SketchUp [Plugins] Blog

New SketchUp Blog from Poland

2010-01-05T21:35:00.002-05:00

A new SketchUp blog in the Polish language has made its appearance just this week -

bocian writes:

Hi,

A few days ago I opened a new blog describing the Google SketchUp.
Service is not yet fully operational, but a few days the situation should be changed.

Content are published in Polish, this is the first of its kind blog in my country.

Visit Sketchupownia - Polski blog o Google SketchUP.

DrPetter's homepage - Sculptris

2010-01-05T13:52:00.001-05:00

DrPetter's homepage - Sculptris: "This is a work-in-progress sculpting tool that I've been developing since early December 2009. Its main feature is dynamic mesh tesselation that will provide additional detail where necessary, without the user needing to worry about it.

I've released an alpha version that is available for anyone who wants to try it out. Be aware that it's an early build though, and it is known to crash and misbehave occasionally. Save your work often to avoid getting burned."

[ via http://www.sublog.net/ ]

Price raise to 595€ from 1st of February | Indigo Renderer

2010-01-05T13:45:00.000-05:00

Price raise to 595€ from 1st of February | Indigo Renderer: "As from February 1st, Indigo 2 will cost 595€ and node licences will cost 195€. This price rise reflects the continued development of Indigo and the new documentation, user interface improvements since Indigos commercial release. If you are keen to lock in Indigo 2 at the current price of 295€, you should purchase from our store prior to midnight, 31st of January (UTC). Educational prices will remain constant. Upgrade pricing will be decided at a later date.

http://store.glaretechnologies.com/"

Podium 1.7.2 Beta

2010-01-04T17:25:00.003-05:00

On the heels of Podium Beta 2 comes Podium 1.7.2:

In SU Podium 1.7.2, Render All has been improved or rather "fixed". With this version, Render All works as it was original designed to. That is, when Render All is invoked, all scenes in the model will be rendered. With previous versions, Render All would quit working after a small number of scenes were rendered. Using 1.7.2 and Render All, it is possible to create animations where the camera moves through the model as in a walk-thru or fly-thru animation. There are several steps to creating the final animation but the most important step, Render All, works without having to resort to patching various models and scenes together.

When invoked, Render All renders each scene. To save time, only the first scene's geometry is processed. Each subsequent scene's camera view is then rendered. One draw back to this method is that object animations can not be created with Render All. You are limited to camera animations. Render All saves each rendered scene's JPG image to a designated folder. When it is complete, you can take all the images that were rendered and use Windows or Mac programs like Movie Maker or Quick Time Pro to create a video animation. The idea is that each scene in SketchUp is like a frame in a movie. When each scene is rendered with Render All, each JPG image can be used as a frame. When "stitched" together with Movie Maker or Quick Time, a walk-thru video animation is created. With 1.7.2's improved Render All function, the process is quite simple.

https://www.suplugins.com

Phlatboys Balsa Buddy Preview

2010-01-03T14:33:00.004-05:00

I was reading the phlatforum and came across this post from September. It looks like Mark & Trish are working on a new machine which will be named the BalsaBuddy.

The BB looks like a small version of Phlatboys Phlatprinter foam cutter; but is designed for cutting hard materials such as plastic and wood.

In Mark's words:

You will still be able to cut foam but as well we want to be able to cut lite ply, plastics, etc.. :) (Not sure of all the cool materials we will be able to cut with this one yet :D )

The tool on this machine will be interchangeable from the Dremel to the Rotozip direct face mount on the z gantry to allow for larger collet sizes which will open us up to a whole new level of bit selections!

Right now the dimensions are at 18.5" for the Length, 9.5", Depth 13" Height (without handle)

The cutting material width max is 12.5" The height is 0.5" but I am working on moving that up.

All axis will be geared using belt and pulley reduction. The z will use amce geared as well.

These are all target sizes and components for this machine as we start the testing phase there will be changes I'm sure, but its going together nice and compact and really looking strong.

I have left several key features off of the above picture :) I don't want to show too much at this stage and spoil the surprise.

You really can't get an idea of just how small the BalsaBuddy is until you see someone holding it so I am going to try and get Trish to take a pic for us. :)

Thanks guys
Mark

There's no word on when the machine will be available.

