multilevel house guide
TRANSCRIPT
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How to create a multi-level house
in Sweet Home 3D
A guide for users who want to design a house with more than one floor,
or who want explore the full potential of Sweet Home 3D .
Hans Dirkse
version 0.4 - January 12, 2010 for SH3D v2.2
version 0.6 - February 2012 for SH3D v3.4 + plug-ins
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Note
WithSweetHome3Dversion3.4anewfeaturewasadded:Plan Addlevel .Thisallowsyoutocreateamultileveldesigndirectlywithintheprogram.
Thatmeansyoudonotneedtofollowthistutorialtocreateamultileveldesign,althoughtheproceduresdescribedinthistutorialcanbeuefulinspecialsituations.
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HowtocreateamultilevelhouseinSweetHome3D
ManypeopleontheSweet H ome 3D forum askquestionsaboutlayers,splitlevelhomes,secondfloors,roofsetc.Theanswerisno,noandno.NoneoftheseispossibleinthecurrentversionofSH3D(version3.0).Nevertheless,thereareworkaroundsthatmakeitpossibletocreatemanyhomesthatseemimpossibletomake.Clickhereandheretoseepicturesofsomeexamples.
ScopeofthisguideThisguidediscusses:howyoucanbuildapartofanobject(inthiscaseahouse)howyoucanexportthatpartasanOBJfilehowyoucanimportitasafurnitureelementhowyoucanassembletheseelementsintoacomplexobject,thatcouldnothavebeenconstructedusingthestandardtoolsavailableinSweetHome3Dversion2.2.
NoteThisguideassumesthatyouhavetheCopyAsNewFurnitureplugin,aswellastheAdvancedEditplugininstalled.Seethe plugin tutorial onhowtoinstallandusetheseplugins.
I'lldiscussthefirstofthetwoexamplesandshowhowIsolvedsomeoftheconstructionproblems.Theentirehouseconsistsoffiveblocks:
thegroundfloorplusthefourOBJblocks Layer 0 thefrontpartofthefirstfloor* Layer L1a therearpartofthefirstfloor * Layer L1b thefrontpartoftheroof* Layer L2a therearpartoftheroof* Layer L2b
*ThisfileisexportedasanOBJfileandusedinLayer0Clickonthelinkstodownloadthefiles.
Layer0 showsthedetailsofthegroundfloorandeverythingthatisbeneaththefloortextureofthefirstfloor;inthisfile,fourOBJfileshavebeenimportedthatformtherestofthehouse;toseeallthedetails,youshouldinspecttheotherfilesaswell;
LayerL1a showsthedetailsoftherectanglethatformsthefrontofthehouseonthefirstfloor;ithasbeenexportedasanOBJfileandusedinLayer0;youcanusethisfiletosee
howit's done.LayerL1b showsthedetailsoftherectanglethatformsthebackofthehouseonthefirstfloor;it
hasbeenexportedasanOBJfileandusedinLayer0;youcanusethisfiletoseehowit's done.LayerL2a showsthedetailsoftherectanglethatformsthefrontpartoftheroof;ithasbeen
exportedasanOBJfileandusedinLayer0;youcanusethisfiletoseehowit'sdone.
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LayerL2b showsthedetailsoftherectanglethatformsthebackpartoftheroof;ithasbeenexportedasanOBJfileandusedinLayer0;youcanusethisfiletoseehowit'sdone.
Toimport an OBJfile useFurniture Importfurniture...
Whyfiveblocks?
Acuttingupvertically
Ifyouhavearelativelysimpledesign,youcouldinsertaboxthatfunctionsasceilingandfloor,andputallfurnitureontopofthebox.Butifyouwanttomakesomethingmorecomplex,you'llsoonfindthatit'snotareallygoodsolution.
So,abettersolutionwouldbetodesigneachfloorasaseparateprojectandthenstackthemtobuild,orassemble,yourhouse.Inthiswayyourhousecanhaveasmanyfloorasyoulike,aslongasyoudon'tgohigherthan24,999meters.
AproblemyouencounterwhenyouexportyourfloorasanOBJisthatSH3Dautomaticallyinsertsafloorevenifyoudidn'tdrawit.Aslongasyoudrawperfectlyrectangularfloors,thisisn'taproblem,buteverydeviationfromtherectanglewillshowupasazerothicknesswhitefloorthatsurroundspartofyourdesigntomakeitrectangular.
