In my experience rendering work flows require quite a few passes to tweak the image before arriving at a final image. For pro's who can do it in one or two runs this may be an option but I suspect costs will stack up fairly quickly for those using rendering as a means to test a series of design iterations.

@unknownuser said:

Is that also exploration...??

Exploration no, but exploitation probably. Especially if we show unquestioning support for an enterprise where you do not know under which conditions the caps are made by exploiting under aged labor.

The world is moving on from one where decisions are made merely on price. Looming environmental and recent financial chaos dictates that you have to consider things from a wider perspective and not blindly support vendors and products without an understanding of how your support may be contributing and sustaining an exploitative or disruptive enterprise.

@unknownuser said:

I think it is up to think it is up to the individual to decide what is an acceptable rate. By analogy, no government insists manufacturers pay overseas suppliers local rates.

But most governments do have requirements relating to outsourcing services across borders and youngsters here should be aware of that. Anybody offering/accepting services outside their regulatory framework could be breaking the law.

Given the fact that the moderation here will sanction entire threads even at the merest suggestion of copyright infringement your general stance relating to providing a platform for potential rip-off merchants seems inconsistent.

@frederik said:

What Gaieus - and thereby the SCF - is doing, is offering some space here to let people post such offerings...

There are quite a few recent examples of posts where work /employment has been offered by anonymous companies/individuals requesting detailed personal info and portfolios. In the age where ID theft is rampant does it not make sense that such entities should declare their details in order to make these requests? Professional companies will not be dependent on marketing materials provided by subcontractors and this alone should raise a question mark.

@unknownuser said:

Perhaps you should also remember, that there's A LOT of very talented young people, using SU... Most of these are using SU because it's lots of FUN, but if they can make a dollar or two on some real projects, why not let them...
Please also remember that in some parts of the world this is actually an OK paid job...
You assume that they will get paid and not be exploited when all the danger signs are there. Professional companies will not expect to pay third world rates when they are selling on the service based on first world fees. If they do then that is exploitation.

A reasonable policy would be that a company should offer the services at the market rates of the country within which it is located. This together with available info about the business and some sort of confirmation that the poster has authority to make the request should provide a far more reasonable proposition if you wish to ensure that the young people you refer to are not exploited.

@unknownuser said:

They may seem cheap prices for some but a good money for some other, poorer members especially in these economic days.

You are underwriting exploitation of your members...

Am I understanding this right? You want a model of your CAD design, marketing samples plus 10 (rendered!?) images each for $10-$20 a pop?

I think it should be forum policy that members who seek work in this way should provide full info about their company.

The most important thing you need in order to find a well paid Sketchup job is a really good portfolio of work. No employer will show away a candidate with a superior portfolio but without a 'qualification'. Inversely no certification is going to get you a job if your portfolio is weak.

If you cannot build one up out of paid work you will have to put in some hours and build some models in your own time. If you are a designer this may give you some freedom to build models of your own work as apposed to that of an employer, allowing you to demonstrate your modeling and design skills in the portfolio. If not, you at least have the freedom to select some really interesting existing topics for your models. I guess what I am saying is: Do not just be reliant on building your portfolio with paid work as you may be reliant on the quality of another's designs to show of your skills. It takes time (years) to build up a good one and you need to take a critical stance on it and weed out the weaker work in favor of the best graphical elements as your skills improve. Focus on quality and breadth of work as apposed to quantity. Find the best examples of Sketchup work and try and achieve the same standard in your portfolio. Try and develop some element of individuality in your portfolio images by not using stock models for props (trees, poeple etc.) as far as you can and pay careful attention to using materials, colors as these are often a giveaway sign of your experience and skill.

If you have that in place and you still want a certificate - then go for it.

As a side note: The best paid and most enjoyable sketchup jobs are those where you are not simply building models of the designs of others. If you are a designer your efficient Sketchup skills should fast-track you into a designer role if you can demonstrate that you can integrate your design work flow with your modeling work. If not, try and develop an understanding of the design work flow and how to translate the designer's sketches into concepts. Become the pencil-toting chief designer's right hand man and you will soon be an irreplaceable element of the team, while getting a lot more from the job than what just modeling/rendering will give you.

How amazing is this?
http://www.jzbukvic.com/paintings.html

The comments above the images are especially interesting.

