Here is a short video of a model I made recently. I’m posting it here to commemorate the launching of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy scheduled for tomorrow, February 6, 2018.
I’m just doing this for a hobby, as a creative outlet. I haven’t done anything with rendering plug-ins (yet). I just wanted to express the idea.
Fredo6 deserves a shout out for his Animator extension. Very useful, though a bit tricky to use. Fortunately, he was very patient in helping me figure this out.
Here is a model I made, based on Mayan designs I found online. I actually got the idea from a tour of the ruins of Tulum in the Yucatan. There are many beautiful resorts on the Caribbean coast, but the many local people who work there live in towns that don’t seem to reflect the grandeur of their heritage. So I dreamed up an alternative:
It’s actually a model of models. Several of the structures were modeled individually, then combined together in the model of the overall development. In order to make this workable (due to size / complexity constraints), I had to create images of the building facades from the individual models, then replace a lot of the detail with the images. A nice side-effect of this was that these textures were rendered better than the actual detail when viewed at a larger scale.
There are lots of little things I would do differently, if I were to start over. But I feel that this expresses the concept well, and I’m pretty happy with how it worked out.
I would want it to be sustainable & provide a good environment for the employees as well as the guests. It’s based on the Chinese character for ‘hope’, so I call it Hope Plaza.
As with some of the other models shown above, I was unable to find all the names for those who deserve credit for their pieces. Many of these models were actually put together several years ago, but I am now going back & working on presentation. Changes to 3D Warehouse have caused some of the components made by others to no longer be available.
The idea behind SWATH hull design is to have a lot of stability in the water while reducing drag. Someday I hope increased solar power efficiency enables the replacement of diesel engines with electric ones!
Here’s an exploration of reflecting ethnic identity by combining traditional motifs with modern designs… the Scandihoovian Chalet (for folks living here in MN):
This one borrows heavily from elements of traditional Norwegian houses, including lots of hand-crafted woodwork - posts, railings, decorative panels, roof details.
Again, this is a concept, so many of the interior details have been left to the imagination…
I should also mention that with this model I have cut my losses (mostly in poor performance) with SU Make 2017 and returned to SU Make 2015.
There are many different patterns. they tend to look like 2D patterns push-pulled, but are actually individual pieces that interlock so that some of the walls are intact still. These sort of works actually inspired “textile block” designs by FLW.
Yes, those are the kinds of images I found, but I had searched for ‘Maya’ instead of Mixtec. We have a Zapotec friend who spends a lot of his time around Oaxaca and Mitla. So appreciating that culture came a bit naturally…
I should mention that these Wedge houses were among the most difficult models I ever made in SketchUp. I had to fight SketchUp all the way, drawing most of the geometry two or three times! I have been modeling with SU since 2008, so I have quite a bit of experience (though I know there are many other modelers who are better than me). I don’t think the problem was lack of skill. SU just seems to prefer rectangular geometry, and the inference engine kept trying to draw things slightly wrong.
Just don’t know what part of the country to put it in!
