Visualizer for SketchUp

willanie · 17 Feb 2016, 13:42

Hi alexandercheyns,

Visualizer does not support the "styles" features of Sketchup. It always put a procedural sky in the background. I assume you are saving the image in png format. Pardon me if this is obvious but the alpha channel of that image file allows you to layer the foreground on to another background. You do need some compositing software like Photoshop or Gimp to specify the new background. Perhaps you could share an example rendered image.

pilou · 17 Feb 2016, 14:07

@unknownuser said:

You do need some compositing software like Photoshop or Gimp to specify the new background

Why not put a "false background" image in Sketchup it self ?

willanie · 17 Feb 2016, 17:07

Hi pilou,

Good thought but AFIK this feature doesn't exist in Visualizer.

pilou · 17 Feb 2016, 18:15

Something like this or anything else! (cylindric, hemispheric etc...
And input project any image on this sort of surface as background!

willanie · 18 Feb 2016, 07:46

Hi Pilou,

I didn't understand what you meant by "false background". In fact your "psyche" geometry would produce a nice limbo background with a complex shadow casting of the foreground object.

alexandercheyns,

Just to help clarify what you are asking about, can you post a link to the Visualizer tutorial you referred to. I assume it has something to do with the alpha channel and png files.

pilou · 18 Feb 2016, 10:16

Maybe i don't understant the first original problem!
I don't ever understand why there is not always an image with a problem asked!

pilou · 19 Feb 2016, 12:02

Have you an image of what is wanted ?

Does this resolve the problem?
If i put an image on this face, no shadows on it!

willanie · 19 Feb 2016, 17:19

Hi pilou,

Im pretty sure the original request was related to layering with an alpha channel but until the person chimes back it remains a mystery.

Your diagram is very neat. What software do you use to make such illustrations ... sketchup?

Also the cast shadow toggle is an interesting hidden gem in Visualizer which can be used to emit light from geometry in a limited fashion. It can take quite a while to render a noise free image. Here is a test image.

pilou · 19 Feb 2016, 18:25

@unknownuser said:

Your diagram is very neat. What software do you use to make such illustrations ... sketchup?

Sketchup + Visualizer + Key "PrintScreen"
and copy the screen inside my old PhotoImpact 1992-2000!!!
(the program that I have only bought)for the arrows and text or any retouch!
This last one was terrific : we can even make web site with it!
The incredible thing is that quasi all functions are working today!
Some times i add effects with the free Fotor!
All that take less 5 minutes!

masterpaul · 10 Mar 2016, 23:19

@willanie said:

Hi pilou,

Im pretty sure the original request was related to layering with an alpha channel but until the person chimes back it remains a mystery.

Your diagram is very neat. What software do you use to make such illustrations ... sketchup?

Also the cast shadow toggle is an interesting hidden gem in Visualizer which can be used to emit light from geometry in a limited fashion. It can take quite a while to render a noise free image. Here is a test image.

Woah I never knew that.

Ok I tested it out. Deselecting "Cast shadow" does nothing. However if you deselect "Receive Shadows" then that component starts to emit light.

willanie · 10 Mar 2016, 23:34

oops sorry about that I meant receive shadow ... which lets the sun and sky light effect the object regardless of any other geometry in the scene
the sun/sky time of day and orientation relative to the sun still effects the brightness which makes it not quite a pure emmisive surface but still kind of neat

pbacot · 11 Mar 2016, 00:20

I think Pilou means a sort of billboard backdrop. His example seems to also show lighting objects which, of course don't apply. Far easier to add the background image in PS or GIMP, because in SU you are dependent on the sun lighting the backdrop and the limits of image resolution.

Attached is an example using Oli's tree line texture backdrop, as a billboard object in SketchUp.

pbacot · 11 Mar 2016, 00:22

glowing personality

youemailme · 17 Mar 2016, 19:43

@willanie said:

Hi beacharch

This approach assumes you have already installed Sketchup2015 or Sketchup2014 and Visualizer.

After installing Sketchup2016
dont start Sketchup2016 yet and go to folder
/Library/Application Support/

If there isn't one already create this folder hierarchy(exactly matching upper and lowercase)
/Library/Application Support/Sketchup 2016/Sketchup/Plugins

from /Library/Application Support/Sketchup 2015/Sketchup/Plugins
copy these two items(one is a folder the other is a ruby file)
ImaginationVisualizer
ImaginationVisualizer.rb
paste them into
/Library/Application Support/Sketchup 2016/Sketchup/Plugins

Now launch Sketchup2016 you should see Visualizer under the Extensions pull-down.
If Visualizer doesn't show up in the Extensions pull-down
click on
Sketchup->Preferences->Extensions
you should see Visualizer with an unchecked toggle box ... check that toggle on
close the preferences window

and Bob's your uncle Visualizer running in Sketchup2016
(you may have to relaunch Sketchup)

