Renerabbitt

To edit and respond, Thea Standalone Studio 1.5.08 is available still and is the current plugin version for sketchup...though I would encourage anyone looking to learn to use the sketchup version as it will likely get continued development. and as David mentioned, materials play a huge part no matter the software you use. Normals/Bump/Roughness/Diffuse etc. maps make all the difference in render quality. HDR spherical backdrops and image based lighting/reflective maps as David mentioned can really bring a project to life as well. Main problem with chief's models are the sharpness of edges(joinery too precise). I always have eased edge moldings on cabinets etc. to soften everything up. The very tangible benefit to external rendering programs (as opposed to the biased benefit of quality) is that you can closely replicate colors and lumens as well as regional daylight and how they correspond with each other. Which can vastly help development issues with lighting and shadows. Check out some of the tutorials Graham and I(and others) have posted in the tips and techniques boards for CA based rendering.

Thanks Graham and Matt as always. I have showcased that project elsewhere I believe, it seemed a relevant project for pricing. Melissa, something to keep in mind, most people are perfectly fine with CA raytracing or renders. It's all in the demand and value. I am very fast with my techniques and am now profitable after years of NOT being profitable as a rendering artist. Additionally, it provides marketing material for you as a brand, I own rights to most of what I have rendered over the years. Most renders are built into the budget for planset's and design as an additional service, as the design gets you 80% of the way toward a good render. This particular project was used to sell a home before it was built, as most high-end renders tend to be geared toward development phases. The software I use is Thea Render Standalone Studio 5. I wish I had the time to re-learn Sketchup as it is compatible with Thea's latest add-on rendering package. I can produce a pho-realistic renderings in a few hours, but I would consider myself a power user with a large bag of tricks...and I was diligent in my VERY frustrating pursuit of learning the software. I still encourage everyone to give it a go, it's thrilling to see it all come together.

I have my own render farm, not for CA though, I don't believe it has the capability

Melissa, Tagging on to what Graham said above, LOD(Level of Detail) is a huge part of this. I typically offer 3 levels for exterior work: stock Chied 3d views for conceptual, Thea render views for color picking and geo-location based environment lighting, and a 3rd level thats all of the bells and whistles with landscaping etc. Interior LOD includes bare rooms, stock entourage, or custom entourage. I charge $1k to produce as-builts which include true wall dimensions, footing/foundation details and roof framing etc.(A complete home...which is rarely ever needed to produce plansets.) The following home I charged $6k to produce from lines on paper to a fully realized home: this included custom modelling and furniture importing/creating final package was about 12 images and a PDF of the bare floor plan for furniture layout. The background image is the actual view of the back property. all of the colors are sampled from their respective vendors, and textures had to be created to match existing floor and cabinet finishes. Faucets were created to match existing as well as some plants were created. This particular job was rushed, so a lot of post processing had to be done instead of doing the work in the modelling program, which brings up mistakes.(like some of the fireflies you see and joinery not being perfect. or plants looking incorrect.) I never provide rendering quotes based on sq.ft. the variables are too many. I have to bid the job based on my experience of how long it takes me to work a scene. hope this helps

5-7-11 Lite InvsisLED Lights.calibz Credit to K-bird1

Yes I am, apologies. I don't have access to x9 at the moment

Just made this, its based on true spec. give it a go :InvisiLED 45 Degree Angled Strip Light by WAC lighting.calibz

You could create your own light. Go into a blank plan and draw a polyline cylinder and apply a "lighting white" texture to it. Then go to tools/symbol/convert to symbol and scroll down the type to "electrical", check the box "advanced options" and click okay which will bring up the advanced options dbx. In advanced options, name your light, then switch to the options tab and make sure to check "light" and in your case "hangs on wall", then click OK. This will add your newly created light to your user library. Take the added light and place it in plan. You can then open the light (ctrl+e by default) and adjust the color temperature and luminosity. You will have to check the box "show position in camera view" under the light data tab so that you can position lights in the correct orientation. This is good practice with many practical applications and will be reusable in future. You can even shape your light to the true specs of the light source you are using. Do you have a spec for the type of fixture you will use?

This BREAK LINE TOOL.calibz has white fill so you can place it over solid CAD sections without needing to manually draw breaks. Must modify drawing order in some cases. Defaults to CAD drawing group

Additionally I like my as-built wall types to have no framing with my new walls auto-generating framing

Many users will start with the As-Built by turning on only the layers they want visible from the as built, then create "CAD detail from view" then change line colors to light grey, and block the CAD together. Change your CAD block layer to something you create like "as-builts or e-plan." then shift-paste(hold-position) that CAD block to the back drawing layer of your new plan. Then lock the as-built layer

EDIT: I closed out the plan and re-opened and cannot repeat the glitch. It did exist however..for the Devs

Attached a plan for reference. Beattie-N.plan I'm going through and fixing anno/layer sets for an employer and discovered that if I un-check or check "Dimensions, Automatic" Layer in my "FRM" layer set, then the dimensions I have assigned to the "FRM" layer are no longer click-able. Instead, I am able to click invisible/locked layers. Functionality returns once I click on my FRM layer set again from the drop down menu.

welcome, nice to be the helper for a change brings me to a CA request...to eye drop from one plan and apply the grabbed texture to another.

you could build a virtual showroom.. then slide your cutting plane to the room with the finishes/fixtures you need. Also do you use the library filters tool? Best practice is that as you use a material, you should open the search attributes and add some additional tags, before you know it, your materials library will be robust and well organized

You can create 3 separate elevation points by using "baseline angle" as well in the roof plan dbx

question for me as a rendering artist..has x10 solved issues with high face or poly count importing...without good models I could never use chief as a final rendering program

yes you can attach your entire .plan file so we can take a look.

This varies from model to model dependent on the author of the model. Some authors package there items properly bound together, others assumes the software on the down-loaders end will compile the same way they export. In past if I am in dire need of a particular model which is blown up and out of proportion or all over the place, I end up fixing the file myself in 3ds max. Keep in mind poly/face counts are crucial for chief to work correctly. Knowing your end goal will help to advise you on process. If you intend to design in chief and export or render elsewhere then use existing furniture as place markers. If you intend to design and raytrace in chief then be very mindful of poly counts. Importing materials from a sketchup file works with a few tricks. Alaskan Son has a post some where about it. It's very time intensive though

Hey Alaskan, someone should figure out how to sticky your trick about deleting surfaces and converting to symbol to separate material ID's when the import is just one color...thats something rikdekker is going to run into here. I can't find that post

Post your .plan file so we can take a closer look

Thanks to Mkennedy2000 for the idea, here is an elevation callout tool. Place the symbol in planview and place a callout snap to center. Then pull NSEW elevations and snap a callout to center. The tool is slightly smaller than a callout in 1/4 scale from any NSEW view and plan view. Benefit is that your wall reference lines in plan view can be perfectly aligned in elevation view as well. MAKE SURE "_WALL REFERENCE 1" LAYER IS TURNED ON IN ELEVATION AND PLAN VIEW!!! Elevation Callout Tool.calibz

Looks like you created a room polyline, is it clickable? please post a .plan

I myself am a bit adventurous when it comes to tech, I would get the i7 and use my phone as a hotspot, or buy an lte usb stick while waiting for a teardown video of the i7 to see if I could swap the modem card out for an lte. In the long run the i7 is a must

I have large catalogs of brick textures with normal and bump maps, just PM me