SketchUp + Podium...

**Ross Macintosh** · 21 December 2006, 11:19 PM

SketchUp is known as a very easy to learn modeller. That ease has attracted a huge following. Now a third-party developer has released a very simple to use rendering plugin for SketchUp designed for the typical SketchUp user who's intimidated by or unwilling to learn a full-featured render. The product is called Podium.

It works inside SketchUp and makes it very easy to produce a render -- just a few clicks needed and almost no real learning curve.

I attach my first rendering with the full version (currently $149.00). I opened an existing model I had put together earlier, and took about a minute to setup the rendering. The rendering itself was generated in 4 minutes and 40 seconds.

For any SketchUp users out there, Podium might just be what you've been hoping for. I believe it also works with the free Google SketchUp but I'm not sure (I use the Pro version). Merry Christmas!

Regards, Ross

**Xhris** · 22 December 2006, 09:11 AM

That's an interesting plugin. Xara have said that it's always been their intention for the last decade to incorporate Xara3D directly into Xara to offer SketchUp-like features - in particular, higher rendering quality than is offered by SketchUp. It will also be at a fraction of the cost of all these extra plugins that you need.

Given that this is now a growing area of interest, maybe Xara should take the plunge now.

**gidgit** · 24 December 2006, 08:04 PM

Hey, looks to be a good solution Ross... could the models be further subdivided before rendering, yes?

Nice trike

**Ross Macintosh** · 24 December 2006, 11:04 PM

Further subdivided: No not really in SketchUp. The typical emphasis in SketchUp is on low-poly modelling and that trike is an example. That said it could have been modelled high poly if that had been the goal. The trike was never modelled to be the feature of a rendering so its low poly aspects are fairly clear in this rendering. If it had been more of a background element in a scene its low poly nature would have been less apparent.

I didn't actually model the trike myself. It is a component from the FormFont collection.

Regards, Ross

**stratocast** · 25 December 2006, 05:52 PM

Ross, thanks for the heads-up. it looks good. I'm an avid SketchUp Pro user who cannot get to grips with the rendering process. Maybe this is just what I need.

**gidgit** · 25 December 2006, 07:07 PM

Thanks for the reply Ross... good info

Looking forward to some more cool renders...

**RTK** · 26 December 2006, 04:09 PM

Great stuff, Ross.

I downloaded SketchUp (Free/Google version) a couple of days ago and I think it's brillant and very addictive.

Looking at the website (I can't find the info.) is there just a difference in export and import filter, or are there differences in the drawing tools also?

Also, how do you evenly space shapes - example... Highrise with lots of windows?

Risto

**Mike Bailey** · 26 December 2006, 05:32 PM

Also, how do you evenly space shapes - example... Highrise with lots of windows?

Quicktime movie link http://download.sketchup.com/downloa...multi_copy.mov

**Ross Macintosh** · 26 December 2006, 08:00 PM

Risto -- the movie Mike linked probably anserers your question about copies. To it I'd add that in that example the geometries associated with that window can be defined as a 'component' before making the copies. Then after making all those copies it would be possible to edit one of the copies and have all otrher instances of the component edit automatically.

There are differences between the free & pro version. It isn't in the tools or in what you could model. The Pro version has more import and export options, higher resolution bitmap exports and it will run more complex scripts. (There are lots of scripts that add functionalities to the pro version). The free version is not supported except by its Google Group forum and the free version is not allowed to be used for commercial work.

Regards, Ross

**diana** · 01 January 2007, 05:59 AM

There is a set of tools available in the pro version that isn't in the freebie Google SketchUp, the sandbox tools. They are more organic type mesh manipulation tools, like pulling up a hill in a flat plane to make a terrain shape. I hardly use the sandbox tools myself, the freebie does everything I normally use SketchUp for, but I do have to use the Pro version due to occasional commercial projects. I love SketchUp, been using it since version 3. I'm so happy to see others finally can have a free version to use and see why I'm such a fan. It's a very logical modeler with an easy to understand interface.

I tried Podium, very easy to use and fast renders with the early demo, but I've read it has slowed down with the release version. Not tried the demo of the release version because I found out how much it will cost and I can't bring myself to spend that kind of money for what I can do in Vue, Poser, Bryce or Carrara and have more options. I tried the free Kerkythea renderer and it is really easy to render using a free script to go from SketchUp to Kerkythea. I'm more at home in my other 3d software for rendering but if the Podium program was $50.00, I'd be likely to buy it just because I don't have to leave SketchUp to use it.