Monday, July 25, 2011

Indigo Render 3 SketchUp plugin

Glare Technologies launches the version 3.0 of Indigo Renderer compatible with version 6 and version 7 of SketchUp and creates great images directly from SketchUp by aggregating an industrial-strength renderer with a high quality exporter for SketchUp.

The new release comes up with serviceability refinements and improvements to the unbiased physical renderer’s engine along with real time scene editing, GPU acceleration, built-in animation, improved rendering performance, new network rendering support, render queue support and improved sampling, subdivision and bump mapping.

These new advancement will help users to create and render photorealistic images quickly and smoothly. Besides the users can tweak materials, camera position, camera f-stop and focal length, all in realtime, with both a ray-traced and OpenGL preview.

Both CUDA™ and OpenCL™ are supported to ensure GPU acceleration will work on both AMD and NVidia cards, on OS X and Windows.

One can create great images directly from SketchUp by aggregating an industrial-strength renderer with a high quality exporter for SketchUp. The SketchUp exporter is called ‘SkIndigo’. Download Indigo and install Indigo to the default location on your system. Then Download the version of SkIndigo for your system from http://www.indigorenderer.com/documentation/sketchup. SkIndigo appears with an installer for Windows and Mac. Both installers will look for a “Plugins” directory in all known locations for SketchUp. Restart SketchUp after installing SkIndigo and you will find “SkIndigo” to be accessible under the Plugins menu.

Download option
Indigo Renderer 3.0.14 for Windows 32-bit
Indigo Renderer 3.0.14 for Windows 64-bit

Thursday, July 21, 2011

PowerProduction Software unveils the availability of StoryBoard Artist Version 5

PowerProduction Software, a California based company that develops visualization software for film and video production over a decade, just ships StoryBoard Artist Version 5.

StoryBoard Artist Version 5 will be a high-end storyboarding solution by quickly creating nice digital storyboard for film maker & media professional.

The StoryBoard artist contains essential feature like timeline that puts storyboard frames in time with tracks of audio for impressive presentations. Now the version 5 comes up with automatic storyboard generation and sketch-style presentations.

StoryBoard Artist Version 5 includes a bunch of advance features which are mentioned below :-

New Features:
  • Extended File Import Options including 3D Google SketchUp files.

  • New Built-In Artwork letting in more Character, Prop, and Location options.

  • Object Effects facilitate artists for creating customizable built-in artwork.

  • Sketch Mode for printing, working, and presenting.

  • QuickShots Technology for automatic storyboard creation. QuickShots uses a catalog of shot types that the artist can match with characters and locations.


  • StoryBoard Artist Version 5 can be achieved through the PowerProduction Software worldwide reseller channel and direct from the PowerProduction Software web site at www.powerproduction.com for an MSRP of $799.99 USD.

    Downloadable link

    Posted by Rajib
    Business Development
    Visit us at www.sketchup4architect.com
    Download our sketchup magazine

    Wednesday, July 13, 2011

    e-on software introduces LumenRT Review 1.2 for sketchup



    e-on software unveils LumenRT Review 1.2 for sketchup. The new release comes up with quality and reliability enhancements to get better performance and stability. Lumen RT is nominated as the plug-in of the year under the 3D World CG Awards 2011.

    The sketchup users can process larger models such as large structures and cities with superior speed. With the new auto-scale lighting feature, the users can gain of up to 14 times on pre-processing time and improve performance by 30% to 300% depending on the size of the model with a resulting tradeoff of lower lighting quality.

    LumenRT Review provides a great benefit to the architect for visualizing their project.
    LumenRT is a 32 & 64 bits application, designed for the Windows® 32/64 bits XP, Vista and Windows 7 as well as Intel Mac OS X platforms (v10.6+).

    LumenRT Review for SketchUp can be operated as a plug-in for SketchUp and SketchUp Pro. LumenRT Review for SketchUp and SketchUp Pro currently retails for $195 (introductory price – SRP: $295).

    Please check the link below to get the example of some work performed with LumenRT.
    http://www.lumenrt.com/showcase/

    The registered users of LumenRT can download this important new release for free
    Downloadable link

    Posted by Rajib
    Business Development
    Visit us at www.sketchup4architect.com
    Download our sketchup magazine

    Boost your search with What Do You Love from google


    Google has introduced a new Google interface called WDYL or What Do You Love? It is like a search box similar to the one on Google’s homepage. Put any question into the search box and receive answers in the form of neatly organized piles of information, images and video. One can get more than 20 different Google services, together with Google Translate, YouTube, Maps and Groups, Google Image Search results, Google trends, Google Books, and so forth. Google instantaneously generates a mini-portal with any particular search query by bringing together previews of various specialized Google searches in one place.

