How to create metallic finishes with the materials bucket

SketchUp
1

I have a question about materials that come from the paint bucket.

When you try to select glass or metal what you get is something that is very unconvincing.
It’s a gray pebble or a gradient or an otherwise non-metal looking fill pattern.

When I go to the Sketchup Warehouse, however, I can down load sinks & faucets that look like the real deal.

How do you create the realistic metal finishes that I see on those warehouse gizmos?
Is there a plugin that does this or is it done in a different software?

2

Sample the sink material that you just downloaded and apply it to your own model’s face(s).

3

Well that sounds too easy.

4

Would you like something more difficult?

5

They have phototextures on them ie. they have taken photos of the sinks and faucets

6

Did they take a photo of the actual sink or faucet then construct a model in the shape of the sink or faucet?

or did they build the sink or faucet then use the eyedropper tool to drag over the sheen & color textures?

7

Yes as @MikeWayzovski said you need to check to see if they have used materials or textures that have photo or rendered textures applied.

Either they have used a photograph from a real sink or they have rendered the model elsewhere before going back to re-apply those textures in SketchUp.

There are many ways to texture a model, from UV mapping plugins, using the native tools, or a bunch of other plugins (that I don’t know about but I am sure exist).

The method you use depends on your source material. Certain methods require you to have a 3rd party image editor (GIMP is free if you don’t have access to Photoshop) in order to prepare the image files, crop them etc.

Here is a quick video that explores applying materials without textures: Sketchup Tutorial - Create Cola Can & Mapping Image Texture to Cylinder Surfaces - YouTube

8

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