using SKP content renders

This is just a technical post for reference only.

SKP format models from Google's 3D warehouse are generally unusual and interesting - and free !! However, converting them to other 3D formats is a hit-and-miss affair. Not all SKP models export to other formats correctly, and I am not paying for expensive conversion software only to find the original model has some bugs in it anyway.

After many crashes during the external conversion process using Meshlab, Poser Pro, and Blender, I decided to render INSIDE Google SketchUP 7, instead of exporting to another 3D format.

KerKythea and SUpodium are two free renderers for Google SketchUp 7; the former is stand-alone, the latter, a plug-in version.

I would then save the rendered picture and use the good-old-fashion method of manual compositing using the GIMP, Paint-dot-net, Irfanview and other freeware Photoshop equivalents.

This is my first result, which can arguably be used as a background for my 3D renders in Poser.