Power tools for wood construction

Here are two videos that nicely illustrate how traditional timber framing (and even panelized light-framing) has evolved from the chisel to the CNC cutter and the nailing gantry. The first one is a more hands-on approach where power-tools are used to do individual cuts. The second one is a fully CNC-based process, where every single member is […] Read more..

SketchUp gets a face-lift!

Okay… admittedly SketchUp itself looks in the latest maintenance release that came out today (Version 8, Maintenance Release 4) much like it did before the update. What has changed, though, is the logo/icon and therefore, the brand of the software. Here are the changes: New Icon Old Icon SketchUp LayOut Style Builder You can now […] Read more..

Intergrain Timber Vision Awards 2012

This year’s Intergrain Timber Vision Awards 2012 were given out recently. This award “aims to recognise and celebrate the valuable role timber plays in Australian architecture and design”. For a full list of the winning projects , go to: Intergrain – Awards (the announcement is here).

Hacking COLLADA to add reflectivity

[sketchfab id=”vj4S4foHFOZ8Lv9ckcyA0cAhdXQ” start=”1″ spin=”.5″ controls=”1″] Model with shininess (Phong shader) If you export a COLLADA DAE model from SketchUp (using either the 3D Model Export feature in SketchUp or my Sketchfab plugin), then you will notice that any materials in the model (colors or textures) look flat (like you can see in the model shown […] Read more..

Unusual structures in Cross-Laminated-Timber (CLT)

As it turns out, Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT), the new and quite promising structural wood product, can not only be used to build apartments or highrises. It can also be used for more unconventional structures. Below are two of them: A Water Reservoir Structurlam, a CLT supplier from Penticton, BC has used CLT to build this water […] Read more..

Sketchfab uploader

Putting SketchUp models on the web – with Sketchfab.com

Although there are ways to get SketchUp models to display on the web (most notably using the 3D Warehouse or VRML if you have SketchUp Pro), none of those technologies are as elegant as using WebGL. This technology needs no plugins and relies only on 3D display capability that is already built into modern browsers. While […] Read more..