I've blogged about the Phlatboys machines in the past because I think they're brilliant. For about $1,000 you can have a dremel-powered, 3-axis cnc router that fits on a table, and best of all, you can cut designs made in SketchUp.

And although the machine was designed originally for cutting out remote-controlled airplanes from foam, the potential applications are endless - just check out the gallery and videos.

ICEVision: Explore Your Model in a 3D Game Environment

2010-01-01T10:41:00.003-05:00

From the ICEVision site:

ICEvision Viewer allows you to explore Revit, AutoCAD, SketchUp Pro and ICE 3D models in a Dynamically Rendered 3D window.

Through our patented use of 3D video game technology, you are free to explore your model in a natural manner, simply by walking into your design and taking a look around.

[ www.ice-edge.com ]

Advanced Guide to SketchUp: Toolbars

2009-12-29T09:12:00.007-05:00

Video: SketchUp Techniques for Woodworking

2009-12-28T13:25:00.006-05:00

Dave Richards has posted an excellent video showing his approach to drawing in SketchUp.

In the video, Dave makes fast work of drawing a fern stand using SketchUp's Tools; and is focused on (smart) modeling techniques and work-flow.

The video assumes only basic SketchUp skills, but even expert users might learn something new.

View the article on Fine Woodworking's Design. Click. Build blog.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-23T18:40:00.003-05:00

SketchUp Tutorial

2009-12-19T15:03:00.002-05:00

Martin Rinehart has added a few chapters (11 - 14) about SketchUp/Ruby programming to his Edges to Rubies tutorial.

Glue-tab plugin for Unfold

2009-12-19T14:51:00.004-05:00

I came across this plugin while looking at github for project hosting.

It is a tool that adds a glue-tab on selected edges:

Download here

Podium Render Beta 2 Now Available

2009-12-19T14:17:00.002-05:00

This build represents a stable code base where as far as we are aware, all features are working, although some may need some modification before final release. There will be additional features as well. V2 uses a new, higher-quality render engine. As a result, scenes set up in V1.x will not look the same in V2.

Current build number is Build 0.2 (As of December 17, 2009)

Feature List

1. Global material properties

2. Physical sky

3. Bump mapping

4. 'True' reflection - not fake specularity

5. Refraction with presets

6. Blurred reflection

7. Blurred refraction for true translucency

8. Light emitting materials

9. Omni (point light sources)

Read about it here.

Update to Sketchup Sun Position Plugin

2009-12-19T12:21:00.002-05:00

Here's an update from Gabriel -

The biggest changes are the following:

1. The settings are now automatically saved.

2. The Sun's altitude and azimuth for the day can be saved to a html file for easy viewing.

3. The north angle in Sketchup can be customized and an option for viewing the north angle has also been added.

To anyone who already has one of the older versions of this plugin installed, this newest one is definitely worth the upgrade!

Thanks!
Gabriel

[ Sketchup Sun Position Plugin ]

Plugin: Simple Springs: FEA Spring-Mass Model

2009-12-17T13:01:00.000-05:00

The beginnings of a Finite Element Analysis plugin for SketchUp is being developed by a user named qpik.

The author is seeking input from the community about how best to apply the mathematics in SketchUp. If you think you can help, please join the discussion on sketchucation.

Plugin: Camera Recorder

2009-12-17T11:04:00.002-05:00

Chris Fullmer released a new SketchUp plugin to save a walk-through, and export it as a series of images.

This plugin will record your navigation movements and export them as a series of images. You can then put them together into a movie using something like Quicktime Pro.

Camera Recorder is hosted on sketchucation.com

SketchUp Developers Observer Wishlist

2009-12-12T07:46:00.001-05:00

Google SketchUp software engineers are asking the developer community to provide feedback about the Sketchup Observer classes.

In order to try to prioritize which Observer to fix first I would love to collect some data on the following topics:

what are the Observers that you would like to see added to SketchUp?

which are the observers that you would like to use but that do not work?

When I have some data I am hoping to push for fixing/adding those.

The discussion can be read here.

Plugin: Colr Explorer

2009-12-05T05:43:00.011-05:00

Colr Explorer is a SketchUp plug-in for exploring colors through searches and tags.

It's simple, intuitive windows allows you to search for tagged colors, select the tags, and find similar colors to add to your model.

