Solar Orientation in Free Version

For those that work with Sketchup 8 Free version and want to set a new north orientation as it was enabled in previous versions you can install Jim's Model Location plugin. You can download it from http://sketchuptips.blogspot.com/2008/01/plugin-model-location.html. You need to install the two files in the Plugin folder.

Photorealistic Rendering in Sketchup

From time to time I take any project I have in hand and do tests with different photorealistic renderings engines. I compare prices, final result, hardware requirements, setup times and learning curve. I have found that Shaderlight has a good balance of all the features I always evaluate. I liked it! Also they offer an educational license and a 14-day trial that are more than enough to be convinced. Check some pictures here : http://www.artvps.com/index.php/gallery

This was the rendering that I used for testing.