A comment on one of my SketchUp posts prompted me to provide clarification in the form of a new post rather than just a quick reply. The issue was that exported images from CAD files (SU in this case) can be quite grainy.

To export an image of the current view in SketchUp, go to File > Export > 2D Graphic... and select a file format for the export. In the save dialog that opens, there is an option button that allows for customizing. That's where you want to make the following adjustments:

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Just a few more days until the updated roster of Autodesk products arrives. In the meantime, I came across this screenshot from our good ol' CAD application, which apparently now has been renamed "Raptor". While the name should give it more bite, the user interface comes across featuring a sleek and stylish dashboard.

Source: It's alive in the lab blog

Let's see how the horizontal band works out. For example, I don't like it in the latest MS Office release - it is just too feature-laden. And with screens now being manufactured predominantly in wide-screen aspect ratios, it would have made more sense to arrange everything in a vertical bar on the side of the screen.

It seems like this is the year for industry consolidations in the technology field. After Microsoft's bid for Yahoo and their purchase of Caligari it is now time for Green Building Studio to be acquired by a much larger company, Autodesk in this case. In an announcement that just fluttered into my inbox, GBS acknowledges the acquisition and pledges their commitment to easy-to-use and efficient BIM-based energy evaluation of building designs.

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Now this one ought to be quite interesting. Microsoft just bought out Caligari, maker of the 3D modeling, animating and rendering software TrueSpace. Is this a new, free SketchUp in the making? Microsoft wants to use the software for their Virtual Earth platform - similar to Google using SketchUp for their Google Earth platform. This also would perfectly fit into Microsoft's current "I wanna be Google" expansion ambitions - see the recent Yahoo offer for additional reading on this.

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Greenbuildingstudio.com, the green-design web-extension for your cad software online service has just announced their third overhaul (i.e. v. 3.0). With more and more architecture and engineering offices embracing parametric building design (catchword: BIM = "Building Information Modeling"), this is a great tool to run a quick industry-standard (DOE-2) energy check on a virtual building and to incorporate green design into the planning process. The service then offers ideas for improvements that can be incorporated into design revisions later.

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