tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54068385124620314572024-02-21T19:06:49.777-08:00SketchUp FanboyOne Enthusiast's Adventures in Google SketchupMartinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-21113733730135419732012-04-27T06:52:00.001-07:002012-04-28T00:31:13.330-07:00Alien UD-4L ‘Cheyenne’ Utility Dropship<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7189/7108465123_4fbc28fea4_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="332" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7189/7108465123_4fbc28fea4_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Another model taken from the 3D Warehouse and rendered in Twilight. Lighting and weather effects were then added in Photoshop Elements. I was trying to reproduce the look of the ship as it first hit the planet's atmosphere in the movie.</div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-40976830090979294862012-04-23T12:16:00.004-07:002012-04-27T06:46:48.237-07:00Eagle Transporter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7262/7094604959_5c751004ed_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="418" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7262/7094604959_5c751004ed_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Eagle Transporter from the TV show Space 1999 from my childhood. The<a href="http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=aa341c1f6a255d7f9c8b57ff1ee97f7b"> model was taken from the 3D Warehouse</a>. I then rendered it in Twilight and edited that in Photoshop Elements to add the moon, clouds, lens flares and jet contrails.</div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-16494568349568475062011-03-14T16:28:00.000-07:002011-03-14T16:40:47.478-07:00Inspiring Modelers: Angel Moore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/martintaylor/5516094236/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="MH60J Black Hawk (clay render)"><img alt="MH60J Black Hawk (clay render) by the other Martin Taylor" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5092/5516094236_5c3f82d3e4.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It seems like the only way to achieve the official Google moniker <a href="http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/cldetails?mid=7f921ed6fa68e7dfc8db8f9180bc27b7&ct=hpr2">'super modeler</a>' is by modeling a lot of buildings for Google Earth. This makes sense from Google's perspective as it seems Google Earth has always been their priority for SketchUp and their main reason for buying the product in the first place. From a modeler's perspective, however, it sucks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div><br clear="none" /></div><div>Not that I am looking for this recognition myself but because it would be great to have a filter for the 3D Warehouse to be able to find those people who do great SketchUp work and their models but who build things other than content for Google Earth. In the first of an occasional series I'd like to step up and acknowledge some modeler's whose work I have happened upon while exploring the 3D warehouse.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="300" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/mini?mid=2c36dd4f599fff068946aa15e00ee5b8&etyp=sw&width=400&height=300" width="400"></iframe></div></div><div><br clear="none" /></div><div>Part of the attraction of building models for me is a virtual extension of begin a kid building plastic Airfix kits so it is unsurprising that I like<a href="http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?uq=1410460901086603755220890&scoring=p"> Angel Moore's (ALM Model Works)</a> models as they are a virtual shelf of detail, completed Airfix staples: military aircraft, tanks and Sci-Fi models. The MH60J Black Hawk helicopter I downloaded and created a clay render from is a typical of his amazing attention to detail as even the cockpit is detailed and the side guns are complete models in their own right. His popular M1A2 Abrams is equally detailed as is his Batman Tumbler and just about any of the other subjects in his Warehouse stream.<br />
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Most of his models are complete although a few of either tank turrets, or running gear alone. If you happen to be looking for one of the subjects Angel Moore has modeled download his model immediately. His models are certainly a good step and a half above the usual level of models you find in the 3D warehouse and you can learn a lot about modeling complex and detailed subjects just be exploring one or two of his models. You can find a few more details about his SketchUp models <a href="http://almmodels.blogspot.com/">at his blog too</a>.</div></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="300" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/mini?mid=9abd2b76264f8eb87aeda07cc200349&etyp=sw&width=400&height=300" width="400"></iframe></div></div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-81629291734432360842011-03-14T16:00:00.000-07:002011-03-14T16:00:48.585-07:00Tutorial: Digital Painting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">If you're interested in using SketchUp renders as under-painting and then painting on top of them this great series of tutorials on Digital Painting was on the <a href="http://lifehacker.com/#!5781134/digital-painting-101-the-complete-guide">Life Hacker Night School</a> last week. I'm currently working through the included exercises myself but I am learning a lot. Maybe they'll be useful for you to:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mFRHTs8-KVw" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://lifehacker.com/#!5778700/digital-painting-101-getting-started">Lesson 1: Get Started Painting on Your Computer</a></li>
<li><a href="http://lifehacker.com/#!5778700/digital-painting-101-getting-started"></a><a href="http://lifehacker.com/#!5779919/digital-painting-101-brushes-and-erasers">Lesson 2: Brushes and Erasers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://lifehacker.com/#!5779919/digital-painting-101-brushes-and-erasers"></a><a href="http://lifehacker.com/#!5780286/digital-painting-101-mixing-paint">Lesson 3: Mixing Paint</a></li>
<li><a href="http://lifehacker.com/#!5780286/digital-painting-101-mixing-paint"></a><a href="http://lifehacker.com/#!5780767/digital-painting-101-lesson-4-layers">Lesson 4: Layers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://lifehacker.com/#!5780767/digital-painting-101-lesson-4-layers"></a><a href="http://lifehacker.com/#!5781133/digital-painting-101-lesson-5-putting-it-all-together">Lesson 5: Putting It All Together</a></li>
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There are enough books out there to get you up and running with SketchUp. There are books you can refer to for specific information or to teach you to code extensions. There are others that are great for very specific subjects such as landscaping or woodworking. But I've never found one to pickup just for fun and inspiration ... until now.<br />
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The title <i>Google SketchUp Workshop</i> may sound dry but don't be fooled - if you're into SketchUp either as a professional or enthusiast and you have the basic skills down already then this is the book for you. If you're a novice, this book is not going to teach you the basics; the <i>Overview</i> section of the book starts with working with complex models in SketchUp and moves on from there to other advanced topics assuming a level of knowledge you get only from working with SketchUp for a while. If you have these skills already the subjects in the overview are really useful. Yes, you might know quite a few of them already but it doesn't hurt to brush up and to see if there's a better way of approaching the issues you face.<br />
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The rest of the book is made up of sixteen chapters, each of which is written by a different author. Each author is introduced and each has a specific area of interest or expertise which they then address with specific real world examples. The experts range from the SketchUp norms of Architecture, Engineering and Design through to more esoteric areas such as set design, woodworking, concept design painting and graphic design. It is this variety of subjects and voices that make this book so successful. Of course you will be more interested in some subjects than others but seeing these practical and inspiring examples of what SketchUp is capable of, described by experts in their fields teaches you something. Even if you never intend to model a Process Plant you can learn a lot from Mitchel Stagl's chapter because it shows an approach to working in teams and with really complex models. You might not have the artistic skills to paint the concept art Alex Jenyon can but his chapter might inspire you to be a little more adventurous the next time you have to produce a 2D image for a client.<br />
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It is the variety of voices, applications and subjects combined with scope of artistic to technical emphasis that make this book my favorite SketchUp book to date. Some have criticized the fact that many of the examples use third party software (some of it very expensive) in addition to SketchUp to achieve their results. I might not be rushing out to buy a thousand dollar rendering engine but I did learn something from each chapter about how SketchUp integrates into each author's workflow. Very few people use SketchUp in isolation; it is just one tool in the arsenal.<br />
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I can't remember the last time I dipped into a technical book just for fun but with it's beautiful color illustrations, variety of subjects and inspiring tone I find myself constantly going back to the <i>Google SketchUp Workshop</i> and not wanting to put it down when I do. Whether you read it cover to cover or skip around through just the chapters that interest you most there is something for most SketchUp enthusiasts here. I just hope they're working on volume two...<br />
