Perforated Metal

[Fletch]

I think we may need to create some video tutorials about materials creation.

[Gareth]

but sorry mate, you've lost me again

Gareth, the last set of images tries to explain just a possible workflow if you wanted your perforated metal not related to the silhouette, so you can scale and place correctly the metal texture in SU without affecting the silhouette image. Then, when you're satisfied with the result you can use the previous techniques in order to apply the image on the perforated metal and import back it in SU retaining the exact position and size.

Ahaaa...!!

[Gareth]

- creating a png in Gimp is simple enough
- opening one image in Gimp is simple enough too
- opening two images in Gimp is where i get stuck....I can't get my head around the Layers and have them appear where they are supposed to be appearing and I end up with a dog's breakfast of windows all over my computer and have no idea what to do with them...!...if I do manage to get both the silhouette image and the perforated metal png on my Layers panel (which is more often by accident) and then merge them, I end up with the silhouette with no holes despite having followed massimo's instructions.

Making a Paella without a recipe is easier....!!

...but seriously, this is getting very embarrassing now....it is unfortunate that i just don't understand this sort of stuff unless i have exact and very precise steps to follow that leave absolutely no margin for misunderstanding....this isn't anyone else's fault, it's just the way it is for some people, and clearly, i am one of those...!!

Certainly PhotoShop and Gimp appear to be similar and for anyone who is proficient with Gimp, I imagine it would be relatively easy to adapt the PhotoShop instructions and apply them in Gimp....however, to a novice, the differences appear disproportionally greater than perhaps they are in reality.

In the meantime, I need to get the rendered model done and since I am easily able to do the screens with an image in Thea I will probably have to go down that path for now so at least I can get something to my clients today.

I'll revisit this tonight and take another shot at the whole Gimp thing...!!

[massimo]

..but seriously, this is getting very embarrassing now....it is unfortunate that i just don't understand this sort of stuff unless i have exact and very precise steps to follow that leave absolutely no margin for misunderstanding....this isn't anyone else's fault, it's just the way it is for some people, and clearly, i am one of those...!!

Hmm...Of course not your fault, I think that means that I've given bad explanations then. Maybe some GIMP user could do a better tutorial?

[alvydas]

I tried to make a video, you may be better understood

[Gareth]

alvydas....thank you....!!

[Gareth]

thank you.....that was pretty straight forward and successful as far as the process goes....!!

I have a question I am hoping you can answer :

I have an image of only 85w x 128h pixels (see below) and the perforated metal png is 450w x 359h....so I end up with a pretty awful looking image on some fairly large holes....so, my question is, what adjustments do i need to make to be able to get a decent looking image and also be able to adjust the hole size..?? (hope that makes sense)....I have tried scaling in Gimp but it doesn't seem to be achieving anything. Or do i adjust the hole perforation size of the png image of the perforated metal (without an image)in SU an export to Gimp as massimo suggested earlier..?? If I do that, I still need to match the image size again in Gimp and this is something I still cant work out.

If I use Thea, I can adjust the hole size quite easily by changing the UV values....I have attached two very quick examples of Thea images of the same image with large perforations and small perforations (note how the image changes depending on the perforations). In these examples my screens are 1200mm w x 1800mm high.....changing the image size in SU and the hole size in Thea is very simple and very quick and it is this flexibility and speed that I would like to be able to achieve in Gimp and SU too, if possible of course..!

Just to fill you in, the project I am working on is in an old mining town and I am sourcing historic images of the mines to place on the perforated metal screens around the building.

Thank you all once again....you are helping me on my way to creating something quite nice.

[alvydas]

Well there are two ways. This can be adjusted with Gimp. But my opinion is to do faster as Massimo suggested. Control the size of the holes just in Sketchup, make unique texture.

[Gareth]

thanks again....took me a while to work out why i couldn't find the 'Scale Pattern' function....then realised I needed to download the script plugin...!!

[Gareth]

well i'm getting there slowly.....!!

Here is a quick snippet of a screen (it will of course have folded edges and a frame)

The perforations are approximately 10mm to give a finer effect to the printed image....one rendering issue is that some 'streaking' occurs (and also some slightly visible tiling) and it varies according to the viewing angle but this probably wont be very noticeable when they are modelled with the building. Having said that, I have observed the streaking effect in photos, so it probably isn't really an issue.

I'll also have a shot at tidying up the printed images (they are from old photos and are very grainy) to get rid of some unwanted background....this might help clear up the renders a little too.

massimo, Fletch and alvydas, thank you for your help and advice....I am extremely grateful