AVS › AVS Forum › Home Entertainment & Theater Builder › Dedicated Theater Design & Construction › Home Theater Design Software????
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Home Theater Design Software????

post #1 of 30
1/3/07 at 9:57am
Thread Starter 
Can someone point me to a software program that would allow me to design a graphic (preferrably 3D) for home theater. I have seen many people use some type of program to create a visual image of thier theaters but I cant seem to find one.

Any help would be appreciated.
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 30
1/3/07 at 10:00am
Google has something called "sketch up" - that's what I see a lot of people using on here - haven't tried it myself.

Some people use more advanced programs (basically the pictures that look amazingly well rendered and life-like) but these are not for novice users in the slightest from my experience with them.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 30
1/3/07 at 12:24pm
Sketchup is the ticket.. I haven't tried any add-on programs for lighting/rendering but these were done in just plain sketchup. Easy to change around ideas for decor / interior treatments, etc.



Reply
Reply
post #4 of 30
1/3/07 at 3:33pm
Another thumbs up for Sketchup from up here in Canada. I've spent untold hours on my model over the last few months. Here's a recent version. I got the "boys" off the google model site - everyone laughs when they see them - even more when they look closer and see that their legs are going right through the recliner. Got to get around to figuring out how to fix them someday.....

Reply
Reply
post #5 of 30
1/3/07 at 10:00pm
Google Sketchup is great, but best of all it's FREE!!! Here's the thread I started back when they released the free version after Google bought the company.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=671727

SC
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 30
1/4/07 at 12:26am
You guys are great with that software, I tried playing around with it, and didnt get too far.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 30
1/4/07 at 11:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by readthis13 View Post

You guys are great with that software, I tried playing around with it, and didnt get too far.

Do the tutorial(s) first, and then play around with building a few simple models. It's a powerful tool and remarkably easy to work with, once you get the hang of it. You can be very precise with it, too.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 30
1/5/07 at 5:40pm
I think my time as a kid, way back when, playing Doom and Jedi Knight PC games and Mechwarrior geared me up for Sketchup. hehehehehe

Plus working with visio a bit in 2D quite a bit helped.

Once you get the hang of moving around in a 3D environment and how to draw a bit, you'll get the hang of it. Blender was a completely different animal.. since it's open source it doesn't look like a windows program so much as Sketchup.. So I never really learned it. Sketchup is a nice beginners program.. I hope to learn Blender or pull from either into some nice ray tracing program to do some really nice renderings.. That's when it gets cool! Like some of Reaper's work.. I just never have time to learn it.. Since my basement dream has been put on the backburner AGAIN, it's been low-priority. sadly. My paradigms have been in boxes with my servo-15 for going on two years! I'm living vicariously through you guys who are actually building your theaters... for now. boooo whoooooooo!
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 30
1/6/07 at 6:50am
I bet if someone developed a HT specific design software complete with, layout, decorative elements, room conditioning, and A/V calculators - they'd make some money.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 30
1/8/07 at 12:15am
I also use Sketch-Up to get designs to viewable images like this



and then I use Pov-Ray add-on to add light/shadow effects

Reply
Reply
post #11 of 30
1/8/07 at 12:54am
wow, what an awesome sketch! I got pov-ray installed too!
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 30
1/9/07 at 11:50am
RensMond,
That's gorgeous..

I downloaded the pov-ray program but what's next?
I've got some learning to do to pull my sketchup file "scene" into pov-ray.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 30
1/9/07 at 1:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Babs View Post

I think my time as a kid, way back when, playing Doom and Jedi Knight PC games and Mechwarrior geared me up for Sketchup. hehehehehe

Plus working with visio a bit in 2D quite a bit helped.

Once you get the hang of moving around in a 3D environment and how to draw a bit, you'll get the hang of it. Blender was a completely different animal.. since it's open source it doesn't look like a windows program so much as Sketchup.. So I never really learned it. Sketchup is a nice beginners program.. I hope to learn Blender or pull from either into some nice ray tracing program to do some really nice renderings.. That's when it gets cool! Like some of Reaper's work.. I just never have time to learn it.. Since my basement dream has been put on the backburner AGAIN, it's been low-priority. sadly. My paradigms have been in boxes with my servo-15 for going on two years! I'm living vicariously through you guys who are actually building your theaters... for now. boooo whoooooooo!


I love Sketch-up, but I feel like a mush using Blender. I can't even draw a stupid rectangle with that thing.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 30
1/10/07 at 12:36am
It's a bit of a process, but once you have the feel, it is worth the effort.

You need an add-on for Sketch-Up called SU2POV. With this add-on you can add lights and light-effects to your Sketch-Up model.
Using the add-on you export the model to a Pov-Ray file.

