2008
Quadro 169.96 / Jun 6, 2008
Quadro 169.47 / Apr 3, 2008
Quadro 169.39 / Feb 22, 2008
ForceWare 162.65 / Nov 9, 2007
ForceWare 162.67 / Dec 11, 2007
ForceWare 93.81 / Nov 28, 2006
If you have Windows XP, nVidia offers a [url=http://www.nvidia.com/page/partner_certified_drivers.html:zbsup7u9]"Partner Certified Driver"[/url:zbsup7u9] for SketchUp. That's the one that fixed some minor issues I was having with SketchUp.
If you have Vista, experiment with the available drivers, to see which provides the best performance. (Your description sounds like a common Vista problem, so I'm guessing that you have Vista.) If one of the above drivers doesn't fix your problem, you may benefit from this 'workaround' for Vista: [url=http://sketchup.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=69299:zbsup7u9]"Freezing upon launch" - SketchUp Help Center[/url:zbsup7u9]
Taff
%(#BF00BF)[DELL Precision M90 / 2 GB RAM
nVidia Quadro FX 1500M / 256 MB
nVidia driver: Forceware 162.65]
Alan,
I applied the registry 'hack' you described back in May...
Maximum OpenGL resolution
...and it worked great!
beauphilippe,
If you do change the registry, keep in mind that no one else will be able to see the improvement in your model, unless they've also changed their own registry. If you need the higher resolution for your own purposes only (for example, to trace or print,) then the registry change may be of practical use to you.
Taff
Eric,
You can import the texture image you currently have, and use it to texture both sides of a face. Go into the "Materials" browser and edit the texture's opacity with the slider at the bottom. (You may have to drag down the bottom edge of the browser window, to see the opacity slider.)
(I don't have Kerkythea, so I can't test rendering outcome.)
Regards,
Taff
Mike,
If you're a woodworker, learning to use SketchUp, you'll benefit from Fine Woodworking's blog on SketchUp:
Design.Click.Build.
Lumberjocks offers a free plugin for SketchUp, called 'CutList,' which produces cut lists (obviously) and diagrams of wood layouts:
CutList 4.0
(Be sure internet 'cookies' are turned on, or the download won't work.)
Regarding your problem, specifically, this blog entry demonstrates orthographic plan production:
An Orthographic Drawing from 3D Model
And this one addresses print settings:
Printing from SketchUp
The above description covers all the steps better than I could, were I to try repeating it all here.
Regards,
Taff
mirjman,
I've found that png-textured faces will cast (and receive) shadows just fine, EXCEPT...
...when they have transparency defined in the png.
This example uses two png textures, one with transparency, one without. Your described problem is demonstrated by the larger square face, textured with a png having transparent areas. It will not receive shadows, and casts a shadow which ignores the transparent areas (known deficiency, for which a 'fix' has been requested by many.) The other png-textured face casts and receives shadows properly.
I don't know whether the next version of SketchUp can address the issue, since (I suspect that) it may be a characteristic of OpenGL, not SketchUp.
Regards,
Taff
Steve,
Did you recently upgrade from SU5 to SU6?
That '.dll' sounds like a 'carry over' from SketchUp 5. If you copy certain ruby files from a previous installation, to a new version-6 installation, you can cause problems when SketchUp gets to the plugin-initialization phase of starting up.
The best prevention is to NOT copy ALL the '.rb' files from a SU5 folder to a SU6 folder, but to install the plugins one-at-a-time. You may be able to fix your current set of plugins, by referring to this discussion from May of this year:
SketchUp Pro Help Group
Taff
Monotonx,
Before "Cloud" there was...
At the Ruby Library Depot (http://www.crai.archi.fr/RubyLibraryDepot/Ruby/en_geo_page.htm) there is a plugin named, "points_cloud_triangulation" that you need to download, and drop into your SketchUp "plugins" folder.
http://www.crai.archi.fr/RubyLibraryDepot/Ruby/points_cloud_triangulation.rb
You can use "cloud" to import the guidepoints, but skip the triangulation. Then, select only a portion of the the guidepoints, and triangulate with "points_cloud_triangulation." This plugin will permit you to complete the task in selected sections.
This ruby requires another rubyscript to function, "delauney2.rb" (but the link is broken.) Playing around, I found that it's misspelled. The correct download link is:
http://www.crai.archi.fr/RubyLibraryDepot/Ruby/delauney2.rb
(Also drop in the "plugins" folder.)
When you next start SketchUp, a new menu item will appear in the "Plugins" menu list -- "Triangulate points"
To use it, select a set of guidepoints then run "Triangulate points". I should caution you not to select too many points. I selected ~8,000 guidepoints, and it took over 15 minutes to parse through them. It was, however, successful at producing the edges and triangular faces, although some outer edge cleanup is required.
Might that serve your purpose?
Regards,
Taff
(Okay, now that all that's out of the way...)
wanderer, how's the graphics issue? Were you able to find a driver for your graphics card that will allow you to use hardware-acceleration? That's the best fix, as disabling hardware can be a real slowdown.
Is your graphics hardware a "3D-class" video card, as advised/required by SketchUp?
What are the hardware and software requirements for SketchUp?
Perhaps someone else here has the same hardware, and can provide some advice on a good driver.
Taff
DELL Precision M90 / 2 GB RAM
nVidia Quadro FX 1500M / 256 MB
nVidia driver: Forceware 162.65
