Last week I talked about the program Piranesi and gave a broad overview of how it works. This week I want to show a few examples so you can see what the difference is in how they look.

Just to recap – the main purpose of Piranesi is to give a design a more “sketchy” feel to it and that effect can help you when you are communicating your design.  Some people respond in a more positive way to a design that looks like it is created by hand, rather than one that is obviously created digitally.  Even though a vast majority of art is created in the computer in some way, many people still see that process as “cold”.

Below is an example of a design I did a few years ago for a production of “The Crucible”.  This image shows the plain SketchUp modeled design:

An image of my design for a production of “The Crucible” created in SketchUp

As you can see from this image, the set is a thrust stage with seating on all three sides.  The center thrust part of the stage is a simple rough-planked, raked stage with a few pieces of furniture.  Up stage is a row of cut-out trees that are silhouetted against a white backdrop that can be lit with different colored lights to change the mood and atmosphere.  Additional tree cut-outs act to provide wing space on stage left and right.

The image below is what the design looks like when color and other details are added in Piranesi:

The design for “The Crucible” created in SketchUp with details added in Piranesi

First off, notice what a difference there is by simply adding color to a design presentation.  What I do want you to notice more, however, is that the design looks like it was created by hand and has a more “sketchy” quality to it.  This can give a more “artistic” more creative feel to your design and people may be more inclined to comment on it.

As one more example, here is the same design below, after it was rendered in a program called SUPodium:

A rendering of the design for “The Crucible” created in SketchUp and rendered in SUPodium

Now, look at all three of the images.  Of the last two, people will like different ones. Some people will prefer the rendered image created in SUPodium because they feel it looks more “real”, while others will like the more “sketchy” look of the one created in Piranesi.  And that is my point.  Since people are different and have different tastes and visions in their head, you need to have different tools, and know how to use them, to be a successful designer.

Last week I talked about how there are many plug-ins for SketchUp that give the program more artistic range, meaning, with a small fee, you can add the new program to SketchUp and give yourself more tools to work with in creating your artistic vision.

I talked about Twilight last week, which gives you the opportunity to render your designs so that the results are photo realistic images.  These can often be more effective in communicating your design so that people can see almost exactly what the design will look like when completed.  I have even had situations where people have looked at my renderings and thought they were photos of an existing project and argued with each other on whether it was a photo or not.

In this entry – I want to talk about a program that allows you to create images on the other side of the spectrum.  The program is called Piranesi and it is not a plug-in, but a stand alone program that allows you to export your SketchUp files into a format that works very easily in the program.  Piranesi (which is named after a famous Italian illustrator, known for his architectural drawings, one of which is shown below), allows you to take your design from SketchUp and very quickly add color and details that give it a more hand drawn, sketchy feel, looking exactly as if it had been colored with markers or colored pencil, or even watercolor.

Carceri Plate VI – The Smoking Fire – Piranesi

You may wonder why this is necessary if you are able to create photo-realistic renderings which more accurately show how something will look.  Well, the answer is that people are different.  I know, shocking really and a bit inconvenient when it comes to creating a design for something that does not exist yet.

Some people need to see exactly what something will look like before they “sign off on it.”  There are times when the ability to show them that is very important to the design process.  Then there are times when you want to present a concept and invite comments and discussion.  This is where the more sketchy option comes into play.  Often people feel more comfortable commenting on something that has a more sketched feel.  It looks as if there is still room to make decisions and changes and therefor is more accessible to them.  That is an important step in the creative process and Piranesi is one more tool that makes creating those sketches easier.

Next week I will talk about how the program works and show examples…

In the last post I talked about SketchUp and Layout and how those two programs in one work very well for creating 3D models and then the working drawings that are often necessary to build the object you have created.

This week I want to talk about one of the many plug-ins that work with SketchUp.  One complaint I have heard from some people about SketchUp is that it looks “too sketchy.”  I actually think that the ability to make the design look more hand drawn is a plus to me as I have found that some people just do not respond too well to the “cold” look of a computer generated design.  (In a later post I will talk about the “Style Builder” part of SketchUp.)

So, in response to those people who think SketchUp can only do “sketchy” there are programs that work within SketchUp and are often referred to as plug-ins.  One of my favorites is a program called Twilight.  No it is not the teenage angst/vampire love saga, but a program that allows you to place lighting throughout your model, adjust details on textures (which I will cover in a moment) and then render the image.  This results in a nearly photo realistic image.

Here is an example of a set I designed for a TV commercial created in SketchUp:

The SketchUp model for the set design

As you can see by this image, the design is pretty straight forward.  It is meant to be an apartment for a single man that was built into an existing loft space.  There are large windows and a vaulted ceiling with skylights.  Most people would look at this and be able to see the space very easily.

There are times, however, that you need to create a rendering that shows the space in a more realistic look.  This is where a program like Twilight comes into play.  By placing the lights where you want them to be, determining the color and focus of the lights and then when you render it, the result of this work is shown below:

The rendering of the set

As you can see, the way the light interacts with the models and the textures (yes, of course textures make a HUGE difference in how a model looks when it is rendered!), does make the image look much more realistic.

In later posts I will talk specifically about how Twilight works and how you can use it to create images like the one above.