I have am Sketchup file that consists of the three plane views of a sailboat (profile, plan, end), intersected on the Sketchup page so as one rotates the view you can sort of “see” the boat. My thought was to use these 3 plane images to guide construction of a 3D version.
To improve the existing three drawings, I have images of manufacturer’s line drawings for the same views. If I had those when I started this, I would have traced them to provide the three views (the present ones were created using measurements).
I want to use images of the new line drawings to correct the existing drawings. However, when I try to place the jpegs using Photo Match, it places them diagonally to three axes. I can’t figure out how to align the Photo Match image with the existing planes.
Any suggestions much appreciated.
Hi,
Don’t use photo match for this.
instead you just want to bring in (…Import ) all 3 images, and arrange them so that they are in agreement with one another… e.g. the same scale, with key cross sections all aligned… etc.
See the link below for Aaron’s Aircraft video…
Also, be careful about importing an ‘image’,… not a texture. and set Camera Settings to ‘Parallel Projection’, to avoid any foreshortening (distortions) created in the perspective views.
Thanks JImD, that video will prove very helpful when I get to the step of creating the 3D version. Thanks!
However, I still need to improve the quality of my line drawings so that what I create using the technique you forwarded is a accurate as possible. I didn’t mention it before, but my existing drawing has more detail than the manufacturers line drawings, but the curves of the line drawings are more accurate, hence my desire to use them to improve my existing drawings.
It seems like there has to be some way to control the orientation of the picture imported into Sketchup relative to the existing axes orientations.
BTW, I did import using parallel projection and as an image, also tried telling it I was importing a 2D drafting image.
My apologies… I should have thought more and replied less. I missed your distinction between importing the image and bringing it in using Photo Match. Can I still use the tracing ability of Photo Match if I import the image?
I guess I’ll give it a try…
Use the Move and Rotate tools… The picture frame is just like any other object in SU… it can be selected and adjusted in the typical manner.
I usually explode imported photos, and then Group them… and often Lock them… In your case grouping all three will keep everything together.
Try turning on the X-Ray view mode as well… that’s often a nice way to trace over images.
Thanks Jim. Yes, importing it as an image rather than as a Photo Match picture made all the difference. Now they are just regular objects that can be handled normally. Scale and rotate worked fine.
I realized that I mostly won’t be literally tracing anyway, since correcting my existing lines isn’t really a tracing exercise.
As usual, quite simple once one figures it out.
Steve