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</div></div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-13026598999564772862011-03-08T17:29:00.000-08:002011-03-08T17:29:22.534-08:00SketchUp Bay Area Meetups<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/4/e/1/1/global_21079985.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/4/e/1/1/global_21079985.jpeg" /></a></div>If you're a SketchUp user in the Bay Area of California please consider joining the <a href="http://www.meetup.com/Bay-Area-SketchUp/">Bay Area SketchUp MeetUp</a> group. It doesn't mater if you're a professional or an enthusiast; a beginner or an expert; all are become. We've only had one meeting so far but it was fun and informative. There's no cost to join and no commitment to attend but it would be great if local SketchUp users could get together and exchange knowledge and ideas once in a while. See you there!</div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-75703446415435907742011-03-01T17:28:00.000-08:002011-03-02T11:03:12.772-08:00SketchUp Twilight Renderer:Group's Default MaterialIf you look closely at the <a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2011/02/adventures-in-rendering-2.html">render in my last post</a> you will notice something wrong with the fuel cells at the rear of the craft - admittedly you'd have to be really anal to notice but that's my job. The fuel cells are supposed to have a red background color with a white frame work and that is how they display natively in SketchUp:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiav2HWQhnGKt3JI-tbrkj_BAygmqdk7Fd65WhuPbad1qQzi3PqdEWK6Y4efOUVvQlf-hBbOPZuOYJFj0txllg7ZjccfojXCTL3gjP5APE__Zk3_bWAb0XBSsStW6ujuGK2VZQGXDcs_uw/s1600/render1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiav2HWQhnGKt3JI-tbrkj_BAygmqdk7Fd65WhuPbad1qQzi3PqdEWK6Y4efOUVvQlf-hBbOPZuOYJFj0txllg7ZjccfojXCTL3gjP5APE__Zk3_bWAb0XBSsStW6ujuGK2VZQGXDcs_uw/s320/render1.png" width="269" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Objects as SketchUp displays them</td></tr>
</tbody></table>However, in the Twilight render they displayed almost completely white like this:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5DE-UtIk7mqbPQc9qkZStn2HSAglIbsc1Bhu1Ve1AlfffLW6X3wTPXIWj2Hc-YwQPLY_HzOLRLNvfUgD52R-I6dIOIrhAmpn5Uf354DeYeyCO6sdvZhtf5NO8sIVk3C_7PmSJTsO7W8/s1600/render2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5DE-UtIk7mqbPQc9qkZStn2HSAglIbsc1Bhu1Ve1AlfffLW6X3wTPXIWj2Hc-YwQPLY_HzOLRLNvfUgD52R-I6dIOIrhAmpn5Uf354DeYeyCO6sdvZhtf5NO8sIVk3C_7PmSJTsO7W8/s320/render2.png" width="269" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Twilight render with issue: background of hexagon should be red</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The <a href="http://twilightrender.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2429">helpful people at the SketchUp Twilight forum</a> suggested that this was because I had reversed faces in my component. The problem is that Twilight interprets the material at the front and therefore to be rendered very slightly differently than SketchUp itself.<br />
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</div><div>It turns out it was slightly more complicated than that. To model as efficient as possible I have nested components:</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">-> Group of 7 components</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">|--> 1 Fuel Cell Component</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> |--> Hexagon Component </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The reversed face was in the hexagon component which was painted red. The group of 7 components had a default color of white. Once I found a removed the default color from the larger group the hexagons started to paint correctly.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSkdXP5hiYg2B77iMdmzSqOgKywzmwM1P14Zhj4LsT-vZIbMPAm6FCLjgQ0W09UdzePKyz8B2mqjBiA66PEYxbHAmpJ2tDe6CqtvSxj4Zh1dBBBh54bxojw4KpSEcrirG_HtfzsI2CTc/s1600/render3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSkdXP5hiYg2B77iMdmzSqOgKywzmwM1P14Zhj4LsT-vZIbMPAm6FCLjgQ0W09UdzePKyz8B2mqjBiA66PEYxbHAmpJ2tDe6CqtvSxj4Zh1dBBBh54bxojw4KpSEcrirG_HtfzsI2CTc/s320/render3.png" width="269" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Correctly painted render</td></tr>
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</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Of course, if I'd paid attention to reversed faces in the first place this wouldn't have been an issue. Also, if I hadn't </span>accidentally given the group a default white color this wouldn't have happened either. This isn't a biggie but it took a while to find out what was going on but it is a lesson learned: keep your reversed faces in order to avoid problems or inconsistencies with materials later.</div><div><br />
</div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-19192143281371621532011-02-27T15:31:00.000-08:002011-03-02T10:59:36.216-08:00Adventures in Rendering: 2It seems <a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/adventures-in-renderring-1.html">such a long time ago</a> since I bought the <a href="http://twilightrender.com/">Twilight renderer</a> for SketchUp and played with it a little. I was slightly put off by the amount of time it takes to render a reasonably detailed image but I guess that's just the nature of the beast.<br />
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More than a year after starting a model of the Valley Forge from the 70's movie Silent Running I finally went back to it and <a href="http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=846f837ba72374c7932c511df6d2aa45">finished it</a>. After all the work it took me to complete it and the invaluable help I got from Taff Goch who is geodesic master I figured it was worth firing up Twilight once again. I have a reasonably powerful quad core 64 bit Windows machine and this render took about 2.5 hours using 100% of my CPU for most of that time. I added the lens flare in PhotoShop Elements 8 afterwards. I'm still learning about twilight and I've been given a few pointers from the <a href="http://twilightrender.com/phpBB3/index.php">Twilight forum</a> that I will try to incorporate for more refined attempt but I think you'll see that it's worth the time and effort when you compare it to the 2D export direct from SketchUp<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Twilight render of The Valley Forge</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWza5NMSVjy0SOjtIoP6E_1TuOENT1TMW0Rdubh_vthMpYHhu3jIKN0swZoA30-dEVWPOFMxEuwDuV1ZkVR4zOFipYtmJOWgZAKo-vOgbg9xxIdQ8IBeCknNpY5TpdHRRDJSJjhUwBlk/s1600/ValleyForgeAssembledNew+Domes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEWza5NMSVjy0SOjtIoP6E_1TuOENT1TMW0Rdubh_vthMpYHhu3jIKN0swZoA30-dEVWPOFMxEuwDuV1ZkVR4zOFipYtmJOWgZAKo-vOgbg9xxIdQ8IBeCknNpY5TpdHRRDJSJjhUwBlk/s640/ValleyForgeAssembledNew+Domes.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Native SketchUp 2D Render</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-37591412530124614832011-02-27T08:20:00.000-08:002011-03-02T11:02:09.977-08:00File Organization & Version Control Revisited: DropBoxA year and a half ago I wrote a 5 part series here on File Organization and Version Control for SketchUp. Two things spring to mind:<br />
<ol><li>What kind of nerd writes about source control for fun?</li>
<li>How fast things change</li>
</ol><div>I still believe in the importance of being able to access your SketchUp work from any machine and being able to get to prior versions of your models when you screw something up but my workflow used to be to transport the master archive around on a thumb-drive.</div><div><br />
</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.maximumpc.com/files/u57670/Dropbox-Review-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.maximumpc.com/files/u57670/Dropbox-Review-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Remember thumb-drives? They were what we used to use before <a href="http://db.tt/62xj1cm">DropBox</a>. What's DropBox? If you're geeky enough to be reading this blog I assume you already know but if you've being living under a rock for the last year and a half, think of <a href="http://db.tt/62xj1cm">DropBox</a> as a virtual memory stick with benefits. <a href="http://db.tt/62xj1cm">DropBox</a> uses the cloud to store your files and folders. The amazing part is that when you install in on your PC or Mac it full integrates in with your Documents folder. What does that mean? It means it just looks like part of your native file system and you don't have to go through a browser to retrieve and use your files; you just open My Documents, or the Mac equivalent, and your files are right there. Behind the scenes, every time your machine connects to the net it checks to see if there are files to sync and it changes your local cache accordingly. So, if you've been taking measurements out in the field and entering them into a model on your laptop, as long as the laptop connects to the web at some point before you start working in your office, you can take that model created in the field and start using it straight away back on your desktop. And you don't have to do are start anything to initiate this magic - all you need is access to the cloud and enough space on <a href="http://db.tt/62xj1cm">DropBox</a>.</div><div><br />
</div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://macnews.desinformado.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/dropbox-iphone_big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="155" src="http://macnews.desinformado.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/dropbox-iphone_big.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DropBox is even useful<br />
on your phone</td></tr>
</tbody></table>But wait, there's more. You can also choose to share files or folders with others. If you get stuck in your model and you need to share it with your mentor so that they can help you out, via the <a href="http://db.tt/62xj1cm">DropBox</a> web interface you can give them access to your model so that they can try to fix it. If you like what they've done you can just keep on working on the model but if they alter it in a way you don't appreciate DropBox has built in versioning so you can get back to any prior version of the model that you saved to <a href="http://db.tt/62xj1cm">DropBox</a>.<br />
<br />
If you work in teams on large modeling projects there still is no substitute for an industrial strength Source Control system setup on your server. If, however, you're a freelancer or enthusiast I highly recommend <a href="http://db.tt/62xj1cm">DropBox</a> as the location where you store, and work on your SketchUp models. <a href="http://db.tt/62xj1cm">DropBox</a> and the cloud has many advantages:<br />
<div><ul><li>If your hard drive fails your work is safe</li>
