Designing on SketchUp
May 20, 2018
I am actually very pleased with how this turned out to be. To be honest, I was going to provide some other sort of visuals. I was thinking more on the lines of drawing the envisioned room up with colours and proper point-perspective, drawing. However, I surprised myself with this.
Prior to this, I have only tried Sketch Up once before, and for a design far less complicated. I also followed a template for that, but this is completely all on my own. Initially, I was only going to do the back half of the room, and leave holes in place of the doors and windows. But it is addicting. I guess you can call me a perfectionist, because once I started I could not stop. I even especially went out to buy a mouse so I can work on it from home!!
STRUCTURE
Instead of building the structure of the whole room first, I actually worked from my floorplan and then work on each elevations as a flat surface before putting it together. I find that I rather work this way as it does not make the space appear claustrophobic. As you are working on each elevation as you go, there are no walls on the opposite side that hinders your sight. Once this is all done, then I will draw in wall and align them nicely.
DETAILS
WINDOWS (Components and Grouping)
There is probably a lot of faster ways to do certain things, but for the good half of the time, I manually made each panel and window. Then I realised you could actually group it, make it into a component and duplicate it. If I had done that from the start, it would have saved me a lot of time.
In this picture, I tried to make one quarter of the design so I could duplicate and rotate it to make the full window, but I spent an hour on it and I still could not figure out how to do it. Each time I try and move it, the whole image becomes lopsided. I later found out that this is because I needed to group them together first so that they are all on the same plane before I played with the overall positioning of it. If you wish to edit it, you need to edit WITHIN said group. One thing I found quite cool is that with components, if you change the main one, all of the other components automatically updates as well. However, if you copied something and simply changed it, you have to change all the other copies on your own as well.
This was the original design I wanted for Macbeth's half of the room. However, after working on it. I did not really like how it was coming out to be, thus the following design. I tried to incorporate more hexagons and circles in the later design as I notice these were the two prominent features and adored by the Chinese.
I felt like this upcoming elevation was the "exams" that I have been preparing for, as I took everything I learnt while doing the other elevations to make this. The grouping helped tremendously as it allowed me to flip and move and all without compromising the original image.
Ps When dealing with windows, it is good to do it separately from the main structure on the same axis. This way you would not get confused with the design and the window frames. You also would not accidentally delete a major part of the structure by mistake. And once you are done, all you need to do is to shift it back into place! (As depicted in the above pictures.)
FINAL
Overall, SketchUp is quite a lovely thing to use and after working on this, really changed my opinions on it. I felt that it actually helped me speed up with the design process as I get to see it in 3D as you come up with designs. This is good as it allows you focus on the design rather than the minuet stuff like the tiny measurements (which I always do). Once the design is set, you can always use the measuring tool to find out your dimensions.
Here are some of my elevations of my SketchUp Designs.
In my opinion, I think everyone still needs a good technical drawing, but once your floorplan is solid and you already have some measurements and a good idea for each elevation, it is much easier to see it in SketchUp than you would in a 2D drawing. For instance, I actually ended up changing some of the dimensions on my elevations after seeing it in perspective to the human figure and in relation to some other elements in the space. In 3D, you can immediately tell if a door is too small, the windows are too close together...etc. It is also brilliant as it allows you to see how the camera/film might view it from multiple angles.
For more pictures of the room and a coloured visuals, please refer to the later post on "Visuals".
Prior to this, I have only tried Sketch Up once before, and for a design far less complicated. I also followed a template for that, but this is completely all on my own. Initially, I was only going to do the back half of the room, and leave holes in place of the doors and windows. But it is addicting. I guess you can call me a perfectionist, because once I started I could not stop. I even especially went out to buy a mouse so I can work on it from home!!
