Exporting to DAE or OBJ doesn't preserve components. Anyone know if there is a way to do that??

Thanks guys! I have this as my screensaver at work. Rich, sorry if I put this in the wrong place... I was just happy I made something "postable" (Is that a word?) It really is about 90% post pro, combining images with Gimp and the model output from Kerkythea. (I added two spotlights in kerky, for the spaceship, to model the lighting found in the NASA image and then combined the images in Gimp) David has really opened my eyes to how much I can accomplish after a render. You really stop worrying about little mistakes because you know you can fix them later or even improve them. This has really sped up my working time. Thanks again! s

Thanks for the help! (Thanks Solo for the thumbs up.) I like building computers but sometimes it is nice to just plug it in and go...(lousy timing for buying a new computer. Who has money at this time of year.) And thanks for the tip about downloading windows and using the sticker number. I think I will start it from scratch instead of fighting all the advertising..... Thanks! Stuart

Okay I made a quick concept last night and posted it. http://www.designbymany.com/project/glass-bridge-concept-building-building So far I have a 20% chance...HA! [image: glass-bridge-concept-1-400x300.png]

Thanks Jeff! Let me look at it a bit, I'm not used to dynamic components. It look pretty cool. Thanks again! s

Thanks for the help! Dumb me, I was using the "get models" under the file menu. When you import models this way you get just the model. If you go to google warehouse with a web browser and then click "download model" and then click "open in sketchup" you get the scenes. I did not know that layers that are turned off could be a problem. I will check this out. thanks again! I think I need the "stupid" ruby mentioned earlier.... s

Thanks Jeff!

Ah well, yeah, they are not the ugliest ones (the top on was opened in 1849)

@jarynzlesa said: Brilliant idea tallbridgeguy . Nice animation. Have you patented it already? If not, I'm going to do that . Thanks! I think if I ever build it I will probably need a full time lawyer to cover the accidents! s

Yes, more like that here. http://www.evolo.us/category/2011/ One of mine, just playing around. [image: steampunk-bridge-2.jpg]

Hi to all. A very good companion for Sketchup is Designspark Mechanical also with 3D pdf output. It is based on Spaceclaim and it is free! Giovanni

I remember doing a beautiful photo of a bridge in Laguna Niguel, California. I shot it with a view camera on very fine grain film and made a large print for the engineering firm I was working for. What I did not mention to anyone was that if you looked in the shadows of the bridge pier you could see a spray painted message(you needed good eyes and a magnifying glass) telling everyone what a high school cheerleader was doing for the local football team after school.

Wow! davidh, the house with the snow is beautiful! All great images. I can see that PS has to become a bigger part of my working skills. Thanks for posting the images! TBG

Thanks! My red wine version didn't turn out so well...[image: PFtq_redglass.jpg] I just tried the red one again using DOF in Kerky, first time I ever used it and I think it came out pretty well? [image: 4ZWh_reddof2.jpg]

thanks for the tip, not dumb at all.. actually is the first thing the getting started tutorial says but I never check it, and I think many others do the same, then we get all troubles with resizing textures

I used the sandbox tools to make some quick terrain but the bumps are not showing well in KT. (I know use a bump map) So I tired the "color by Z" plugin and I thought I could make a bump map of the terrain to use in KT. The color by Z gives a color to all the different faces based on height and these faces show up in KT as different colors (obviously) si I could work with each face individually. I'm not sure where I am going with this....but all I wanted was some quick landscape around the bridge. Does this make sense? [image: FflE_terrainbridge1.jpg] [image: JlLX_ter2copy.jpg] [image: cnSK_terrainbridgeZ.jpg] [image: 6aIM_terrainbridgeZ2.jpg] [image: mbk0_vistmorm-copy.jpg]

Thanks, I tried the "extrude along path" and that seemed to work great! Thanks everybody! s

Is this something that others would like? I have very limited ruby programing experience but I could look into it. thanks! s

Thanks! I didn't know about the mask render in kerky but I will give that a try. (what do you think of the modeling by the way? Bridge concepts always seem to be white now) Updated: I tried the mask render in kerky and it gave a pretty good mask that I could use in photoshop to "cutout" my bridge and place it into a background photo. I will try the match photo in sketchup and then rendering in kerky. If that makes sense. I would still be interested in web tutorials that show examples of adding models to real images. I am very new at making models and photos mix.(for shading help, making it look real, etc) Update 2: Just a quick render and photomatch for the bridge shown above. I need shading, scale, etc and the angle might not be correct but I think I am on the right track.. Thanks for the help! s [image: U6eE_crossbow1.jpg]