|
Sketchy Representation
From its inception, SketchUp has valued clear,
accessible, non-photo realistic representations of models
over photo-realism. This philosophy correlates with the architectural
client's aversion towards cold, and seemingly finalized renderings
in the early stages of the design process. Previous versions
of SketchUp have offered real-time rendering styles for profiled
lines, jittery lines, and line extensions. When used with
restraint, these styles do create more engaging models. Having
said that, these sketchy styles, when used incorrectly, resulted
in models that could be considered too cartoonish for professional
output. SketchUp 5 improves your chances for creating professional
output by introducing an endpoint line style and "depth
cued edges." (see image 05 and 06
below)
The former style gives subtle clarity to endpoints and corners
that hand drawn architectural sketches usually have. Depth
cued edges produce line-weight variations depending on the
proximity of the edge to the viewpoint. SketchUp's is certainly
trying hard to mimic hand-drawn effects, but there will always
be room for improvement in software's ability to replicate
the human hand.
|
|
|
06
- Render Display Settings
|
Ruby Script Mania
Since the introduction of version 4, script files written
with the Ruby programming language have extended SketchUp's
capabilities. These downloadable scripts, written by advanced
users, add features and streamline common modeling tasks.
Parametric objects, basic cost estimation, splines, contour
simplification, automatic window creation, and onion domes
are all possible by adding Ruby scripts to SketchUp's Library
folder. While Ruby scripts add valuable features to SketchUp,
their increasing number, and script requirements make them
inconvenient to discover and put to use for professional
designers.
Apple had similar problems after the initial release
of OS X (10.4 Tiger) with its Dashboard widgets. The widgets
(mini applications) became so popular, Apple 
had
to introduce a better solution for installing and managing
them. The SketchUp
Ruby Forum and other websites aid in finding and learning
about different scripts; however, a Ruby script management
feature within SketchUp would increase their accessibility
for the average user.
Concluding Thoughts
SketchUp 5 has proven to be an extremely solid release.
The improved speed for modeling operations like, push/pulling,
and drawing are substantial. The makers of SketchUp have
also held to their promise to play well with others. They
have revised several of their importing and exporting file
formats and collaborated with other software companies to
produce plugins for both Graphisoft's ArchiCAD and Nemetschek's
Vectorworks on the Mac. SketchUp continues
to make slow and complicated 3D modeling a thing of the past.
The additional tools and the refining of existing features
in version 5 are well worth the modest upgrade cost of $95.00
(US). With the beta release of the Google
Earth Plugin, and
Google's acquisition of SketchUp, we can't wait to see what
the future holds for new features and applications.
Universal Version of SketchUp
SketchUp has not yet been released as an Universal
application for running at native
speeds on Apple's new Intel Macs. Google has stated their
intention to release a native version but
has not given a timeframe for a release. Our experience with
running SketchUp 5 on an Intel
Core Duo iMac (2.0
GHz and 2 GB of RAM) under Rosetta has been surprisingly
stable and responsive. Complex models will slow down real-time
rendering speeds and modeling, but for simple to moderately
sized models, SketchUp 5 performs very well. --- KEMPER SMITH,
Associate Editor.
For more information about the world of SketchUp, go to: www.sketchup.com
Published: 3 May 2006
|
1 | 2 | 3 |
|
