Thursday, September 9, 2010

Trying Out New Modeling Features



Hi! So I quickly tried out some of the new features in SketchUp 8 and Building Maker. I am still getting accustomed to them and may not remember all that I did, but I'll take my best shot.

  1. In Building Maker I tried "add Street View images." The interface was different than I expected, responsive and reminiscent of "match photo." For some reason I could position the wire frames but not create new ones. The final texture was very compressed.
  2. In SketchUp I used the "add new building" button to import my model to SketchUp. Here the Street View texture became more compressed. I re-textured with the "photo textures" button (same images but better resolution).
  3. The new "Back Edges" style was on by default in this mode. It looked cool but I didn't need to use it in this case.
  4. I tried the "image igloo" and the scene tabs which now show me the relation between projected images and my model. The igloo images were quite tiny and distant: maybe because the images were shot from high altitude. I haven't figure out practical application yet for the new tabs and igloo. Maybe it works in the style of "photo match" allowing you to tweak geometry against the images?
  5. Building Maker shifted the building's footprint, so in SketchUp I used the new "add more imagery" button to get a terrain snapshot and adjust. The terrain was in color!
My favorite improvements are the "add more imagery" feature (rather than having to open Google Earth) and the streamlining of buttons/features generally. It just makes everything easier. I'm guessing image igloo and back edges will become more important in more complex models.

I wish that the Street View textures added in Building Maker were not so compressed so they would be more useful. I guess it is OK for quick, rough models.

There's a lot more to learn and I'm sure it will be fun.