Easy Image Capture and Mirrors

This is a little helpful method (for Windows) I’ve used for many years to transfer images between applications without having to save the image first or be concerned with file types, i.e., gif, jpg, bmp, etc. It is a great time saver since the transfer is made via the clipboard. It works so well because many types of software can translate data into bitmap images pasted from the clipboard while preserving quality. It even works for image transfers to some vector drawing applications such as CAD.

As an example, you can set up your model in Sketchup exactly the way you want, capture just the scene (not the entire monitor screen), then paste it directly into another program such as MS Word, Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Xara, etc. Unfortunately, Sketchup does not allow pasted clipboard contents.

First, you do need a free piece of software, about a 3.4 MB download. It is called Screen Hunter. Version 5 is available for download at: http://wisdom-soft.com/sh/index.htm

SH is a simple screen capture program that allows much more flexibility than the built-in Print Screen feature of Windows. With SH you can capture any area of the screen very accurately using the crosshair cursor and magnifier built into the tool. You can save to the clipboard only, to a folder previously setup, or to both. For most captures, I use only the clipboard, but when searching the Internet for images such as materials, I save to a file. This allows me to capture images quickly for review and possible editing at a later time. A screen capture is initiated by the F6 key, but can be changed if needed. You also have the option of including the mouse cursor (for teaching illustrations) in your screen captures. Capturing interior images of a room inside a house model using SH is one method of making reflections in a mirror. Since Sketchup allows easy positioning of the camera, you can use Screen Hunter to capture the room from the viewpoint of the mirror. The capture would be saved automatically to a folder (not the clipboard), then immediately imported into Sketchup and converted into a Material for painting on your mirror. Since there are no reflective materials in Sketchup, these faux mirrors more often look more like painting hanging on the wall rather than mirrors.

One way to jive up mirrors is to cut a hole into the wall where the mirror will hang. The hole is the same size as the mirror. Paint the interior face of the wall showing through the hole with a captured image of the room recorded from where the mirror is located. (This image must first be converted into a SU Material). Since this material will not be a seamless tile, resize the painted image (Texture/ Position) so that repeats do not show through the hole even when viewed from an extreme angle. Heal the hole. On the newly healed face, paint one of the translucent glass materials. Play around with different ones and with various transparency percentages until you achieve a more realistic reflective surface. The objective is to barely see the room reflection in the mirror. The thicker the wall, the more the reflected image will shift position as you orbit.

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