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I have recently completed initial development of a plug-in for DarkBASIC Professional that allows models to be imported from both Google SketchUp and SketchUp Professional.
This means that you can use Google SketchUp (a free download from http://sketchup.google.com) to MODEL FOR FREE all through the development process of your application (aside from the modest cost of this plug-in, of course). If and when you are sure it makes financial sense, only then are you required to actually buy the (albeit expensive) Pro version of SketchUp.
I originally posted here looking for Beta Testers and I now have 3. Thank you to all of them for responding! I would not mind a few more - all I ask is that you be EXPERIENCED with DarkBASIC and at least somewhat proficient with SketchUp.
Models and programs of good quality developed by Beta Testers will be included with the product as demos, with full credit given to each person. Beta Testers who provide a meaningful contribution will also receive a free, fully-licensed copy of the final product.
Interested Beta Testers should contact me at
convseo@systemsinnovationinc.com. I will then contact you in return to ensure we have a good fit before we start the process.
There have been a lot of "views" of this post with very few return comments. Come on, people - I want to hear any opinions you have.
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The plug-in is called 'ConvSEO', which stands for
Convert
SketchUp-
Exported
Objects. Here is a list of the main features:
* Imports from Google SketchUp via the KMZ file format that Google SketchUp exports for use with Google Earth.
* Imports from SketchUp Professional via the industry-standard OBJ file format.
* Loads and manages multiple models. ConvSEO can automatically apply offsets and rotations to models as they are loaded, allowing you to place and orient them as required. You can then hide, show and exclude (on/off) an entire model with a single command at run time.
* Recognizes SketchUp groups. Groups are easily located by name at run time, and you can then hide, show and exclude (on/off) any group with a single command.
* Provides access to a wide range of information about a model and any groups it contains. This includes min/max dimensions, material color properties, DarkBASIC object and image indexes, and so on. ConvSEO can also generate a comprehensive report listing all of this information for any or all models, which you can then print out for easy reference.
* Allows you to conserve resources by sharing common texture images across multiple models. You can also specify the starting object number and starting image number for a model before it is loaded.
* Brings real-world units into DarkBASIC. SketchUp works with dimensions like inches and feet, and these are translated directly to DarkBASIC units by ConvSEO. This means that, if you use the inches scale in SketchUp, then one “unit” in DarkBASIC will equal one inch in your model.
* When importing from an OBJ file, automatically combines geometry that uses the same material, within a group, into as few objects as possible to help maximize your frame rate.
* Automatically splits high-face-count geometry into multiple objects when the number of faces in an object would exceed the DarkBASIC limit of 21844 faces per mesh.
* Supports a “private binary file format” that is suitable for saving and loading models via Dark-BASIC memblocks. You can convert a model to this format with a single command, and then package the resulting binary data with your application to keep your model safe and secure. Binary files also load much faster than the original model file since the entire text-parsing process is eliminated and all the conversion math has already been done.
* Provides fast processing, even for large files. The 'Roman City' model in the following screen shots weighs in at over 16MB – and the plug-in can parse and render this model in about 5 seconds on a laptop PC with only a 1.6GHz mobile CPU.
* Returns a success/error code for nearly every command, allowing you to ensure that every action you requested was in fact carried out.
* Automatically informs both the DarkBASIC compiler and runtime of its dependencies on DarkBASIC DLLs. This means that you do not have to insert meaningless code into your DarkBASIC applications to ensure that the proper DLLs are loaded.
* ConvSEO was developed with Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0, and does not require the .NET runtime to operate.
The following screen shots show the current capabilities of the plug-in. NOTE: I downloaded these models from the Google SketchUp 3D warehouse. They are not my own creations. I am using them for illustration purposes only and do not intend to use them in any commercial sense without the authors' permission.
Thanks in advance for everyone's help!
#1: 'Roman City' Model in SketchUp
#2: 'Roman City' after importing into DBPro:
#3: Walking through the 'Roman City' model:
#4: Inside a building, looking out at the street:
#5: A swimming pool somewhere in the city:
#6: A street with construction zone items, in SketchUp:
#7: The construction zone in DBPro:
#8: Another construction zone view, showing a transparent 'fence':
"The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."
