Seams, Frames & Curves Plus iPad pens, Movie apps, Contours and Inspiration.....all on a Leap Year!
There’s
lots
of
reasons
using other apps and plugins
Plus we have our regulars Eric,
why we love SketchUp at
to leverage some extra muscle
Adriana and Dennis showing
SketchUcation. The #1 being
and make things even easier.
you how to become a SketchUp
it’s simplicity. While other apps may give you more dials and knobs, SketchUp still reigns supreme for pick up and play.
We
also
showcase
what
our members are doing with SketchUp
in
our
ninja. Go on.....dig in!
Gallery
section. You guys rock!
This month we’ve focussed on
Hide the seams
Boo’s clues
Speed UP?
04 Seamless texture creation. Adriana Granados’ shows you how to create seamless textures in Photoshop.
08 Need to build a frame fast? Follow Eric Lay’s superb step by step spaceframe tutorial.
14 Optimize SketchUp to lower file size. Aidan Chopra’s top tip from the Google SketchUp blog is one everyone needs to know.
Get inspired
contours
Gallery
17 MoI3D gets put through the ringer. NURBS modeling app that’s ever so simple and oh so SketchUp.
25 Use ContourMaker to get the most out of Add Location. How to use TIG’s ContourMaker on terrain maps.
29 Are you featured? Our members submissions to the Gallery for February
seamless textures in photoshop by adriana granados
small differences become much more noticeable
For organic materials such as wood or granite where each part of the material is unique, a perfect result is almost impossible unless you have a picture of the whole area to cover. However, there are techniques to improve the appearance and avoid the tiled result using programs like Photoshop. The first image is a portion of a photo of granite chosen randomly. Observe where the arrow points to a cloud belonging to the same material. This natural imperfection is not too noticeable in small areas. However, when the texture is used to cover larger areas this small difference becomes much more noticeable as you can see in the image on the right.
One way to correct these imperfections is by simply applying the Clone Stamp tool in Paint.net or Photoshop and re-save the image. The result will be similar to the image on the right. However, you can still see the tiled appearance although it is much less noticeable.
A technique I use to achieve better results is done in Photoshop following these steps.
1. Open the source image in Photoshop. Click on Image > Image Size, and noted what the image size is. You will need that information in the next step.
2. Then click on Filter > Other > Offset. Enter half the height value, and half the width value of the image in the offset values. Select Wrap Around. This action shifts the edges of the image to the center, and the center of the image to the edges.
3. To disguise the seams that is in the center use History Brush Tool (Hotkey Y). This brush instead of painting in a specific color it paints with the original part of the image. You can also use Clone Stamp.
4. Paint over the seams. Avoid painting straight lines to fade off those seams in a natural way.
5. Now that you have a first draft of your seamless texture, it is a good idea to use Photoshop or SketchUp to tile it for you so you can make sure it tiles nicely. To do this in Photoshop select Edit > Define Pattern from the main menu. Write a name.
6. Create a new image that is many times larger than your original. With the new image selected select the Fill tool from the Edit menu > Fill.
7. Select Pattern under the “Use” drop-down menu and your newly created pattern as the Custom Pattern. Once OK is clicked Photoshop will tile your texture automatically.
8. If there are any parts of the image that stand out in the tiled image, you can go back and work on them a little more before finishing.
9. In cases where I want a flawless result I apply the texture to a big canvas. Then I resize the patterned image in Photoshop to something close to 200x200 pixels and save the new image.
10. At the time of creating a new material in Sketchup I define the texture size ratio accordingly with the real world dimension of the image that I have saved in Photoshop. Having “shrunk” the texture size in Photoshop I am able to cover bigger areas with a seamless appearance result and manage different aspect size ratio using the same base image.
