University of Utah Teepee by hopkinp

A reminder (while we're on the subject of online design submissions): We launched the Design IT: Shelter Competition a couple of weeks ago. The last day to submit is in August, but don't let the absence of a looming deadline deter you from getting started -- good ideas sometimes happen before 3 am.

Posted by Aidan Chopra, SketchUp Evangelist

• Google 3D Model Map - a rotating view of the latest geo-located models in the 3D Warehouse on a map
• 3D Warehouse Models - the latest and most popular models in the 3D Warehouse
• 3D Warehouse Search - a quick way to search the 3D Warehouse without leaving your homepage

1. Upload it to the 3D Warehouse using your own account. Take a look at the second half of this Help Center article for instructions.
2. Make sure to include the following tag: santa2007 (check out the following image to see what I mean)

Every couple of days until December 31st, I'll add all the models in the 3D Warehouse that are labeled with the above tag to the Model Santa's Sleigh collection. Even if you're not submitting anything, you can check out the collection and comment on the models that folks have uploaded. Sometime early in January, I'll post to this blog with a sampling of sleighs from modelers around the world, and the crème de la crème will get top billing in January's SketchUpdate newsletter.

One more thing: Feel free not to stick within the bounds of what most people would consider a "traditional" design. Santa's sleigh is magical, after all. It's possible that it doesn't look anything like any of these.

I haven't tried Sandio's mouse yet, but I thought it looked interesting enough to mention here. If you have one, please comment below to let us know what you think.

• SketchUp may crash when clicking the "Get Current View" button, or by clicking "Tools" > "Google Earth" > "Get Current View."

• Clicking the "Place Model" button, or clicking "Tools" > "Google Earth" > "Place Model" will do nothing on a Mac with a PowerPC processor. SketchUp will appear to have not processed the request. To work around this issue, we suggest the following steps:
  1. Click "File" > "Export" > "3D Model..."
  2. Choose "Google Earth 4 (*kmz)" from the "Format" drop-down menu.
  3. Enter a file name and click "Export."
  4. Open Google Earth and click "File" > "Open."
  5. Browse to and select the KMZ file you created and click "Open."

• Leopard users can't change which font is used by the 3D Text tool.
  

• It's faster - Most users can expect a speed improvement of 15 to 20%.
• HDR output - This format provides more post-processing options if you're also using an image editor like Photoshop.
• Presets - By grouping together complicated settings (like Irradiance Gradients and Trace Refractions) into easier-to-understand presets, it's simpler to get good results without knowing what everything does.
• Transparent/translucent images - Now you can use images with transparent areas (think of the spaces in a chain-link fence).
  
• Bumpmaps - The texture of some materials is bumpy, and these bumps cast shadows and reflect light. Textures with bumpmaps look more realistic when rendered.
• No more reversed faces - You don't have to spend time making sure your model's faces are right-side-out; Podium 1.5 can render both sides of SketchUp's faces.

Check out this Podium 1.5 info page for all the details. The terrific images above are from Pete Stopple. You can find out more about his project in this thread from the Podium user forum.

There's more good news, actually: The free trial version of Podium 1.5 (which restricts your output resolution to a maximum of 500 x 500 pixels) doesn't time out -- you can use it forever. Also, I'm told that a Mac version is currently in development and that a beta should be available by early next year.

Update Revised the description of 'clipmaps' to better reflect what they do.

A tool that empowers designers in the conceptual phase, the stage in which they are able to have the greatest impact on the building's carbon footprint, is a big step towards building more efficient buildings. According to Greenspace, here's what the plugin lets you do:

• Assign properties to surfaces (e.g. surface types, opening types)
• Identify enclosed spaces (e.g. rooms)
• Assign surfaces to spaces
• Check contiguity to make sure that selected faces are enclosed
  
• Integrate with the UK and US versions of Green Building Studio to allow for localized energy reports
  
• Import existing gbXML files (gbXML is an industry wide standard and has been adopted by some of the leading CAD vendors such as Autodesk, Graphisoft, and Bentley)
• Export Sketchup models as gbXML
• Export Sketchup models directly to GBS for instant analysis
• Attractive 3D user interface using Rich Internet Application technologies including Adobe Flash and Flex

The plugin is currently in beta, and Greenspace Research is currently looking for beta testers. Visit them for more information or to sign up for the beta program. Also, Greenspace Research, along with GreenBuildingStudio, will be demonstrating the plugin this week at Greenbuild in Chicago. (Wow, that's a lot of green!) We're told that interested parties should stop by their booth for additional information.

This year we'll be sharing a booth with the team from YouTube; they have some exciting new resources for folks who get inspired to make stuff by watching videos. If you're in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by our booth and say hello!