<li>If you work in SketchUp on more than one machine you can be confident that you're working on the most current version on the model</li>
<li>You can easily share a model with a collaborator</li>
<li>You can easily locate previous versions of your model</li>
<li>Unlike a thumbdrive, you can't loose your data because you forgot to take it out of your jeans before doing laundry, or it got lost down the back of the couch.</li>
<li>It's cheap or even free</li>
<li>It works on your PC, Mac, iPhone or Android</li>
<li>You don't have to set anything up or change your workflow</li>
</ul></div><div>If you don't have 100% faith in the cloud or you don't have persistent access to the web <a href="http://db.tt/62xj1cm">DropBox</a> can still work for you. While you're unconnected you will be working on a local cache on your PC and it will sync up in the background the next time you're connected to the web. If you're already backing up your documents (you are reckless if you're not) you're <a href="http://db.tt/62xj1cm">DropBox</a> folder will be included in this backup without you having to make any changes.</div><div><br clear="none" /></div><div><b>Disadvantages/Gotchas:</b></div><div><ul><li>if you move a folder you loose the history of the files it contains so, if the file history is important to you do not reorganize your folders.</li>
<li>trusting your data to the cloud feels strange if you haven't done it before</li>
<li>space is limited unless you pay or work to get some free upgrades. Luckily SketchUp models are pretty efficient and compact.</li>
<li><a href="http://forums.dropbox.com/topic.php?id=2285&replies=1">I've experienced occasional quirkiness when SketchUp auto-saves large models</a> to a <a href="http://db.tt/62xj1cm">DropBox</a> folder if your connection is slow or flaky</li>
<li>be careful sharing folders containing large files - if you have a free account <a href="http://db.tt/62xj1cm">DropBox</a> takes the shared file size from both your quotas - no a biggy but something to bear in mind.</li>
</ul><div>I can't believe how easy <a href="http://db.tt/62xj1cm">DropBox</a> has made my geeky life. If you haven't given it a go I highly recommend that you do. If you do have an account you might consider adopting my working practice and making it your primary SketchUp working directory.</div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/04-Previous-Versions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="118" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/04-Previous-Versions.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Context sensitive menu showing how to access previous versions of a file </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><br />
</div><div><b>Elsewhere</b>:</div><div><ul><li><a href="http://www.maximumpc.com/article/howtos/how_hack_your_dropbox_five_amazing_mashups">How to Hack Your Dropbox: Five Amazing Mashups</a></li>
<li><a href="http://blog.dropbox.com/">The DropBox blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.webmaster-source.com/2009/12/07/version-control-with-dropbox/">Version Control With DropBox</a></li>
</ul></div></div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-41558576165089534302009-09-29T11:08:00.000-07:002011-03-02T11:03:56.469-08:00Surprisingly Useful: Choosing a Color Scheme for your Home<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2616/3964672213_b51fb82406.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 353px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2616/3964672213_b51fb82406.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><br /></div>We are in the midst of getting the exterior of our house painted before the winter comes. Choosing a color scheme for the outside of your house is a 5-10 year commitment so we paid a "colorist" (a supposed color expert) to tell us what color our house should be. To be honest, I don't really mind what color our house is as long as my wife is happy which she certainly wasn't when I get test samples of the suggested colors and painted small patches of the side of our house. So much for the expert; we were going to have to work it out for ourselves but we both had trouble envisaging what any specific color set was going to look like on our house.<br /><br />I already had a partial model of our house in SketchUp but I had been modeling from the inside out so it didn't yet have any outside details (or roofs). Last night I spent a couple of hours adding enough detail to allow my wife to see what various color schemes might look like. Using PhotoShop to analyze the RGB values of online paint chips we could then apply the paint to our virtual house and get a good idea of what they might look like. We think we're going with blues rather than the trendy mauves the colorist had suggested. At least we now know what the house will look like and all without getting paint drips on my jeans.Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-50758806399033675042009-09-23T11:00:00.000-07:002011-03-02T11:00:49.560-08:00Speed Modelling 2: Tron Lightcycle<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe src="http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/mini?mid=7a9063c76ceb68a048f8166b91d5c8c7&etyp=sw&width=400&height=300" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" width="400" height="300"></iframe></div><br />Wow - it looks like writing all that dry stuff about file organization and version control drained all my SketchUp mojo but, not to worry, I'm still out here playing with our favorite Google toy. I didn't miss <a href="http://sketchupdate.blogspot.com/2009/09/sketchup-71-is-here.html">the announcement that 7.1 was released</a>; I even went so far as to install it. Did anyone else think that for a point release that was a big install? I <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1Jcgc6luhM">watched the video</a> about the most obvious new features but as I'm not much of a Google Earth modeler I haven't played with them yet. I was pleased to see that the handling of large models does seem much faster although SU still doesn't seem to be taking advantage of the multi-cores my PC has available.<br /><br />I did participate in the latest SketchUcation 30 minute challenge on <a href="http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=291&t=21908">the theme of video games</a>. I still think that taking part in these fast challenges teaches a great deal. This time I knew exactly what I wanted to model and I studied the source material available sketching out the various structures old-school-style with pencil and paper. I even listed a loose script of how to spend the 30 minutes to achieve this model. What did that teach me when the plan started falling apart? You have to be able to improvise and use other tools and techniques available to you when your usual methods fail.<br /><br />The model you see is not the one submitted to the contest but is what I achieved after my timed modeling time had ended and I refined a lot of the unfinished threads.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/martintaylor/3933127728/" title="LightCycle by the other Martin Taylor, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2494/3933127728_398f323a4b.jpg" width="500" height="397" alt="LightCycle" /></a></div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-65343201652521509472009-09-15T15:12:00.000-07:002011-03-02T11:02:09.978-08:00File Organization & Version Control [part 5]: Daily Use<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic; font-family:'Trebuchet MS';font-size:14px;">[previously - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part_10.html">part 4</a>, </span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part_09.html" style="color: rgb(224, 173, 18); text-decoration: none; ">part 3</a>, <a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part.html" style="color: rgb(224, 173, 18); text-decoration: none; ">part 2</a>, <a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/08/tips-file-organization-version-control.html" style="color: rgb(224, 173, 18); text-decoration: none; ">part 1</a>]</span></span><br /><div><br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzRvKtPqxSVbab-X2PNNg1TdvPH8eQqCG1PxZIj89qlfBZEIFQgz67h-0yB4TZiJEek9MpAJtfJdUyM_ZmEyV0R3-dK9bMTQTwthe1PlFujMOiuozHepiuqoj3mxyeqgYGCSBjLsEfxoI/s1600-h/Overlays.png"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzRvKtPqxSVbab-X2PNNg1TdvPH8eQqCG1PxZIj89qlfBZEIFQgz67h-0yB4TZiJEek9MpAJtfJdUyM_ZmEyV0R3-dK9bMTQTwthe1PlFujMOiuozHepiuqoj3mxyeqgYGCSBjLsEfxoI/s400/Overlays.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382108895878610018" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 200px; " /></a><div>Last time we got TortoiseSVN installed on two machines and we set up our SVN repository on a memory stick (or perhaps a server). Now we'll look at how to use TortoiseSVN as part of our everyday, SketchUp workflow. I promised that integrating version control into our workflow would not impact our model development but there are a few basics that you must learn and use. This description is not meant to replace TortoiseSVN's own documentation "<a href="http://tortoisesvn.net/docs/release/TortoiseSVN_en/tsvn-dug.html">Daily Use</a>" but describes how I use TortoiseSVN in real life.<br /><br />Let's assume that I did some work at home last night and when I get into my office I want to sync my office PC so it has the changes I made at home on it. I plug in the USB memory stick and I navigate to the file structure on my local PC using windows explorer - the power of the Tortoise user interface is that it is totally integrated into the familiar windows file explorer. How does it achieve this? The version control status of your files and directories is represented by a set of icons and all actions you can perform are executed via context menus (right click). In practice this means that when we navigate to the subversion controlled directory on our work PC we will see an icon showing that something has been 'modified' in the repository and our local copy is out of date. At this point we could just update and resolve these changes in our whole local SketchUp file structure or we can drill down further and resolve a specific file. As we drill down directories and files that have now updates will be easily identifiable from those that have changes via augmented explorer icons. To update either a specific file, directory or whole tree we simply right click on the item we wish to resolve and use the menu options <i>TortoiseSVN > Update</i>. A tortoiseSVN window will then pop up reporting what files have been updated.