These are some resources where you can create tiled or seamless texture • www.blitzbasic.com • www.seamlesstexturegenerator.com • www.pixplant.com Here you can find some great textures • www.flickr.com/photos/zooboing For more interior design tips and tricks for SketchUp check out Adriana’s Blog http://sketchup-interior-design.blogspot.com/
boo’s clues : building a spaceframe by eric lay
For this tutorial you will need four free plugins - Sphere, Mirror, Joint Push Pull and lines2tubes. First decide how many segments you want for your space frame. In this example I used 10 segments on the diameter of the semi-circle and 6 segments on the width. You can use more or less depending on the density of the frame you want. 01 - Start with a circle on the blue axis, 20 segments
02 - Draw an arc that is 8’-0” wide with a bulge of
with an 8’-0” radius. It is critical that you define your
1’-6”. You might need to draw the arc off to the side
segments at this point or things will not line up later.
then move it by the center to place it on the edge of the circle, otherwise lining it up is near impossible.
03 - Fill in the arc, select the circle, click the Follow
05 - Select all the geometry in the arch shape then
Me Tool and then click the arc. This will result in
activate the Joint Push Pull plugin. Before clicking
the arc shape sweeping around the circle. Turn on
anything press the Tab key and change the Finishing
hidden geometry to see the result of the sweep.
Options to “Thickening”. This will leave the original
You can already see the outline of where the space
faces when you create the new volume. Press on
frame will end up.
the selected geometry, start pulling inward and then
Now offset the circle you first created for a reference.
type your distance. Here I used 1’-4”.
06 - Now delete all but one arch segment volume, preferably not one of the ends as they were triangulated during the Joint Push Pull operation.
04 - Select all unwanted geometry and delete it. This shows the backbone of the space frame.
07 - Delete half of the remaining segments. Draw
09 - Select the component you just made, click the
a line across the face of the inner segments from
rotate tool, hover over the edge of the reference
center point to center point on the edges of the
circle, hold down ctrl then click at the center point
face. This gives us a reference point to create our
of the circle to start the copy/rotation. Use the circle
“pyramids�. Now connect all the outer corners to the
segments as reference to finish the rotation.
center points on the inner face.
Now edit the bottom component and draw some more lines. This time connect the pyramid tips to each other and to the tips of the component above. You may need to delete some faces as you go, you don’t need them.
10 - Copy/Rotate 9 more around the circle with the 08 - Delete all the faces and the inner geometry
last one below the ground plane. We need this one
leaving 3 pyramids of lines only. Mirror those to the
for the connectors later.
other side then make all 6 pyramids a component.
11 - Edit the component then use the sphere plugin
13 - Edit the component again, select all the lines
to place a sphere at the line vertices. I made the
then activate the lines2tubes plugin. I used a
sphere with 1.5” radius, 6 longitude and 6 latitude
Diameter of 1” and Precision of 6.
lines. Move the sphere so the vertices are at the center of the sphere.
14 - Select the component that is below the ground plane and context click then choose Make Unique. 12 - Now copy the sphere to all the inside vertices and bottom vertices. Do not copy them to the top vertices as they will show up on the other components.
Edit that component and delete everything except the spheres connecting the adjacent component. Select the adjacent component and Make Unique, edit it and delete the stray geometry. You may need to edit the group inside this component to do so.
Check out Eric’s blog at http://boofredlay.blogspot.com/ Check out Eric’s Character Modeling Book at http://books.sketchucation.com/
Speed Up SketchUp: Extrude curves with fewer sides by aidan chopra
The most sure-fire way to mitigate your model’s geometric complexity (its count of faces and edges) is to pay attention to extruded circles and arcs. Experienced modelers know that curves in SketchUp are actually constructed out of multiple, straight edges. By default, circles have 24 sides and arcs have 12 sides. Zoom in and you’ll see what I mean.
Using two default arcs and the Follow Me tool to create an fancy bullnose along the perimeter of a rectangular countertop yields no fewer than 90 new faces.
When you extrude a default, 24-sided circle with the Push/Pull tool, you create a cylinder with 26 faces. Choosing View > Hidden Geometry shows the smoothed edges between the faces.
Modeling a simple bike rack using a combination of 24-sided circles, 12-sided arcs and Follow Me, then placing ten of those bike racks in your design, adds more than 86,000 entities (faces and edges) to your model. Oof.
