New Version of Kerkythea Under Testing

An announcement earlier this month (Mar, 2011) on the Kerkythea Forums brings some great news for Kerkythea users. A new version, named Kerkythea Echo Boost, is currently being tested and will be made available "as soon as possible" according to Kerythea developer giannis:

[the new version] comes with 2 significant improvements: 64-bit builds and speed increase of 50% or more! This is why, we decided to call the new build "Echo Boost".

[ via Kerythea News Forum ]

Drawing gears in Sketchup. | Capolight Electronics Projects.

Here's a good run-down on how to draw gears in SketchUp for 3d printing.

Drawing gears in Sketchup. | Capolight Electronics Projects.

Fredo6's Curviloft 1.1a (beta)

Fredo6 has released version 1.1 of his Curviloft tools for SketchUp. Curviloft is still considered a Beta release meaning it is not guranteed to be bug-free, but it does include a number of fixes and improvements:

Curviloft 1.1a – 12 Jan 11: Fourth beta version, dedicated to Loft Along Path. Main evolutions are:

• Some fixes in Loft by Spline and Skinning.
• Loft Along Path should be functional and handle 1, 2 or more contours with 3 methods: Stretch, Offset and Sweep
• Two-phase loading of the script

On top of potential bugs and geometry issues (including bugsplats), there are still some limitations and unfinished work:

• VCB is not active
• No interactive edition in the floating palette
• B-Spline and F-Spline do not close nicely in loop mode
• No later reedition of shape generated (this will come)
• all texts and labels are not reviewed yet

Note that this release requires LibFredo6 3.6 or higher.




Fredo also updated several other plugins to take advantage of the newer LibFred6 3.4, so you may also want to install these at the same time. I made a short-list of the most recent updates in this SketchUcation topic.

SketchUp 8 M1 (Maintenance Release 1)

Google SketchUp released a Maintenance upgrade for SketchUp 8 yesterday. The upgrade includes a long list of improvements - most notably a fix for the long-standing "Shadow Bug."

Other important fixes will enable Windows users to export images at higher resolutions, and to take advantage of more memory when exporting images. Also on Windows, it is now possible to select a codec when exporting a video.

Mac users will benefit from a number of fixes to the Outliner, Scenes, Add Location, and 3D Warehouse features and dialogs.

View the complete release notes for SketchUp 8 M1, Layout, and Style Builder.

The US English language version numbers for version 8 M1 are:

• 8.0.4810 (Mac)
• 8.0.4811 (Win)

 [ via the Official SketchUp Blog ]

SketchUp 8 Free & DWG/DXF

As you probably know, SketchUp 8 Free does not include the ability import/export DXF/DWG files.

Although there are some free and commercial importers/exporters available, none can match the quality of SketchUp's original plugins. Currently, the best way to exchange DWG/DXF with SketchUp is to use SketchUp 7.1 & the DWG/DXF import plugin for SketchUp 7.1 (Free)

Although SketchUp Free 7.1 also does not have the DWG/DXF import/export capabilities, Google SketchUp did release an optional installer which enables it.

As of now, both SketchUp version 7.1 and the optional installer are available for download. Only the Pro version of SketchUp 7.1 is available for download, but that's OK - it will revert to the Free version after 8 hours use, and you will be able to continue using it.

SketchUp 7.1 can be installed along with version 8, and the 2 versions will remain separate. However, if you install version 7 after version 8, you may need to go back and repair the version 8 installation to fix some minor issues (Windows thumbnails, file associations.)

It was also stated on the official Google SketchUp blog that the installer would be available for a limited time, so it's anyone's guess when it will disappear.

Downloads: [ SketchUp 7.1 Pro | DWG/DXF import plugin for SketchUp 7.1 (Free) ]

LightUp v2.0 sneak peek (part 1)

Adam Billyard leaked a little info on the upcoming LightUp v2.0. The update will include not only many fixes and improvements to existing features, but some fantastic new features to make LightUp even more fantastic-er.

Multisampling/Anti-aliasing - v2.0 offers realtime anti-aliasing if your graphics card supports it. LightUp v2.0 and LightUp Player both leverage this GPU feature to produce realtime anti-aliased images. LightUp v2.0 will also use the GPU to significantly accelerate rendering out movie frames.

Animated Dynamic Light Sources - Adding dynamic elements to you model helps produce eye-catching movies and LightUp Player files without requiring complex authoring.

Material by Layer Rendering - New in v2.0 is the ability to render using the SketchUp Color By Layer mode as well as existing normal rendering, lighting-only, and Lux analysis styles.

Styled Edges - LightUp v2.0 introduces realtime styling controls. Your geometry can be outlined with a realtime adjustable edging to complement the lighting you've added to your model.

Visit LightUp Home for more info and images: LightUp - LightUp v2.0 sneak peek (part 1)

3D File Format CheatSheet -

As much as we all love SketchUp, it isn't always the right tool for every job. Designer and educator Evan Troxel has made a really nice 3d File Format Cheat Sheet to help when sending models to other applications.

Cheat Sheet - method digital training for architectural designers