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://tortoisesvn.net/docs/release/TortoiseSVN_en/images/ContextMenuDirControl.png"><br /></a><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5lXHy6EWrqlwh85caraBenrgRq0AEOv7lGZ55QK83LcYuHpJ7U1LkbZbx3lv3mNUwEYPPd23uAJMQy3pSlrtMIj3vaoysHoAWCzpsri6DvMHKtbX5dSfBIP2mPziI8S7QkFYOeWOgk0k/s400/ContextMenuDirControl.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382108563585631698" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 257px; height: 400px; " /></span>Once we have ensured that our local copy reflects the current state of the files in the repository we are ready to get to work. If you are working in a multi-user setup with the repository hosted on a file server, we would lock the files we wanted to work on. This would prevent anyone else from working on the file we are working on and so avoids file conflicts. In the programing world we are usually working on ASCII (text) files and SVN is smart enough to be able to merge changes if to people work on the same file at the same time. Unfortunately SketchUp model files do not currently have this kind of functionality in SVN so, in a team setting, you would want to 'exclusively lock' a file before you began changes on it.<br /><br />When you are working solo you could lock a file too - it would help you to stop different file versions from different machines over writing each other. In reality I don't find it very useful - in practice I edit a model and check it back into SVN when I am about to change location (work to home or visa versa), just before I put the memory stick and repository into my pocket.<br /><br />When you work on a model you will notice the icon in the file browser indicates that the file is changed from the repository version as soon as you save any changes to the file. As I said, I keep making changes to the file and then I check it back into the repository before I leave the office. You commit your changes to the repository by right clicking on the file you have been working on and selecting<i> SVN Commit</i>. At this point a dialog window is displayed allowing you to add a text message describing the changes you have made to the file. You don't have to write anything but you really should just write a one sentence on what you have done since the last time the file was checked out. In the coding world we can 'diff' text style files to find out what changed but we have to really on these hand written messages to describe the changes applied to a model.<br /><br />Once you've checked your models into SVN you are ready to eject the memory stick and go home (don't just pull it out of the port - disconnect your hardware properly). At home, you sync up your home machine to repository as you did for your work machine. Again you check in your changes when you are done and rinse and repeat.<br /><br />Hopefully you can see how this keeps two or more machines in step with each other so both are always at the same high-water mark but other cool features does this provide? We said that the repository contains every version of every file that you've every checked in so how can you utilize that? Say you're working on a big, long-term project and you want to see how your model looked 6 months ago before the spec changed. If you right click on a file and select <i>TortoiseSVN > Show Log</i> you will be shown a list of all the versions of your model. You can select any version of the file and open it - it will open 'read only' allowing you to see the old model but you can save a copy off somewhere safe if you need it. If you get to the end of a day (or a bad week) and realize that all the changes you have made have corrupted the model or messed something else up you can revert back to a previous good version. I won't document the specifics of all these features, but be aware that these facilities are there, and refer to the TortoiseSVN documentantion when you need to utilize them.<br /><br />So there you have it - the basic work flow is to check your instance is up to date at the beginning of the working day and to check in your changes at the end. To me it seems like a minimum inconvenience for maximum peace of mind - if you agree I hope you will start using TortoiseSVN, if you don't at least you now know what you're missing and I thank you for making it through this whole tutorial.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic; font-family:'Trebuchet MS';font-size:14px;">[previously - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part_10.html">part 4</a>, </span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part_09.html" style="color: rgb(224, 173, 18); text-decoration: none; ">part 3</a>, <a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part.html" style="color: rgb(224, 173, 18); text-decoration: none; ">part 2</a>, <a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/08/tips-file-organization-version-control.html" style="color: rgb(224, 173, 18); text-decoration: none; ">part 1</a>]</span></span></div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-64307726105077783942009-09-10T14:20:00.000-07:002011-03-02T11:02:09.979-08:00File Organization & Version Control [part 4]: Installing and Setting Up TortoiseSVN<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black; font-style: italic;">[previously - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part_09.html"><i>part 3</i></a><i>, </i><a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part.html"><i>part 2</i></a><i>, </i><a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/08/tips-file-organization-version-control.html"><i>part 1</i></a>] [<i><a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part_15.html">next</a></i>]</span></span></div><br />
<br />
So now we're ready to escape the theoretical and get down to the practical. What version control software do I use? I am an unapologetic windows user and I use<a href="http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/"> TortoiseSVN</a>. If you are a real Architect or other such creative type you are more than likely a Mac user and therefore you need something like ScPlugin - I have no direct experience with <a href="http://scplugin.tigris.org/">ScPlugin</a> so the rest of this article may or may not be useful to you Macheads.<br />
<br />
TortoiseSVN provides a graphical front-end, integrated into windows explorer, to the Subversion (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subversion_(software)">SVN</a>) source control system. In it's raw state SVN is command-line utility - I may be a big, old geek but even I don't want to have to open a terminal of dos session and navigate around before working on a file. TortoiseSVN gives you the familiar windows ease of use with the power and stability of SVN as the back-end (the 'vault' we talked about previously). If you're a software developer SVN and TortoiseSVN probably don't need an introduction from me, however, if you're not a techie you may not have heard of these programs before. Don't worry, both these free products have been around for years and are solid, brand leaders (if there is such a thing as 'brand' in the open source community. Many open source development projects are controlled using Subversion and, although ubergeeks love command-line utilities, the rest of us work-a-day programmers use a client such as Tortoise to make using version control a painless propositions. In real life I work for the second largest software development company in the world and we make expensive use of both SVN and Tortoise so you can expect industry-strength products.<br />
<br />
There is, however, a big difference between how I use TortoiseSVN in my professional, coding life and how I use it for SketchUp. At work version control is primarily used to allow individuals in teams to work on development projects simultaneously. In SketchUp I am usually working alone on a project but it still provides many indispensable features. It allows me to keep several machines in sync with very little effort and it allows me to explore the history of a model when I need to. So let's talk about specifics; in SVN terminology the 'vault' is called a repository. The repository stores the all versions of all the files in it - it is the source of truth. In a professional environment the repository is stored on a server that is accessible to all team members. Unfortunately my personal server is not available from inside the firewall at work and I do sometimes need to work on a SketchUp model on my work machine. To get around this limitation my SketchUp repository lives on a large, fast memory stick. This is not typical but it works for me - if you have a file server that is accessible from all your SketchUp machines that would be a preferable setup. My repository goes everywhere with me in my jeans change pocket. To protect this resource my thumb-drive automatically backs itself up daily - if I should ever loose or damage my drive I can quickly replace it and have my repository back up and running in a very short time span.<br />
<br />
To set up my environment I referenced this article called <a href="http://dotnet.org.za/trumpi/archive/2006/12/13/Subversion-on-a-stick.aspx">Subversion on a stick</a>. The instructions can be broken into two parts; initial setup and daily working practices. Setup goes like this:<br />
<ol><li><a href="http://tortoisesvn.net/downloads">Download TortoiseSVN</a> - I keep both the 32 and 64 bit versions of TortoiseSVN also on my memory stick then I can setup any client machines without having to access the internet.</li>
<li>Install TortoiseSVN - run the executable you just downloaded to install the application - it installs both SVN and Tortoise and it requires a reboot to complete the install as it has to integrate itself into the window's file explorer.</li>
<li>Create a repository - using windows explorer navigate to your memory stick and create a directory in a suitable place to house your repository. Right click on this folder and select <i>Tortoise SVN > Create Repository Here</i>. When you create a repository it can be stored in either a database (Berkeley DB) or as a file system - I use the native file system as it seems faster and more robust. Give the repository a suitably descriptive name - min, unimaginatively, is called SketchUp.</li>
