Thought this might be interesting or helpful to some. I used Google Sketchup to build a 3D model of my office, and "installed" my planned layout benchwork in it to see what it would look like. With some help from another N-scaler, I imported my layout from XTrackCAD (in 2D) and dropped it on the benchwork. The trackwork can be convertd to 3D, and 3D buildings and scenery added, but I'm still learning how to do that. Here's a top down view: Here's the view from the door as you walk in: And the view from the couch: With this, I can see where I need to round some corners, and where things might be a tight squeeze, what the view is from various vantage points, whether the backdrop and lighting cover are the right height, and so on. How else is this useful? If you look at the couch view, you'll see a BNSF AC44 sitting on the layout. That, too, was imported from the 3D Warehouse. It's on the front edge of the layout, approximately where the real track will be. I can see from this model that without some track elevation I won't be able to see the trains from the couch. I was expecting that. This also brought home that I'm going to have to engineer an "emergency egress" option for the window. Only needed for a fire escape, so it's OK if the "emergency egress" damages the layout. Perhaps most importantly, I can show "the Mayor" what the layout will look like and get her buy-in before starting construction. She likes it, by the way. Anyway, there's at least one more pic in my gallery, if you want to see it. Hope you like this! It's surprising how easy it was!
Very Interesting... I don't know how much work this would be; but, could you talk us through how you did all this? :tb-cool: :tb-cool: :tb-cool: :tb-cool:
Excellent previz TwinDad!! Here's a video tutorial of SketchUp to see how it's done. (It's a fairly in depth process, so hopefully that will save TwinDad some time explaining the details so he can get to work on that layout! )
Sure. Sketchup itself is pretty easy, though it takes a bit of getting used to. The basic theory is that you build an object by drawing lines that define surfaces (Sketchup creates the surfaces for you), and then modify the surfaces. I'll leave the "how to use Sketchup" to the Sketchup tutorials - they do a much better job. To set a baseline, it works like this: to create a solid box, you draw a square, then "pull" it in the third dimension. To create a round hole in the box, you draw a circle on one of the box sides, then "push" it into the box. Sketchup only handles surfaces, not solids, so to create the room, you can draw a square for the floor, "pull" it up 8 feet to create the room, then delete the ceiling. You're left with 5 sides of a hollow box. I drew the box for the room, then deleted the ceiling and cut out the door. Then I drew the outline of the bench around the inner perimeter of the room. By "pulling" the bench surface up 4 inches, I created the actual bench. I repeated the process to create the light cover, and drew rectangles between the two to make the backdrop. To add the furniture, I imported items from the 3D Warehouse (a few clicks), and placed them in the room. Finally, to put the track plan on the bench, I selected the track in XTrackCAD and exported it to a DXF file. I then imported the DXF file into Sketchup, where it shows up as a 2D surface. The layout had to be scaled down (not sure why), and then I simply moved it into position on the top of the benchwork. Finally, you can adjust your viewing position around the room and export 2D pictures. I think you can even do animated walkaround videos, but I don't know how - yet. There's no reason you couldn't, with a little additional work, put in just about any amount of detail, including benchwork lumber, 3D track profiles, buildings, scenery, colors, textures, you name it. Even the locomotive and track segment I imported and added is pretty well detailed: Note: The loco and track segment were actually modeled 1:1 scale (Loco by Josh Wilson, track by unknown). I had to scale them down to 1:160 to put them on the layout. So anyway, if there are specific details you're curious about, I can respond, but I fear a play-by-play of the whole thing any more detailed than this would probably put folks to sleep.
That is awesome! Question: What type of lighting treatment will you be using above the layout? From your "couch view," it is apparent that you may need some type of diffuser (say, eggcrate or whatever) to keep from being "blinded." A 3D view like this obviously can help to head off a lot of potential problems. Nice job!
Sketchup is a great tool. It puts to shame another 3d modeling tool that I used 11 or 12 years ago and for which I had to pay something like $80 for a 6 month student license. Of course, it has had the intervening years of combined programming experience to build upon. Your 3d model of your office looks great. This would also be a fantastic way to make sure that grades and such are going to work out. There are things that pop out in a 3d model - digital or physical - that get missed in a 2d representation. Whenever I would get stuck on something in architecture school I just started building models. It worked very well. Adam
Thanks for the compliments, all. I haven't worked out the lighting yet. There will be a dimmer... And you're right, some sort of diffuser will be needed to protect the eyes of the couch-bound. Good catch!
