architecture must-have: sketchup podium

remember my previous post on architecture must-have? so here is my follow-up, maybe focusing more on the sketchup software.

so, you have tried sketchup. and you think youre good in it. but you wanted something for your presentation board, not some sketchy 3d meshes. and what you need there is; wait for it..!

sketchup podium (currently v1.5)

what is sketchup podium you ask. podium is a plugin for google sketchup, allowing you to render your current sketchup scene with just one button, yup, no other fussy stuffs like those in 3ds max. allowing you to turn your sketchup model like this;

into something like this!

cool isn’t it?

disclaimer: this was done for my so-so ‘habitat’ project. sigh, isn’t it so much better if I have the chance to render one of my real deal imagined buildings? anyway, this took me 2 days to tweak the podium settings to suit my needs. and there is like 50-70 other ‘development’ renderings in my cache just to have this nice one. geez.

and sketchup podium is a very simple plugin. I mean really really simple. so you don’t expect it to be perfect, or so customizable. yes, you can customize or tweak the settings, but that takes much of your precious time. but if you’re interested, why not?

if you are able to tweak everything to work like this;

not my work, taken from podium’s website.

then congratulations! you’re a podium master. if not, go learn 3ds max then! (exactly what am I doing). I might write one or two little guide to tweak the podium settings one day, but don’t anticipate it. so, take advantage of this software, go download sketchup podium!

work that I’ve done to entertain myself.

p.s: oh yeah, the evaluation version only allows you to render in a thumbnail size. so you might want to try other ‘alternative’ ways to have the registered version. try emule. and remember, I don’t encourage you to do that. cheers-

Related Posts

• architecture must-have: sketchup
• portfolio : architectural design 101
• autodesk 2009 softwares available
• optimizing internet for architecture
• quest for malaysian architecture: architects are initiators