<li>Create a working directory on your local PC - in my case this is usually in <i>My Documents/SketchUp</i> - navigate to this directory in file explorer. Right click on the working directory and select <i>SVN Checkout</i>. When asked link this directory to the repository you created in step 3 - it asks for a URL as it expects the repository to be on a web-server but you want to point it to the directory on your thumb drive - the URL, therefore, with we something like this: <i>file:///Z:/Repositories/SketchUp</i></li>
<li><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Populate the working directory by copying the SketchUp file structure you established as per prior articles into your new SketchUp working directory.</span></i></li>
<li><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Put the file structure into SVN - select the top folder in file explorer and right click selecting the menu option </span>TortoiseSVN > add<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">. There are two actions to getting a new file into SVN; first you must add it, then you must check it in (see next step). Make sure you have selected the recursive option and Tortoise should now report on all the files and directories it has added to the repository.</span></i></li>
<li><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Check in all the added files - don't ask me why you have to both 'add' and 'check in' new files - you just do. Right click on the SketchUp working directory and select </span>SVN Commit<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">. Again the process should recursively go through all your files and directories.</span></i></li>
</ol>That's it - your repository is now setup on your thumb drive and your working directory is linked to it on your first working machine. Let's now set up our second machine - eject the thumb drive properly through the windows "Safely Remove Hardware" option - just pulling a USB thumb drive out of your PC without ejecting it first can damage the contents of your drive.<br />
<ol><li>On your next machine insert the drive and install TortoiseSVN on this machine.</li>
<li>Repeat step 4 above to create a link to your repository.</li>
<li>Populate your local working directory using right click, <i>SVN Update</i> - this should put a copy of all the SketchUp files in the repository on to this machine too.</li>
<li>Repeat this for each of your working machines.</li>
</ol>Ok - you've now installed TortoiseSVN on your work machines and established your repository which is now mirrored in the work areas of your PCs. Next time we'll look at how you use TortoiseSVN as part of your regular workflow.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div><i>[previously - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part_09.html"><i>part 3</i></a><i>, </i><a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part.html"><i>part 2</i></a><i>, </i><a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/08/tips-file-organization-version-control.html"><i>part 1</i></a>] [<i><a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part_15.html">next</a></i>]</span></i></div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-44179738491468092712009-09-09T11:01:00.000-07:002011-03-02T11:02:09.980-08:00File Organization & Version Control [part 3]: What is Version Control?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2328/2203508518_0ffa0ff7ac.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 336px; height: 500px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2328/2203508518_0ffa0ff7ac.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2328/2203508518_0ffa0ff7ac_b.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; font-style: italic; ">[previously - </span></a><a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part.html">part 2</a>, <a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/08/tips-file-organization-version-control.html">part 1</a>] [<i><a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part_10.html">next</a></i>]<div><i><br /></i></div>We've gone through the effort of assembling and organizing all our SketchUp related files - finally we're ready to consider version control. So what is it? Version control is sometimes known as 'revision control' or 'source control' and it is a method or application for managing the change history of a document or program. Software developers who work in teams on a project always use some kind of source control so that they can all work at the same time, often on the same code without stepping on each other's toes and canceling out each other's work.<br /><br />"So what?" I hear you ask. "I work alone on my models and they aren't code." I understand that version control for your SketchUp models might seem like over kill but consider this; have you ever resumed work on a model and after several hours of effort you realize you have corrupted some component of you model. You really would like to go back to the model as it looked yesterday and copy the good example of that component into the model as it stands this afternoon. Perhaps you have a backup of the file from yesterday somewhere and you can use that, but what if you want to look at the model as it was 6 months ago? Do you even have a copy of the file from then? Or what if you've been working on a model in the office for the last week and you need to finish some work on it this weekend on your home machine? When you return to the office can you be sure which file is the latest and greatest?<br /><br />In its simplest form you can implement a form of change tracking just through strict working practices. My wife is a writer and she understands the importance of tracking all versions of a document she is working on but the idea of a 'real' version tracking system frightened her. Instead she established a manual version of a change tracking program which works like this:<br /><ul><li>Each document she works on resides in its own directory so when she starts work on a new document she creates a new directory to house it and all its future versions. </li><li>When she resumes work on a document her first action is to save that document with an incremental number in its name e.g. the first version of the document is <i>filename_01.doc</i> - when she opens the document next time her first action is to save it as <i>filename_02.doc</i>. </li></ul>With this method in place she can always go back to a previous version of her document and she always knows which version is the latest and greatest (the 'head'). It works and you could easily use a similar working practice in SketchUp to keep track of your work but it does have some diadvanatages. It takes time and effort to keep your files in line and you can end up with a lot of directories filled with a lot of versions of the same file which is all noise that you have to filter, process and deal with. Also, it does not deal with the multi-machine working environment very well.<br /><div><br />You may already have a privative style of version control in place on your machine and not even realize it. In my house we have both Windows and Mac machines. The Windows PCs are automatically backed up nightly by, and on to, a <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.mspx">Windows Home Server</a> (WHS) <a href="http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/computer/categories/home_servers/1/accessories/FL700AA%2523ABA;HHOJSID=nyV3KnrRC2kHGNpTT6ygl76pxJrGWCsgd2Hqf6stspM93KzvLLQ2!758744786">device</a>. In in similar fashion the Macs back themselves up using <a href="http://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is-macosx/time-machine.html">Time Machine</a> to an external drive. I won't insult your intelligence by lecturing you on the importance of automatic, daily backups of your data if your work is at all important to you. What these automatic backup devices and applications provide is the ability to see how a file included in the scope of the backup looked yesterday, or last week, or last month. In a pinch these systems might get you out of trouble but they do have a lot of potential problems if you are relying on them for your change tracking. To begin with, the distance you can go back in time is limited both by your storage capacity and by the settings in your utility - at some point the program will delete an old version of your file to make room for more modern backups. It also doesn't help cross machine situations especially if those machines are not in the same location.<br /><br />So we finally end up knocking at the door of dedicated version control software. Don't be intimidated, it is not as scary as you might think. It doesn't have to cost you anything and, once you've got past the initial setup time and you understand a couple of new working practices you will be able to set it and forget it, smugly confident that you can get to all versions of your model that you have captured and that you will always know where to get the latest version of that model from.<br /><br />Version control applications consist of a central, shared model or database of all your files and all their versions. Think of this repository as the vault that holds the source of truth about all versions of your model files. This base structure can then be mirrored on any number of working machines or environments. Once you have finished making changes to a model you can then check those changes back into that central vault. All your other machines that reference the same vault are now aware that that file has changed and that their version of it is no out of date with the source of truth. You can easily see the history of a particular model and look at previous versions of that model for every check in that you have performed. You can bring any machine up to the latest versions of all your SketchUp files, or a specific, individual file, in the source controlled file structure so you can keep all your work machines in sync. If a client asks for a version of the file as it looked last September you can retrieve that file without any guess work. In addition, if you work on your models with one or more designers you can tell who made what changes and when they made them.<br /><br />Next time I'll describe how I set up <a href="http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/">TortoiseSVN</a> version control software to support my own working practices as well as making some suggestions for what might work for you. <div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">[previously - <a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part.html">part 2</a>, <a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/08/tips-file-organization-version-control.html">part 1</a>] <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; ">[<i><a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part_10.html">next</a></i>]</span></span></div></div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-84158412291369472612009-09-08T10:11:00.000-07:002011-03-02T10:59:36.217-08:00Adventures in Rendering: 1<div style="text-align: left;">SketchUp is great for creating detailed models quickly but the output formats that come built into it are a little cartoon-y. In most situations they are great for getting an idea across but when you want to present your model in a slightly more photo-realistic format you are going to have to rely on a third-party <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendering_(computer_graphics)">rendering</a> application or plugin.</div><div><br />