"If you create a tenon sub-component on the end of a timber component, and then butt that timber up against another timber, the script will automatically copy the tenon into the other timber to create the mortise. So as you make changes to your frame design, the joinery moves around with you automatically. It also generates material lists and shop drawings."

Even better, Clark's Rubies are available on his website for free. Too cool. Speaking of timber framing, Jack McClellen of Thornapple Timberframe is another timber framer who uses SketchUp. I mention him here because he's been helping us get the word out since 2001, and friendship like that deserves attention. Check out Jack's site when you get a chance.

Center for Regenerative Studies
Duwakot, Bhaktapur, Nepal
Rabindra Adhikari, Nepal Engineering College
SketchUp model | More images
"The Center for Regenerative Studies is an academic complex designed for research, participation and education about regenerative processes. Students and Staff would live in this residential symbiotic environment learning from each other and educating the community. General sustainability and its various aspects are incorporated in the overall design process. This project is set in the landscape with minimum interference. Designed with the concept of CELL and TISSUE, these prototypes have the ability to adjust themselves with the varying slope of the site. Building features such as wind catchers, skylighting, geo-thermal energy utilization, water catchment plans, water recycling and various energy harvesting techniques such as PVC are considered a part of the building itself."

O'Donnell Residence
Palm Springs, California, USA
Brendan Eberhardt, Lance O'Donnell, o2 Architecture
SketchUp model | More images
"Site Design: The site for this home is a boulder and sand hillside in Palm Springs, California. Weather in this area may be described as having extremely hot and arid summers and early fall (+115 F daytime highs and +80 F nighttime lows) with cool winter temperatures (+70 F daytime highs and +30 F nighttime lows). The home is designed to work in harmony with natural sloping site and local climatic patterns. The design maximizes southern exposure (passive solar winter heating) and minimizes east/west (hot summer sun) exposure. This orientation, along with the detached garage, permits seamless outdoor living that is protected from strong northwest winds.
Energy Savings: Solar Control – generous overhangs on south facade and minimal windows on east west facades virtually eliminate unwanted heat gain. Quality Daylight – due to the detached Garage all living spaces have daylight and are independent of electric light during daylight hours. Natural Ventilation – all rooms have operable windows for natural cross ventilation, thermal comfort, night flush cooling and odor control.
Green Systems: Home has flat roofs with integrated photovoltaic systems, tankless water heaters and water-cooled air conditioning System.
Water Conservation: Home is designed with drought and wind-tolerant landscaping, subterranean irrigation systems and smart irrigation controls.
Indoor Air Quality: Home is specified with low V.O.C. paint, carpet and cabinetry as well as formaldehyde-free insulation and wood products.
Constructions Waste Minimization Program: Home is designed with panelized construction to maximize energy efficacy and minimize job-site construction debris. These panels, with integrated steel framing, are also termite and mold resistant."

Tricircle Pavilion, Gqunube Green Ecovillage
East London, South Africa
Dave Muller (model by Sandiswa Nqampoyi), Christian Ecovillage Trust
SketchUp model | More images
"This is a multi-purpose meeting/training hall built entirely using locally harvested timber, rammed earth and reclaimed materials. The SketchUp model was created to check the extent to which the rammed earth wall would be in shadow during summer and shade in winter, thus making use of passive solar heating and cooling. The building is currently 90% complete and performs exactly as envisaged from the SketchUp model."
More info

Durango Discovery Museum
Durango, Colorado, USA
Milton Williams, Durango Discovery Museum
SketchUp model | More images
"This project is the revitalization, environmental cleanup, and addition to the original powerplant. The project is shooting for a net-zero energy footprint through use of specialized materials, window orientation, and solar panels. The Discovery Museum will make a difference by educating children about the benifits of renewable energy. Images rendered in iRender."
More info

Mills Graduate School of Business
Oakland, California, USA
Gavin Ross, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
SketchUp model | More images
"Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the architects of the new Graduate School of Business at Mills College in Oakland, CA, designed the facility to be a visible symbol of the importance of women's education in the 21st century. The 28,000 sq. ft. building employs a living garden roof, a rainwater collection cistern for flushing toilets, abundances of daylight and natural ventilation, efficient conditioning and lighting systems, fly-ash concrete, sun-shading strategies, and rapidly renewable/recycled materials. BCJ hopes to have the project LEED Silver certified.

By the way, you should know that we offer SketchUp training classes, too. These classes are also quite popular – over the last few years, we've helped many people build up their SketchUp skills. Our trainers are architects, planners, interior designers and landscape architects who also happen to be SketchUp experts.