STRUCTURE
Instead of building the structure of the whole room first, I actually worked from my floorplan and then work on each elevations as a flat surface before putting it together. I find that I rather work this way as it does not make the space appear claustrophobic. As you are working on each elevation as you go, there are no walls on the opposite side that hinders your sight. Once this is all done, then I will draw in wall and align them nicely.
Also, a quick tip before you start. Go to view > Customise toolbar > Add Standard View and Styles (Optional). Both of these additional tools help makes it easier for you to select and go back to see your model as you are designing it.
DETAILS
I knew that I wanted a contrast between the two portions of the room, the part where Macbeth sits vs the area where he receive his guests. And one way which I thought of showing this is through the amount of attention and details in his half of the room. Not only will his seat be elevated, but the walls and windows will be more detailed.
For his portion of the room, I decided to design something called a leak window. It is called a leak window as there are no glass or anything that separates it. Instead, the two sides of the wall are divided by an intricate pattern which allows you to look out into a small boxed/ planter area. It got its name because it allows light to leak through the cracks.
 |
| Leak Window |
 |
| Details |
My concept behind putting this in Macbeth section is because he is very paranoid, so I thought this is a wonderful way to introduce the outside element without him having the fear of being too exposed to the outside and danger.
My Dad is rather traditional and follows the Chinese mindset. Each time when we go to a restaurant, he always insist of having his back towards the wall instead of to the entrance. He says that in case if there is ever an attack, he do not have to worry about being attacked from the back. Personally, I think he watches too many movies! Haha!
There is probably a lot of faster ways to do certain things, but for the good half of the time, I manually made each panel and window. Then I realised you could actually group it, make it into a component and duplicate it. If I had done that from the start, it would have saved me a lot of time.
In this picture, I tried to make one quarter of the design so I could duplicate and rotate it to make the full window, but I spent an hour on it and I still could not figure out how to do it. Each time I try and move it, the whole image becomes lopsided. I later found out that this is because I needed to group them together first so that they are all on the same plane before I played with the overall positioning of it. If you wish to edit it, you need to edit WITHIN said group. One thing I found quite cool is that with components, if you change the main one, all of the other components automatically updates as well. However, if you copied something and simply changed it, you have to change all the other copies on your own as well.
 |
| Original Design |
 |
| Final Design of Leak Windows |
 |
| Less elaborate version of a window for non-Macbeth's half of the room. |
I felt like this upcoming elevation was the "exams" that I have been preparing for, as I took everything I learnt while doing the other elevations to make this. The grouping helped tremendously as it allowed me to flip and move and all without compromising the original image.
 |
| Window Panels on a separate axis to final layout |
Ps When dealing with windows, it is good to do it separately from the main structure on the same axis. This way you would not get confused with the design and the window frames. You also would not accidentally delete a major part of the structure by mistake. And once you are done, all you need to do is to shift it back into place! (As depicted in the above pictures.)
To ensure a continuous design throughout the room, I also did a similar pattern for the top of the divider in the middle of the room.
 |
| Divider for Middle of the Room |
 |
| In relation to space |
Overall, SketchUp is quite a lovely thing to use and after working on this, really changed my opinions on it. I felt that it actually helped me speed up with the design process as I get to see it in 3D as you come up with designs. This is good as it allows you focus on the design rather than the minuet stuff like the tiny measurements (which I always do). Once the design is set, you can always use the measuring tool to find out your dimensions.
Here are some of my elevations of my SketchUp Designs.
In my opinion, I think everyone still needs a good technical drawing, but once your floorplan is solid and you already have some measurements and a good idea for each elevation, it is much easier to see it in SketchUp than you would in a 2D drawing. For instance, I actually ended up changing some of the dimensions on my elevations after seeing it in perspective to the human figure and in relation to some other elements in the space. In 3D, you can immediately tell if a door is too small, the windows are too close together...etc. It is also brilliant as it allows you to see how the camera/film might view it from multiple angles.
For more pictures of the room and a coloured visuals, please refer to the later post on "Visuals".
0 comments