Note: Once you’ve manually changed the number of sides in a circle or an arc, every subsequent circle or arc you draw will have that same number of sides. I modeled the bike rack below using 5-sided circles
The Solution
and 6-sided arcs. It only has 322 faces -- an 89%
To dramatically reduce the amount of geometry in
with the default number of sides.
reduction over the bike rack I modeled using curves
your models, change the number of sides in your circles and arcs before you extrude them into 3D shapes. It’s easy: 1) Create a circle or an arc using the appropriate tool. 2) Before doing anything else, type “6s” and hit Enter. This tells SketchUp to draw the curve you just created using six sides. The “s” tells it that you’re changing the side-count and not the radius. Of course, you don’t have to choose six sides — you can type in any number you like.
For more top tips and SketchUp news you can head on over the the Official SketchUp Blog
Moment of Inspiration 3d Review by rich o’brien
But we are all aware of the
Mo-ment - a brief period of time. Inspiration - The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something creative.
is, according to the developer, the perfect choice for someone who has been frustrated with of
existing
CAD
tools. There is something very SketchUp about that statement. I frequently come across members on the forums who have thrown off the shackles of AutoCad and embraced
SketchUp
weapon of choice.
do organic shapes easily. There are people doing incredible things in SketchUp but the workarounds
MoI3D, or Moment of Inspiration,
complexity
limitations of SketchUp. It does not
as
their
or ability needed is high. True organic shapes are best achieved with NURBS - Non Uniform Rational B-Spline. Simply put, it creates shapes using control points. These control points then allow you to stretch and transform your shape with ease.
mentally stimulated to do or feel creative
But Moi3D is far from being a one trick pony. It is
So to the actual modeling aspect, this is MoI3D’s
extremely powerful and intuitive to use. It’s sparse
strongest point. It is so easy to get to grips with
UI and comic book styling mask the plethora of
each function doing exactly what you expect.
options you have to play with.
Whether you want to the fillet an edge or union
If you look at the opposite page you will see the
objects it is all explained as you click.
standard UI that MoI3D has. Very uncluttered and
The inferencing engine is also very natural.
easy to interact with. The workspace itself is easily
Anytime you activate a tool you can place a series
adjustable with icon sizes, toolbar layouts and
of construction lines by clicking and dragging.
modeling areas all customisable.
These construction lines allow you to inference
The toolsets are divided into 3 categories - create, edit or transform - with each tool opening up added functions when you click. This keeps the toolbars very focus orientated. The tools on offer
every possible direction and angle. As soon as the tool exits they are removed. Very clever and helpful as it constantly delivers visual feedback through tooltips.
are standard design tools. Curves and Solids
All in all getting familiar with Moi3D takes minutes
for modeling; Join, Trim, Separate and Extend
rather than hours. It is very reminiscent of getting
for editing and Boolean, Lofting and Filleting for
to grips with SketchUp. It’s styling and general
constructing.
layout along with its quirky look are a real joy. Also
The viewport is very Rhino-esque with Top, Front, Right and 3D views. These are easily maximized with a click and MoI3D uses a clever view reset system that means you never get disorientated while modeling.
MoI3D takes minutes rather than hours
its worth mentioning that to run MoI3D you don’t need a high end GPU. It uses the same Direct3D display system as games, and so it works well on the lower end consumer gaming oriented video cards and doesn’t really need the more specialized high end cards, although it runs fine on the high end cards as well.
So to the nitty gritty. Digging around the tools you will find every you need to perform some serious lofting/skinning operations. If you are familiar with TIG’s and Fredo’s skinning tools then you will feel immediately at home. Where MoI3D stands out is the extra parameters that you have to refine your shapes. This is all handled through sliders and drop down menus that is very forgiving for new users to get to grips with initially. Unlike SketchUp, MoI3D is very fast to execute complex commands. If you ever encounter SketchUp’s ‘Non Responsive’ state you will know what I mean. MoI3D can boolean, fillet and loft in seconds if not instantly. When you do ask it to perform a very intensive command it will still allow you to orbit about while it crunches the numbers. You can even choose to cancel an operation if you want by hitting ‘Esc’. How MoI3D handles visibility of various objects is also similiar to SketchUp’s layer pallette. Anything you create can be named and coloured. These ‘Objects’ can be easily toggled on/off. Because you are using curves as the framework to construct your solids/surfaces things can quickly get confusing for new users. Having a simple visibilty system that allows you to isolate each object/ curve just makes things easy from the offset. It is not something that has not been done before but it is just handled very eloquently.
