SketchUp Built for Modding...

Discussion in 'Modding' started by Kristoff Rand, Aug 1, 2015.

  1. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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    Hey all...

    I'm a long time Sketchup user, I love it... It's not all that like Max and Blender, but it can do a lot of things that neither of them can.

    Plus... It's much easier to learn and much more user friendly. And... It's free.

    So, I'm going to be posting some features and links for Sketchup, I'll update this thread with various tools, plugins and extensions that I feel are perfect for modding...
    It won't take long before you see this is a great tool for anyone, from noob to pro. It makes hard jobs so easy you won't be able to walk away once you've used it.


    To start off we'll link to software and I'll explain how it works.

    SketchUp is a modeling and documentation program coupled with Ruby for open source plugin and extension development.

    http://www.sketchup.com/

    SU as it is referred to, comes in two flavors. "Pro" and "Make".

    Make: is just plain vanilla SketchUp with no serious file extension export. Just for hobbyists, you are not allowed by ToS to use "Make" to "Make" money...
    This is a big change because it used to be free to use even if you did it for work. Other than exports, there is no big differences between Make and Pro. You can even find or buy various exporters that will work as plugins or just use the native .SKP file extension to save your models and programs like 3DSimEd will recognize it and pull it right in.

    Pro Comes with license to use professionally, use of all models in the warehouse, unlimited file export support, built in BIM and Solid tools. A full separate but attached program called SketchUp Layout. This is the documentation side of SU, it lets you view models in real time through view ports and then dimension, annotate and disseminate your work. And all this for only $700.00... Yeah it hurts, but it's better than the $2k-$4000 Autodesk used to take out of me every year or two. And this one renews for like $95. Sooo I like it.


    Ruby and Plugins

    Some of you coders are really going to dig this... I bet you'll have SketchUp building whole cars by itself in no time. SketchUp uses the Ruby system to allow users and developers to modify or add on shall we say, features and tools. I am continually amazed at all the tools these developers come up with, I thought long ago they would run out of ideas, but they just keep coming. And best of all... Most all of them are free. Some cost a small amount, but they are normally big times savers and well worth the cost. These plugs do things like array objects along a path or build a wall or make a telephone wire... Anything you can think of...

    Here are some repositories for Plugins & Extensions.

    SketchUcation Plugin Store - Home of many of the developers,SketchUcationis a heart of the SketchUp world. When Google gobbled up @Last to accent Google Earth, the closed the @Last Forums where many, many people gathered to learn this new software, and they cast us out in the wilds. They point a t finger at Google Groups and said we could make our home there... Have you ever been to Google Groups? It's like P.O.W. Camp over there... Gives me the shivers just thinking about it. But, I digress... We stumbled for a day or so and then staked a flag and made Sketchup Community Forums. With over 300,000 members, it's now a flourishing community of coders, modelers, engineers, architects and visualization artists, it's been running for some 10 years now.
    http://sketchucation.com/pluginstore

    Extension Warehouse - The corporate venue to showcase, distribute and even sell your plugins and extensions. Most plugins are there, but there are a good number that are not, the largest repository of plugins is probablySCF Plugin Store as many of the devs are that loyal to it that they don't see on EW.
    https://extensions.sketchup.com/

    Ruby Library Depot - Ran by a resident Developer at SCF, significant list of plugins.
    http://www.crai.archi.fr/rld/plugins_list_az.php

    Smustard - You can't have SketchUp without Smustard... Yeah, bad joke huh? These Devs are at both big stores, they've let this place grow a bit stagnant... They still post things every once in a while.
    http://www.smustard.com/


    Learning

    If you don't know anything about modeling or SketchUp, take a look through this getting started area.
    http://www.sketchup.com/learn

    Or head over to youtube and dive into the literally thousands of tutorials on SU... From car building to ship building, they have everything...
    https://www.youtube.com/results?q=sketchup+basics

    Or ask me anything you like... Better yet, head over to SketchUcation and make a post, someone will be by in no time to answer your post.


    So now I'll show you a couple of things that will show you what i mean about SketchUp being perfect for rFactor Modding.


    Modder's Plugin List.


    Built in Connection to Google Earth - Search for, download and use real sections of 3D terrain from all over the world to get a base for tracks.




