Sightspace 3D updated for Android

Limitless Computing out of Colorado is responsible for some really cool iOS apps. They’ve been able to take Sketchup models and turin your iOS device into a “portal” to view them in real life! (Don’t worry, if you don’t get that, there is a video below)

They’ve also got some super slick Android apps that they’ve updated for Jelly Bean. Take a look at the video below!

I am pleased to announce the SightSpace 3D v1.1 update for Android devices is now available on Google Play. If you are not familiar with SightSpace, it views SketchUp (and other KMZ format files) on Apple and Android devices in Augmented Reality by superimposing the digital designs in the real-world in real-time, enabling you to walk through the model by simply moving your device. Additional features include stereoscopic red/cyan 3D, annotate 3D models, bookmark favorite views, take screenshots, share notes and photos, and more.
And a quote from the Limitless computing website.

The SightSpace mobile app for SketchUp has the following improvements for Android:

Compatibility for Android devices running 4.1 (Jelly Bean)

Addition of a slider to control how sensitive your device is in Augmented Reality mode (this will only appear if your device has a gyroscope). As of right now, SightSpace is able to run on over 1300 hundred DIFFERENT models of Android devices. That is a lot of variation for us to account for. Each device is slightly different, so to give you the best experience, this slider will control how much movement the device picks up from you.

Improvement of our custom VYZAR Augmented Reality engine and various bug fixes.

Note that SightSpace has a very cool feature that we designed ourselves: built in stabilization in Augmented Reality. When you hold your device still, SightSpace will always correct the orientation of the model. This may take a few seconds. I have included a video below of how to use the automatic Android Augmented Reality stabilization for SightSpace so you can see this in action.

Rev A Shelf App Updated!

Rev A Shelf just updated their app for iOS devices with pricing!

Now you can look up all those great Rev A Shelf trash pull outs from your iDevice and Android.

I use this all the time to get pricing and specs while on the go. Best of all, this app is free!

Links here for iTunes and Android Maket:

http://www.rev-a-shelf.com/t-revashelf.apps.aspx

2011 Year End Review

It’s been a spectacular year for this blog. What started out as a humble blog for Sketchup related tips has expanded into a globally read resource read by thousands every month.

Not only is this post a review of some of the high points this year, for all of the new readers it will be a great way to get up to speed on what goes on here. Consider it a “Cliff notes” or a “Best of album” for 2011. Let’s jump right in!

First and foremost, there is a lot of Sketchup content from this year.

Draw Countertops with Components (Saves time!)
Save Those Components! (Learn to save components for reuse later)
Sketchup: Now with mind bending capabilities (Learn to use Shape Bender)
Shaderlight, my favorite render package for Sketchup
Jason Wu Brizo products now available in Sketchup
Apps for Sketchup? Steve Jobs is not amused (Learn to use Material Replacer for Sketchup)

There was a lot of coverage on mobile apps this year too:

Happy Trees with Sketchbook Pro for iPad (Learn to draw and paint on the iPad with this amazing app)
3DVia: View Sketchup models right on your iPad!
WebPad for iPad: Draw on someone else’s computer screen from your iPad over the Internet!
JoinMe: Hear an incredible store of how this screen sharing app took our design competition global with just a few clicks.
Measure Digitally: Learn to use your iPad, iPhone, or Droid to measure an interior space
I’m Eric, and I used to be addicted to flash drives. (Learn how I kicked my addiction to flash drives with Evernote)

And lastly, everything else!

Profitting in the New Digital Age: This was a presentation I did for the Kitchen & Bath Design News Leaders Conference in Chicago
Steve Jobs has passed away
Kitchen Technology: I was challenged by Design Kula to do a review on kitchen technology. It ended up being three parts, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3
LetsBlogOff: This is a bi weekly blogging challenge that I participated in. The topic? Top Gear.

And most importantly, I want to thank everyone for reading this year!

Maide: MultiTouch for Sketchup via iPad

So just the other day I stumbled across this app for the iPad: Maide Control for Sketchup. Basically, what this does is turn your iPad into a giant multi touch controller for Sketchup. I have been playing around with it for a few days and so far it’s pretty handy. I have yet to really use it on a hardcore modeling project, I have just been toying around with it.

The app is very well done, and setup is really easy. As you may know, I am a big fan of the 3D Connexion Space Explorer. However, as great as the Space Explorer is, it’s not exactly portable. Maide allows you to make a great accessory for Sketchup out of something that you’re probably already carrying around. Check out this video to see what it’s all about. Maide works on both Mac and PC. If you end up trying it out for yourself, let us know how it goes in the comments.

Rev A Shelf app for iOS

In the past week, Rev A Shelf has released an app for iOS. This handy app has the entire Rev A Shelf catalog in it. It’s fast and easy to use. With a few taps you can have any of their products displayed right on the screen in high resolution color. I noticed to that their popular items have a lot more pictures then the paper catalog, great for giving a customer details right out on the show floor.

What’s even better is that all of the relevant specs are just a swipe away for every product.

Head on over to the Apple App store and get this app! It’s better then the Rev A Shelf catalog, and it fits in your pocket. All for the low low price of free!

