Modeling perforated metal facades in SketchUp

ronen · May 16, 2018, 2:22pm

I found that distributing based on face center with pointing set to normal is the ideal approach to scatter things on the various facades of the building… I can even use the altitude to modulate density on the elevations.

But FACE based distribution does not allow me to use any of the areas to isolate areas on the facades - it is a TOP DOWN include / exclude thing, right? Any chance this mode can be made to use Include / Exclude objects?

The FACE center based approach is ideal for me since it does not matter the angle of the facade and that I have gaps between panels! I can work out the facade panels however I like and get the holes in the center of each tile accurately.

jiminy-billy-bob · May 16, 2018, 3:20pm

This is because areas are projected onto the host, based on an axis (Z by default, but you can set a custom axis). When using Faces Centers, there is no projection.

This is a limitation of v1, we are looking into changing that for v2.

ronen · May 16, 2018, 3:22pm

Got ya!

One more thing why v2 needs to be here sooner rather than later.

Thanks Thomas.

ronen · May 21, 2018, 7:13pm

Adding here a video showing how this could be done directly in 3dsmax using Volume Select and Morpher Modifier

ronen · May 23, 2018, 3:12pm

Hey all!

I moved this to the public Uncategorized category for now as I figure out the overall categories.

Here are some progress snapshots…

jiminy-billy-bob · May 23, 2018, 3:24pm

Very nice! Are you rendering that in Lumion? (you seem to do a lot there lately)

ronen · May 23, 2018, 3:57pm

I do, but this one is with Corona Renderer. I will take this one for a spin inside Lumion too, as I’m trying to figure out how much I can push it and use it in production.

ronen · May 24, 2018, 12:08pm

Here the same crop at Dusk / Nighttime

I wonder what you think @youkishi @db.inforender

db.inforender · May 25, 2018, 5:52pm

Looks pretty good. Is there anyway in skatter to work with default skp ‘make hole’ when skattering instances? From a component set like that?

jiminy-billy-bob · May 25, 2018, 6:05pm

You mean a component cutting a hole in a face when it is glued to it?
Not for now. The trick is that for that to work, to need to tell to the instance which face it is to be glued to. Placing it on the face is not enough.
This is automatically done when you place an instance via the SketchUp UI, but not when placed via Ruby.

This is something we can look into for v2, but I can’t promis anything.

youkishi · May 27, 2018, 10:05pm

Sick!! I’ve came across quite a few jobs that this would saved me more sleeping time!! Thanks for sharing. Yes i personally would like to see ronen take this to lumion for a spin. I heard there are quite a few countries that started practicing lumion in their daily projects.

ronen · May 28, 2018, 7:50am

Will do! Thanks

I learned a thing or two about Skatter during this one, and I hope @jiminy-billy-bob will be able to implement new features for v2 soon to help make this process easier and non-destructive. That is - being able to keep editing the Skatter parametrically and have the perforated facade update LIVE!

For example, one thing we wanted to try is to make the holes square or triangle shaped… but this would call for remodeling the thing!

Here a detail shot from another angle…

ronen · June 1, 2018, 2:53pm

Here’s one before the weekend kicks in…

I hope to share more next week

ronen · June 20, 2018, 4:14pm

Hi all!

I took the perforated elements for a spin in another project

And a rendered crop…

ronen · June 21, 2018, 4:22pm

Some more views from Lumion being captured as I use Livesync… working in SketchUp on one screen and seeing it all updated live on the other screen showing the Lumion viewport. Very smooth process!

db.inforender · June 22, 2018, 11:49am

evolving really nicely! definitly I must try lumion!

ronen · June 22, 2018, 12:19pm

For sure! In this one I did not even get into working out the visual fidelity… time was spent mostly on design changes all the way to the last day or two when I just went to output mode. 10 images + Animation (two days, yes… 55 seconds animation).

db.inforender · June 22, 2018, 12:22pm

We need a good skp to lumion tutorial update, how to (optimzeand preapre models, live sync, materials) etc…time to learn! Any good link so far?

ronen · June 22, 2018, 12:39pm

I’m actually writing one for the past few weeks… coming out soon A review + getting started / tutorial style of an article.

Andy · January 15, 2019, 2:51pm

Hi!, anyone knows how to do it in 3ds max? Any technic that provides a custom/editable result?
Thanks!!