1. Open the SketchUp file with the component you want to copy into a library. In my case, this was the model of my house that includes my couch.
2. Choose Window > Components from the menu bar to open the Component browser.
3. In the Component browser, click the In Model button (it looks like a little house) to show the In Model library for the SketchUp file you have open. This library contains all the components in your model.
4. Click the Display Secondary Selection Pane button (in the upper-right corner of the Component browser) to show the Secondary Selection Pane.
5. In the Secondary Selection Pane, use the Library drop-down list to choose the library into which you want to copy your component.
6. Drag your component from the In Model library to the library in the Secondary Selection Pane. You've just made a copy.
7. Click the Display Secondary Selection Pane button again to close the Secondary Selection Pane.

Now your component is available for you to use in any SketchUp file you're working on. Neat, huh?

AND...we proudly wore our bright Google socks the whole season. People were asking for those socks, and we delivered...in the form of blistering hard spikes!

Though I am proud of their achievement, I can't say I'm altogether surprised. Mike and Tyson are each over six feet tall, and together weigh more than my car. On behalf of everyone at Google Boulder, I offer heartfelt congratulations to the conquering champions of amateur v-ball – your rippling muscles will live in office lore for ever and always.

One question for our heroes: Would you both please (pretty please) join our kickball team next spring? We're awfully tired of losing.

1. Choose Window > Styles from the menu bar to open the Styles dialog box.
2. Select the Edit tab in Styles.
3. Select the Edge panel in the Edit tab; it's the one on the far left that looks like a wireframe box.
4. In the Color drop-down menu, switch from All Same to By Material.
5. Use the Paint Bucket tool to paint your edges whatever color (or colors) you choose.

Andrija ended up exporting his SketchUp model into 3ds Max to do the final rendering. Amazing.

1. Open (or create) your image file in an image editor (like Photoshop).
2. If your image contains multiple layers, flatten it (make a single layer).
3. Duplicate that layer.
4. Delete the original layer (the one on the bottom).
5. Select the area that should be transparent in your PNG (the doughnut-hole, if you will).
6. Press Delete to get rid of the pixels you selected in Step 5.
7. Choose Save As from the File menu, and save your image as a PNG file.

After I created my image, the next step was to use it to create a Style with a Watermark in SketchUp. Here's how to do that:

1. In SketchUp, open the model file to which you want to add a Watermark.
2. Choose Window > Styles from the menu bar to open the Styles dialog box.
3. In the Styles dialog box, click the Edit tab.
4. Choose the Watermark Settings panel (the fourth button from the right in the Edit tab).
5. Click the Add Watermark button (it looks like a plus sign).
6. In the dialog box that appears, choose the PNG you created earlier and click Open.
7. In the next dialog box, choose Overlay and click Next.
8. In the next dialog box, click Next again.
9. In the next dialog box, choose Stretched to fit the entire window, make sure Lock Aspect Ratio is selected, and click Finish.
10. Click the Create New Style button (in the upper-right corner of the Styles dialog box) to create a new Style with the Watermark you just created.

Now, any time you want to see your model with your Watermark, all you have to do is select the Style you just created. To save a view of your model with the Watermark applied, create a Scene that you can return to anytime. To see how this works, feel free to check out the model of Sushi with a frame in the 3D Warehouse.

1. Insert a SketchUp model into your LayOut document.
2. Right-click on the model view that you just inserted and choose Standard View > Right (or Left, Front or Back) from the context menu.
3. Right-click again on the model view and choose Standard Views > Top.
4. If you want an orthographic (no perspective) view of your model, right-click again on the model and make sure Perspective is deselected.

To enter the competition, you must be a college or university student in Australia or New Zealand, and you must be at least 18 years old. You can take on the project yourself or enlist the help of your classmates, and to do your best possible work, we suggest that you have a faculty advisor. The deadline for entries is October 31st, 2007.

We've recruited a really great panel of judges to help us determine the winners, including Andrew Carter of Utile Design, Karl May of Turner & Associates, and Andrew Maynard of Andrew Maynard Architects. Visit the competition website to learn more about best practices, see example models, and peruse a whole pile of Frequently Asked Questions.

You might not know that a similar Sketchup Competition just ended in the U.S. and Canada; you can read all about it. Check out the winning models, and get ready for some friendly, cross-Pacific rivalry.

We can't wait to see what you create. Good luck and happy sketching!

Once it's installed and activated, clicking on certain components in your model pops open a SpecifiCAD window that shows you all the content from the Sweets Network and the Google 3D Warehouse that matches. You can then choose a "specific" to replace the "generic" in your model. Check out the website for all the details.