March Entry: A Sketch - Up example

[kalmarjan]

Hello all, I thought I would jump into this whole challenge thing myself.

I am making this map with Sketchup, so here is a start:

I have not worked out a good texture yet, and doors and windows have not been cut. Outer walls are 6 geet thick, inner walls are 10 inches.

Comments/Criticism welcome

Sandeman

[Redrobes]

Giving rep for this as its so good and I would like to know how to do it too. I haven't used it. I'm told it has a super UI so someday ill try it out. Very well done.

P.S. Also like your sig...
P.P.S adding you to the thumbnails link.

[kalmarjan]

Okay, so I have now gone through and placed all of my items on this map into the respective categories in the outliner. (Much more powerful than layers once you get the hang of it.

One great thing about Sketchup is the tape measure tool. It is usually hard in a 3D application to make a standard cut-out for doors and windows, but with the tape tool, it is a snap. The best part is you can start to measure, type in a measurement, and a guideline is set up.

So, here are a couple of screenshots of how my progress is going. I am going to be replacing the textures with something more "dungeon-like", but for now I am focusing on getting the doors in, and filling in the stuff required for the contest. Then it will be all about rendering.

The first shot is the inner walls of the dungeon, after I have cut out the openings for the doors. All those lines you see are guidelines that I set up with the tape measure. Sure makes work fast and easy to cut those bad boys out!

The second shot is the complete dungeon. A good part about the outliner is that you can simply "turn off" what you do not need, and it is a matter of grouping the item first. This comes in handy when you have tight spaces where you need to put some extra detail. I have set up the shadows in the dungeon to look more or less like it is night. There is supposed to be a ceiling, so I cannot have the sun shining in, can I? LOL.

As a bonus, I have also included a screenshot of a door component I am working at. Now, Given that the map will most likely be rendered from a top-down ortho perspective, do you all think I should incorporate arrows indicating direction for the door opening? Or do I just have the door swung open?

Finally, I will probably render out two different maps. One I will pull into a 3D program to get advantage of materials/bump mapping. Then we will really see things shine there! I am waiting to see what I can do with some environmental lighting!

The second will probably be a sketch-like thing.. I am experimenting with some of the styles... but I realy shoud get everthing moeled first. ')

Sandeman

[Gamerprinter]

I opted not to place "tops" over my doorways in my 3D challenge entry, because I thought the furthest doors (northend) would be difficult to see if tops covered the doorways.

It would be nice to see this actually work, though, as I'd prefer the realism over the map functionality. I won't change mine, but I hope this actually works for you.

[kalmarjan]

Well, here is one with a texture that I like...

Also, I have made one with the directional arrow... before I go and put these in, what do you all think?

Sandeman

[alucard339]

I realy like the dark version.
I think the red arrow will add an easy reading side to the map and that is always good.

I also think that your final version of the challenge will look really great.

C U,
Alu.

[pyrandon]

Wow--Sandeman, this is very, very impressive! Daannnnnnng!!!!! Nice work!

[kalmarjan]

This is what the first room looks like from a battle map perspective. I plan to take this into a 3D application to play around with textures and get some detail in there.

It is hard to see, but all the doors in this room are different, and I built them using the component editor in Sketchup. Quite powerful.

I am planning to post a "GM" map, with each room out as a separate battle map. Should be fun. In the end I guess I could just make a PDF. Anyone know of a good free PDF resource? I have Acro Reader, but I do not think you can make a PDF with it.

Anyway, let me know what you all think.

Sandeman

[Midgardsormr]

I've been using PDF995 for a while. It acts like a printer: just select it from the print dialogue, and it outputs a pdf instead of a print job.

I'm not sure how it would work with a large-format job like a battlemat, though. I guess that's something to look into.

[Torq]

Its looking great Kalmarjan. I've been wondering about the usefulness of Sketchup for mapping. The trouble with real perspective is that the larger the area you are trying to depict gets, the more side-on the view becomes at the extremities. I think its best suited to individual battlemaps as you suggest.

For conversion to pdf try Bullzip. It installs as an alternative printer and exports into a pdf document.

Torq