Creation of a cracked surface with jpg

This is brilliant, thank you :smiley:.
I have also installed Sketchup 2018 and everything works.
Thank you Eric. I really feel like I had a breakthrough :low_brightness:

That’s great to hear!

My workflow using Image to Lithophane. I haven’t used Bitmap to Mesh, but it appears that it might be a superior method for this task.
)I begin by optomising the image in Photoshop, and while this video: Getting to Grips with Lithophanes from 3D printers - YouTube is actually about 3D printing of lithophanes, it is best way to convey how to do this part.
The principles behind how this works are also useful to know.
)I then upload the image to Image To Lithophane, adjust the parameters to correspond with the job requirements.
In this case my Model Settings were:
Size - 100mm (I kept it small to reduce the final triangle count, and as the resolution doesn’t need to be very high. The system will crash if very large meshes are requested.)
Thickness - 3mm (Rembember the model will be scaled up later)
Border - none
Thinnest Layer - .8mm
Vectors Per Pixel - 3
Base/Stand Depth - 0
Curve - 0 (Not relevant here, but if you use a flat surface and have a Curve of 360 you will create a hollow cylinder (as opposed to the “Solid Cylinder”), which you could use to create textured sides of your base.
You would need to calculate circumference to height ratio, thickness, etc, and of course account for the high poly count - which maybe your Mac could do ok.
)In this case my Image settings were:
Positive image
Nothing else to adjust - no repeats, ect.
)Download.
)I used (in this case) Meshmixer (it’s free) to remove and repair the base of the mesh. I also use 3D Coat (not free), or simply go straight into SU and adjust - depending on the complexity of the mesh.
)Export from Meshmixer as a .stl (it is the smallest file size - rather than Collada). I am using a PC, and this might be different on a Mac though.
)Import into SU and scale. (I scaled up uniformly to around 300mm in diameter and then squashed it to about 70mm.) You could use the scale tool on hidden geometry (as I did here) or maybe FFD to distort the mesh
into a more pie like profile - but this will definately slow your Mac down.
I usually take care to ensure it is a solid at each step. That way there shouldn’t be any issues if meshes need to be combined, a 3D print is required, or I need to map it for rendering.
You have a few options on how to colour it now, so no need to go there.
The last image need a bit of work on the tin to finish it off, but you get the idea of where you can go with it.



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Another way… with Sculptris > export OBJ, then import into SketchUp.


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Hi Mihai,
Thank you for your workflow. It’s always good to know alternative ways.

Thanks for sharing the alternative way Douglas. It gives a lot of control over the process.
The result looks great too. :grinning:

Sculptris! of course. I havent used that i a while but would like to find an excuse to dabble more in it :wink:

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I have found Sculptris useful in creating terrain or cliffs and rocks, and also in texturing them. And I’m looking to improve the workflow between Sculptris, Blender and SketchUp for this kind of job (UV unwrapping + UV mapping).

@mihai.s - I’m hoping to do the exact same thing. Just haven’t had a project that requires it recently. Hope to see how your learning process goes. Maybe we can start a gallery thread and on-going dialog about it.

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Yes, @eric-s, we should first move this discussion into a dedicated post (for not to change the meaning of Eve’s discussion).

I have created a few projects to work on for this reason, to improve my workflow on creating&texturing terrains, cliffs and rocks.
I’ve already put two of my hobby-projects (grk-house & grk-lighthouse) in my album,but we better make a special album for that, and I’m testing different ways to make UV unwrap and UV map as simple as possible and to look better for render and animation (in Unity).

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