Did you see my 2015 Christmas card tree image on this site? In case you were wondering how I modeled and rendered it, here is a video that explains that process. It's a bit of a minimalistic design, but as you can see in the video, I used a bunch of SketchUp extensions and the Twilight Renderer to make it happen. I hope you find the tips and tricks useful for your own projects.
Covered topics: studio setup, materials, Erode extension, components, scale tool, Fredoscale extension, Selection Toys extension, Profile Builder extension, Twilight extension, Twilight materials, Twilight lights, Twilight rendering options.
Tutorial Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMBhhXavm48&feature=youtu.be...
Just a quick heads-up: The SketchUp folks just posted a set of videos that explain how to create better models for sharing on the 3D Warehouse. I am linking to the videos and post here because I have way too often come across models where the scale was off, the component nesting didn't make sense, textures were too detailed etc. This is especially crucial if there might be a desire to 3D print them later.
Check out the videos and original link below for more information...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL-bndkJaV8A75zuNAf0A5NCfF8beEve7V&v=_JHWKf0D070
Original Link
What makes a great 3D Warehouse model? A checklist…...
As I describe in chapter 3 of my book, a component-based modeling workflow makes a lot of sense. It allows you to use a hierarchical model organization, work with attributes, dynamic components and - most recently - Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). I covered this approach at Trimble's SketchUp 3D Basecamp in Vail earlier this year. You can view the entire presentation as a video below:
Tutorial Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWUyyP9v6hw
If you are interested in Dynamic Components, also watch Eric Schimelpfenig's presentation on "Dynamic Components, Greatest Hits, Vol. 1".
P.S. This a similar presentation to what I gave at Trimble's Dimensions 2014 conference last week....
Rendering of the newly-textured CLTs
With Cross-Laminated Timber (often abbreviated to CLT) available now as a new and exciting building material, I am sure some of you will need to include these in your SketchUp models, too. To help you out a bit, I am making SketchUp components of 3-ply and 5-ply CLT panels available. You can download them from my 3D Warehouse account (you can just search for "CLT" in the Components window in SketchUp).
Models and Textures
Click on the links below to preview and access them. I am making these available under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
If you need the raw textures for your own creations, you can download these images from my Flickr account here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexschreyer/8892850629/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexschreyer/8892850691
These are from my textures set....
You likely have seen the effect before: An image like the one above shows some shapes that look like vases. After a little while, however, you notice that the curved shapes that define the vases are actually faces - or more specific: the negative silhouette of the faces.
As it turns out, this can easily be accomplished in SketchUp. Turning these shapes into real objects is also pretty simple these days as long as you have access to a 3D printer, a CNC lathe or can browse the web, where you can order 3D printed objects from any of the vendors that I list on this page.
Follow these steps to turn yourself (or a loved one) into a vase:
1. Take a good silhouette picture. Then import it into SketchUp. For this first step, we will be using a technique similar to the one that I employed for the tree cutout component in Chapter 5.
2. On the exploded picture, trace the...
