Created with Adobe Firefly by James Turner
Simple House Color and Texture
Problems to Avoid
Sketchup is just the beginning - we have 2 other 3D programs we will be using to render more realistic versions of our models. Things that look fine in Sketchup can be really ugly when fully rendered - avoid having to return to Sketchup to fix problems, re-export the model and start over in Blender.
Before you begin painting, review your model for any faces that are reversed. Reversed faces have a different color that sort of looks the same as deep shadow. Right-click and choose "reverse face" for any faces that oriented incorrectly the wrong way - they should all look the same white color. No, painting them white will NOT work!
Painting Part 1
In which we use colors from the materials panel to mark which surfaces in our house are going to look the same. We don't have to keep the colors, just decide which parts are going to match. Ctrl and Alt are very powerful modifiers!
Painting Part 2
In which we enter the Window component and paint the surfaces. Doing them in a certain order and using the Ctrl-Paint modifier speeds things up a LOT!
Swapping Textures for Colors
In which we use the Shift-Paint modifier to change a color to a texture all at once. Default texture choices are limited, but can be edited for more variety. NO amount of transparency is permitted - just because the window panes are glass does not make it okay to use transparent "glass" textures!
Downloading a PNG
To best show off the painted version of your house on your Portfolio, we'll download it in Sketchup - not snip it. Here you learn how to change the resolution and make the background transparent to make the best image possible. I only did one angle but you can do several!
Animating With Scenes
Anyone can "take a picture" of their house and show it from a specific angle. A video of your model, however, really gives visitors to your portfolio a real sense of what you have created. The first video will be of your Sketchup house, and we'll need
Positioning for Next Steps
We built our house off-center in the "primary" quadrant, but the things we want to do next work better if our model is centered. Use this technique to move your model so that when we later spin it 360° it won't wobble everywhere.
Using Scenes to Animate
In which I group and center the house before setting the first scene of my animation. Positioning is key - don't let the panel that opens on the right side of the screen throw your entire animation off center.
Adding Several Viewpoints
In which we continue adding additional scenes to make a short looping sequence that we will capture to make an MP4 recording of our model. 5 scenes is enough, but add closeups if you have fine detail to show. Don't overdo it though.. 8-10 is getting to be too many for a truly simple house.
This web-based software needs special approval the first time it's run on a school computer. It works very well, even letting you edit the recording. This tutorial just shows how to trim the ends, but you can also insert text and change the resolution to 1920x1080. Try pressing F11 in Sketchup to get a bigger screen, and definitely record two full loops because the free Screenpal adds it's own bit of video at the end.
Launch Free Recorder
Choose the Free Recorder option - if you go straight to their website, you may have to do this twice. It will initiate the download of an EXE file. On a school computer, you will have to approve the download as you see below.
Unverified File Permission
This is one executable (EXE) file that is allowed through the District firewall. When you click on the file name the first time, this will show up - approve the download of the "unverified" file.