</div><div>To create renders of your SU models there are many options available. There are those that use an export of your model from SU and then render the image after further work on your part to describe the lighting and materials. There are those that work inside of SU itself allowing you to add lighting and material information and all other rendering settings and parameters within SU itself. I am not an expert but the former seem to be cheaper but have a much steeper learning curve than the later which, unfortunately, tend to be much more expensive. As a rendering newbie I wanted the simplicity of the rendering application hosted within SU itself but I wanted it at an affordable cost. Just at the right time for me the <a href="http://www.twilightrender.com/">Twilight Renderer application</a> was released: I couldn't pass up the simplicity of having the renderer withing SU for the affordable price of less than $60 (until September 24th).</div><div><br />
</div><div>I've played with it a couple of times without even reading much of the documentation and I am getting some pretty nice images. I'm not really in control of everything yet but it looks like a fun utility and I don't have anything to compare it to but it seems relatively simple to use. I look forward to learning more about rendering but, until then, here's one of my first renders of a couple of models I worked on over the weekend - you have to be a big old Sci-Fi geek to know these guys:</div><div><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/martintaylor/3900282663/" title="Silent Running Drones: Huey & Dewey by the other Martin Taylor, on Flickr"><img alt="Silent Running Drones: Huey & Dewey" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2539/3900282663_117bdc3d13_b.jpg" style="border: 0px solid; height: 350px; width: 717px;" /></a><br />
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</div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-19497740823676629172009-09-03T12:46:00.000-07:002011-03-02T11:02:09.980-08:00File Organization & Version Control [part 2]: File Locations<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAtomupZ0rZHm1bbv3ZrSk7I_aVTGbuUF18z7VEOvaw_3m0qZTTUdmdXkP-M_sY3OS0o31sDCGphxJVCOChHW5cCWR22Z3iRI78E60blNFwBslc4-wNECdXz3HYd-kS_czUrBt8ajVE2k/s1600-h/SUfiles.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAtomupZ0rZHm1bbv3ZrSk7I_aVTGbuUF18z7VEOvaw_3m0qZTTUdmdXkP-M_sY3OS0o31sDCGphxJVCOChHW5cCWR22Z3iRI78E60blNFwBslc4-wNECdXz3HYd-kS_czUrBt8ajVE2k/s320/SUfiles.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377332067613264322" /></a><i>[<a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/08/tips-file-organization-version-control.html">previously - part 1</a>] [<a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part_09.html">next</a>]</i><div><i><br /></i>Before we set up some kind of version control system we need to get some basic house keeping and organization out of the way. Do you know where all your SketchUp related files are?<br /><br />I'm not just talking about your model (*.skp) files; what about all your plugins, components, reference images, example models you've downloaded, materials, exported images, movie clips and movie projects, etc.?<br /><br />It's complicated enough if you only work on one machine but when you have two or more PC's that you run SketchUp on the problem becomes even more compounded. But before we even go there let's sort out your main machine first.<br /><br />You could classify the files we are concerned with as being either our project models and their derivatives or reference/utility files. We'll begin with your project model files as these are probably the most precious to you - these are the files you've invested hours, days or weeks of work time in; these are the files that, if you lost them, you'd be upset about. I'm hoping these are already at least in one place/directory. If not you need to use the file search utility on your machine and search for all *.skp files that are on your machine that are not in the component directory - if they're randomly scattered all over your drives let's at least get them put in one place and let's make that place your main SketchUp working directory for your models. In the system preferences of SketchUp , the 'Files' section describes where all your SketchUp files are located or where they will be saved by default. Set the Models directory to your main SketchUp working directory - in my case that's <i>My Documents\sketchup\</i><br /><br />Having all your models in one directory works if you only have a few models but for the average SU user it won't be long before this directory gets cluttered so think of a more granular directory tree structure that works for you. There's no one right answer as what works for me might not work for you so take a moment to think about how to logically arrange your working models. I categorize mine by subject; cars, buildings, furniture, etc. and put individual models into these directories. For bigger projects I may have that are made up of more than one model, for example my house models, a campus I'm modeling etc. I create a unique directory for each. These projects usually contain a master model that incorporates the other models but keeping a whole project isolated is useful for me.<br /><br />Outside my models directory tree I have a peer directory structure for my exports. My exports are any image files I create directly from SU or from a renderer from my models. They also include any animation clips I might create and any movie presentations I might create from those clips etc. I want these files to be accessible and related to my SketchUp models but I do not want them cluttering my modelling directories.<br /><br />On a par with this tree I also have a reference folder. Here I keep the images I may have personally taken or that I have downloaded from the interweb to help in creating a model - usually I end up with several reference images per model so this directory tree can contain more files and more granular directories than even my model directory. I also put models that I have downloaded from the 3D Warehouse here so that they don't get mixed in with my own models - these may be models I have downloaded to utilize in my own models, or just to see how they are constructed or purely for fun.<br /><br />Finally I have a peer directory to store all my components which I keep in the same area. By default SU sets this directory up closer to the program executables themselves but I prefer to have them closer to my working models etc. so that I can transport all of my working files from one machine to another easily. The same holds true for textures and styles etc. - in your SU files preferences you can set all these directories to be in subdirectories of you main SU working area directory.<br /><br />Take some time to get all your files together and organized. Next time we'll look at how you can utilize this work and these organized files across machines and use version control to keep track of your work.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">[<a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/08/tips-file-organization-version-control.html">previously - part 1</a>] [<a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part_09.html">next</a>]</span></div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-16982733118181576932009-08-31T09:55:00.000-07:002009-08-31T10:12:10.244-07:00News: SU 7+ PanicThe Google SketchUp team <a target="_blank" id="f46v" href="http://sketchupdate.blogspot.com/2009/08/coming-soon-in-google-sketchup.html" title="made an announcement on Friday">made an announcement on Friday</a> about the next version of SketchUp and the <a href="http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=21492&st=0&sk=t&sd=a" target="_blank">SU community is in a webwide panic</a>. What's the cause of the outcry? SketchUp announced that they would be switching their file import/export format from dwg/dxf to COLLADA in the free version of SketchUp. Users, especially those in the architectural field, use dwg/dxf formats extensively to traverse between SU and other programs such as AutoCAD, so, if Google had been taking this feature away from everyone I could understand the outcry. However, you don't have to read too deeply to see that Google say that dwg/dxf importers will still be available in the Pro/paid version of SketchUp, as well for a limited time as a stand alone converter. Of course the community chooses not to read this and instead runs around crying that the sky is falling.<br /><br />Let's put aside Google's motives for a second; they are, after all, a commercial company who answer to their shareholders - SketchUp needs to be a commercially viable product. Whatever the reason they feel they must make this change, even if it is just because they want to make money and sell more professional licences, they are within their rights to do that. Let's ignore the fact that, if you're a professional user of SketchUp, working for an Architectural services firm the price of SketchUp Pro is a bargain and you should buy it and not expect to get a professional tool for free. For the rest of us, for whom $500 may be a little much for a hobby piece of software we should marvel at what we get for free and stop moaning about the professional features we are being denied, even if that were true.<br /><br />The truth is Google says they will provide us with a importer to get us over this hump:<br /><blockquote class="webkit-indent-blockquote" style="border-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 10px;">"For those of you who depend on the importers we plan to remove, we'll be providing an optional download that enables them again. But remember! This installer will only be available for a limited time, and it will not be supported at all in our next major release."