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3DLearning Sketchup
Jimi James0
Posts: 0Member
Pretty much what the titles says. I started yesterday afternoon and rendered it in Kerkythea this morning.
If you're reading this page, then the first several posts aren't going to make much sense. The gist is this: While this started out as merely a "Learning Sketchup' thread, to see if I even had any talent for this sort of thing, it's now progressed into the New Haven Chronicles: 3d Project WIP thread.
New Haven is an military oriented sci-fi series I'm working on, currently mainly prose, but hopefully soon to be somewhat animated; which is where learning Sketchup comes into play. I want to do this with as much 'freeware' as possible, while maintaining the highest level of production values I can manage with free software.
So take a look through the thread and if you see anything you like...or see anything you don't like, or have questions or comments about, then by all means speak up. Getting feed back is the best way for me to improve my skills and in turn, make New Haven a better series.
If you're reading this page, then the first several posts aren't going to make much sense. The gist is this: While this started out as merely a "Learning Sketchup' thread, to see if I even had any talent for this sort of thing, it's now progressed into the New Haven Chronicles: 3d Project WIP thread.
New Haven is an military oriented sci-fi series I'm working on, currently mainly prose, but hopefully soon to be somewhat animated; which is where learning Sketchup comes into play. I want to do this with as much 'freeware' as possible, while maintaining the highest level of production values I can manage with free software.
So take a look through the thread and if you see anything you like...or see anything you don't like, or have questions or comments about, then by all means speak up. Getting feed back is the best way for me to improve my skills and in turn, make New Haven a better series.
Post edited by Jimi James on
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I'm finding the largest learning curve for me is learning to move around the 3-d environment to 'get at' the section of the model I want to work on. I'm also sort of stumbling through the basics of what to build first and what needs to wait until later. Already, I've run into a number of situations where I can see things might have turned out better if I had waited to add something. So in that regard, I think planning how I want to tackle a model will be a helpful skill.
At this point though, it's all pretty much practice so I can just chalk it up to
alleyviper:
I see what you mean now about drawing the smoother circles. Thanks for that tip and I'll definitely take you up on the offer to pick your brain for help.
Is there a way to smooth out...adding more edges to a circle that's already been drawn?
Sorry if some of my terms might be off. I don't have all the lingo down yet. lol
I haven't done much to the model today, but I did look through some of the settings in Kerkyetha and set up a clay render, which I've always preferred over just a plain white surface...and in some cases more then a textured model. I'm just strange like that.
Here's the last update for tonight...now a room.
The model is looking cool so far. I'm sure Kerkyetha is better, but there are some good renderers that work right inside of sketchup. Podium is the easiest to use if you just want some simple and quick clay renders. I'm loving twilight myself.
It does look like a great start, but then again that is to be expected from someone who has been using Illustrator a lot. There's a kind of common sense involved in SketchUp which not many people "get" when starting using it, but it looks like you've got the hang of it quite fast
I've wanted to move into 3d for a long time, but never really thought I had enough time to devote to it. I finally realized that if I didn't make the time to make the transition and learn these new skills, that it would probably never happen.
Having some trouble with layers at the moment. Things that I create on one layer are showing up on other layers and it's causing some issues with the model. Even when creating something on a new layer, it doesn't seem to just 'cover' the layer below it, but rather interfere with it, even if it's merely just touching.....apparently I'm missing something here, or layers in 3d work differently then they do in 2d.
I've signed up over at SketchUcation and grabbed a few of the addons that BorgMan posted in his Tips and Tricks thread. So far I haven't had an opportunity to really use them yet, aside from trying to round off the corners of an edge....which is proving highly frustrating...even more so when the edge follows a curve.
I did take a look around the community though and it does seem like there's a wealth of knowledge to be had there.
I've found it interesting, that at least design wise, 3d is a somewhat easier for me. I problem I always had when working in 2d, was getting different views of a design to match up. I'd draw a top view I was happy with, only to discover that something didn't work in the side view or it created some sort of problem in the front view.
In 3d however, everything matches up as soon as you create it, so the problem is instantly solved. The largest concern I see at the moment, is getting one side of a model to match identically to it's opposing side.
For example, if I were building a starship and created a starboard nacelle pylon.... don't see an easy way of creating a duplicate port pylon to match it, without building it from scratch...in this case, I don't think the old cut, paste, and flip trick will work quite the same.
I'll probably have an update later on today sometime or this evening at the latest.
