How do I make this?

[KickR]

So I am developing a scenery for Bintulu Airport (WBGB), and from the moment I started creating the terminal in sketchup I feared the moment when I would have to design the roof over the road by the terminal, so my simple question is, how on earth do I design this in sketch up?

Pictures of the roof:

 

[GaryGB]

Hello:

IMHO, if you model every piece of the internal geometry shown above in 3D, FS might be able to render it in a flight session at FPH (Frames Per Hour) ...rather than in FPS (Frames Per Minute).

But, if you use textured surfaces by making a 'convex hull' or 'shell' for most of the roof model by removing interior geometry after the surface has been formed, it should render normally at run time in FS without a substantial performance hit.


FYI: There are several Ruby plugin scripts for Sketchup which might help construct the several recurring shapes of the Arrival / Departure drive-up canopy.


I would be more inclined to try making this using the excellent plugins by "Fredo6" such as:

* "Curviloft" - Loft by Spline and Skinning: surfaces from contours

http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28586

https://www.google.com/#q=sketchup plugin curviloft


...or:

* "TopoShaper" - Points Cloud: convex hull from points (derived from a number of 'elevation posts')

http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=52039

https://www.google.com/#q=sketchup plugin toposhaper



For the adventurous, there is another fascinating 'Swiss Army Knife' plugin which might help:

"LSS Toolbar 2.0 Beta" - Make 3D Mesh Tool: Draw curved 3D mesh interactively (freeware)

http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=47399

https://0882c12c5879bad0a3c1779cf3a...t/0Bwmt-Rax8alUNkFEMjZkOWhfRFU/pnts2mesh.html


https://0882c12c5879bad0a3c1779cf3a.../host/0Bwmt-Rax8alUNkFEMjZkOWhfRFU/index.html

https://sites.google.com/site/lssoft2011/home/lss-toolbar



I would be less inclined to attempt this via:

* "Artisan" (payware)

* "Soap Skin & Bubble" (freeware)

* "Subdivide and Smooth" (freeware)

* "Loop Subdivision Smooth" (freeware).


BTW: Much of the main building axis could be made with Sketchup's default "Arc" tool.

Alternatively one can match unusual curves with another tool from the Sketchup team:

* "Bezier Curve Tool"

https://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/bezier-curve-tool


However, I'd also recommended trying Fredo6's "BezierSpline" for more options and greater control

http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13563


PS: Some additional Google images of Bintulu airport may be found in this search:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Bintulu Airport WBGB&biw=1047&bih=524&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=85giVaSRIIaDsAWD8oCABw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAg#imgdii=_&imgrc=NcLV5mRlpvgjuM%3A;wpZk0wzPKVmC0M;http%3A%2F%2Fphotos1.blogger.com%2Fblogger%2F67%2F812%2F1600%2FDSC01481MiniKLIA.jpg;http%3A%2F%2Fitudca.blogspot.com%2F2005_09_01_archive.html;576;432


Hope this helps with making such an interesting building !

GaryGB

 

[Lane Street]

Due respect to Gary's in depth knowledge of plugins, you can do a lot with Sketchup's tools.

After studying the pictures and without any dimensional data I knocked this up in about half an hour...

Something like this can be done fairly quickly and while not complete, at this point only has a little over 800 polys.

I don't consider myself an expert at Sketchup and most of what I learned was from online video tutorials and trial and error.

This was all done with the rectangle, line arc and push tools. It also involves using groups and intersecting models.

If I had more time I would post more detailed info, just wanted you to know it can be done.

cheers,
Lane

 

[KickR]

Hey

Thanks for both replies. I currently don't have much time, but I love both suggestions. I think I'm going to try to stay to the default tools of sketch up Lane suggested. As soon as I have time to work on it again, I surely will.

Thanks again, Kick

 

[GaryGB]

That's a good way to learn more about the fundamentals of modeling in Sketchup, and there is indeed a vast number of things which can be achieved with just the default tools, as Lane has alluded to above.

I still discover new methods using the default Sketchup tools from time to time, so more experience with the basics is often a good thing.

As one learns more (and when one's available time is more limited), one may find Ruby plugin scripts can provide easier and/or quicker workflows,
although in some cases plugins may have their own initial learning curve.

And in some cases, plugins can tempt one away from first learning the fundamentals of using default tools ...and seeing what they can achieve.

GaryGB

 

[Shafat Hasan]

To be honest with you, most of the things can be done with Sketchup but the process is completely different from other softwares. Like when I wanted to make a dome for Dhaka airport, I simply had no idea how it is done, there is no cone tool which can make a perfect dome - pillar and I was frustrated. Then a friend of mine showed me a tutorial video which helped me make it. I needed to make a semi circle, resize it, draw a tangent or similar and then another circle over the tangent, then used the follow me tool and pulled it instantly, wow, the pillar was there exactly how I wanted it to be. So almost everything can be done, but the technique is a bit different from the rest , as everyone said, it will take a little time to adjust but ultimately you will make it . All the best, do follow the ideas above, that will help a lot ^_^.