    The user may spread out the searched result by clicking on the icon in the lower right corner. If more results are required then click the button in the upper right corner of the box and go straight to the chosen service.

    Put the url www.wdyl.com and google.com/whatdoyoulove, on your browser and start searching. The little heart button on the right replaces your typical "search" button.

    Posted by Rajib
    Business Development
    Visit us at www.sketchup4architect.com
    Download our sketchup magazine

    Wednesday, July 6, 2011

    SketchUp in Kid’s Camp


    Edward Elementary School has taken a revolutionary step to introduce SketchUp to the kids. It is a Tech Camp of a week organized by the school’s parent teacher organization.


    Ainsley is a 7 year old student among the 30 participants of the camp. She is very excited to participate in this camp. Her feet don’t even touch the floor when she sit in the chair of her computer lab. The drawing she made in SketchUp may be slinky toy or a macaroni noodles. But the truth is she can handle a program which is essentially a basic computer aided design tool.

    "I thought this camp would be fun to go to because it would be learning about the computer," Ainsley said, "and for typing practice. I only know the home-row keys." Ainsley likes Google SketchUp, but she also is a fan of Microworlds.

    "I made a butterfly," she said, "and you can make costumes for it, and program how it’s going to fly. You can choose your own backgrounds, like a farm or a flower garden. I chose flower garden."

    The camp serves a dual purpose: to introduce children to software programs such as Scratch, Google SketchUp and Garage Band, and to raise money for books for the school’s media center.

    "This all came together very quickly," said Jenne Paskach, a PTO volunteer whose middle-school-aged children Dagney and Nathan are helping as student teachers. "While this is only a PTO fundraising project for this school at this point, we’d love to see if it would be successful enough that perhaps the district might consider a citywide project."


    Teresa Green, media specialist for Edwards Elementary, is volunteering her time, as are others, to come in and teach the kids about the programs, many of which are free or already available through the school district’s computers. The camp is sponsored by Heartland Area Education Agency and Frontline BioEnergy. Green said the programs introduce the kids to design concepts that allow them to make their own cartoons, 3-D designs, music and more.

    While Green and Paskach dole out snacks to the techie campers, Steve Linduska, an education technologist from Heartland AEA, is talking about Ainsley’s Slinky-macaroni image. He explains how her 3-D diagram could apply to the students’ real world, as a new piece of playground equipment instead of one of the old ones the school is currently hoping to replace.

    "This looks exactly like something on a playground that a kid could climb or walk through," Linduska said.

    With a few clicks of his own computer, he shows the kids how to download shared design files of diverse things like bananas and mountains for use in their own projects.

    "You’ve got 20 minutes … go invent something!" Linduska said, as the campers returned to their screens.

    Green estimates the fees generated from the camp will buy about $1,000 worth of books for the school’s media center, which has been hit by budget constraints.

    If there’s an irony in a computer camp funding book purchases, Green doesn’t see it.

    "I don’t think the two are separate entities," she said, "because they are both powerful tools that we use to get information. We are teaching kids to use all these resources to find out about their world."

    Tuesday, July 5, 2011

    An Online Store House of SketchUp

    Google 3D Warehouse is a storehouse of 3D models of SketchUp. In this online repository you can upload, search, view, share and download different SketchUp models. Recently Google has introduced some of the new sharing feature of 3D Warehouse.

    This Google 3D Warehouse is an online repository of 3D models. Anyone can search for and download the models, but when you want to upload and publish the model, you’ll need to sign in using your Google account. Publishing your models to the Google 3D Warehouse is a great way to showcase your work. If you model 3D buildings and would like to share them with the world, you can do so through the “Best of the 3D Warehouse” layer in Google Earth. Sharing gives you control over who can view, download, and even edit your models.

    It's now possible to make a model private, but you have to invite people as either viewers or collaborators on the model. Collaboration does not happen real-time. As a collaborator, you would download the model, make your edits, and then re-upload it. The model owner would then accept or deny the changes. A history of changes is also maintained and previous versions of the model are made available for download.

    Features of 3D Warehouse –

    • Locate Your Building In Google Earth Correctly Using Google Earth And Google SketchUp.
    • Model Your Building With Google SketchUp.
    • Publish Your Model To The Google 3D Warehouse.
    • It May Be Accepted Into The “Best Of The 3D Warehouse” Layer In Google Earth.
    • This Selection Process Takes Time. Please Allow Up To 30 Days For This Process.
    • Selected Models Are Identified With A Blue Badge Symbol In The 3D Warehouse.