</blockquote><br />Just keep this installer safe, or why not keep a version of the current SU7 installed on your machine? If you need to import something from AutoCAD first open it in SU7 before working with whatever the snazzy new features the SU7+ program is going to provide. I know the interweb loves a drama, and that seems to hold true even in our little SU niche, but let's not panic until we have a reason to. I'm sure that the free version of SU will continue to be an amazingly complete and powerful tool and we would do to remember that old adage about gift horses and looking in their mouths.Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-32731944508179991942009-08-28T12:27:00.000-07:002011-03-02T11:02:09.981-08:00File Organization & Version Control [part 1]: Introduction<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3024/2317490473_f73f9d2db9_m.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 156px; height: 240px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3024/2317490473_f73f9d2db9_m.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />One of SketchUp's strengths is its simplicity. The power in that simplicity can lead to some complicated projects and situations which you may find reflected in the chaos of files liberally scattered around your computer's hard drives. If you're like me, you might have several projects on the go at any one time, in various states of competition (or abandonment). To make matters worse you might work on two or more PC's as I do; I have a work laptop, a personal laptop and a home work-station all of which I have been known to run SketchUp on. Admittedly I am a bit of a techie geek but I don't think that's so unusual among SketchUp users.<br /><br />However disciplined you are there will come a time when you don't know which version of a particular file is the latest and greatest. This can lead to hours of lost work if you're not careful. The last time you edited the SU model of your house were you sitting at your work-station or were you carrying a laptop around? Did you save the file to the local machine, your server or a thumb drive?<br /><br />If you're not like me and you only use SketchUp on one machine, and you only have a few constructed models, and only have one project underway at a time, I envy you but you can stop reading now. Bye!<br /><br />... now that those smug, minimalist users have left us let me share my thoughts on file organization, version control and file security for those of us who are a little more scatty:<br /><ul><li><i><b>File organization</b></i> refers to how to organize your files of your models, reference images, reference models, exported files, components, plugins, etc. and how you sync those files on your various machines.<br /><br /></li><li><i><b>Version control</b></i> is how you track different versions of your files as they evolve.<br /><br /></li><li><i><b>Security</b></i> is about how you keep those files backed up and safe.</li></ul>There is no one correct solution to these issues; what works for me might not fit in with your work-flow at all. It doesn't really even matter how you address these issues as long as you do think about them and then you come up with, and implement your own working solution. Once you have a solution in place this could be a set-it-and-forget-it kind of issue, however, these are questions worth reviewing periodically especially if your current solution isn't working, or it is getting in the way of getting things done, or your working practices just changed.<br /><br />In the following couple of articles I'll describe the issues I feel you should think about and I'll describe how I have addressed them in my own SketchUp work-flow. My solution might not be perfect but it works for me.<br /><br />It may seem a little dry and boring but if you spend a little time and effort establishing good working practices it can save you days of heartache further on down the road. For all the hours we spend working (or playing) on our models it is worth investing a thought now to establish good file organization and working practices.<br /><i>[<a href="http://sketchupfanboy.blogspot.com/2009/09/file-organization-version-control-part.html">continued</a>]</i>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-43809106863966658872009-08-25T11:31:00.000-07:002011-03-02T11:00:49.561-08:00Ideas: Speed Modeling<div style="text-align: left;">If you've been modeling in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">SketchUp</span> for any length of time you know how it is. You get back from lunch and get stuck into a model for a couple of hours. The next thing you know it's dark outside and your wife is calling you to find out if you're working late again.</div><br />It is so easy to get stuck in the minutiae of a model. A model you thought might take an evening takes weeks as you explore every last detail. It is easy to forget one of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">SketchUp's</span> biggest strengths - its speed. It's an interesting <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">exercise</span> to challenge yourself to model as fast as you can and this is the idea behind <a href="http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewforum.php?f=291">the speed modeling challenges on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">SketchUcation</span></a>. You generally have 30 minutes to start and complete a model based on a theme and to submit it to the forums for judging. I've only taken part in a couple of challenges but in that 30 minutes you learn so much about how to pare down to the essentials, forget about a few of the details, and build something quickly. There's no time to search for tutorials on how to achieve some specific, niche effect you just have to get the idea of the object into <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">SketchUp</span> as quickly as possible.<div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe src="http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/mini?mid=9c34aa2214702ed148f8166b91d5c8c7&etyp=im&width=400&height=300" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" width="400" height="300"></iframe></div></div><div>Even if you don't submit your model to be judged I do encourage you to try this exercise once in a while - to complete a model in the 30 minutes or less. It will help you to reinforce your strengths and what you already know. At the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">same</span> time it will highlight your areas of weakness - the things you need to improve on. Give it a go and test yourself!</div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-15121704402992290652009-08-24T12:26:00.000-07:002011-03-02T11:03:56.470-08:00Surprisingly Useful: Movie Prop Replicas<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7JYKZsiYt5hGtUjQzITHlDel3DRaO70eI1LAwdH9Bs9t6h6rwp2SNFZXqoNeaO0ItMhoToc6fpVvqqKY4HHhug9UMhh6HKjpXM2CWHGkwETHQyv6znb3iBn6lycsW_Frgc3OY0i-pnN8/s1600-h/ds.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7JYKZsiYt5hGtUjQzITHlDel3DRaO70eI1LAwdH9Bs9t6h6rwp2SNFZXqoNeaO0ItMhoToc6fpVvqqKY4HHhug9UMhh6HKjpXM2CWHGkwETHQyv6znb3iBn6lycsW_Frgc3OY0i-pnN8/s320/ds.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373617886932090258" /></a>
<br /><p>For 5 years around the turn of the Millennium I had an obsession with movie prop replicas. At the time I was a huge Star Wars nut and the urge started with wanting a screen accurate copy of Luke's lightsaber hilt. If you dug around on the net there was some information about the raw materials were used to make this kind of prop and how to find the parts you needed to build your own - this was in the days before you could just order an official, screen accurate prop from Amazon.com - the quest for parts was half the fun.</p><div style="text-align: left;"><iframe src="http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/mini?mid=c1b7f0eaffab50fb80502d5bfeceb485&etyp=sw&width=400&height=300" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" width="400" height="300" style="float:right;"></iframe></div><p>It turns out there was a large, underground (since the hobby is on the fringe of copyright violation) community of prop enthusiasts. In the end, as official licencing moved in on our geek preserve, the community fractured and viciously fell out with each other. I'm sure it's still out there but it put me off forum communities for a long time - by the time I left people were as rude to each other as big-brother contestants.</p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPgU5vMz7Wrkr0jMZXM0rEZ6nF7TtFnECyPscgGwYEhrUgVlWpczJOVSSW7rXB7P525S9QgzN2VR_R04K4TmBndfVOCjA50U-LzqqZXAjDwnp0_UEzCAN0BM2YrWlxiIhlreYqJxKgvNM/s1600-h/LukeGraflex.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 208px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPgU5vMz7Wrkr0jMZXM0rEZ6nF7TtFnECyPscgGwYEhrUgVlWpczJOVSSW7rXB7P525S9QgzN2VR_R04K4TmBndfVOCjA50U-LzqqZXAjDwnp0_UEzCAN0BM2YrWlxiIhlreYqJxKgvNM/s320/LukeGraflex.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373619267408667218" /></a><p>But back to the plot. In its hay-day, we shared information with each other including, in many cases, construction plans. Before embarking on any project I used to like to create my own plans and diagrams which I shared via <a href="http://www.geocities.com/mhtaylor67/cad/index.htm">a Geocities site</a>: - they tell us Geocities is going away but you can still get to my old site for the moment.</p><p>In those pre-SketchUp days I used a 2D program I got from Office Depot for a few dollars called <a href="http://www.deltacad.com/">DeltaCad</a>. It wasn't especially complicated but I got pretty good using it and it took me back to my favorite subject in high-school, long before technical design was something you did on a computer; technical drawing with T-squares and French Curves. I used to enjoy making the plans more than making the props so when I started to play with SketchUp it was only natural that I should model some of these objects. Highly detailed construction plans already existed and it was a fun learning experience to model some of these complex structures using that information.