Best approach for using 360deg images backgrounds?

SketchUp Pro
1

Hey folks.

Our surveyors have tripods and software that can capture 360-deg images.

I’d like to use these as backdrops in SketchUp, perhaps applied to the interior face of a very large dome (or sphere),…so the image needs to wrap proprtionally around it.

Does anybody know the correct workflow for this?

Cheers!

2

You have several options:

  1. SketchUp

  • first resize the 360 image to square (Gimp, Affinity, Photoshop…);
    res-03

  • create a sphere and use SketchUV extension to apply a Spherical Map texture;

  • then change the texture with the one you prepared (the square one)
    res-07

  1. via Blender
    No need to prepare (resize) the texture
    res-05
    Export as DAE or OBJ and import it into SketchUp.

  2. Or use it in V-ray Dome Light.

Source of the image used in GIFs
Photo by Kris Guico on Unsplash

2 Likes
3

Thans very much!
I figured I was missing an extension or something…!

I’ll try to get the hang of SketchUV (the instructions for spheres aren’t great)

4

You can do as I showed you in the first gif:

  • create a sphere
  • set Camera > Parallel Projection
  • set Camera > Standard Views > Front
  • select the sphere > Reverse Faces
  • inside the sphere > select all raw geometry of the sphere > select SketchUV Mapping Tools > right click > Spherical Map (View)
  • edit texture > change the default square texture applied with the prepared square texture.

or you can do like this:

  • having already imported the square texture
  • set Camera > Parallel Projection
  • set Camera > Standard Views > Front
  • select the sphere > Reverse Faces
  • inside the sphere > select all raw geometry of the sphere > select SketchUV Mapping Tools > right click > Spherical Map (View)
  • all geometry already selected > select SketchUV Mapping Tools > right click > Save UVs
  • apply the new texture
  • all geometry already selected > select SketchUV Mapping Tools > right click > Load UVs

res-08

1 Like
5

Inside a normal field of view it might also work adequately if painted on the inside of a large cylinder.

6

I kept getting the image wrapped on the inside of the sphere (all in proportion and everyting), but it was sliced into two halfs and each half was mirrored, so it did “match up” but there were join lines where the mirrored halfs connected…Very odd, but that’s the ‘default’ behaviour.

7

Brilliant!

Thank you so much for your help!
It’s a crazy process that I would never have stumbled upon on my own.

I am used to using Envronment Maps (HDRI and EXR) skies within renderers, but they handle the UVW mapping automatically.

Since you have a neat example, do you mind uploading the SKP file? It would help others when finding this thread as they dont even have to download SketchUV …just saving this sphere as a component to our libraries would be a quick way to utilise spherical or dome mapping.

:smiley:

1 Like
8

You’re welcome!

360 background sphere (UV map) 3D model:

1 Like
9

It works great - just have to import new image and adjust the Width/height. Imager doesnt have to start as a 1:1 aspect ratio.

It’s actually such an amazing thing having backgrounds like this in our model. This really makes me think that SketchUp should offer this as a default background option ( a watermark setting)

(also that the animation options appear to be unchanged since about 2015 and feel very dated!)

10

@Aerilius has an extension called Sky Dome to take advantage of the new OpenGL , it creates (geometrical) domes, btw.
https://extensions.sketchup.com/extension/6ea769ac-0afd-4c07-87ae-199858731a54/sky-dome

11

I have also tried the SketchUV method with good success.
One tip is to keep the texture transparency under 70% so it wouldn’t cast a shadow. Some extra brightening in post might also be required.

If you have SketchUp Pro subscription then you can give Trimble Connect Visualizer a go. It supports skymaps

1 Like