I recently started using Sketchup, and while it’s not too difficult to understand the basics … when it comes to advanced stuff it’s quite the opposite smile
Now i’ve been working on a 3D model for a project of mine that needs a label projected on a bottle …
I created the bottle with the follow-me tool (more or less in the correct measurements). Now comes the tricky part - wrapping the label around it.
I created the label in Illustrator and saved it as .jpeg
I’m familiar with the method of “projecting” textures BUT … the bottle seems to be made of 2 “half-bottles” and so the texture starts again on the edges … I included a pic to show what I’m trying to say …
If the bottle is taller than the texture image, the texture will repeat The fix is to either adjust the height of the bottle or the height of the texture. You could limit the area that gets textured by creating an edge but then you’ll need to apply a matching texture on the other side of the edge. You can hide the edge so it doesn’t show.
Thanks @DaveR, but the result is still the same … it seems like my bottle has 2 faces, and when i apply a texture it only goes half around the bottle and it starts anew on the opposite side of the bottle … its wrapping over itself? i dunno, it’s driving me nuts … tried everything …
Isn’t there a way to tell sketchup that the bottle is ONE big surface? … to me that would be the most logic thing … and then wrap an image around that ONE big surface …
this is the result when i make the texture bigger than the bottle … like you suggested
First, this is not a good application for a projected texture. The reason you’re getting a mirror image repeat is the texture is projecting all the way through the object–the reversed part of the image is where it projects all the way through to the other side. So uncheck Projected.
Also, you can wrap a texture around a single-curved surface–like the surface of a cylinder–with no problem. But you can’t wrap it around a compound curved surface, such as where the bottle starts to taper at the shoulder.
Look at bottles in the supermarket (or the liquor store), and you’ll see that the flat paper labels only wrap around the bottles where they’re more or less a straight cylinder, not where the section of the bottle changes (tapers or curves). The only exceptions are the plastic shrink-wrap labels that conform to the bottle contour. You’re stuck with the equivalent of a paper label, which can curve in only one direction, so you have to make a label that fits around the straight parts of the bottle body and neck. Try to size the label so that it is exactly one bottle-circumference in width (or an even sub-multiple) and one bottle straight section (straight cylinder) tall.
Here’s an example of a soda can I did a while back:
By all means, post some followup questions if necessary.
[quote=“spino86, post:3, topic:15172”]
see that the fl.oz is beeing mirrored on the other side? no clue why.
[/quote]Did you make the bottle model yourself? I think that the bottle is actually one component (half a bottle) mirrored. If this is the case, simply r-click on one of them and “Make Unique” - then you should be able to map the other half of the texture.
Following up on Gully’s excellent advice, it is much harder to get the circumference exact than the height (pi and all that stuff). But if you leave a margin at each edge of the image that is the same color at both edges, then if the image width and bottle circumference don’t match perfectly you will still have an invisible seam where they tile.
@Gully_Foyle: I am perfectly aware of the fact that labels can only be put on straight surfaces in real life as i already bottle big wine bottles. so MY BAD calling it a label … the project is to make a smaller bottle with a SHRINK SLEEVE that goes all the way over the bottle, and that is where the problem lies i guess … the top “parts” of my bottle are not wide enough and since the projected texture doesn’t “shrink” like it would in real-life i’m in trouble …
I managed to get a good looking mock-up in Illustrator using the 3D revolve tool BUT … i can’t see the back sides of the bottle and where the sleeve “connects” to see how the final product would look
That’s why i resorted to a more 3D suited program … as you are saying (and as I experienced myself) SketchUp isn’t the best tool to project textures … but I can’t think of something else right now
(Although cropping the label to the substantial “mid/straight-part” i managed to get it right, just a pity I can’t get the top to work properly … YET
@gadget2020 Yes I actually made the model myself. I outlined half of the bottle on the blue and red axis and used the “follow me” on a circle, the result looked quite ok for a first try … unfortunately step 2 was kinda messy
Anyone maybe knows a program that would make my life easier?
Thanks again for all the help!!
I’ll try to look into this tomorrow asap
Sorry, but I don’t think you are. A projected texture is not appropriate for your model either in theory or in practice. Not only is there the problem of the image reversing on the far side of the object to which it is applied, there is the much worse problem of distortion at the sides of the projection (well, they’re both pretty bad). As the receiving surface curves away from perpendicular to the rays of projection, the image becomes more and more stretched (distorted).
Depending on the application and the degree of curvature, this problem ranges from mild to severe. When you are projecting the image on a cylinder, you are guaranteed to get unacceptable distortion (stretching) as the surface curves to where it is parallel to the rays of projection at the object horizon on either end. Obviously, for an image depicting writing, the distortion is very noticeable. You can see this distortion easily on the picture you posted:
Don’t know why it didn’t occur to me (I’ve used the inverse of this to create a panorama around a model)…
Just paint one of the “strips” with the texture, then use the paint bucket to go round the model - each strip will line up with the last. Only problem is that the texture needs to be exactly the right size (width= outside perimeter of bottle), so made a square and put the texture in it, then stretched the texture to fill it. used the pipette to capture it and paint bucket to hit the segments.
Don’t think that it’s too bad: you could stretch the textures on the bits that don’t quite work.bottle_model.skp (1.2 MB)
I didn’t say you can’t use projected texture on a cylinder–I just said it gets distorted. But if you use it in an application where the distortion doesn’t show, it can be a great tool for painting cylinders to achieve a certain effect.
Here are a couple of examples of using projected texture to make a gradient fill along a cylindrical form:
