Hi Folks! I’ve recently installed the free version of SketchUp, but before I give myself a migraine trying to navigate the instruction videos can someone answer the following ‘simple’ question?
Can I import an oblique photo of an outdoor movie set into SU and obtain an accurate 2D plan-view, with measurements, of the buildings in the photo?
I should warn you that I’m basically a mathematical moron. So, ideally I’m hoping this operation (if possible) would involve little more than indicating the known dimensions of some objects in the photo and letting SU do the rest
Many thanks for any help or advice; it’s appreciated.
What exactly do you mean by thios? The free version of SketchUp is browser based and you don’t install it. The desktop version does get installed but beyond a 7-day free trial, it’s not a free version. Your forum profile is confusing on this point.
With the desktop version you can import an image to use for Match Photo which allows you to set up SketchUp’s camera to match the one used to take the photo. If you have a few basic dimensions you can create a 3D model. It will be as accurate as you make it. After you’ve created the model you can extract dimensions and if you want to create a 2D plan view, you can do that.
There are AI features that can generate geometry from a photo.
If you could get a 3D scan of the site there are services that would generate a 3D model from that data. The accuracy of those models can be pretty good but like anything, it depends on what you put in.
The long and true answer has already been given above: in the Pro version there are tools that could help facilitate this project, and a workflow you could learn that could create the result you are asking for.
The short answer is “No”. Given what I interpret as the spirit of your question and the style of workflow you are imagining, where an accurate 3D model is generated from a 2D photo with very little input or work, It is my opinion that you will be disappointed by the number of steps and learning of the program that will be necessary to achieve your goal.
Thanks, Dave. If YOU’RE confused, think how I feel. I found the whole SU website confusing with regard to what exactly I was downloading and which version(s) were free, or not. I ‘think’ the version I have currently is a free trial of SU Pro, but now you’re telling me there’s a free ‘forever’ browser based version.
Anyway; thanks for confirming that what I’d like to do is possible, if somewhat more involved than clicking on a ‘Convert Now’ button.
SketchUp is a 3D modeling application. You can get 2D plan views from the 3D model. You could actually just draw a 2D plan but it would be more challenging starting from a photograph.
