This is a post of CAD generated images that render unreal building concepts so well, you’ll want to tour them.  All images found on CG Society‘s website.

If you have some good links to sites with great renderings on them, please comment.

Mind Shaft

I Stumbled Upon this image only, and went to the domain to try to find where it came from.  It is an idea for a library design in Stockholm, Sweden.  The books are over-scaled, but look at the concrete texture and shading on the ceiling – excellent image.

Mind Shaft - Stockholm Library Proposal - CAD Rendering - 3DS MAX - Mental Ray - (c) Olivier Charles

Time Traveler’s House

This reminds me of the Carl Sagan mini-series “Cosmos.”  There’s a few scenes where Sagan is in some long Ark/Spaceship/Fog-Machined-Acid-Den.  These renderings from Tolgahan Güngör are less foggy, but equally captivating.

Time Traveler House - 3DS MAX - VRay - Copyright-Tolgahan Gungor

Classroom Scene

Look at the detail here.  See the sticker on the filing cabinet that’s been peeled off?  Things look used and lived-in.  It takes a ton of consideration, time, and work to get this look in CAD.

Classroom Scene - CAD Rendering - 3DS MAX - Vray - Copyright- Meny Hilsenrad

Coffee

Here’s 1 more rendering, I like it because it looks like a perfect place to drink beer and play cards with friends.  Also, although the subject may not be as hypnotizing and strange as the previous images, it’s extremely well-rendered.  To me it looks about as real as a photograph, meaning; even though I know it’s a rendering, I don’t see any clues to give it away.

Coffee - CAD Rendering - 3DS MAX - Vray - Copyright- Mohd Majid

Two-Bits

“Two-Bits” was named for the 2 lines of vent holes that come together to form a strange anti-pattern.  They remind me of Morse Code dots and dashes or “bits” of information streaming from a sender to a receiver.

Streaming

Streaming got its name much in the way “Two-Bits” did.  It reminds me of an orderly streaming of information bits.  This is the most austere and orderly pattern in this series.

Skulls & Robots 1

Skulls & Robots 2

Skulls & Robots got its name because I can see those 2 items in the design.   This happened by accident, because this is just a mirrored pattern (meaning I started off at the top of the design with just the 1st row of zig-zag line and little circles and pentagons, but when that was mirrored to create the symmetry, I saw what looked like stylized skulls and robots.  See the photo below, is it just me?

ROBOT & SKULL EXPLAINED

Victorian

Victorian 2

Victorian got its name because I could just see this one in an ornate, 1880′s mansion, fabricated of polished brass.

Saturn

Saturn

Saturn got its name from… well, I think it’s pretty obvious.

Saturn 2 (with Moons & Space Ship)

HVAC Custom Decorative Vent Cover - Saturn 2 (with Moons & Space Ship)

This sort of design could be fun for a child’s room, or person who enjoys Science.

Prairie 1

Prairie 2

Prairie 3

Prairie got their names from reminding me of Architect Frank Lloyd Wright.  I’ve watched documentaries about how meticulous he was with interior design.  If he designed a home, he often designed the furniture, light fixtures, etc. to complete the theme.  His style, often referred to as “Prairie School” has been compared to the Arts and Crafts Movement style.

Herring

Herring

Sunrise

Sunrise

Atomic

Atomic

Warp 1 (13 Rays) 2

Warp 1 (13 Rays)

Warp got it’s name from the spiraling aspect of the design.

By the way, I had to look up how to make a 2-D spiral sketch in SolidWorks, as the SW “Help” feature wasn’t helpful.  I was only familiar with the 3-D way of creating a helix (i.e., to create threads on a screw).  So if you’re wondering:

1. draw a circle sketch as you would with a 3-D helix,
2. then go to the “Curves” dropdown and choose helix, set the pitch and other attributes to your liking, and in that same menu, choose “Spiral” in the dropdown (so SW doesn’t assume you’re creating a 3-D helix).
3. Then start another sketch on the same plane as the spiral, but then go to the menu bar and choose  ”Tools>Sketch Tools>Convert Entities”.  This should turn the spiral into a sketch.

Bombs Away! 2

Bombs Away!

Bombs Away!

Bombs Away! 2

In this example I took an existing basement remodel model, and began to build the main floor on top of it.

Go to: Components>(should be included in the basic templates) and choose the “Wall Framing” component.

Or Go to: File>3D Warehouse>(and search for dynamic components, joists, wall, 2×4, studs, whatever….)

Once you’ve placed your component, it’s already selected (or select it with your cursor so it’s outlined – in blue in my photo), and then Right Click> move down and Select “Dynamic Components”>then select “Component Options.”

In this case, I changed the 2×4 stud dimensions to 2×6 inches.  As you can see, the programmers of this component have provided several options to customize a section of wall framing.

Scaling a Dynamic Component in Google SketchUp

This is the most impressive, time-saving, awesome feature of Dynamic Components: ability to Dynamically Scale.

Select your component (if not already selected), and click the scale button (circled in yellow in the photo).  You’ll notice that there are neon-green cubes along the perimeter of your object.  When you grab one of these and drag it, the wall framing unit will change size to your new dimensions.  The best part is that after it resizes, it will automatically fill in with studs spaced to your preference (in my case, every 16 inches).

For those who don’t know, if you re-scale a component that isn’t dynamic, it begins to look either stretched-out or compacted, (depending on if you rescale larger or smaller), and the end result is a “disproportionate” look.  This is why Dynamic Components are a wonderful addition to SketchUp.\

If you have questions, comment on this tutorial and I’ll address them.

This post is just to talk about “Layers.”  I find it very helpful to categorize a project into layers. For example, I put the basement floor and stairs on their very own layer:

But I start my projects with a perimeter (the outer block wall of my basement).  I measured my basement.  It’s important to me when I build a project on the computer that it’s to scale. This way, if you’re creating a plan, you can be confident that it will probably work in reality.  Otherwise, you might as well draw it on a cocktail napkin.

After I created the outer wall (my “framework”), I started on the inner walls.  I’m still not sure if I want to have 2 bedrooms or 1 larger one, so this may change.  But for now, I’ve made an office and a bedroom, plus a living room area.

I’m sure some might look at this and think of how they would plan the layout differently.  Realize when you work on your projects that you’re going to have to work around obstacles.  In this case, I’m not going to relocate the toilet or the shower drain, as they’re set in concrete and I don’t want to get into all that work.

Also, I’m not planning on moving the stairs or main ducts, but would like to move the furnace and hot water heater (which I’ve done in this model).

I added furniture to get perspective on how livable the rooms will be.  This goes back to the importance of taking accurate measurements of the space you want to remodel.

Another great thing about SketchUp is ”3D Warehouse” in which you can find just about anything you need (furniture, trees, windows, fixtures, etc…) and download it directly into your model.  Saves you the time of making everything from scratch.

When I do make something original, I like to upload it (or “share”) so that I’m contributing instead of just taking.  Here’s the hot tub I made:

Then I decided that I’d need an egress window in each bedroom.  I read up on what that would entail, and decided it would be easiest to make a couple of existing windows larger.  You can see the lighting scheme and the doors, plus the main ducts in this picture.

I even created the joists in my model to get an idea of how to move some ducts and where to put the recessed lighting.  This wasn’t necessary, but I was enjoying this project and went all out with details.

SketchUp 7 now has scalable “dynamic” models that you can download from 3D Warehouse, which makes creating joists, 2×4 walls, shelving, and other tasks much easier.

Here’s the joists and ceiling drywall.

(click on the pics to see enlarged version)

For Walk Through Animations and different SketchUp projects, check out my website.