I gave it a shot

[David Bethel]

Downloaded the demo. ( it needs XP ) The setup was fine. Limited lighting choices suggests it is an exterior focused program. Basic geometry looks pretty easy. Import and export worked well.

http://64.83.21.33/cadtutor/su1.jpg

Attaching matrials to layers could be an issue. The panning and orbits are fairly good. I could see a use for a really down and dirty image maker. Adjustable lineweights would be a plus. The level of detail isn't there for small projects. -David

PS. No! I did not model this in SU :wink: :wink:

[CADTutor]

David, I don't think SketchUp is a replacement for AutoCAD but it is an excellent additional tool. I was most pleased to find that the DWG import/export worked really well which means it is interoperable with AutoCAD. The only minor downside is that it is a surface modeller rather than solid, so you get surfaces when you import to AutoCAD.

I must admit that the one thing I do miss is my layers. I guess there must be some way to organise objects but I haven't found it yet.

It's also worth pointing out that some of the functions are deliberately limited. The developers intention was to create something very simple for 3D modelling and not a MAX killer. I think they have largely succeeded.

[boofredlay]

There is a layer manager and what they call the Outliner.
Both of which help organize your drawings very well.

Check out the video tutorial:
"Organizing your model with SketchUp"
and then "Keeping entities seperate within a model."

Real easy to organize in SU

[Lazer]

Nice 1 david , how did u get the grain effect on the oven sides and doors, did u use a wood material scaled then turned the colour silver/grey?

[boofredlay]

That is actually a moire effect. The metal texture is linear but because the resolution is not very good, you get that effect.

Similar to this:
http://www.mathematik.com/Moire/
http://www.scantips.com/basics06.html

This is easy to prevent by exporting a higher resolution in SU.

[Lazer]

really :shock: , its quite a nice effect as well i like,
thanks for clearing that up cos i been playing about trying to get that effect on my jpeg outputs for half an hour .lol

[boofredlay]

Here are a couple of examples...

This one was exported at only 600 pix wide.
Notice the effect on the top and side.
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/5227/brick12zx.th.jpg (http://img269.imageshack.us/my.php?image=brick12zx.jpg)

This one was exported at 1600 pix wide. Much nicer. Make sure to click the picture when it loads to see it full size. You will still see the effect slightly however on the top.
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/8666/brick29nz.th.jpg (http://img269.imageshack.us/my.php?image=brick29nz.jpg)

Edit:
I see that Image Shack reduced the size of each by 100 pix... Still getting used to Image Shack. :unsure:

[David Bethel]

Deelay,

I used 1 of the the prebuilt metal materials and the paint bucket. I have no clue as to adjusting any of it yet.

Is the paint bucket the only way to apply materials?

I guess 1 plus I have is that I convert everything in a model into 3DFACEs prior to trying any kind of rendering or animation. -David

[f700es]

Deelay,

I used 1 of the the prebuilt metal materials and the paint bucket. I have no clue as to adjusting any of it yet.

Is the paint bucket the only way to apply materials?

I guess 1 plus I have is that I convert everything in a model into 3DFACEs prior to trying any kind of rendering or animation. -David

You should not have to convert to 3D faces 1st, I was under the assumption that SU did that to Acad solids.

[David Bethel]

f7,

I've been doing that ( converting everything to 3DFACEs ) for a long time.


ACAD's shade command doesn't like extruded 2D solids very well. ( most of my animations are done using the SHADE )
Accurender doesn't know how to deal with MINSERTs ( I use a lot of them )
Some programs allow control of the mesh density on face entities.
Rendering ARC and CIRCLE entities adds tons of time to renders ( infinite reflections )
Some PFACE meshes aren't inturpetted correctly in all apps ( Vue 4 )
I haven't found a program yet that doesn't like 3DFACE, esp R12 DXF, so I can export a model to most any 3rd party addon


So I explode everything possible, convert them 3dfaces, adjust layer names and colors, add object properities if needed. It's all automated and pretty easy in that I still use R12. The only glitch is unequally scaled blocks. I've never found an explode routine for R12 that could do it well. R13 is as bad as 12, R14 is fairly good at it, A2K is a little better. -David

[f700es]

Sorry, I did not understand your work flow (till now) ;)



f7,

I've been doing that ( converting everything to 3DFACEs ) for a long time.


ACAD's shade command doesn't like extruded 2D solids very well. ( most of my animations are done using the SHADE )
Accurender doesn't know how to deal with MINSERTs ( I use a lot of them )
Some programs allow control of the mesh density on face entities.
Rendering ARC and CIRCLE entities adds tons of time to renders ( infinite reflections )
Some PFACE meshes aren't inturpetted correctly in all apps ( Vue 4 )
I haven't found a program yet that doesn't like 3DFACE, esp R12 DXF, so I can export a model to most any 3rd party addon


So I explode everything possible, convert them 3dfaces, adjust layer names and colors, add object properities if needed. It's all automated and pretty easy in that I still use R12. The only glitch is unequally scaled blocks. I've never found an explode routine for R12 that could do it well. R13 is as bad as 12, R14 is fairly good at it, A2K is a little better. -David