Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Sketchup House

The Sketchup Project

We recently began using an application known as "Sketchup" to create 3d models for objects such as chairs and houses. This application is used by many animators and architects to plan out an idea before constructing it. Our project was based on taking pictures and blueprints for real houses, and recreating them in Sketchup. We also took two outside textures and used them in the design of our house. Afterwards we created a video to show a panorama of the whole house, getting dynamic shots of each side along with our 2 favorite features we created.

The Process Behind the Build

The project all in all took roughly a week, with each part of the process taking a couple days. We first began by searching for a house with a minimum of 500 square feet on https://www.houseplans.com, and once I found the one I was looking for, I saved all the pictures and blueprints for the layout. Next we began remaking the foundation and the house itself in Sketchup, using exact measurements to make sure the textures looked relatively the same as in the picture. After that, we began adding features such as doorways, walkways, and windows to make it look like a modern home. Once the layout and design of the house was made, we then added textures to give color to the house and make it look realistic. During this process, I took two outside textures (one for my front door floor mat, and one for my porch since those textures were hard to make in Sketchup) and I transferred them into Sketchup so I could improve the design of my house. Shortly after, we added dynamic lighting and shadows to make your house look as if it was truly there in the landscape. Finally, once we were finished with the house entirely, we made a short video showing the design of our house.

General Thoughts

This project all in all was really enjoyable, with us being able to create our own houses and customize them. But, it was very confusing at first and for the most part it too us a really long time to get started. If I were to do this project again, I would have probably spent more time making the roof and designing it. The roof to me was the hardest part, since you had to get the right shape or else Sketchup would twist and turn it the wrong way. It was also really hard for me to add the hanging sides off the roof that prevent water from simply running down your walls. The rest of the project was smooth sailing though, which resulting in an interesting and relatively fun experience. 



My Video of House: https://youtu.be/2IJDQX7Ab78
The blueprint for the house
The house I chose off of Houseplans.com
The porch texture I chose
The Floor Mat texture I chose

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