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Charlie Goerges

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Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #25 on: January 04, 2009, 08:43:49 AM »
No problem whatsoever Ian. That's a great observation, I wish I'd thought of it.

Everyone, feel free to go to Windows>Layers and uncheck the square checkbox for Contours and Mesh while working on the 2D map if your computer seems to be running too slowly. Then when it's time to drape your designs to the 3D mesh, you just re-check the box to make it visible again.

Michael, the bezier tools including the one that I used to draw the fairway in my tutorial should help you do this. I didn't demonstrate much with the the others, I'll try to do a tutorial that shows how to do even more free-form work.
« Last Edit: January 04, 2009, 08:51:14 AM by Charlie Goerges »
Severally on the occasion of everything that thou doest, pause and ask thyself, if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of this. - Marcus Aurelius

Charlie Goerges

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #26 on: January 04, 2009, 11:12:33 AM »
Alright, I’ve come up with a workaround for getting the sketchup files for those of you who can’t download them.

Just open Google Sketchup after installing it. You might be asked to choose a template, pick whichever one you like, it won’t matter for the contest. Then go to View>Toolbars and click on Google as shown below.



That should open up the google window. In that click the Icon as shown below.



That will open up the 3D warehouse window. Enter “armchair architect contest” in the search box and click search as shown below.



Two files should show up as shown below. I had to split the file into two because of file size limitations in the 3D warehouse.



Click the Download Model link under the thumbnail image as shown below.



A popup will appear as shown below, click the no button.



Then it will ask you if you want to open or save the file as shown below, click the save button.



Do this for both files.

Once you’ve downloaded them, open the file named armchair architect contest B.skp. Then go to File>Import as shown below.



Make sure the proper file type is chosen, in this case Sketchup Files, as shown below.



Then select the Map for sketchup.skp file shown below.



Now you must place the map in the file. Wherever you click, sketchup will place the map. The proper place to click is at the lower right corner of the 3d mesh at the xyz origin, place the cursor so that it looks like the image below and then click. You may have to rotate the view a bit to get proper placement.



Now you should have the same thing that you’d otherwise have gotten from the original link.

Go to Window>Layers and then click the round radio button to the left of “Draw your golf holes” to select that layer. The layer order will be a bit different than shown in the tutorial (the order doesn’t matter), but everything else should work the same.

You may still have trouble getting the tutorials, and I am working on that. I guess Microsoft is just punishing me for both subscribing to their skydrive service AND trying to use internet explorer. How dare I?!?!  Again, post questions and problems as they come up.

Best wishes,

Charlie
« Last Edit: January 04, 2009, 11:16:04 AM by Charlie Goerges »
Severally on the occasion of everything that thou doest, pause and ask thyself, if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of this. - Marcus Aurelius

Michael Dugger

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #27 on: January 04, 2009, 06:38:28 PM »
Question for Charlie:

Do I want to download the standard ver. 7 or the EVAL Pro ver. 7???

I am running Vista and before discovering such, downloaded the EVAL version.

I am having success up to the point where I hover over my golf hole with the drape tool, and then my computer crashes.  Done it about 5 times now, way annoying.

I'm wondering if it's because I'm running the EVAL version.....any idea?
What does it matter if the poor player can putt all the way from tee to green, provided that he has to zigzag so frequently that he takes six or seven putts to reach it?     --Alistair Mackenzie--

Michael Dugger

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #28 on: January 04, 2009, 06:56:52 PM »
I have another question:

It seems to me this exercise is primarily about laying golf holes over an existing terrain.  Very minimalist, Charlie. ;D  However, what is to be said for moving dirt, making cuts and fills, etc???

For example, the lowlands up near the top of the property, If I locate a golf hole through there is it just assumed that soil will/could be moved to raise my finished grade?

Or, should I route my golf holes and locate tees and greens on the high spots, of which there is one to the left of the three little ponds?



What does it matter if the poor player can putt all the way from tee to green, provided that he has to zigzag so frequently that he takes six or seven putts to reach it?     --Alistair Mackenzie--

Charlie Goerges

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #29 on: January 04, 2009, 07:26:31 PM »
Michael, you do want to use the standard version.

I am not sure why the machine crashes, but there are a couple of things you can try. Go to Window>Preferences and click OpenGL as shown below.



You might want to try using the same settings I am if you aren't already. If you are, try switching it up a bit, just don't select Use Maximum Texture Size.

Try to have as few other programs running as possible. Also, on a really old machine, I once found that when doing that type of processing, even moving the mouse once I clicked on something could cause a lockup.

On the plus side, Sketchup is one of those rare programs that if it stops responding, it will often start responding again if left alone long enough.

Charlie
Severally on the occasion of everything that thou doest, pause and ask thyself, if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of this. - Marcus Aurelius

Charlie Goerges

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #30 on: January 04, 2009, 07:30:14 PM »
I am going to try to do a more advanced tutorial that covers some of what you're asking about Michael, as well as a few other finer points that I missed/glossed over in the original tutorial. I'll try to get started tonight, but no guarantees.
Severally on the occasion of everything that thou doest, pause and ask thyself, if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of this. - Marcus Aurelius

Kyle Harris

Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #31 on: January 04, 2009, 08:06:20 PM »
Are the submissions to be anonymous?

