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Home ? Importing Assets ? Sketchup to Muvizu

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27/02/2012 20:42:32

ziggy72Muvizu mogulExperimental user
ziggy72
Posts: 1988 		OMG they're awesome! Actually, they're way better than how I envisiged them (and I'm now seriously having to consider actually learning to use Sketchup, rather than just use it to prep imported stuff). Genius. Applause

Oh, also, I take it that the plug pins will be collision free, so you can 'plug' them straight into the wall sockets?
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01/03/2012 01:18:15

DyllyMuvizu mogulExperimental user
Dylly
Posts: 555 		Gun in Hand. Going to drop this bit into this thread just to keep the place tidy and all...and all the Sketchup stuff roughly in one place.

I've managed to get the hand prop imported into Muvizu, as can be seen below, however there are one or two problems with the initial model.



Smoothing the model without creases was the first headache. The only way I've managed to do this in Sketchup is by using the 'Artisan' tool kit ($40 well spent...but still $40). There is a cheaper alternative I believe which is the earlier 'Subdivide & Smooth' plug-in by the same guy.

However Artisan still left me with unwanted creases in the surface of the model. I found a way around this problem the solution means abandoning the Sketchup principle of extruding with the push-pull tool. What you have to do is extrude out your basic rectangular shapes with the push-pull tool and once you have done this use the line tool to add geometry and then use the move tool to shift around the vertices.

Once the 'subdivide and smooth' has been applied the model is now crease free. We now have another problem.

The geometry created by moving the vertices is...weirder than Noel Fielding! This provides a major headache when it comes to positioning the fingers and thumb to hold an object, the whole point of the exercise.

Taking on board the comments from Berty, Toonarama and Ziggy, the crazy geometry means that I'm going to have to go back to the beginning and straighten out the geometry so that I can post the Sketchup file so other folks can use the model.

It would mean that anyone wanting to add a variety of different props into the hand would need to get either the Artisan Tools or the Subdivide and Smooth plug-in to smooth out the square Sketch-up model. I might find an alternative yet.

Colours and textures can be added in sketchup so the prop matches a character...but for those who don't want to mess around I can make a couple of complete props and UVW map them, so the textures can be altered in Gimp or the like.


If anyone has any more suggestions or tips let me know, I've set myself a hell of a learning curve with this malarkey...still it's fun!
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09/03/2012 00:58:50

DyllyMuvizu mogulExperimental user
Dylly
Posts: 555 		Just uploaded part one of a three part prop set....The Lair...a modular building set where the detail is on the inside!

These props are designed to represent a Super Villains hideout, or caves, or a spaceship corridor well just about anything. I've included two sets of textures one in TARGA format, the other as Photoshop files so the textures can be customised.

The first set includes a straigh section and a right angle along with a door and wheel locking thingy doofah. The doors emply the radical ZMB collision technology (or Ziggy's Match Box Collision) whilst the tunnels themselves just have collision on the floor sections. I found quite a good sewer effect was achieved by animating a ground plane onto the floor and turning off the collision on the tunnels (can be stood on).

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09/03/2012 03:27:44

WozToonsExperimental user
WozToons
Posts: 494 		This all looks absolutely amazing. I can't wait to get a good look at them in the flesh.
I feel an Alien remake coming on. I'd better lie down. Or maybe that's just because it's 3:30 am.
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09/03/2012 09:07:25

pyrrho
pyrrho
Posts: 123 		WozToons wrote:
I feel an Alien remake coming on.


Are you sure it's not just something you ate?
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10/03/2012 02:00:30

ziggy72Muvizu mogulExperimental user
ziggy72
Posts: 1988 		Dylly, I have a question for you and I think it's best asked here (to help everyone else too).

I have this frying pan I made in Sketchup - I would like to have a graphic in the middle of it (say bacon & eggs) but when I put a picture in there it comes out like this ;



This is using the Muvizu wanted poster as the picture. Very nice design it creates, but not what I want. I tried adjusting the UV parameters in Sketchup but it didn't help. I know I'm missing something here but I don't know what. Can you help?

Thanks in advance!
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10/03/2012 02:18:50

DyllyMuvizu mogulExperimental user
Dylly
Posts: 555 		Hi Ziggy... Errr wow! Great Prop!

Now I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong...which I probably am...BUT this is how I think it works and how I get around it.

The textures as applied in Sketchup are tiles, and as such work fine on certain surfaces, usually of the square type. As soon as you start dropping a 'definite' image onto a surface such as a decal it will tile the image. Round images I noticed are a complete pain as they seem to tile in really tiny tiles.

I've been trying to find a plug in for Sketchup that will handle UVW mapping, but so far I've not been successful. There is such a thing as the UV tool kit on sketchucation.com as a free download but it didn't seem to do what I wanted it to do.

Now since I started this modelling malarkey the only sure fire method I found to texture and generate the ambient occlusion maps was to UVW unwrap a model in 3ds Max. I tried blender and it was just too complicated for me, I still struggle with numbers and complex instructions (like tidying up according to my Mrs).

I think there must be a difference between UV mapping as done by Sketchup and UVW mapping as applied in 3ds Max, Maya et al.

This is pure guess work and conjecture coincidentally and just my musings as I've tried to struggle through all the tutorials (some of the best ones always seem to be by some Indian guy with a dodgy accent).

If you would like me to generate a UVW map for your props drop me a line and I will make a UVW map for you to add your own textures along with an ao map!

If the rest of the Kitchen props are the same standard as the pan they are superb quality.