However,whenyouuseCopyAsNewFurniture,thisfalsefloorisn'tgenerated,andyoucancopyandinsertacleanblock.
So,whenyoustarttodesignyourproject,youfirsthavetodecidehowtocutupyourmodelinrectangularbuildingblocksthatyoucanstackwithoutseeingtheseamsafterassembly.
Bcuttinguphorizontally
Whendecidingaboutthehorizontalsectionsofyourprojectthereareafewthingsyouhavetobearinmind:
TexturesonfloorsTexturesadherealwaystofloors,soforeverylevelonwhichyouwantatexture,youwillhavetocreateanewhorizontalsection.
TexturesonwallsYoucan'tstacktexturesonawall.Soifyouwantthelowerpartofawalltohaveadifferenttextureorcolorthantheupperpart,youwillhavetocreatethatwallintwohorizontalsections.Anotherwaytoachievethis,ismakingaspecialtexture,asexplainedinthis guide ).
Ceilingsworkfinewhenallwallsofaroomhavethesameheight.Inthecurrentversion,ceilingsworkmoreorlessfinewhentwooppositewallshavethesameslope(asdemonstratedhereandhere).Ceilingsdon'tworkverywellinmostothercases,soyouwillhavetoinventyourownsolutions.
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Drawingthegeneralfloorplan
Firstwestartbydrawingthebasicfloorplan.IcallitL0(asin:layerzero)anduseitasareferencefile,Idrawallthewallsinit,theoutlineforterracesand/orpatiosandeverythingelsethatIwillneed.Itisveryimportantthatyoudothisverycarefully,becauseallsectionsofthehousewillusethisfileasatemplate.Youcan'tmakechangestowallslateron,becausethenthingswillnotlineupcorrectlywhenyoudothefinalassemblingofyourhouse.Seepicture1.
Note:Correctingcorners&compensatingwallthickness
WhenyoudrawwallsinSH3D,theprogramwillautoconnectthecornersaslongasyoukeepdrawingthewallsinacontinuousway.Ifyouwantthatthelastwallconnectswiththefirstwallofthatseries,youhavetodoubleclickcarefullyontheendofthefirstwall(thefirstwallgetsselectedduringthedrawingtoshowyouitwillbeconnectedtothecurrentwall).Ifthelastwallisn'tconnectedtothefirstwall,orifyoucan'tconnectawalltoanotherone(forexamplebecausetheendofthatwallisalreadyconnectedtoanotherwall),thisproducesajaggedcorner.Ifyouwantyourrenderingstoshowperfectlysmoothcorners,withoutthejaggededges,youwillhavetomanuallycorrectthelengthofthefirstand/orlastwall.
Thebestwaytodoso,istousethefunctionPlanConnectwallsoftheAdvancedEditplugin.
IfindthattheonlywaytomakeagooddrawingisenteringtheexactX,Ycoordinatesbyhand.Thiscanbeachieveddirectlybyenteringthelengthandangleofeachwallduringthedrawingofwalls(bypressingtheEnterkey),ormanuallybycorrectingthecoordinatesafterdrawingthewall(s).
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Illustration1:Layer0
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Drawingthegroundfloorlevel
OpenLayer 0andsaveitasLayer 1.Onthislayerwewillshoweverythingthatisunderneaththetextureofthefirstfloor.Becauseit'saraisedhouse,hereyouwillputthefoundation,thegroundtextures,etc.Seepicture2.
Thislayercontainsninerooms. threegrassrooms fivepavementrooms onegravelroom
Allroomsweredrawnbyhand.SH3Dprovidesseveralmagneticaidestohelpyoupositionthecursor. Whenthecursorlinesupwithawallyoucanseeasmalllinewhenitlinesupwiththecenteror
sideofawall,oryoumayseealonglinewhenitlinesupwithapointfurtheraway Whenthecursorlinesupwithacornerorintersectionyouwillseeacrosshair,oryoumaysee
apurplishdotaroundthecursor. Makesureroomsdon'toverlap,becausethiswillcausestrangeglitchesfromtherenderengine.
So,aftermakingaroughfirstdraught,zoominandcarefullycheckeverylineandcorner.
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Illustration2:Layer1
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Tip:perfectroomsTomakeperfectlyfittingrooms,youmayusePlanEditroompointsofthepluginAdvancedEdit.Seethe plugin manual tolearnhowtoinstallanduseit.