As far as layers go, if you have faces from one layer inside a group that is on another layer it will cause the issue you describe. To see what layer stuff is on, right click it and select entity info. Sometimes a group will be on one layer but all of the stuff inside the group is on another layer. You can change which layer the selected entities are with this menu.
Hope this helps.
If you need any help, just give me a ring. Could also be a wise thing to just download some higher quality ships from the 3D Warehouse to see how they are modelled
That's a good idea about taking a look at how other models are put together. I'll definitely do that.
Here's something new, (and something that actually pertains to the New Haven Universe) a rather large gatling gun with a fairly simple frame at the moment. This will likely be a remotely operated version....as most things in the New Haven universe do.
In Universe Info:
The GAU-39C was the last production model gatling gun produced before the switch over to single barreled-burst fire rail guns were fully adopted. They're still in use in some military's around the world, however parts are becoming increasing difficult to find and it's only a matter of time before they are fully retired.
I haven't given up on the computer core-room yet, jut taking a break until I can get a few more refined techniques down.
There appears to to be something wrong with the model in this one, on the top barrel...there are gaps in the mesh that aren't supposed to be there....even though they sort of add a bit of interesting detail. lol
Nice gun, by the way
So, here is the first WIP for the Kirov. It still needs quite a bit of refinement even before any sort of details are added.
Current Specs: (rounded up to the nearest meter)
Length: 1170 meters (a good 300 meters of that is sensor mast)
Width: 129 meters
Height: 334 meter
The rear view isn't really the best angle.... but here it is anyway.
Fantastic work !!!
It's still has a long way to go, but thanks nonetheless.
Nice start anyway you seem to have taken to SU quicker than I ever did!!
1) Click on "circle" tool. DO NOT CLICK ANYWHERE ELSE!
2) Hold Shift and press "S" key. In the lower left, there is a window, labeled "Segments". Your cursor is there currently.
3) Normaly, there is a number "24" there. Type in "48"
4) Draw the circle as you allways have done. You`ve got the circle with 48 segments instead of 24.
My advise, that you never raise the number of segments above 48 for complex model, or your model will be an enormous load on your CPU.
BTW, quite an impressive start you`ve got here. Good work
Yeah, it does sort of resemble the Halo chain gun, which is itself modeled after the actual GAU-19/A. I'm adding some differences though, since it's firing a much larger round.
I think rescaling has solved most of the size issues for now and it's now a much more manageable 30 mm, which buts it in at the size of the GAU-8 Avenger used by the A-10...and several other weapons of course.
Anyway, I wasn't sure which view you wanted, so I took three angles.
And thanks Stonecold. Alleyviper had already mentioned that though.
If Stonecolds method doesnt work for you, you have to use this method:
Go to WINDOW and select ENTITY INFO
A floating box will appear just ignore it for now.
Draw your circle in SU and then when it is done select the edge.
You will notice in the entity info box some information has just appeared.
You will see a box labelled segments which is editable, it will have the default circle size of 24 just type in 48 and then click outside the box and your circle will change!
simple!
However if Stonecolds method works then you dont need to do this, I think its a MAC thing for when I press S it activated the scale tool.
(EDIT)
lol i must have been writing that when you where just ignore it all then lol, btw those blue faces are reversed faces you need to right click on them and select 'reverse faces', wont be a problem until you apply textures! nice work anyway you going to try and model an ammo belt?
Yeah at some point I'll try to tackle an ammo belt. The gun itself still needs a bit of work I think. It could probably stand to be a bit more streamlined and eventually I need to set it in an automated turret.
No need to hold down Shift key. You can just type "48s", where 48 is the number of sides and it will work. Also, when you do change this, it remains at that number for the rest of that session of sketchup. So any new circles drawn after that will have 48 segments. Arcs will also be based on the new segment setting.
I just double checked this and am sorry to report that I'm unable to replicate this function. The circle works allright (which I have known) but the arc doesn't apply this segment count; I need to apply it seperately for that. In all honesty, though, I usually stick at 48/24, usually don't want my arcs to be 48 because it gives a smoothness which most people won't even notice compared to 24...
Because the Aero-Ram system is a self contained independent weapons system, it has become a staple of fixed defensive positions. Given drastic circumstances, the Aero-Ram can even be remotely operated by any number of existing weapon control systems, making it possible to engage enemy targets, even if the primary control system or operator has been eliminated.
I plan to model each missile in a launch cell, in all twelve missile tubes.
The Aero-Ram is based on the current Sea-Ram missile system, so you can get an idea of the look I'm going for.
Here is the concept art I drew for this design.
hmmm, yea, I just re-verified. The part I wrote about the arc tool is wrong. So sorry.