sketchUcation

Glare Technologies just announced the release of Indigo Renderer 3.4!

As part of the new update they will be running a 25% to 33% off sale until the 23rd of November.

In the market for a powerful unbiased render engine? Want to render SketchUp Section Planes?

LightUp for SketchUp is a SketchUp plugin that adds realistic, realtime lighting to your sketchup models. Add lights, add windows, and watch your SketchUp scenes glow with gorgeous reflected light, soft shadows, subtle shading. Gone are the flat, boring surfaces of old. When you're ready, you can export your lit model to a compressed file containing your Model, textures and Scenes and share it with others using the free LightUp Player or LightUp Web Player.

Version 2.6h has just been released with new features and bug-fixes.

Shaderlight makes it simple to create amazing images from your SketchUp model, however we all know that sometimes it's useful to get some tips from an expert. Starting next month, the guys at Shaderlight will hosting a series of live online training sessions hosted by their resident rendering guru, Martin Cox.

Register before November 16th you'll pay just $25.

Trimble has acquired the 'assets of Vico Software', a company that offers consulting services and has developed a suite of 5D virtual construction software. The following image explains at a glance what Vico does.

This shows that Trimble is very serious about becoming a big player in the Construction Industry and this can only mean that SketchUp will be further developed with a strong emphasis on AEC.

Spread3D creator Laurent Diaz recently released an update to his popular realtime 3D viewer which allows users to securely share SketchUp models. Spread3D generates a Flash based web page compatible with modern Mac and Windows browsers. Spread3D can also export standalone files which can be opened with Spread3D Player or integrated in PowerPoint.

uFormia's simple, always watertight, 3D modeling mashup tool for meshes, designed for painless and direct 3D printing is now looking for backers on Kickstarter.

Create new objects by remixing any number of meshes and parts of meshes, or combining meshes where, without effort, a creator can be sure that their models are always ready for 3D printing.

We have just launched Podium QuickStart V2 and Podium Essentials V2 by Jim Kenney, a Podium expert and University Lecturer in Interior Design. Any members that have not yet delved into the rendering world can do so so now in complete confidence with the aid of these great step-by-step books! To make the deal sweeter, SketchUcation has arranged a deal with Dave Wayne, the Podium developer, whereby purchasers get a Promo Code that delivers a 20% discount on Podium. The Promo Code is available for a month and is emailed to purchasers as well as on the front cover.

The fourth-ever SketchUp 3D Basecamp will take place October 15, 16 and 17 in SketchUp's hometown of Boulder, Colorado. 3D Basecamp is a gathering for 250 (or so) SketchUp enthusiasts to meet, learn and be inspired by one another. It's also a seriously good time; this recap video from 2010 sums the event up pretty nicely. This year's 3D BaseCamp will focus around plugin development for SkwetchUp - let's face it; without these plugins SketchUp would not be any near to what is today. The keynote speaker will be Bre Pettis (co-founder and CEO of Makerbot Industries).

SimLab Soft has two products relevant to SketchUp users: SimLab 3D PDF Exporter for SketchUp and SimLab Composer (which also includes this feature). SimLab 3D PDF Exporter does what it says: exports a PDF file viewable in 3D - which you can also insert into a html page. SimLab Composer - beside being distributed in three, different "flavours": 3D PDF edition, Rendering edition and Animation edition (see the comparison here) - gives users different options to share 3D Scenes;

ShaderLight recently ran a contest for users in July and after hundreds of entries from all over the world the winners have now being announced.

SketchUcation helped judge the competition entries with Mike Lucey sitting on the panel along with Lynette Clee from 3D Artist.