Tip:betterilluminationThereasonthattherearefourgravelroomsunderthebuildingistoaddlightintherendering.Whenyoumakeaphoto(3Dview Createphoto...)thetwohighestqualitysettingswilltakeintoaccountonelightineveryroom.Foralargeroom,thelightwillbestronger,butitmaystillresultindarkcornersandunnaturalshading.Dividetheroominseveralsmallerroomsandeachsectionwillhavealightsourceatitscenter.NotethatthisonlyworkswhenDisplayceiling ischecked.Seepicture3.
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Illustration3:Displayceilingisalightswitch
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Drawingthefirstfloor
Todrawthefirstraisedfloor,loadtheLayer 0fileagain.Becausethefirstfloorwillconsistoftwoblocks,youwillneedtosavethefiletwice,asLayer 1aandasLayer 1b.
UsingthefileLayer 1adeleteallfeaturesintherightpartofyourdesign.RepeattheprocessusingthefileLayer 1b,whereyoudeleteallfeaturesontheleftpartofyourdesign.Seepicture5and6.
Note:orientationoftexturesSH3Ddoesn'thaveanoptiontorotatetextures.Aworkaroundwouldbetoimportatexturetwice,withthesecondtexturerotated90degrees.
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Illustration4:FalsefloorinexportedOBJ
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9Illustration5:Layer1a
Illustration6:Layer1b
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Wenowhavethebasicbuildingblocksofthefirstfloorofourhouse.It'stimetoaddsomedetails.
Theinvisiblewallopening
Wallsalwaysstartonthefloor.Thatseemsobvious,butsometimesyouwantyourwalltostartabovethegroundlevel.Forthis(anymanyotherthings)weusetheinvisiblewallopening.Youcandownloadthefilehere.
Basicallythisobjectresemblestheservicehatch,butitswallsarethinnerandit'smadeinvisiblethroughmanipulatingtheMTLfile.Thelastline(d 0.0)doesthetrick:
newmtl piece_1_piece_a_1_1illum 9Ka 0.78125 0.78125 0.78125Kd 0.78125 0.78125 0.78125Ks 0.78125 0.78125 0.78125Ns 64.0d 0.0
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Illustration7:Invisiblewallopeningtoraiseawall
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Ifyoulookattheillustrationabove,youwillseethatthere'sagapbeneaththewallatleft.Thatiswheretheinvisiblewallopeningwent.Toavoidglitchesintherendering,letinvisiblewallopeningsextend0.5cmsbeyondtheendofthewall.
Ifyoulookattheillustrationbelow,you'llseeanotherplacewhereIusedtheinvisiblewallopening.It'sawallwithtwonormalwindowsinserted.Inbetweenthere'saninvisiblewallopening,andintothatopeningIinsertedarotatednoninsertingwindow.Seepicture8.
Fillinginthedetails
ThedetailsonLevel1aareprettystraightforward.Youcanexaminethefilestoseehowthingsaredone.Thelowwindowsjustbeneaththeceilingarenoninsertingwindowsthatfloatinmidair.Alltheceilingsarejustboxes.Seepicture9.
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Illustration8:Invisiblewallopeningwithdoor
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Tip:UseagridWhendesigningyourhouse,usingagridmakeslifeeasier.Grid,inthiscase,meansasetofrepeatingmeasuresandsizes.ThisBradPitthousewasoriginally(probably)designedona3x3footgrid:allwallsareplacedonmultiplesof3feet,windowsaremultiplesof3feetwide,etcetera.Thismakescalculatingdistancesmucheasier,whichinturnwillmaketheassembledbuildingblocksfitbetter.
AssemblingyourcomponentsWhenthefirstfloorisready,wecancopyit.Selectthepartofyourdesignthatyouwanttocopy,andclickTools Copyasnewfurniture.Thiscopiestheselection.UseEdit Paste(orrightclick+Paste,orCTRLV)toinsertthecopyintoyourdesign.Thecopywillbeinsertedexactlyonthesamespotastheoriginal.NowuseModifytochangetheelevation,sothatthissegmentappearsatthecorrectheight,andchangetheX,Ycoordinatestoplaceitexactlyabovethegroundfloor.Repeatthisproceduresfortheotherbuildingblocks.
TheeasiestwaytoassembleyourhouseistohavemultiplecopiesofSH3Dopenatthesametime.UsingCopyAsNewFurnitureyoucreatethebuildingblocks,andthenyouswitchtoanothercopyofSH3DwhereyouPasteittoassembleyourbuilding.
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Illustration9:Level1a,backside