• I like this one:

@unknownuser said:

Tone is the king, colour is a mere assistant.

.

A short video explanation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEQyCcageGg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvGMDEOOp8k&feature=related

Now I have heard everything:
Clint Eastwood (now known as Klont Oosthuizen) - has made a movie about the 1995 Rugby World Cup complete with Francois Pienaar and Joel Strafskop.
http://filmdrunk.uproxx.com/2009/10/trailer-for-clint-eastwoods-rugby-movie

I didn't know they had a team in Carmel by the Sea...
.

A summary of this topic should go onto that list for example:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=25233

@al hart said:

Yes,

But a good one might be out of our price range: $1,800.00

I think it is relative to what you will get out of the promo. Run it on CGArchitect.com also and lot of CG artists using other systems will be all over your application if this was at stake.(-You may have to ask that the render file is submitted to ensure that it was rendered with NXT! )
Perhaps making the prize subject to a minimum number of entries received would cover your bets...

Older technology but still an object of supreme desire that is sure to raise a lot of interest in your competition:
Cintiq 21ux http://www.wacom.eu/index2.asp?pid=90&lang=en

A positive idea that can be spun off from this thread would be to create a 'Ruby extendibily' subsection where developers could post sample 'How To..' code for linking SU to external applications, libraries, databases & web-services etc., through native extensions, Win32API, WIN32OLE, file IO, SOAP, and custom bridges etc. For example : Linking SU to Excel, SQL databases, XML, text files, connecting to a web services, linking to CAD. etc
Starter code for interaction of SU Ruby with external libraries created with the plethora of languages in use could be posted over time by coders proficient in those languages. Such a code repository would be invaluable to existing developers proficient in other languages who wish to use Ruby to glue Sketchup to existing code and applications. This could also serve as a catalyst for seeing more plugins and extensions becoming available over time.
[- And for novices the sample code could help to inform a choice for selection of a supporting coding language.)

It strikes me that where tonal variation (darks/lights) is generally important to provide the structure (readability) of an image, it becomes less important when the line work is of this quality. This allows a lot of freedom in the washes as your eye is not that much reliant on the accuracy of colour and tone in order to understand the image.

@unknownuser said:

and I am reading up on C++ currently.. But it gives a bit of background into C, C# and Java

That may take some time...
.

@adamb said:

The thread is about producing Extensions for Ruby (which is written in C).
Really? I thought the opening line of the starter post was related to interfacing SU with external .dll's - which can be written with a variety of languages. Seen within that broader premise I think the comments would be misleading to novices looking for an unbiased opinion about selecting a language.

@unknownuser said:

It's all well saying Mono, but the reality is that on a Mac, Xcode has great support for C/C++ and not Mono/C#.

You may notice that my response was in context with the statement that .NET code cannot run cross platform, so I am at a loss to understand the logic of your point. Does XCode run on Windows platforms yet?, - I didn't know, nor does it matter as my design workflow is Windows based.

TBD, not sure what you want to know.- I have written a number of external .dlls that I interface with from Sketchup as part of my daily workflow, so I can assure you that it is possible, if you are suggesting that it can't be done.

TBD, How is this relevant in the context of the thread and specifically my post, - unless you wish to narrow the scope of the discussion in order to make your point?

I can remember an AutoCAD guy in the office way back in SU V3 insisting that I show him how I was going to do a boolean intersection with SU. Like him you are missing the point and like him I don't think you will ever get the point.

@unknownuser said:

and you want your code to never run on a Mac and ...

• An good example of a half-researched comment. Ever heard of the Mono Project? http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page

@unknownuser said:

If you want to do simple things go with "simple" languages but after running the simple examples you will have problems that need knowledge of the things that run under the hood.

TBD, that comment reminds me of the silly remarks you made a while back on the old @Last forum relating to the Gelato rendering system until the NVIDIA development team put you in your place. These languages have been used on projects of far greater complexity than anything you will ever code in C.

If you like C/C++ then fine, but don't mislead the youngsters who are contemplating first steps into choosing a programming language. I have personally used .NET for more than 10 years on a range of design automation projects, some for one of the largest engineering firms in the world, and I do not recognise any of the characteristics either of you assign to these languages in your posts.