SketchUP Importer in 3d Studio Max 2010

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While writing posts 9 SketchUP tips for better 3d modeling workflow & Making of ‘MS House’ at dusk, part 1 i refereed to the process of exporting SketchUP models as 3DS files to be imported into 3d Studio Max for more work and rendering. Today I’ve learned that Autodesk has released a new SketchUP importer for 3d Studio Max 2010 available for all their subscription holders. Boy, if ever i wanted to be a subscription holder it is now.

The thing is a never really found any incentive to upgrade from version 9. but since Autodesk did notify all the users about the termination of upgrades for 3d Studio Max 9 starting from March 16th 2010 – it is a good time to upgrade regardless. Read more →

9 SketchUP Tips for better 3d modeling workflow

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I picked up SketchUP my first year of architecture school back in 2002 and never stopped using it since. It is as powerful as it is simple, and yet I’ve seen too many pick up bad habits who find it hard to utilize SketchUP to its full potential.

So while I work on the continuation of the Making of ‘MS House’ – Part 1, Let me elaborate further and share some more of my SketchUP work-flow. Before I get specific about a few things, I should mention that it is good practice to have the manual comfortably nearby while modeling and I also highly recommend watching the SketchUP video guides. The information I’ll elaborate here will, hopefully, help you model fast and efficient with a great amount of control over the 3d modeling process.

This is a pure text post, so please bear with me. Read more →

Google SketchUP Free v8 to drop DWG/DXF support?

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John Bacus, SketchUP Product Manager, posted some interesting news about the new Google SketchUP 8 release – or should I call it a little ‘heads-up’ notice for all the free users out there. You can read it all at the Google SketchUP Blog, but following are some highlights from it.

Adding something new

The new version of SketchUP will introduce COLLADA file format support said to be a 3D model exchange format that is open, extensible and public. The reasoning behind this is to provide a more flexible way of exporting (and importing) SketchUP models out for whatever the user wants.

“In our next release, we’re going to make COLLADA an official first-class format for all modelers. You’ll be able to import and export COLLADA models, as well as COLLADA models wrapped up in the KMZ format for Google Earth, with any version of SketchUp.”John Bacus, SketchUP Product Manager

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