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..

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..

SimFonIA Animation Tools plugin released

A new and interesting SketchUp animation plugin has just been released: SimFonIA Animation Tools. What I find most appealing about it is that you can drive an animation from external data (e.g. a spreadsheet or an analysis program). For more information: SimFonIA Animation Tools

More from Google: 3D Warehouse changes

On the heels of the announcement that SketchUp has been sold to Trimble comes another announcement from Google, this time related to Google Earth. As described in various press releases and posts, Google will – among other changes – implement automated building (and vegetation!) generation from flyover data for major cities. The following video explains this: […] Read more..

Update now to SketchUp 8 Maintenance Release 3

The SketchUp folks yesterday released a maintenance update for SketchUp: Official Google SketchUp Blog: Announcing SketchUp 8 M3. Get it now to keep your favorite 3D modeling software running smoothly. A list of updates  is here: The following issues have been fixed SketchUp can crash when using Ruby plugins that call Ruby observers. In this release […] Read more..

Google SketchUp sold to Trimble

As announced today, Google has sold their widely popular 3D modeling application, SketchUp, to Trimble, a company that focuses on GPS- and heavy-construction hardware and software (for example, the steel and concrete BIM software Tekla belongs to Trimble). This is a very interesting and at least on the surface quite appropriate move. After all, SketchUp […] Read more..