I downloaded a trial version of Thea and used it to render different models I have. I really like it a lot
I’ve decided that there is magic in SketchUp surfaces created with arcs. I used the following circle and semi-circle to generate four different spheres:
All four spheres were created with the Follow Me tool; the first used the native arcs; the second used an exploded path; the third used an exploded template; and the fourth used both an exploded path and exploded template:
This is further highlighted by creating semi-cylindrical prisms and using Thea to render them as optical lenses:
The five prisms on the left were created with the 3-point Arc tool; the five on the right by exploding the arcs before using the Push/Pull tool; the red one in the center used 100 points on the arc.
Magic, I tell you, it’s magic