Also, and Android version is said to be on the way very soon.

I’m Eric, and I used to be addicted…

…to USB flash drives.

That’s right. What you are seeing here is just the tip of the iceberg. I had lots of these drives in circulation. I have several different computers that I work on, all in different places. I was constantly transferring pictures, documents, and files between all of them. On my best days I could keep track of what was where. When the caffeine wore off, all bets were off.

I tend to stay ahead of the curve and keep up with the latest technology. I tried all kinds of ways to keep my files in sync. I used to email files to myself, remote desktop into my “base” PC, I even have used cloud file strorage service like DropBox. As brilliant as DropBox is, in the back of my mind I always wanted something that could do more.

I wanted something that I could clip websites to, write down notes, record sound, and take pictures with my smartphone. I wanted all of this on one place, accessible anywhere. I wanted to be able to search those notes, by text, location, and keywords. I wanted to be able to access these notes from anything that was connected to the internet. I wanted to be able to share those notes with anyone easily. Well, for a long time I didn’t think such a service existed until I discovered Evernote.

Evernote is the most brilliant app I have discovered this year. It has changed the way that I work. Evernote at it’s heart is a cloud based storage service. You can create typed notes, store documents, pictures, files, and even recorded audio to the cloud. What can you use to create these notes? Damn near anything. They support all kinds of mobile devices (even Blackberry!), Mac’s, PC’s, even the web browser. Let me walk you through a typical day with Evernote:

I start out my day reading the news. Since a lot of my blog posts I write are about things in the news, I can with just a click or two, clip new articles into my Evernote. I have a special notebook just for these articles.

Later on, I may head to a jobsite and measure out a space with my iPad. There, I take the measurements with a drawing app, and I take pictures of the space. When I get back to the office I send all the pictures and notes to Evernote to a notebook labeled for that job. As I start designing the space with Sketchup, I export all the pictures to Evernote in that same job notebook. Later, I clip all the websites for appliances into the same notebook. I can even walk around the showroom taking pictures of hardware with my smartphone to add to the notebook. Now I’ve got all of my notes for a job in Evernote, accessible instantly from any device I choose, anywhere on the planet. Say I end up talking to the client on the phone and I am away from my computer, I can just open the Evernote app and look up all the information for the job.

Evernote has one more ace up it’s sleeve: it can recognize text from pictures. Think about this, you can snap a picture of a business card and put it in Evernote. Evernote can read the text in the picture and make it searchable. I was over the moon when I discovered this. I started using it for business cards, but now I use it for spec books and all kinds of other text.

Boarding passes end up in there, parking tickets, handwritten notes, you name it! I could go on and on…

Here’s what I suggest, go to Evernote.com and get this app. It’s free unless you are a total upload glutton like me, and then it’s $5 per month, or $45 per year for an astronomical amount of storage space. This app has literally changed the way I work. (Nope, they didn’t pay me a dime to say that either)

Rerun: WebPad for iPad

If you’re reading this on Monday morning, I am on my way to Chicago for the Kitchen & Bath Design News “Leaders Conference” where I will be presenting “Profiting in the new Digital Age”.

Keep an eye on the Twitter for live updates, for now, here’s an older post that is still very relevant.

So to add even more awesomeness to the iPad, I have discovered a new app called WebPad. WebPad lets you draw on your iPad, live on someone else’s computer screen. Ok, I realize that doesn’t sound that exciting, so let me give you a real life scenario for this:

A customer called me a while back, I had been working on a design for them. There was a particular detail that I was describing to them. I had a picture in my head, and I was attempting to put it into words. Like a lot of customers, they aren’t telepathic, so they didn’t understand what I was talking about. If I was talking about this face to face, I would have fired up Adobe Ideas and draw out the sketch for them. In this case, I didn’t have that choice.

Enter WebPad: With WebPad, I can fire it up, instantly email my customer a link. Once they click on the link, they see my iPad screen live on their screen! As I draw, it shows up on their screen. AMAZING! Virtual paper. Watch my demo live below!

Measure: Digitally

As any regular reader of this blog knows, I love Sketchup, and I also love a good app for a smart phone. Lately, I have been mashing up a slick mobile app with Sketchup. The app, called MyMeasures (available to Android and iOS) allows you to measure right on a picture. Check out this video to see it in action:

Pretty awesome right? I am working on a kitchen with an old soapstone sink that the homeowners want to reuse. I needed to draw the sink in Sketchup so that I can design a custom cabinet to go beneath it. I used MyMeasures to get the dimensions.

From this picture, I modeled this:

So, using MyMeasures I was able to capture easily all the details I needed to create this sink in 3D. The modeling took just a few minutes. Once I had the 3D model, I was able to work with it as if I was right there on the jobsite in 3D. Try doing that with 2020!

Feel free to download this model and see it for yourself!

join.me: The coolest screen sharing app.

This past week I was in Chicago for NeoCon 2011. While I didn’t spend too much time in the MerchMart, I did hang around the Brizo showroom with a group from Interior Design Chat for a live chat.

