@utiler said:
Hi Skalp, I have a question about the plugin. I've had it now for some time and have recently made time to get into it and learn property. What I'm wondering is will we be about to convert the raster to linework in Layout oat some stage?
The reason for asking is quite simple. Generally, architetural graphics is monochrome [black and white]. Sure we all produce coloured plans, elevations, etc but if I want to create plans and sections that are black and white I can't if my model is coloured as the only way to show Skalp textures is, well by texture.
What do you think the solution of this to be?
Utiler,
We fully understand this question. And we have already two solutions built-in Skalp:
1. Skalp pattern layers.
With Skalp pattern layers we use the special behavior from the 'color by layer' option in combination with the 'hidden line' render mode. The 'hidden line' render mode normally shows the model fully in white,except when you use the 'color by layer' mode and have a texture attached to the layer instead of a color. Then everything is white except the faces which are on the layers with the textures attached. These elements are textured with the attached textures even if they are colored. This option gives you the ability to texture / color your model for you 3D presentation or rendering and make a 'color by layer' setup for your architectural drawings.
You can setup a Skalp style to send the section result to special 'Skalp Pattern Layers' for use with this method. The only problem is that the SketchUp API has a missing feature to attach a texture to a layer. The following video's show how you can setup this way of working. With Skalp you can setup a Skalp Style for every scene. This way you can define scenes for use in SketchUp (full colored) and scenes for generating drawings (black and white).
for windows:
Youtube Video
for mac:
Youtube Video
2. dxf export
Skalp as the ability to export your sketchUp section to dxf including the vector hatching.
This way it's very easy to create architectural drawings with AutoCAD or other CAD software (draftSight is a free autocad clone). At this moment (version Skalp 1.1) only the section can be exported and you need to export the hidden lines with the 2D dwg/dxf export function of SketchUp and combine the results together in AutoCAD. In our next update Skalp 1.5 (this update is free for all our 1.x users) this hidden lines will be also automatically generated by Skalp.
Youtube Video
The Skalp Team