    Simple Photo Texture Mapping for buildings - use photos to accurately build simple structures quickly.

    [​IMG]


    Add Detail to Track Surfaces - with one click of the mouse.

    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]


    Dynamic Components - make a fence and copy it around a track.

    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]



    And the last of my teasers…

    Instant Road - Draw a line over your geometry and click a button, instant road, it will even do curbs, shoulders and medians for you. Not to mention it will make modeled stripes down the center, just like rFactor 2 likes. http://www.valiarchitects.com/sketchup_scripts/instant-road





    And… Don’t forget that 3DSimEd uses Sketchup as a native import format and has built his software around people being able to convert and complete entire mods with just those two tools…. Well, and NotePad.exe… RIght?

    I’ll be back soon to post more cool tools… Stay tuned and subscribe to the thread.
     
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  2. Euskotracks

    Euskotracks Registered

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    Yes sketch up is very easy to use intuitive tool. I love it too.

    Using a side photopragh to model the block extruded from Google earth layout is fantastic.

    Enviado desde mi GT-I9505 mediante Tapatalk
     
  3. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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    Extrusion Tools - Allows a user to make a line and then extrude that line along another path to make an organic polygon shape.




    Wire Tool - make realistic telephone and power lines in seconds.

    https://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/wire-tool


    Component Sprayer - Copy trees, shrubs, polants or whatever is natural patterns with this simple spray model plugin.

    http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=33908
     
  4. lordpantsington

    lordpantsington Registered

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    What game studios use sketchup in their production workflow?
     
  5. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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    I wouldn't know as I don't know many game developers... I know that Vue, Unity, Crysis, 3Dmax as well as all the rest of Autodesk's software, and 3DSimEd all support the .skp format now. But this should not be seen as more than a staging area. An introduction to modding with 3D editors. It's also very tuned to rFactor as seen in the above points.

    Sketchup's lack of UV mapping tools, true spline and polyline support, it's just not going to be that tool. But it's great for sketching, getting small things done, like infield buildings. tracks, grand stands... and it's a great place to learn to model organically. It doesn't have all the barriers that the big names do. Plus... It's free...
     
  6. lasercutter

    lasercutter Registered

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    all the buildings for Thruxton were made initially using Sketchup.. they were then cleaned up and tweaked in 3DS Max

    It was after doing this that I found it was quicker and easier to just do it all in max but Sketchup did serve a purpose in easing me into modelling objects.
     
  7. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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    Some things... Like the construction related tools and the land development tools don't have a match in Max. You can import dxf's or images and write out locations, but being able to pull in 3D terrain from GE and have a track oriented perfectly... That's nice.

    But it will never be your all in one tool... Trimble bought it from Google and they are a large construction industry supplier, so maybe we'll get some better tools on the higher end, but I doubt it.
     
  8. lasercutter

    lasercutter Registered

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    I can import terrain directly into 3dsMax from google Earth and automatically map it too, but again Sketchup is a free and easy introduction to modelling
     
  9. Woodee

    Woodee Registered

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    Using?
     
  10. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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    Last I saw it was a plugin and it was pretty long sequence to get it done.

    Here's an older tut. Not usre if they've made it main install or if still a plugin. It's a good idea.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbKbEWs_IxA

    I don't think that beats the ease of use on Sketchup, I think it's 2 or 3 clicks to get a track topo in on SU. No mistake, just in the right place every time. That process for Max looked pretty detailed.

    But... Google Earth has much higher textures available if you want them and Max may well take advantage of that.
     
  11. lasercutter

    lasercutter Registered

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    Yes it's using a paid for plugin but when your doing it for a living sometimes you have to pay for things ;)

    The plugin is this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LboF0j9Wgc

    Not cheap but then neither are most specialized tools.

    Please don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing against the use of sketchup, in fact were you to delve back far enough you may find posts on other forums that I made singing it's praises.
    In my personal experience though I found that the amount of work I was doing in max to clean up and tweak my sketchup models to the way I wanted them it ended up being quicker to just make them in Max to begin with.
    Sketchup is a great tool with several features that I wish were as easy in max, and the costs involved are far less than with Max too, if it gets the job done and inspires people to make their own models then that's fine by me.
     
