I’ve got a feature request (maybe I just don’t know how to do it). I want the ability to use textures (for siding, shingles, etc) in layout, but in grayscale or monochrome. I’m creating construction documents and don’t want color, but I don’t want to have to create things like siding and shingles in 3D in order to use a grayscale style currently available… I know SketchUp can desaturate textures from editing them in the materials area, but I don’t want to do it that way and loose the color in my photorealistic renderings.
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You could use the Greyscale plugin by Jim. It’s available from Sketchucation. It’ll let you convert your textures to gray scale in SketchUp for your LO scenes. You can undo the gray scale setting for your renders, though.
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Hi DaveR! Is this still a good recommendation being several years later? I am looking for the same thing. Thanks!
You could still get and use the plugin but the author isn’t supporting it anymore. I haven’t tested it in later versions of SketchUp but you can try.
Thanks! I will make a new post and see if there is anything new out there.
You might look at Fredo6’s FredoPortrait. It might do what you need. It’s also available at Sketchucation.
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I just watched the video for FredoPortrait and it doesn’t look like it has styles, more to do with view, cameras and exporting and so on…
hi dan.frist! I just found your post looking for the answer to the same question. Did you end up using Greyscale plugin by Jim? And if so, is it still working for you?
THanks! Heather
DaveR - did you just download this or did you already have it? I can’t find it…
I provided a link to it in my post here 5 hours ago.
Okay - thanks!
Here’s what I do. I apply the textures in SU. I edit the texture name to include the RGB values and the I set them all to 255-255-255. If I want to recolor the model I just reset the colors back. This way I get the texture effect without the color. It’s kind of a rudimentary workaround but it works and no plugin required.
FWIW, clicking on Extensions>Greyscale>Greyscale Mode will convert the textures to greyscale as I showed earlier. Clicking on it again will reset the textures back to their colored versions.
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I’m a bit delayed on this, but you can use the plugin ‘Material Modes’ for this. I had this plugin developed specifically for this purpose - You can watch Justin Geiss at the SketchUp Essentials do a tutorial on this here - (1) Designers NEED This SketchUp Extension for Material Options! (Material Modes Tutorial) - YouTube
You can also purchase it through the Sloped website here - Plugins & Merch — SLOPED
Fredo has ‘MatSim’ Material Simulations which is very similar to Material Modes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m0ttNwrI_c