If you aren’t familiar with Interior Design Chat, it’s a Twitter chat that happens every Tuesday night at 6pm EST. A bunch of interior designers get together and chat live on Twitter using the hashtag #intdesignerchat. The chat is fast, like a cheetah with a rocket pack on its back fast. You need quick fingers and quick wit to keep up. It’s worth it though, the people you can meet are really interesting. The chat was started just about a year ago and has really blown up in the past year. People from literally every side of the planet participate. I heard a statistic that the chat is read by some 44,000 people.
After the live chat we met the next day at the Lightology showroom in downtown Chicago. Lightology is the worlds largest lighting showroom, and certainly makes lights look like artwork, not just utilitarian electrical to photon converters. While we were there, we were given a design challenge. We divided up into four teams, fired up Sketchup, and set about creating big kitchens in a small amount of time. Since we’re all members of Interior Design Chat, we naturally were all over the social media while we were designing.

As far as the technology goes, I am never satisfied with what is available, I always want the next thing, almost to a fault! I had been playing around for the past few months with join.me. join.me is a simple online meeting app. If WebEx or GoToMeeting were wearing suits, join.me would show up in flip flops and a Hawaiian shirt. At first, you may not take it seriously because it doesn’t have all the “big boy” features like our suit wearing friends, but it does have one magical feature: Simplicity.

WebEx and GoToMeeting are great online meeting apps to use. They’ve got a ton of features that suit wearing, BMW driving business types will find extremely useful. With all that power comes complexity, and price.

How often have you been on the phone with someone, and you just wanted to show them your screen? With join.me you can do just that, and in a matter of seconds. All you do is go to join.me, click “Share” and a tiny little app fires up. It gives you a link that you can paste into an email, or a chat. Once the person on the other side clicks the link, within seconds they are seeing your screen. No complicated software installs, no signup, or configuration. Just instant screen sharing! It’s amazingly simple and you wouldn’t believe how fast it is. There is even a phone conference as part of it. The best part, its FREE! I use this service all the time when I am talking to clients about a design.

So what does this have anything do to with our design competition? Well, as we were designing, people were asking us questions about what we were doing on Twitter. Rather then answer them in 140 characters, I just fired up join.me and Tweeted a link! People from all over the world logged in to see what I was doing. In the course of a few hours, I had over 60 unique viewers watching me design live! Mind you, there was no planning, and no promotion of this. It was just a last minute thing I decided to do. Soon, I had each team in the room tweeting a link, and we had viewers from all over the place watching us create these kitchens. The level of engagement was amazing. People were using the live chat feature to ask questions, and even tweeting, and retweeting the link all over the place.
Maggie from the join.me team even stopped in to see what we were up to. I told her how pumped I was about this neat use of their software, and I asked her if she’d answer a few questions about it here in this post.

Q1> So join.me is free, but I also noticed that you have a paid version. What’s the difference between the two?

join.me pro is really for those who love join.me but need a little more. They might want to have their own personal URL, or the ability to schedule meetings in advance, or have a few presenters on the account. It’s as simple to use as join.me, but with a little extra. You can start your free two-week trial here.

Q2> So join.me is ridiculously simple to use, but would you have any tips for beginners?

I guess my tip would be like any other tip I’d give someone who is using a new service: Get your hands on it. Use it. Share your screen; view others. Check out how everything works. If you want, you could share between your computer and your mobile device (iOS or Android). The best part of join.me is the experience. You can also check out our blog if you want to dive deeper into some of the features.

Q3> Have you ever seen someone tweet what is on their screen like we did for the design competition?

I haven’t, but it’s a very cool way to use join.me. We have people who use join.me in all sorts of ways, like joining virtual book clubs, holding virtual “office hours” for students, reviewing projects and documents with colleagues – it’s really interesting to learn how join.me can fit into their lives.

For what I do on a day to day basis as a designer, WebEx and GoToMeeting are too complicated, and too expensive me. They do have their place though. join.me is so fast, and so easy to use it’s just amazing. If you’ve ever thought “I wish I could show what’s on my screen to someone else” in the easiest, fastest way possible, join.me is your app.

Memorial Day Re Run: Apps for Sketchup? Steve Jobs is NOT amused.

Due to the long weekend, I leave you with this re-run from several months ago. This is an immensely useful plugin that I use every time I use Sketchup. Its free, and definitely worth downloading.

Sketchup is as useful in the 3D world as a Swiss Army knife, but sometimes it just doesn’t do exactly what you want it to do.

Just like you can put an app on your smartphone, you can add a plugin for Sketchup. There is a great developer community out there, and just like the smartphone apps, a lot of the Sketchup plugins are free.

Plugins solve problems. One problem that I have is that clients always love to change colors. When you’ve got a Sketchup model full of materials it can be time consuming to swap them all out.

Thanks to a plugin by Thomas Thomassen I can now do this with just a couple of clicks. Check out the video of his “Material Replacer” plugin below:

This fabulous plugin can be had for free by downloading it right here. Thomas, or “ThomThom” on the forums works for cookies. So please, if you like this plugin send him a cookie.