very easy for new users to get to grips with
Pascal Beeckmans - Headphones
So far so good but it gets better. MoI3d uses the best exporter I have ever seen. With the following file types supported. •
.fbx
•
.obj
•
.skp
•
.3dm •
.stl
•
.igs
•
.stp
•
.3ds
•
.lwo •
.ai
Since its primary role is modeling MoI allows users to have total control over the export process. If you are moving from NURBS to polygons then you’ll know meshes can get very unwieldy. MoI3D approaches this as it approaches other functions. Simple sliders bars help control the level of detail on export.
You don’t need to worry about the ‘small faces’ issue in SketchUp either as you have control over that too! And the actual objects themselves are treated with some type of tesselation that means your SkethUp models look super smooth.
Up until recently Mac users were unable to enjoy MoI3D but since the beginning of January v2.5 Beta has been available. The expected final release is another 2 months away but judging from the feedback so far Mac users are highly impressed. You can try out the public beta version here. Verdict What struck me most about MoI3D was its immediate charm. Its fluid nature and eye pleasing UI make the actual learning process very quick. It does draw comparison with SketchUp because it has what a lot of other apps don’t, a personality. MoI3D’s creator, Michael Gibson, was the brains behind Rhino initally and this is very apparent within MoI3D. While Rhino is immensely powerful it can be daunting for a new user to embrace. It requires you to invest time to reap rewards. MoI3D’s learning curve is much lower and sets in place the foundation to grow your skill set quickly and enjoyably.
with saving disabled and a 30 day trial available here. If
MoI3D is a stripped down Rhino, of sorts, where
you have tried then I recommend giving the latest version
the focus is only creation rather than confusion. I
another go as it really is very impressive.
rarely found myself digging out the user manual to understand a function or feature. That is not to say you can approach this and immediately work miracles. If you have not yet tried MoI3D then you deserve to treat yourself as there is an unlimited demo
The focus is on creation rather than confusion
plugin tip : contour maker by rich o’brien
This month I’m sharing another little gem from TIG. It’s ContourMaker and if you use SketchUp’s ‘Add Location’ alot then this is essential. You can get it here and if you have not installed a script before you can follow Dave Richard’s excellent guide here. Once you are up and running you will notice a new item in your plugins menu - Contours. To use it simply select your terrain and choose Contours from the plugins menu. A dialog box will appear asking for the spacing between the contours in whatever units you are currently using. Just input a value and hit ok. Dependent on the spacing and size of your terrain it will then calculate the contours. Once complete the contours are placed on their own layer and named according to the date and time. You can watch a video tutorial by clicking the link here or just subscribe to our YouTube channel to get all the latest tutorials and updates.
Subscribe Here
adonit pro by mike lucey
My iPad has taken over from my rarely used
the only one looking for a better stylus as the project
traditional sketch pad now that I have found, what I
was over subscribed 6,741% and the developers
think, is the ideal input capacitive stylus, the Adonit
raised $168,532 in advanced orders!
Pro.
The main advantage of the Adonit Jot over other styli
Prior to using the Adonit Pro I had been trying to
is its clever tip, which consists of a finely tapered
get to grips with various rubber tipped styli with not
point, like a clutch pencil, with a clear plastic disk
lot of satisfaction. I wanted something that worked
fixed to a tiny ball allowing a swivel action.
liked the clutch pencil I had been using for years and the rubber tipped styli where akin to drawing with the eraser end of a pencil, not much better than drawing with a finger. This setup allows the user to produce very detailed work on the iPad as they can accurately pin point where they want to start and finish a line. The plastic disk, thanks to the ball mount, swivels and glides I came across the Adonit Pro on Kickstarter and immediately made my pledge and then kept my
along the iPad screen much better than rubber tipped styli.
fingers crossed that it would reach its production
The feel of the Adonit Pro is also what I had been
target fund and become a reality. I obviously was not
looking for. It is 6� long and 3/8� in diameter. The
barrel is of a heavy aluminium and available in Black,
There is quite a selection of compatible devices also
Silver and Blue. The rubber grip makes it comfortable
in case you are not an iPad user. Other pads covered
to use, even for long periods. Further features are,
are -
a cap that protects the disk tip and screws on the opposite end so that you don’t loose it when the Jot is in use and the Jot also is magnetised so it sticks to the iPad. I also use the Jot on my MacBook Pro pad to good effect, its easier than drawing with a mouse!