</p><div style="text-align: left;"><iframe src="http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/mini?mid=e1ee6fd48b1a50cc51d5d1004657a651&etyp=sw&width=400&height=300" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" width="400" height="300" style="float:left;"></iframe>I doubt I'll do back to prop-building as a hobby (it is expensive and very time consuming) so my half-built Ghost Busters Proton Pack may remain boxed up in my basement for many years to come. However, if I do ever try to complete it the SketchUp model I made with each structure on a separate layer will provide a complete build plan. Then again, building the SketchUp model itself scratched the prop itch and was just as fulfilling as building the model for real. Now I've shared it on the 3D warehouse people should be able to benefit from my work in perpetuity and as new details emerge the plans the model too can evolve. I only wish such a resource existed when I was an active builder, although, my wife is glad it didn't or our house may have been full of geeky Daleks and Sci-Fi blasters - at least I can keep my models these days hidden on my hard drive when visitors come over.</div><div style=""></iframe></div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-55064590439262368662009-08-21T10:33:00.000-07:002011-03-04T09:07:21.366-08:00Surprisingly Useful: Will The Plasma TV Fit In Our Car?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div>When my well-to-do friend wanted to upgrade his 50" plasma TV from 720 to 1080 (my eyes can't be that refined - I still can't see the difference) he offered me his old one for a fifth of the retail price. How could I pass it up? My only issue was how to get it home.</div><div><br />
</div><div>This was more than a year ago when my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">SketchUp</span></span> skills were developing and rudimentary. But better modelers than me generously share their models on the 3D warehouse. A few minutes searching located a detailed model of my wife's old car (there was no way a 50" plasma TV would fit in my two-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">seater</span></span> roadster, although, I did move an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Ikea</span></span> desk with it that was bigger than the whole cockpit but that's a whole different story that still frightens me when I think about it). A few <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">minutes</span> more on the warehouse and I had a generic flat screen TV that I could scale to the <a href="http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pio/pe/images/portal/cit_3424/31820873PDP503CMX_GSpecs.pdf">exact measurements listed on the Pioneer web site</a>.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Even with my basics skills I could then <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">virtually</span> check that the TV would fit in the car before I turned up at my friend's house in real life with the confidence that I had the tools for the job.</div><div><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEhL0uP01hpuB7_yiiooxjh4FWrAWz1i4kifMyxL4J4ZQDT5Dbw5zWlNelWlfEYBZ_K_L8z-c2nAzRuPIr6SwpPLUtHYnpMWgCwtYg5BPpCImUrLbJCc_Sbabon_egqRFN8Dgpv-29-YI/s1600-h/JettaPlasma.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372474454481502818" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEhL0uP01hpuB7_yiiooxjh4FWrAWz1i4kifMyxL4J4ZQDT5Dbw5zWlNelWlfEYBZ_K_L8z-c2nAzRuPIr6SwpPLUtHYnpMWgCwtYg5BPpCImUrLbJCc_Sbabon_egqRFN8Dgpv-29-YI/s400/JettaPlasma.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 288px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<div><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">SketchUp</span></span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">proved</span> its value again for answering a real world issue quickly and effectively.</div></div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-65875010208421817692009-08-20T09:51:00.000-07:002011-03-02T11:03:56.472-08:00Surprisingly Useful: Designing a Gallery Wall<div style="text-align: center;"><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="360" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=313b907762&photo_id=3828933388&hd_default=false"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=313b907762&photo_id=3828933388&hd_default=false" height="360" width="640"></embed></object><br /></div><p>I love to find practical uses for SketchUp in my own, non-designery life. On short notice my wife got asked to <a href="http://www.pjtaylorphotography.com/">exhibit some of her photography</a> for one night at a gallery event. She was having trouble visualizing how different sized and styles of frames and mats would look together so I knocked up a quick model to help her. In the end we narrowed it down to white or black gallery style frames which is what this simple animation shows. It really helped her get past a mental block in the planning stage and last night we hung the real thing - let me tell you, it takes a lot longer to print, mat, frame and hang 10 photographs in real life than it does in SketchUp.</p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mybluemuse/3838679823/"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2527/3838679823_ec681c6fd3.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><p>It did get me thinking though, as our walls at home are a little bare despite us having quite a lot of <a href="http://www.20x200.com/">affordable art</a> stashed away in closets this same idea could easily be applied to the model of our home. It could settle years long arguments between my wife and myself about what looks good where without having to put a ton of holes in the walls.<br /></p><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/martintaylor/3842960786/" title="Reading (take 2) by the other Martin Taylor, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3279/3842960786_054a7d5e0f.jpg" width="500" height="191" alt="Reading (take 2)" /></a></div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-76774681809926166472009-08-19T09:52:00.000-07:002011-03-14T12:40:11.065-07:00Model of the Month: SilverShadow’s Eye Candy 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z316/free_shadow/242.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="164" src="http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z316/free_shadow/242.jpg" style="display: block; height: 397px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 771px;" width="320" /></a><br />
Remember when you took your first faltering steps in SketchUp? How drawing a child-like house in 3D seemed like magic and building something with compound curves seemed impossible? Just when you think you're progressing from 'beginner' to 'intermediate' you come across a model like this one from Jacques Cleghorn of <a href="http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=20385" target="_blank">H.M.C.S Snowberry</a> and you realize that you've not even scratched the surface of what SketchUp is capable of. Jacques generously provides <a href="http://www.box.net/shared/4ao75395un" target="_blank">downloads of his Eye Candy series of models</a> and full renders - unfortunately he is out of bandwidth at the moment to I will have to wait until another time to see is my PC is man enough to deal with this level of detail. He also <a href="http://www.sketchucation.com/temp/creating-silvershadows-eye-candy-3-hmcs-snowberry/creating-silvershadows-eye-candy-3-hmcs-snowberry.pdf" target="_blank">provides some instructions</a> of how he created this epic model if you are inspired to follow in his footsteps. Amazing work! </div>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5406838512462031457.post-28188936717086271242009-08-18T09:59:00.000-07:002009-08-24T16:10:57.850-07:00Guggenheim Design It Shelter Entry<div>Like most <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">SketchUp</span> Fan Boys I like to enter <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">SketchUp</span> related contests and the big one at the moment is the <a href="http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/education/sackler-center/design-it-shelter">Guggenheim Design It Shelter competition</a>. I had a lot of fun creating my own design that complied with the competition guidelines (basically the interior space could me no larger than 100 square feet, the height no taller <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">than</span> 12 feet and you couldn't use any plumbing or electrical components). The specs may seem restrictive but I'm loving seeing what my fellow <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">SketchUp</span> designers from all around the world are <a href="http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/education/sackler-center/design-it-shelter/view-shelters">coming up with</a>; your imagination and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">ingenuity</span> is a source of inspiration.</div><div><br /></div><div>By contrast <a href="http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/education/sackler-center/design-it-shelter/view-shelters">my own design</a> seems tame but I did think it through. My modest fantasy was that I had permission to build a retreat near a local, quiet beach that I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">occasionally</span> stop at to get a taste of the ocean on my way home (if I take the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">scenic</span> route). I wanted it to be a sort of surf shack (although I don't surf) where I could escape the city, by bike, and spend a day away from phones and the drama of modern, urban life. It might not be the most flashy of designs but I like what I came up with.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you want to participate you have until August 23rd to <a href="http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/education/sackler-center/design-it-shelter/designit-competition-entry-form">submit your entry</a>. I can't wait to see what you come up with.</div><div><br /></div><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TtxAuEOIiRA&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TtxAuEOIiRA&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><iframe src='http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/mini?mid=72595885454210c528a9ffe1f7694d3b&etyp=sw&width=400&height=300' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' marginheight='0' marginwidth='0' width='400' height='300'></iframe>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02660608871405317981noreply@blogger.com0