OK, I'm confused! I finally found the ImaginationVisualizer folder and .rb file, though they were in a folder "plugins" in C:. I can't for the life of me figure out what you're referring to by the folder "/Library/Application Support". Where is this to be found? I tried pasting the above folder and .rb into the plugins folder in SU 2016, but when I start SU, I get the following load error:

Error Loading File ImaginationVisualizer/iv_localization
Could not find included file 'ImaginationVisualizer/iv_localization'
Error Loading File ImaginationVisualizer.rb
Error: #<NoMethodError: undefined method TRANSLATE' for ImgTecVis:Module> C:/Users/SHD/AppData/Roaming/SketchUp/SketchUp 2016/SketchUp/Plugins/ImaginationVisualizer.rb:20:in module:ImgTecVis'
C:/Users/SHD/AppData/Roaming/SketchUp/SketchUp 2016/SketchUp/Plugins/ImaginationVisualizer.rb:14:in `<top (required)>'
Error Loading File ImaginationVisualizer/iv_initialize
Could not find included file 'ImaginationVisualizer/iv_initialize'
Error Loading File ImaginationVisualizer/iv_menus
Could not find included file 'ImaginationVisualizer/iv_menus'

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks

willanie · 17 Mar 2016, 19:56

Hi youemailme,

Take a look at this post on the sketchup forums
user john_drivenupthewall has provided a way to do it from the sketchup ruby console.

(forums.sketchup.com)

driven · 17 Mar 2016, 20:05

That's a mac way, I'd have to modify it for PC's and to do that I'd need to add some ruby...

john

willanie · 17 Mar 2016, 21:47

Yes you are right john, unfortunately I read youemailme's post too quickly and thought they were installing on a Mac not windows PC platform.

youemailme your "quoted" section is referring to installing on a Mac.
Please read pilou's post that explains how to do it on Windows
here
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=80%26amp;t=57758%26amp;start=60#p581313

youemailme · 17 Mar 2016, 22:12

@willanie said:

Yes you are right john, unfortunately I read youemailme's post too quickly and thought they were installing on a Mac not windows PC platform.

youemailme your "quoted" section is referring to installing on a Mac.
Please read pilou's post that explains how to do it on Windows
here
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=80%26amp;t=57758%26amp;start=60#p581313

Thanks John & willanie. My bad for not indicating I'm on PC, and got your post just in time as I was just about to start figuring out how to cut and paste the ruby stuff. Now I understand why I couldn't make sense of "library" etc.

I originally started with Pilou's directions, and couldn't make a lot of sense of it since his computer is French & I had to figure out that "program data" is not "program files", but "app data" on mine.

It also mystified me why I couldn't find either the visualizer folder or file within SU 2015, anywhere in either program files or app data. FINALLY, I found them not in users>(my computer), but in ALL USERS, where there's a sketchup folder as well. Having found them, I hoped it would be as simple as copying and pasting it into the same location in 2016. No luck. Went through the steps again and realized 2016 didn't have a folder named plugins, so created that and moved the visualizer stuff. Now Pilou's comment about needing to create a plugins folder made sense. Thought for sure that would work, but now I get a load error message again:

Error Loading File ImaginationVisualizer/iv_localization
Could not find included file 'ImaginationVisualizer/iv_localization'
Error Loading File ImaginationVisualizer.rb
Error: #<NoMethodError: undefined method TRANSLATE' for ImgTecVis:Module> C:/ProgramData/SketchUp/SketchUp 2016/SketchUp/Plugins/ImaginationVisualizer.rb:20:in module:ImgTecVis'
C:/ProgramData/SketchUp/SketchUp 2016/SketchUp/Plugins/ImaginationVisualizer.rb:14:in `<top (required)>'

However, now I find visualizer in window>preferences>extensions, and it's checked. But it still doesn't show under extensions in SU. Any ideas?

youemailme · 17 Mar 2016, 22:20

Success! For some reason, when I copied and pasted the ImaginationVisualizer folder and .rb, the pasted folder didn't contain all the files and folders in the origin location. So I copied the contents of the origin folder and pasted them into the destination folder, which included the iv_localization file that the load error kept citing. Well, there went THIS day! Thanks again for your help.....

ZahariStoyanov · 27 Mar 2016, 09:57

@willanie said:

Hi pilou,

Im pretty sure the original request was related to layering with an alpha channel but until the person chimes back it remains a mystery.

Your diagram is very neat. What software do you use to make such illustrations ... sketchup?

Also the cast shadow toggle is an interesting hidden gem in Visualizer which can be used to emit light from geometry in a limited fashion. It can take quite a while to render a noise free image. Here is a test image.

Dude, I've been wondering how to create light sources for quite a while now Thanks for the tip!