•
Magic Trackpads
•
HTC
•
Samsung
•
Nokia
•
Motorla
•
Blackberry
The Jot is priced at $29.99 and since its launch, Adonit now have a Jot Classic priced at $19.99 and a Mini Jot at $21.99. Adonit’s newest product is the Writer Plus, an iPad keyboard but that’s for another day.
Click here to check out some of Adonit’s product range
CO M M U NI T Y
SHOWCASE
The latest gallery submissions on SketchUcation.com Each month we want to show what our members are achieving using SketchUp. If something takes your fancy just click the image to be brought to that topic.
timber!
G-Force slide
john’s bullocks
Alvis’ highly detailed model and render is exquisite.
John Higgins is reliving his Emmerdale dream.
apartments
altared
go shopping
Antonio Castro’s gallery continues to grow and impress.
Paul Russam’s church was 7 years in the making but finally it is finished.
Chris’ Shopping Centre in Johannesburg shows how raw output still draws the crowds.
Dverger’s compelling design execution is a real winner.
and
hoek van holland
hannibal 8
l.i.s.a.
NeonGolden’s use warehouse models and bags of talent.
Steve’s Professor Fate reimagining is nothing short of breathtaking.
Eric Lay’s concept model L.I.S.A. is outstanding.
white bathroom
making tracks
Csaba’s hut
Pugz bathroom scene using Vray is treemendous!
Christopher Nielsen’s Tiger II rebuild is epic is scale and highly detailed.
Our favourite Doctor still digging up treasures from the past.
books.sketchUcation.com learn with the experts at your pace
Photo to Movie by mike lucey
I’ve been looking for ways to produce effective slideshow movies from my SketchUp models for some time. Of course I could just plan a movie and output the animation but I often don’t know what the outcome will look like until after a long wait. Even after this wait the movie will often require some further editing work. One low cost alternative option that looks promising with its easy process for creating feature rich slideshow videos is Photo to Movie by LG Graphics.
Photo to Movie offers an easy to learn and
There are many inexpensive programs for producing
inexpensive alternative to the high-end video editing
video slide shows but most are limited to sequencing
programs for $49.95 and works on both the Win
one image at a time with a simple transition, such as
and Mac platforms. In this case cheap and easy
fade etc. however this can leave the viewer bored
does not equate to nasty and basic! The program
after a while. The more expensive programs while
is capable of producing results that rival the much
offering extended effects and flexibility can involve
more sophisticated and expensive programs.
a time consuming process and these programs can be quite difficult to learn.
Its easy to produce interesting animated slideshow movies with great motion effects.
In the case of
SketchUp models it is possible to zoom into the various details that you want to highlight and use a variety of transitions such as dissolves, wipes or cubes to transition between photos. The resulting movie can be viewed at full screen with added music, recorded voice overs or captions to enhance the viewing experience.
Once the images are on the Timeline, PhotoToMovie
There is virtually no preprocessing involved, Photo to
automatically adds transitions and motions.
Movie takes in and works with all the popular image
you get used to the process its a good idea to play
formats and even rescales and crops them to suit.
the slideshow to see what you have and would like
More than just zooming in and panning the program can easily create many interesting effects, rotations, move along curved paths and even move from detail to detail. It can work with hundred of images or just
Until
to change. The Blue Line in the image below can be manipulated to adjust the ease and pauses before and after an image. Also changes can be made via the Inspector located on the right side of the window.
a few. The process is quite intuitive and easy to grasp,
What packs the punch in PhotoToMovie are the
actually it is much easier to try it out than explain it
motion paths within the image. PhotoToMovie uses
but the following is a simple overview.
