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What's New with SU Podium for Google SketchUp

What's New July 27, 2011 - click here to go to the web page

Mac Users Note: SU Podium V2.5 and 2.6 do not work with Mac OS-X Lion, as is. Please download 2.6.1.

    The recently released SU Podium V2.6 and previous 2.5 do not work as is, with Mac OS-X Lion. If you want to work with Lion right away, use SU Podium 2.6.1 version. It is a free update. You can download and install SU Podium V2.6.1 for Mac OS-X 10.7 (Lion) from the Version 2 page.

1.SU Podium's geometry caching- when you need the speed

    SU Podium V2.6 was just released and new to it is Geometry Caching located in the Options, Environment tab dialog. SU Podium's first step in creating a photo-realistic image is exporting the model information to the rendering engine. This step is called Process Scene. Model information includes SketchUp geometry (faces and groups) , textures, shadow, location info, etc. Geometry caching will cache the geometry data and reuse it on subsequent rendering if there are no modifications done to the geometry and textures. This means when rendering the same model multiple times, SU Podium will skip the Scene Processing step if faces and textures have not been changed. Geometry Caching can save you a lot of time when you are simply changing light, shadow, scenes or camera views between renderings. Read more about caching here.

    Version 2.6 also includes the latest SU Podium Browser 2.0 and a bug fix with the Podium Light System.


    If you are an existing SU Podium V2 user, download from here. If you want to test out the trial version, go here.

    If you are still using Podium 1.X, we invite you to upgrade for $48.95. SU Podium 1.7.3 and V2 will work side by side so making the transition to V2 does not mean you have to give up 1.7.3. Click on the Buy page of the www.suplugins.com web site.

2.This e-news featured image

    This week's beautifully rendered image from the SU Podium Forum gallery comes from Stéphane Waroczyk. This image was added to the new www.suplugins.com gallery as well.


    Click on image to view much larger resolution.

    SU Podium Forum gallery is a great place to see what others are doing with SU Podium V2 and the suggestions and comments that other users are making. It's a great place to pick up some ideas for your rendering . Click on the Gallery Forum.

3. Tips - setting up for Exterior renderings tutorial - from Nicolas Harvey

    The setting up for Exteriors renderings tutorial goes over the few steps needed to get the best lighting for exterior or outdoor type environment renderings. The tutorial covers useful information about exterior presets and when to use the sun sliders. Read Setting up for Exteriors.

4.Render ready Podium materials - plastic

    When you look at most types of plastic, you will see that it is generally glossy. This is because the surface is fairly smooth and flat. However, unlike other smooth, flat surfaces, like wood or painted plaster, it does not have a completely matt finish....

    This month's Render ready Podium materials tutorials by Jim Allen focuses on plastic. This tutorial is a must-read if you want to explore making your own render ready Podium materials. Read the rest of the tutorial on creating plastic material here.

5. SU Walk 1.0 Released - Introduction price of $129.00

    SU Walk 1.0, the photo-realistic animation application for SketchUp models, has been released.

    Read details on SU Walk 1.0 and download a trial version at www.suwalk.com. The introduction special price is $129.00. This application is ideal if you want to create photo-realistic walk-thru animations.


    Click on image to see a short YouTube photo-realistic animation of a SketchUp exterior/ interior model created in SU Walk.

6. SU Podium Browser 2.0- new Free and Paid content released

    SU Podium Browser 2.0 was released this week. Browser 2.0 is included in SU Podium V2.6 but you can also download Browser 2.0 directly from the Download page on www.suplugins.com.

    Paid Content. The new paid content includes 3D Plants and new SuperModular Light Fixtures. South Pacific plants and trees, Podium ready materials are anticipated for next week. Access to the Paid content on Browser 2.0 is $29 for a permanent license. Additional content coming over the next few months.

    Free Content. New free content for Browser 2.0 includes hundreds of additional trees and plants and cars with Podium ready materials.

7. The Essentials: Rendering with Podium V2 - Jim Kenney's book is available now from www.lulu.com

    Jim Kenney, professor and practising architect, has written an independent book on SU Podium V2 called The Essentials: Rendering with Podium V2. It is now available on www.lulu.com. Type in Podium V2 in Lulu's search field to find it. The book was original written as a manual for Jim's design classes at California State University, Sacramento. Now it has been edited to become a user's guide on getting the most out of SU Podium V2.

8. What Cadalog, Inc. is working on - Version 2.7, SU Animate

    As usual, Cadalog developers are working on a variety of items. Foremost is the next update for SU Podium which will be Version 2.7. V2.7 which will support multi-byte file names, folders, User Accounts and textures (this has been a major compliant from customers in Asia and the Middle East). Final release of RenderAll for V2 is also anticipated. SU Walk is constantly being improved and will have a free update. We anticipate the beta release of SU Animate 4 as well.