  12. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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    It's missing some pretty serious tools for higher end modeling. namely true uvw mapping. Quads and Nurbs? Meh... gotta have the right wrapping. Speaking of which? what are you using to unwrap?
     
  13. FatCity

    FatCity Registered

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    From memory, I think the Lola T280 mod by Pixsim was done in Sketch Up, so the potential is there............just wish I knew how lol.
     
  14. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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    I'd be glad to help you get started Fatcity...
     
  15. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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    3D Grid... Great for building cars from blue prints.

    3D Grid Tool

    [​IMG]

    Creates 2D or 3D grids, with X step, Y step and Z step parametric, at any orientation on any plane. Guide line type selectable.
    Each 2D grid is a named group. Each 3D grid is a named group with all the 2D grids as named groups within it.


    Eneroth Townhouse System

    [​IMG]

    This plugin lets you easily draw townhouses to any plot shape and is especially suited for irregular medieval town centers where copy paste won't work. It can be used for everything from city planning to game making and making films.






    Goldilocks 1 & 2

    [​IMG]

    Goldilocks is a tool for identifying where you have too much or too little Resolution in your Textures for a given viewpoint. The last part is important because if you're far away from a textured surface you need less detail than when you're really close up. Having too much resolution just increases file size with NO INCREASE ON QUALITY for rendering with LightUp or any renderer - including raytracers. Its simply a waste of space.
     
  16. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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    Also, here's a good tut on building a car from blue prints in SketchUp.



    Here's the next two installments.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iDZL1-OlM0

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLmQLrHottM
     
  17. TurboPig78

    TurboPig78 Registered

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    Nice to see some SketchUp support; especially those track plugins look very nice. :D
    I'm also quite curious about that Lola since I've modelled a car in SU which I'm now trying to implement in rF2.
    I know how to import the .skp into 3ds, but after that I'm completely lost (just started learning 3ds :rolleyes: ).
    I guess one big "problem" with modelling in SU first is that you have to change all the tris into quads, right?
     
  18. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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    First lets get you un-lost...


    • After you make a car model or any gmt that you want to put in the game it will be time to texture it for game use. This will be optimizing geometry and unwrapping a UVW Map of the model. The skin you normally paint.
    • Do a few simple tutorials for UVW mapping on simple shapes, them move up to more complex shapes or dive into your vehicle UV Map. Look at other UVW maps to get an idea of how best to cutout a car body so that it doesn't warp. The most important part of this is making sure every poly is unwrapped in a way that doesn't distort the paint. Here's a longer tutorial on uvw unwrapping or mapping.
    • Next you'll need to paint that Map/Skin with all your car body details, inside and out.
    • Now you'll want to take that map and turn it into a few different layers of materials to add up to a texture. An example would be a Normal Map, A Bump Map, A Specular Map and a Diffuse Map These will each be the same UVW Map you made but with different highlighting and coloring to tell the game engine what to show and how to show it..
    • After you've done all your .gmts for your car, you'll start cutting your car up in to a few extra .gmts; There are a lot of .gmt models needed. High and low poly models of your car for the spinner and then the game, also you'll want copies of your bumper or any parts you want to come off.

      That should keep you busy for a while... Hit me up if you have any more questions.
    • Ok... Now, Tris and Quads. Every game that I know of... Will be showing or using a model in its base form, Tris. You may model in Quads, but when it comes time to go in the game, it will be Tris. What quads are good for and why you want to use them, is optimization of your geometry and maps. When a model is built with or transformed into Quads it will be more efficient in the way it rounds corners and makes shapes. This will imporve game play and use less resources. Here's a Tut on converting your model to quads in Max.

      http://isiforums.net/f/showthread.p...Model-into-a-Quadrified-Smoothed-Textured-GMT
     
  19. TurboPig78

    TurboPig78 Registered

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    Thank you for the hints! :)
    Guess I'll use my few holiday weeks wisely and delve into learning 3DS.
    Might even post the results one distant day.
     
  20. Kristoff Rand

    Kristoff Rand Registered

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    You need to learn at least why you have to do all those things... But there are quite a few tools out there that will do each of those steps for you.
     

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