IRender nXt Version 3.0

Although we had announced our rendering contest in The Daily CatchUp, we had never formally announced version 3.0

Check out the Release Announcement

Highlights

• New Plant and Material libraries
• Arroway Textures
• New Material Wizard
• nXt Image Editor
• Panoramic Views
• Lighting Channels
• Visible Light Paths
• Depth of Field and Depth Blur
• Real Time Haze
• Resume Rendering

Reprint of Interview in Daily SketchUp

See the Original  July 6, 2009

TDC: Al, you have been involved in 3D CAD for a long time. How did you get started.

Al Hart: Yes Coen. I guess I am one of the “Cad Pioneers” although I am not as famous as Pat Hanratty and the others. We founded Sigma Design in 1978 which wrote ARRIS – the first micro-processor based, 3D CAD System. ARRIS is still being used and we still make new versions for the dedicated customer base. In 1987 we spun off a new company – now called Render Plus – writing add-on applications for ARRIS.
We created more than 20 add-on applications for ARRIS CAD, and then in the 1990s we started creating stand-alone applications – which didn’t require a CAD system. The most popular of these were Site Designer by LANDCADD, Giza Office Furniture for Facet, and Planix Exterior Designer for Softdesk. We developed our own 3D CAD system to support these applications.

TDC: Interesting… But, how did you get involved with SketchUp

Al Hart: We wrote a SketchUp import/export routine for ARRIS CAD in 2003 after we discovered that about ½ of the architects using ARRIS also used SketchUp. SketchUp made a presentation at the ARRIS users group meetings in 2004 and 2005. We were quite impressed with SketchUp and decided to drop our own 3D Cad system, and write add-on applications for SketchUp instead.
The first was RPS 3D PDF which creates interactive, 3D, PDF files for use with Adobe Reader. Then we created a rendering interface, based on the McNeel and Associates rendering engine AccuRender. These proved to be quite popular add-ons for SketchUp.

TDC: What kind of applications are you writing?

Al Hart: We realized that SketchUp was a great system for creating 3D objects, massing studies, etc. But that it was weaker in some basic CAD capabilities – such as placing pre-made components into a space and manipulating them, or drawing 2D Construction documents. We decided to create some tools to enhance SketchUp in this area. The impression we get from the SketchUp team is that they would prefer to develop capabilities – such as Dynamic Components – but let the third party world create scripts for specific uses of these tools. So our primary business is to develop applications to enhance SketchUp.


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TDC: Thank you for doing this interview with us Al.

Al Hart: Thanks for having us.

Sketch up ur Space

Aug 24, 2010 – Kolkata, India, August 24, 2010 – Sketchup4architect.com proudly announces launching of an online magazine ‘Sketch up ur Space’, exclusively deals with the Google Sketchup on 6th September. This hi-tech E-magazine will surely create a wave among the Sketchup fans of all over the world by providing them necessary helps and sharing the knowledge on it.

A magazine is a store house of all kind of information. It will definitely become a piazza for the peer group for communicating. Sketchup4architect.com is a renowned web site exclusively deals with various fields of Sketchup and always keeps exploring its different new sides for betterment. Over 2 years of experience in this 3D designing field, Sketchup4architect.com lends its hand to the newbie designers and the expert of Sketchup by launching ‘Sketch up ur Space’.

On this magazine, there are articles, blog, video tutorial, tips and tricks and many more things on Sketchup. This informative magazine will have a stylish look in flash version. Sketchup4architect.com is very careful while choosing the proper and authentic information. Anyone looking for a career on 3D design will definitely get help from it. The experts on Sketchup from worldwide also share their knowledge and experience on ‘Sketch up ur Space’. With a committed and dedicated group of writers and editor, Sketchup4architect.com is ready to launch the first edition of this exclusive magazine.

For further information, Sketchup4architect.com may be contacted online www. Sketchup4architect.com

3D Basecamp 2010

Rich and Al attended 3D Basecamp today and learned lots about the new release of SketchUp 8.

The SketchUp folks have done a great job of giving us a new release - top on the list of new things were:

• Improved Geophysical capabilities for modeling buildings using Google Earth Images, Street View images and Building Mkaer
• Great new 3D Solids capabilities for cutting and merging 3D shapes.
• New Layout improvements to make it easier to create construction documents from SketchUp models.

It was great fun meeting the SketchUp crew, SketchUp users from all over the world and other SketchUp developers. Wish you could have been here with us.