I apologise for the size of the images, I had to scale the image down to fit forum rules. Hopefully you'll get the gist of it without the larger images.
I'm sure this isn't groundbreaking, it's just a method for creating displacement maps using the fog in Sketchup. Surely I'm not the first one to think it up, but I felt quite proud seeing the decent results it produced.
Hi stoferr! That is a huge project you're undertaking, it reminded me of something similar I saw on the warehouse a while ago.
Your model looks like its going to have much more detail, but a user uploaded a very basic Rome, split into 6 parts.
Here is the link to part1
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=73042a98191ef058c90f87e8b8300d20
I hope it's useful for you, always nice to have a reference.
That's a great model of a great building!
Sadly my knowledge of Wright is limited (mainly to his homes), so I learnt something today!
@cadmunkey said:
Excellent modelling skills! Love the construction type models for ironing out problems before they hit the site.
Interesting how there are little stub columns off the beams supporting smaller (RHS's?) above to the floor. Why not sit them directly on the beams by lifting the beam levels slightly.?
Thanks cadmunkey! As I said, I was just modelling some plans I was given, but I believe the reason was the rest of the building that the staircase was connected to, had the beams at that level. The space between the beams and the stepping plane must have had some fat tubes running through it.
That's just out of the top of my head, I'm sure it's along those lines
@edson said:
great stuff, jopsa! muy bien hecho. i love highly detailed models like these.
un saludo.
thanks edson! this is new for me but I definitely enjoyed doing details in sketchup, sometimes working in 2D becomes too abstract (as is usual in constructive details in architecture), and things don't work when you're actually building in real life
Thanks guys! I spent today working on another part of the same building, a staircase that goes on the outside. I'm pretty happy about the fact that these files are only 1.5 megs!
I was getting tired on this one so don't look too closely... Let's just say this wouldn't necessarily stand on it's own...
For anyone that was following the progress of my Pantheon I have to explain I have been extremely busy lately, working with Sketchup all day and not feeling like coming home and spending more time on it.
This, for instance, took up an afternoon. The design isn't mine, but seeing it in 3D made the architects make some changes on the fly, as I was building.
About the file; Please ignore the names of the objects. They only make sense in my head, which speaks in spanish and isn't at all technical.
If you want to see the order of how to build it, navigate through the scenes, and everything is separated on layers (seems redundant, seeing as they are also separated by components, but it was easier for setting up the scenes)
PS. also just realised none of the images show the horizontal slats. I thought it was more interesting to see the guts 
Wow, that's great! I've been having some problems making one for my Pantheon model- http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=20271&p=170612#p170613 - so this is really useful to learn how to make one
It's a great model, for something as complex as the capital you've kept it nice and clean
it's so weird orbiting around the models and seeing they're made of edges and faces, and not some other magic object 
I have a question though; I've read you use vray for rendering, but noticed you have plenty of components within components (and within components and within components...), when I do this vray simply ignores the objects more than one group "deep" and they dissapear. Is this only me, or am I missing something?
Thanks!!
The water, and it's texture, was a lesson on it's own. This model is absolutely fantastic, in an incomprehensible sense.
Sketchup does not deserve the stigma it has among the pros, and this proves it.
wow I love how the textures give the impression of there being more detail in the model! Polygons aren't always the answer!
Also, a quick post before I leave for my first day of work experience (nerves!!!).
I'm not 100% sure about these, but they'll have to do for the moment. I believe my problem is that I don't fully understand the composition of the capital. There seem to be several rows of leaves, but I don't know how to give that feeling of depth the real ones give
@pichuneke said:
I really like your textures. A lot...
jaja hola pichuneke! I'm not that happy with the textures myself, it's something that really needs work IMO. Still, I'm happy to share my source, http://www.cgtextures.com, there's plenty of marble under the "Stone" subsection. Not tileable sadly, which is the root of my unhappiness right now.
Your model looks very impressive! I'm curious about your corinthian columns, they look pretty good, any tips? I'm currently modelling them in my model and it's killing me.
In my model I've decided to go for the most contemporary look, since it's what all my source images are of, and because going for the original Roman construction would mean re-doing everything from the dome down
@puma said:
How do you make those highly detailed models? I got a pretty good, recent PC but when I'm modeling big and detailed things, SketchUp is really slow..
From my experience, Sketchup can work with pretty big models even with slow computers, it's just a matter of keeping the model clean and organised. Components are the key, anything that's repeated more than once, I make a component, and then I can give it as much detail as is needed. Also when you reach the point where the computer starts misbehaving, stick whatever you don't need in a different layer and switch it off!
@massimo said:
Here is a quick try i made with your last image.
That looks awesome! thanks massimo, I was wondering how to create the "God-ray," and that's perfect
The going is slow, especially since I spent yesterday outside in the sun. Still, I consider I've finished the middle segment and should start with the bottom (ie. the crazy Corinthian columns)
I like how it's starting to look like a monumental space, but still don't know why light is seeping in. I'll have to work around that.
thanks everyone for your comments and critiques!
@artysmedia said:
Y crees que te queda mucho? Muchos edges me parecen ya a mí...
Tu crees? De momento no se queja el ordenador, son solo 13 megs.
I think I'm around half done, considering I only wanted to do the interior (plus texturing and rendering).
13Mb doesn't seem that bad, I've done worse
Soy de Madrid por cierto!
Thanks for the compliments guys!
Unfortunately I'm absolutely OCD about detail so it's going really slowly. Also trying to keep it as clean as possible, so when it's more advanced I won't go crazy.
artysmedia, I'm making it as componentized as I can, so I can afford giving it some detail without killing my processor. Here are some numbers:
181 component instances (for 13 component definitions)
Edges 838305
Faces 333109
(por cierto ya tienes otro español en el foro!)
this is all I've done for today, not much, it's harder than I thought.
After posting yesterday I decided to concentrate on the modelling rather than textures and materials, so I'm going to stick with clays for the moment.
Progress is really slow, I'll keep you guys posted!
Hi everyone! I've been lurking for ages now, and love the stuff you guys make, it has inspired me and made me evolve a million fold in skup and vray.
Now I've put myself into a pretty ambitious project, and it's becoming obvious I'm going to need some help and critique.
I've started replicating the interior of the Pantheon, from pictures I took last year, and from the infinite source material the Internet provides.
I'm quite happy with the modelling for the moment, but realise I haven't yet reached the difficult bits (not looking forward to the Corinthian columns!).
This render below worries me a little, I was testing the textures and I'm not too happy with the result... The sun is extremely bright because of the low shutter speed. The only light source in the Pantheon is the oculus at the top, but I would like it to disperse more around the space if possible.
Also, I don't understand why I have a rectangle of light at the top right hand corner, somehow light seems to be seeping in.
I am obviously in very early stages, but any help would be greatly appreciated. I wanted this to be my "Eye Candy," this building fascinates me!
hi! first time poster here, but have been lurking for a while, and have finally decided to join in on the discussion.
I believe the solution for this wouldn't involve panning, since that moves the camera position relative to the focal points, horizon line, etc, and the result would be a series of images that don't quite match up when stitching them together.
The way it could work would be using the "look around" feature, which doesn't change the perspective of the image, just the direction the camera is pointing.
The downside to this would be that you end up with some sort of "fisheye lens" render (meaning the "field of view" would be greater than the one used in each scene)
To resolve this, each scene would need to have a smaller field of view than normal, in order to compensate.
Have absolutely no clue how to code in Ruby, so I'm not sure this would even be possible to automate, but surely it can be done easily by hand?
In any case, hope this is helpful, and look forward to posting again in the future.
