A 3D Model of Our House

During the summer vacation this year I had been making a 3D model of hour house using Google SketchUp. SketchUp is a 3D Modeling tool from Google, where you can design anything from a simple chair to complex buildings. It is far easier to learn than any other modeling programs. Google has designed SketchUp primarily to help even ordinary people model buildings with varying complexity. These buildings can be put into Google Earth. But, though it is simple to use it has shocking level of functionality.

To be more or less accurate, I took many measurements of my house (interior only) with a measuring tape. I made guesses where I cannot reach. Also, I had to take some photographs to get the design patterns. Yes, patterns can be imported from images and can be used to paint any surface. I also used photographs for the paintings we have on our walls. Now, my house is more or less complete. But, there still remains many details to be implemented, like the doors and windows, and the various objects inside our house.



















There is a good feature (though I have not used in my house) called "Match Photo", with which you can start modeling from a real 2D photo, or a set of photos. It can be used to make realistic 3D model very quickly.

Another interesting feature is "Scenes", with which you can create several scenes (views of your model from different perspectives) and SketchUp automatically creates smooth transitions from one scene to another. You can create as many scenes as you like, and play an animation. You can also export the animation in popular video formats.

Visit 3D Warehouse to view various beautiful models SketchUp users from around the world have made. If you have Google Earth you can download 3D Warehouse network link to view the community created 3D models on Google Earth.

If you want to build 3d models yourself, just download the free version of Google SketchUp and Start creating whatever you like. Google Sketchup is available for Windows and Mac OS X. Unfortunately, no linux version is available. For beginners, Sketchup has a tutorial inbuilt into it. Also, you can find several video tutorials on their website. Of course, you don't need any tutorials for making simple models.