Tim
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10/03/2012 07:00:04

mystoMuvizu mogulExperimental user
mysto
Posts: 471 		You guys are the greatest! If only I had the patience to take care of these things! It's people like Ziggy and Dylly that make the Muvizu forums the BEST!!! Keep up the good work guys!!!
edited by mysto on 10/03/2012
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10/03/2012 19:30:30

ziggy72Muvizu mogulExperimental user
ziggy72
Posts: 1988 		Thanks for the reply Dylly - I had a feeling it was going to be a pain to do, but I just wanted to check. My fallback plan was just to use a small transparent image with the food on it, as the pan has the (now patented) ZMB collision technology I'll just do that instead, as I've got enough to do with learning Sketchup without involving GMax, UV maps, and the like.
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11/03/2012 18:28:23

ziggy72Muvizu mogulExperimental user
ziggy72
Posts: 1988 		My latest practise items - some kitchen utensils. Should be up on the Assets page tomorrow (11th).


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11/03/2012 19:54:10

DyllyMuvizu mogulExperimental user
Dylly
Posts: 555 		Excellent work! Looking forward to trying these out!
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12/03/2012 10:52:29

Emily
Emily
(Account inactive)
Posts: 346 		Good looking models Ziggy - nice work!
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13/03/2012 01:35:32

DyllyMuvizu mogulExperimental user
Dylly
Posts: 555 		The last four months have been one hell of a learning curve and I've enjoyed every minute of it..yet it seems like I've come full circle & I'm back struggling with the same problem's I had at the start of this thread. Namely Ambient Occlusion Maps.

Way back in December I was struggling with getting detail onto the model via the texture and I'm glad to say I think I've cracked it, but I'm back to the begining again with regard to the ao maps.

My latest project has a lot more detail in it than usual, and when I imported the prototype into Muvizu, I could not get any definition onto the model, so I set out to try and find a way around it. Some weeks ago I read about Multi sub-object materials and I've finally managed to utilize this in a model. The only problem now is...how the hell do I generate a separate ambient occlusion map for the model bearing in mind each of the four main components is individually UVW unwrapped in this process?

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14/03/2012 17:54:58

ziggy72Muvizu mogulExperimental user
ziggy72
Posts: 1988 		Okay, after a bit of an issue with locations of bitmaps and the like, my original models were taken down until I fixed them. I fixed them.

Also, I uploaded the (now officially called) ZMB model to make it easier to find on the site. Collision? I laugh in the face of collision! Green Tongue
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16/03/2012 01:38:45

DyllyMuvizu mogulExperimental user
Dylly
Posts: 555 		Well it's been an evening with a couple of little triumphs...not the bike kind but tables and curtains. Can't remember who, but someone was having a spot of bother importing curtain models from sketchup to Muvizu. The problem with this kind of model is the thickness, or lack, in the model.

So needing some curtains I set too to try and model some. After a lot of faffing about, I finally found the right technique, and strangely enough it all comes down to making the model ...thin.

Start with a plane and draw the shape of the curtains onto the plain. Now indicate the folds by drawing lines using the arc tool. Now use the push and pull tool to lift up the fold sections of the model, take away the end caps and now use the divide and smooth tool from Artisan with 1 iteration. recap the ends of the model and paint. Finally curtains with no white bits twinkling through.

I've also finished making and texturing the tables so it's on with the lighting next. Hope fully start shooting on this set next week.

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16/03/2012 02:50:44

skylikeMuvizu mogulExperimental user
skylike
Posts: 188 		Holy crap dylly !!! The lair looks freakin awesome!
Great colour choices too, and wooden seats and bannisters etc look brilliant. Always hard to get good textures for roofs.
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21/03/2012 20:18:59

DanimalMuvizu mogulExperimental user
Danimal
Posts: 477 		Did the light switch ever get turned on? Ugh, worst pun ever. But really, is that part of one of the packs in the 3D Assets gallery? Nothing leaped out at me as containing it, but that's certainly something I could use in a scene I'm currently working on.

Thanks so much for all your work on these props and sets!
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21/03/2012 20:47:25

DyllyMuvizu mogulExperimental user
Dylly
Posts: 555 		Light switches should be ready to upload tomorrow Danimal, sorry I got sidetracked. I will be worse than ever on Friday when the instruction book for 3ds Max gets delivered!

I said I got easily distracted...what I meant to say was...here's a link to the light switch if needed!

http://www.mediafire.com/?cvh7311c5s3r4n1



As with the majority of my models import into Muvizu with the following settings


edited by Dylly on 21/03/2012
edited by Dylly on 21/03/2012
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21/03/2012 22:47:53

DanimalMuvizu mogulExperimental user
Danimal
Posts: 477 		No need to apologize, I'm hardly in a position to make demands or impose a timeline. Thanks for all you do and I look forward to using this set!
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27/03/2012 01:08:23

DyllyMuvizu mogulExperimental user
Dylly
Posts: 555 		I've been a bit quiet...so I think you all know what that means...yes I've been modelling the exterior sets for the High Bridge Cafe.

The High Bridge is a medieval bridge in Lincoln's center, one of the last surviving bridges in the UK to hold buildings. Sitting astride the River Witham, the 'Glory Hole' beneath holds some fine chub, roach and large shoals of dace (now you know what I'm looking at while the Mrs is window shopping).

Anyway here's the model, still got some benches to model, as well as some railings, bollards & bits and pieces. The set will include a medieval shop frontage when it's all done. I'd welcome any suggestions or comments to improve the set.



Once I've finished shooting the animation I will upload the models so everyone can tinker, although they will not be as adaptable as the Fantasy Cottage Set. Let me know what you think anyway.

Tim
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