Selecting the color swatch will add that color to the SketchUp model, and start the Paint tool so you may begin coloring with the selected color immediately.

You will need to be online to use this plug-in.

Download Page

Installation:

Download and unzip the files to your disk drive. Then move the contents into your Plugins folder, and restart SketchUp. The folder should look very similar to the image if installed correctly.

Colr Explorer uses data (with permission) from the www.colr.org website - a free site where you can create color schemes, and tag both individual colors and schemes.

Colr Explorer uses the microajax.js - a tiny and easy AJAX library.

Plugin: Goldilocks

2009-12-02T11:54:00.003-05:00

Adam Billyard, developer of LightUp for SketchUp posted this texturing helper plugin:

Goldilocks analyzes your materials and model with respect to the current viewpoint and produces a bar chart showing which textures are about the right resolution (green bars), and which are too high resolution resulting in wasted space/larger filesize, or too low resolution resulting in a blurry look - both shown as red bars.

[ goldilocks.rb is host on SCF ]

SketchUp Annoyances: The Magic Glue to: Option

2009-11-29T18:56:00.003-05:00

Just curious if anyone has experienced this annoying behavior. Watch the Glue to: option closely...

What apparently happens is that the Glue to: option is still active even though the I have switched to the Select tab of the dialog. Eother rolling the mouse wheel, or pressing the up/down cursor keys will then change the option!

Do other dialogs behave in the same way?

LEDAS Updates Driving Dimensions Plugin for SketchUp

2009-11-27T13:57:00.000-05:00

Version 1.2 contains significant improvements in quality, stability, and performance. This was made possible because it is based on the next generation of LGS 3D geometric constraint solving software component recently released by LEDAS. The new version generates solutions that users would expect to see as outcomes. When users now modify the parameters of driving dimensions, most edges and faces remain unchanged; the only ones to change are those needed to satisfy the new parameter values. In addition, the time to solve constraints has been significantly reduced, with the Driving Dimensions plug-in now up to ten times faster than the previous version on large models.

Pirenesi Releases Free Exporter for SketchUp

2009-11-27T13:53:00.000-05:00

23rd October 2009, Cambridge, UK – Informatix Software International, a global provider of CAD software solutions, today announces the availability of the free Prianesi Google SketchUp ruby script along with a new concurrent pricing structure for the Piranesi product to ease the cost of software ownership.

The free ruby script for SketchUp enables users to export their models created in either the free or Pro versions into Piranesi, the leading artist impression tool on the market, and create artist impressions of the model.

The script itself allows the user to export the model from SketchUp to the EPix file format, where they can quickly convert rigid, hard-edged models into a softer, expressive artist’s impression. Piranesi v5.1 is more than just a painting tool – it is a graphical persuader that excels at turning conceptual 2D and 3D models into wonderfully atmospheric, stylised and persuasive visualisations.

ecoScorecard Advances BIM Capabilities With Google SketchUp™ Integration

2009-11-24T12:47:00.000-05:00

ecoScorecard Advances BIM Capabilities With Google SketchUp™ Integration

Phoenix, November 11, 2009 – ecoScorecard, the technology platform that helps building product specifiers evaluate environmental attributes of products, today revealed the new ecoScorecard plug-in that works with Google SketchUp and provides a critical link between popular BIM (Building Information Modeling) tools and important environmental rating systems such as LEED. The announcement was made today in conjunction with the opening of the US Green Building Council’s annual Greenbuild Expo.

14 Wood Textures @ cadyou.com

2009-11-21T13:21:00.002-05:00

14 nice wood textures via Cadyou: User: madhav

SketchUp Version Numbers Correction

2009-11-20T14:54:00.003-05:00

It turns out the Mac version number for the latest release is not the same as the Windows version. I correctly reported the latest Windows version as:

Windows: 7.1.6087

However the correct Mac version for the latest maintenance release is:

Mac: 7.1.5803

Enjoy your weekend.

LightUp for SketchUp 1.7 Updates

2009-11-20T10:59:00.000-05:00

Adam posted a couple of updates for LightUp this week:

A new version of LightUp is available that addresses a number of small issues.
Almost there with an Educational programme for LightUp that will offer the full version of LightUp at a reduced price for students.
Updated French Language additions for LightUp are available.

[ LightUp for SketchUp ]