SketchUp is a surprisingly elegant little program that has the potential to be a very powerful tool.

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #32 on: January 04, 2009, 08:10:30 PM »
That's right Kyle, submit yours anonymously! One less competitor for us. ;) Actually, they are supposed to go to the judges anonymously. Charlie needs to know which is whose.

"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Charlie Goerges

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #33 on: January 04, 2009, 08:13:12 PM »
Kyle, the submissions will be anonymous (only I will know who did them) until after the winner has been decided. Then the participants will prepare a post with a few images and explanations.

Sketchup is fun and easy to use, I've become a bit of an evangelist for it.
Severally on the occasion of everything that thou doest, pause and ask thyself, if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of this. - Marcus Aurelius

Kyle Harris

Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #34 on: January 04, 2009, 08:27:25 PM »
What's the scale? Is there any way to normalize the scale within the program? (i.e. make 1 inch - 200 feet or whatever the scale is to be?)

Charlie Goerges

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #35 on: January 04, 2009, 08:34:19 PM »
1" equals 1 yard in the sketchup file.
Severally on the occasion of everything that thou doest, pause and ask thyself, if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of this. - Marcus Aurelius

Kyle Harris

Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #36 on: January 04, 2009, 08:36:35 PM »
1" equals 1 yard in the sketchup file.


Beautiful. Thanks for everything here Charlie.

Charlie Goerges

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #37 on: January 04, 2009, 08:48:11 PM »
It's my pleasure. Hopefully everyone finds it easy enough to use. I hope to get started on an advanced tutorial that will help work through some of the more complex design stuff, as well as setting up for showing off to the judges.
Severally on the occasion of everything that thou doest, pause and ask thyself, if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of this. - Marcus Aurelius

Ian_L

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #38 on: January 04, 2009, 08:59:56 PM »
What's the scale? Is there any way to normalize the scale within the program? (i.e. make 1 inch - 200 feet or whatever the scale is to be?)

1 inch = 1 yard ;)

Edit: doh, didn't see page 2.
« Last Edit: January 04, 2009, 10:19:06 PM by Ian_Linford »

Tom Dunne

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #39 on: January 04, 2009, 09:14:05 PM »
This is really, REALLY fun. Thanks, Charlie!

Charlie Goerges

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #40 on: January 05, 2009, 06:05:57 PM »
Thanks Tom (and everyone) for all the kind words and encouragement.


Couple of housekeeping items:

Is anyone who wishes to participate having trouble with any aspect of the process? I know that some folks had trouble with the downloads from my skydrive site. I haven't gotten it fixed yet, though it appears only to happen with Internet Explorer in Windows Vista. Any other problems or hangups Let us know, and hopefully I or someone else can give you a hand.

Also, I need Tom Naccarato's email address. I can't seem to find the thread where he posted it. He's one of the judges, so I want to keep him informed. If someone could send it to ccgoergesAThotmail.com (replace the AT with the proper symbol) I'd appreciate it.

Have at it, and I'll be trying to do the advanced video tutorial tonight. It will probably be a bit rougher and longer, but hopefully it will be of use.

Charlie
Severally on the occasion of everything that thou doest, pause and ask thyself, if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of this. - Marcus Aurelius

Ian_L

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #41 on: January 05, 2009, 06:32:52 PM »
Charlie, is there a prevailing wind on this site?  Do you know how strong it is?  Thanks.

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #42 on: January 05, 2009, 06:37:42 PM »
Ian,

The prevailing wind used to come from Indiana on this site, but he is no longer with us.  ;D
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Charlie Goerges

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #43 on: January 05, 2009, 07:38:48 PM »
I'm not totally sure, but I found data for a nearby city that stated the prevailing wind is NNE at 10-12 mph. North is straight up in the file as you look at it like this:



I hope that helps.
Severally on the occasion of everything that thou doest, pause and ask thyself, if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of this. - Marcus Aurelius

Charlie Goerges

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #44 on: January 05, 2009, 11:52:27 PM »
Alrighty...I just did my advanced tutorial and it is absolutely ponderous. It's an hour and a half, I re-covered much of what was in the original 28 minutes or so and then just left the camera running as I did some design work. There is no way anyone is going to watch 90 minutes of that, so I've got to edit it down. I mentioned to a few people that I'd answer questions in the advanced tutorial. But now I think it may take a few days, so it's probably best to just ask some questions here if it's urgent.




Also, perhaps we could do a roll-call of people who are giving it a shot. Just to let us know who's doing it and how well (or badly) it's going.
Severally on the occasion of everything that thou doest, pause and ask thyself, if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of this. - Marcus Aurelius

Ian_L

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #45 on: January 06, 2009, 05:09:45 AM »
Present...

