Google SketchUp Cookbook

Chapter 9. Modeling with Digital Photos

Continuing the discussion of painting and materials from Chapter 8, this chapter focuses on using digital photos to paint faces in your model, adding photorealism and saving modeling time.

Using photos to paint faces can reduce the number of geometric elements you need to create. For example, you can take the time and effort to model geometrically accurate windows on the side of a building, or can you simply paint the face with a photo of the side of that building. (If you don’t have an actual photo, a rendering works well, too.)

In addition to saving modeling time, using photos this way can greatly reduce file size. For this reason, Google encourages 3D Warehouse contributors to use digital photos on their models whenever possible. Many of the models in the 3D Warehouse are photorealistic, as are many 3D buildings in Google Earth. Some of these models represent extremely complex structures but are modeled in simple geometry painted with photos. To see some examples, open Google Earth with the 3D Buildings layer turned on, and explore any large city. Many buildings are plain gray, but a large number are painted. (For more information, see Chapter 13.)

This chapter covers all you need to know about painting with digital photos, including how to:

• Fit a photo to a face

• Use photos to make 2D components that look 3D

• Edit an imported photo

• Use photos to create 3D models

• Use Photo Match

Note

For the basics of where to find materials and images and how to get ...