frames to control movement within the photo. The
To start a new slideshow, open PhotoToMovie and use the Media Browser to drag the images onto the timeline. If you want to rearrange the images its just a case of clicking Window -> Photo Organiser. Once you have the images arranged its time to add music, titles and transitions. PhotoToMovie comes with 31
the ending keyframe is within the red keyframe. The blue arrow shows the direction of the motion. Its possible to change the size of the keyframes by either dragging on one of the colored box edges or using the Zoom scrubber within the Inspector.
virtually no preprocessing
transitions and its possible to purchase 23 more for $19.95.
green keyframe is the start point of the motion and
Putting it all together for export is also quite an day process, just click the Make Movie button, and choose how to save the slideshow. Its quite possible There is a lot more to the Inspector than I can cover
to produce very effective presentation slideshows in
in this short review. The Inspector is all powerful
the 3-5Mb region, ideal for emailing.
when it comes to controlling slideshows. When you are happy with the slideshow the next step is to consider what titles and music you would like to add. Music is chosen from the Media Browser and dragged / dropped onto the audio timeline in the same way you handle the images. Its possible to adjust the slideshow to fit the length of the music track or trim as the case may be. If you would like to include voice overs, this can be achieved by recording on an external app and dragging it onto the timeline or importing it under File Menu.
The learning curve for Photo to Movie is quite shallow. In fact I think it would be much easier to demo the program than write about the process involved. The LQ Graphics site is an extremely friendly one with loads of helpful tutorials and tips that will get you
Titles are quite easy to create, just click on Add Title
up and running in no time and the developers are
in the menu bar. The word ‘title’ will appear in the
quite contactable and responsive to requests and
Inspector and in a green box on the timeline. Type
suggestions, always a great incentive to go with an
the name you want in the Inspector and choose the
application.
font, color, timing and effects and then place the pointer anywhere within the green box and drag it to a location in the timeline. To finish, grab a black box on either side of the title to adjust the timing, if this was not done in the Inspector.
click here
CONSTRUCTION MODELING - Step 7
Use the massing model again to visualize the roof line and set up a template. Group the template and rotate it into the work area to size and trim the rafters and the ridge beam.
Use Line tool to trace an outline of template
In real world construction a template is snapped onto the floor decking with chalklines according to field dimensions and the construction documents. Ridge heights, rafter sizes, and trim lines are then transferred to framing members laid onto the deck before being cut and placed into the roof framing.
Guideline shows bottom of rafter at the bird’s mouth
Rotate guide line to match the angle of the roof
Use SketchUp V5 or V6 to onion skin hidden objects
Add lines to template to mark the bird’s mouth
Template extends to full bearing on the wall plate
Rotate and move the template to the work area
Place a ridge block to match top of rafter and trim
Guideline marks the bottom of the rafters
Rotate the rafter to match the guideline
Explode, Group, and rename framing components
OVE
Traditional roof framing opens room to a high gable ceiling
RHA
NG
U-TUBE
Use Line tool to cut bird’s mouth and trim overhang
Videos from our books
Framing the gable wall Setting the ridge beam Layout and trim the rafters
Rotate and place rafter and ridge with template
Use the Scale tool to resize the ridge block Use the Move tool to array multiple copies of the rafter
Set rafter bird mouth on the sill for bearing
Add a vertical guideline to mark extent of rake
Add rakes and fascias then Group and copy
Copy then Right-click and Flip Along the Red axis
Align the roof framing copy on the opposite plate
Gable wall supports outlooks along the rakes
Keep the roof framing organized with Outliner Use the template to frame the gable walls See the YouTube videos for gable framing
Add blocking, nailers, and sheathing to complete the framing*
*Blocking, nailers, and sheathing on gable and roof are similar to floor and wall framing
SketchUcation roundup Last
Month’s
Books
promotion went down a storm and we’ve some further
promotions
to
come so keep your eyes on our blog and forum for news. Don’t
forget
you
can
preview any book on Issuu to get a taste of what’s on offer. We are always looking for budding authors to share their techniques so feel to contact us.
As always, you can send your feedback to richob@sketchucation.com