 The new curves are certainly interesting, and not too difficult to get a hang of after a few holes.  Down the road I would like to see what options we have for bunker design, as this could affect the shape of the bunkers on my course.  No rush on this, however.  Having loads of fun.

Charlie Goerges

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #46 on: January 06, 2009, 09:21:34 AM »
I'll repost something I did for the last sketchup thread. I edited it very little, and it probably duplicates some of what is on the video tutorial, but for convenience, here it is.

Stamp Tool for Tees

Select the stamp tool (I’ve undocked the sandbox tools palette to keep the images smaller). Then hover over the tee box image as shown below. Then single-click the image. A red outline should appear around the face of your tee-box. The amount of offset is shown in the lower-right corner of the window.



In this case it is 100 which is probably too little considering how high up I’ll need to raise it to make sure it’s flat and above grade. Too little offset would leave the sides of the teebox too steep. So I’ll just type 1000 and hit enter without ever moving the mouse. You’ll notice the red offset line has expanded and the new value is displayed in the lower-right.



Now click on the surface and wait. Once the calculations are complete, you’ll see something like below.



Now you need to choose the vertical offset, drag up and down until it looks right to you.



Now I’ll zoom in and rotate/pan to show a better view (below).



See the difference between this teebox and the next one up? One thing that does happen when you’ve already applied color to you project is that sketchup will screw it up. But you just fix this by doing what you did the first time. Also, the original teebox color is now on the reverse face, down underneath.

I’ll continue on in the next post, but you can use this same technique for bunkers, just offset down vertically instead of up.




Stamp Tool for Bunkers

Okay, a short follow-up to the previous for tees. For bunkers the process is the same up until here. So after choosing the Stamp tool and clicking on the bunker shape you should get a view like before (shown below).



Now this time type in “0” (zero) instead and hit enter. You should get an image like below.



Then, like before, click on the surface of the ground and wait for it to process. Then you should see something like this:



This time, drag downward until you are at the depth you would like for your bunker, then click again. Then right click on the ground and click edit group.

Next click on the floor of the bunker and choose the scale tool it should look like the image below.



Since the face you’ve chosen is below the surface, the bounding box is not visible, so you must orbit down underneath to edit it as shown below.



You’ll probably want to scale it down, because bunkers usually curve down in to a flatter bottom. You can uniform scale toward the opposite point by clicking and dragging, you can uniform scale about the center point by holding the control button while dragging, or you can free scale by holding the shift key. You should end up with something like the image below:



If you want to change the angle of the bunker floor, you can select it and then use the rotate tool as I have done below:



Then you just need to apply the colors you want and then make all the standard display changes.
Severally on the occasion of everything that thou doest, pause and ask thyself, if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of this. - Marcus Aurelius

Kyle Harris

Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #47 on: January 06, 2009, 09:28:57 AM »
I'd really to know if there's a method for designing more grade level tees and varying the slopes of bunker faces. In CAD programs you just set data points along the edges and move accordingly...

I find putting the golfer up on a stage each hole to be so objectionable.

Charlie Goerges

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #48 on: January 06, 2009, 09:33:58 AM »
Just for the heck of it, here is one more tutorial I did; this one on improving the image output after you have done your design work...

Improving Sketchup Image Output

Okay, to improve the quality of the images you need to do 4 things:

1. Turn off the display of edges as shown below. Uncheck both "Display Edges" and "Profiles".



2. If the shadows toolbar isn't already visible, display it by making sure shadows is checked as in the image below.



Then play with the shadows functionality. Turn on shadows by clicking the shadows button second in from the left on the top in the image below and then click the shadow settings button, top left button (box with a blue circle with an I in front of it). Check the boxes as shown, but slide the sliders every which way until you get a look you like. (make sure your view is the way you want to be looking at the hole first, to see how the shadows fall).



3. Use the Field of view tool by clicking in the menu shown below.



Then click and drag (up or down, I can't remember which) in your screen to bring the objects in the distance closer in the same way a camera can. After you do this, you may have to re-position to get the shot as you want it.

4. Make the image bigger, you don't have to go as big as is shown below (in fact you shouldn't go that big), but you'd be surprised how much a little more square footage will do for you.

Severally on the occasion of everything that thou doest, pause and ask thyself, if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of this. - Marcus Aurelius

Charlie Goerges

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: The Armchair Architecture Contest...Finally
« Reply #49 on: January 06, 2009, 09:39:25 AM »
I'd really to know if there's a method for designing more grade level tees and varying the slopes of bunker faces. In CAD programs you just set data points along the edges and move accordingly...

I find putting the golfer up on a stage each hole to be so objectionable.

I don't think that sketchup will probably let you do that, at least not in the same way as a CAD program. What I showed in the tutorial was to demonstrate the technique, but you can change the offset around the tee (more offset will probably help it blend in to the landscape a bit better) and use less vertical offset to make the tees less obtrusive. From that point, there are probably some other things you could do using the Smoove tool to break up the flat planes that result from using the stamp tool.
Severally on the occasion of everything that thou doest, pause and ask thyself, if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of this. - Marcus Aurelius