    Monday, July 4, 2011

    RS Components announced pcb converter for Sketchup

    RS Components will introduce a new pcb converter for SketchUp tool which enables designers to import intermediate data format (idf) files into SketchUp.

    According to RS, the new module adds a 3d CAD back end capability to pcb design tools and takes SketchUp into the electronic product design domain, transferring files from any CAD environment providing idf output into COLLADA format.

    PCB Converter for SketchUp can be downloaded free from the DesignSpark SparkStore, from the RS website, or from the plug-ins area on the Google SketchUp website.

    Google SketchUp is a free 3d design tool, and is rapidly gaining a following with electronics design engineers. This is not only due to its capabilities as a CAD package, but also the fact that many of these capabilities are available in the free version. RS' pcb converter allows users for the first time to import idf files, a file specification designed specifically for the exchange of printed circuit assembly data between mechanical design and pcb layout.

    Electronics engineers can export pcb designs into Google SketchUp to assess compatibility with the mechanical constraints of enclosures and mounts. This allows them to make design decisions immediately and avoids the need for redesign requests and design reviews. Users can then incorporate 3d models of popular electromechanical components to complete the design. CAD models of products in the RS product range can be downloaded from its website in SketchUp compliant format (*.skp) and used in the tool.

    Stephen Dapkus, from the Google SketchUp team, said: "PCB converter for SketchUp offers electronics design engineers a new pathway to move seamlessly from eCAD to 3d MCAD design. Google is … proud to see Google SketchUp being used by RS as a key component in the delivery of free access design tools, integrating the design journey for engineers."

    Friday, July 1, 2011

    Tgi3D SU Amorph, a sketchup plugin for creating sophisticated 3D model



    Tgi3D SU Amorph, a sketchup plugin compatible with SketchUp v7.1 or higher, generates pragmatic 3D models from photographs by expanding the matched-photo interface of sketchup.

    The sketchup users can create and edit free form curves and surfaces with this plugin. The plugin comes up with some advanced features like View locking, Automatic surface generation, Smart surface editing, Smart curve editing, Smart surface smoothing, Surface upsampling, Extrusion cross section editing, Smart shape idealization, Smart selection, Smart texturing, Surface downsampling.

    This new edition contains a new downsampling feature that will minimize the polygon count of a model at the time of preserving the model fidelity in a controllable fashion.

    The new version includes some features which are lacking in old version :-
    New "Downsample" command to reduce the resolution of a mesh
    New "Collapse" command to collapse the selected region to a point
    Cross Section Tool now supports measured motions
    (Upsampling & Downsampling) conserve the texture mapping throught upsample and the new downsample
    (Texturing) conserve SketchUp ascribed material transparency in texture creation

    Download the following link to learn more
    http://www.tgi3d.com/PDF/Tgi3D_SU_Plugin_Help.pdf

    Download Trial Version
    http://www.tgi3d.com/index.php?Page=Download

    Posted by Rajib
    Business Development
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    Sketchup ur Space: A gateway of SketchUp Resource

    Sketchup ur Space : June Cover


    Sketchup ur Space is creating much hulla bol in the SketchUp world. This SketchUp magazine already has created a place in the SketchUp lovers. Everybody starts to adore this one of a kind magazine. Sketchup ur Space or SuS made its first appearance on web as a flash book and pdf. The 14 pages flash book was a thin avatar of today’s more than 100 pages edition. From September 2010 to June 2011, inSketchup ur Space not only volume is added but also add more style in its look. From a flash book to an entire website its truly has come a long way.

    Now Sketchup ur Space has a website of its own: www.sketchup-ur-space.com in which you not only get all the current content but also the old contents of the previous issue. Here you can get tutorials, news and scholarly articles and blog on SketchUp. Apart from various eminent SketchUp artists like Jim Leggitt. James Hannigan, Nomer Adona there are many new artists who are getting chance to share their view on SketchUp. Hendy, Jonathon, Emo are like that. With a motto to be a piazza of all the SketchUp artists of all over the world, it not only has fulfilled its purpose but also become an inspiration to young, enthusiasts newbie SketchUp artists.

    The interview section has getting also interesting. There are interviews of SketchUp artists, geo modeler, SketchUp teacher like ManO, James Ogston and Nomer Adona. We hope to see some more chitchat of 3D modelers who will share their trade secret here. The section Top up story is also very interesting as it is serving to some interesting recent activity of the SketchUp world. The News Room Section is updated with all the latest plug in release, new developments and recent activities.