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STYLES…NEW!

One great way to enhance your final presentations is with the use of a special feature in Google SketchUp called Styles. Styles are collections of display settings, including new options like Watermarks and Sketchy Effects, saved in the new Styles palette. You can use Style Builder to create custom non-photorealistic (NPR) Styles for SketchUp. NPR Styles can make your models appear hand-rendered, super-technical, and everything in between. You can create, save, and organize Styles as well as share Styles with others. With a single click, you can quickly apply a style to any model by selecting it from the new Styles window. The use of Styles provides a unique way to visualize models within SketchUp. Check out our new visual library here which will be updated on a regular basis…

TIPS & TRICKS

Here are the links to some usefull tutorials created by Mirage Studio7. We hope that they will be of some help to you in your future creative process. All credits go to Mirage Studio 7.

SPOTLIGHT

This week (31/05/09) we are privileged to be talking to and presenting the work of Alex Jenyon, a freelance matte painter and concept artist in the visual effect industry based in London (UK).  Alex tells us something about himself , his work and in a short series of case studies and a tutorial demonstrates his unique use of SketchUp in everyday workflow. Read more on Alex Jenyon’s work here.

TUTORIALS

Drawing Clouds in Piranesi by Snoopywang – New!!!
This week (15/05/09)we have another new tutorial by Wang, in which he uses a brush he has developed to draw clouds giving a beautiful watercolor effect to them. See the complete tutorial here.

The making of the Bahamas villa by Nguyen Tran Huy Vu

This week (03/05/09) in our tutorial section we are featuring “the making of the Bahamas villa”.  A competition work by an architecture student from Vietnam, Nguyen Tran Huy Vu. In his tutorial he demonstrates the basics of SketchUp to 3DS Max & Vray workflow. You can see the complete tutorial here. You can also check out the complete competition works here.

TECHNIQUES

Improve your presentation skills with some of these great post-process techniques

“Traditional like” painting technique by Neil Cristobal

This post production tutorial was created by  Neil Cristobal (a.k.a. ‘Bokkins’) at the 3D Allusions website. “After learning the ‘traditional-like’ painting technique using photoshop, I have prepared a simple step by step tutorial to guide you and try this painting style”. Click on the pic to take you there!

See more great techniques and tutorials here

COMPETITIONS

Podium has just finished its 4th contest and probably the most spectacular one so far. Congratulations on behalf of SketchUp Artist team to the winner “Nomeradona” with this outstanding image. Congratulations also go to  the Podium Team, runners up and all that took part. You can see the winning images here and a gallery of all the submitted work here.

Podium 4th Contest Winner "Nomeradona"

PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS

One of the best and easiest ways to enhance your final images is to apply some post process work with the help of image manipulation software like Photoshop. Read more here

Add realistic rainbow tutorial by Chris Patterson

In this Photoshop photo effects tutorial, we’re going to learn how to easily add a rainbow, even a double rainbow, to a photo. Of course, as with most photo effects, it helps if you start with the right type of image.

Create realistic fog by Edvard Erlandson

This is a simple but effective tutorial on how to add a realistic fog effect to a photo. Adding fog can be a very effective way of making it look more mystic or romantic. More tips & tricks here…