You then open this Pov-Ray file in the Pov-Ray program and render it.

Warning: The version of SU2POV that I have explodes all components you created back to single elements. So make backups of you models before you export.

Hope this help...
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 30
1/10/07 at 10:02am
once you get a drawing down with sketchup, how do you post it on a forum?

sketchup is an awsome tool....i like it better then some of the other programs a have had!
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 30
1/10/07 at 10:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by scottjohnson View Post

once you get a drawing down with sketchup, how do you post it on a forum?

sketchup is an awsome tool....i like it better then some of the other programs a have had!


Go to photobucket.com and set up an account, load up your pics, and then insert the "img" tag for the photo, inline with your message in the forum. There are other ways but that's the method that I use.
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 30
1/10/07 at 6:42pm
o.k----in dumb blonde guy terms(that's me)..how do i change the sketchup to a proper file to upload. i won't load and i'm not that computer smart!
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 30
1/10/07 at 9:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by scottjohnson View Post

o.k----in dumb blonde guy terms(that's me)..how do i change the sketchup to a proper file to upload. i won't load and i'm not that computer smart!

Scott - there are no dumb questions around this place or I would have been drummed out long ago myself !

- go into the File/Export/2D graphic menu and save the screen image as a .jpg file with some name of your choice - then exit Sketchup and double click on the file - it should pop up as a picture on your screen (I'm using WIn XP and it does it) That's the file that you are going to upload to photobucket.
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 30
1/11/07 at 7:17am
Sketchup really is pretty easy to use. After doing the tutorials, I could pretty quickly put together something useful. The program does have some quirks like every 3D design program I've ever used, but it's at least as good as all of them. I may look into the POVRAY thing as well. I actually used POVRAY many, many, years ago, writing scripts to create rendered animations. I don't have the same amount of free time now so it'll have to be a slam dunk for me to be interested.



Reply
Reply
post #20 of 30
1/13/07 at 12:28pm
Well I gave POVRAY a quick try (ignore the ceiling texture). The result wasn't as impressive as RensMond, but fun to do none the less.

Reply
Reply
post #21 of 30
1/13/07 at 1:10pm
Ok, maybe I am a moron, but for the life of me I cannot figure out how to export a file that POV-Ray will need.

I installed the su2pov plugin, and I have all the toolbars, but the exports never work.

I went through the pdf tutorial and that didn't help either. Some how I got the components exported to the su2pov plug in folder, but I cannot get the whole file in a format the POV-Ray can open
Reply
Reply
post #22 of 30
1/13/07 at 1:51pm
It wasn't as straight-forward as I had hoped for either.....Most importantly, you'll need to make sure that when you install su2pov that you point to the right locations when prompted (sketchup location and POVRAY location) Also, make sure you set the export settings for the folder and filename to export to. Finally, save your model right before exporting. I could not get the export to work either if any changes were made to the Sketchup model.

Note: When installed, you should have a su2pov folder within your Sketchup's Plugins folder. Within that su2pov folder, there should be a su2pov.rb file.
Reply
Reply
post #23 of 30
1/13/07 at 9:36pm
You guys are amazing at Sketchup. I guess I need more practice.

RensMond: any chance you could upload your .su file somewhere so we could see how you did it???
Reply
Reply
post #24 of 30
1/16/07 at 11:50am
Are most of these drawings to scale? or just drawn up then add the dimensions? im "learning myself" on this proggie now
Reply
Reply
post #25 of 30
1/16/07 at 12:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by irishgond View Post

Are most of these drawings to scale? or just drawn up then add the dimensions? im "learning myself" on this proggie now


Mine is exact to scale - that's what I love about Sketchup - you can enter in exactly the dimension you need - or you can treat it like a "3D paint program" if you want to.
.
Reply
Reply
post #26 of 30
1/16/07 at 12:30pm
quick tutorial on how to enter dimensions, ie for exact wall sizes etc...or point me in the correct direction...
Reply
Reply
post #27 of 30
1/16/07 at 12:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by irishgond View Post

quick tutorial on how to enter dimensions, ie for exact wall sizes etc...or point me in the correct direction...

Do a search in the maual or on-line help for the VCB (Value Control Box) - it's on the bottom right of the screen when you start drawing a line - for example - start drawing a line - then you can immediately enter in the number in inches / cm etc. in the bottom right box on the screen. Harder to explain than to actually show -here's the link to the tutorials -

http://sketchup.google.com/vtutorials.html

I believe there are other 3rd party sites with video on-line tutorials as well - do a serach on google for Sketchup Tutorial Video - you will probably find them quick.
Reply
Reply
post #28 of 30
1/16/07 at 1:15pm
gr8, thx :-)
Reply
Reply
post #29 of 30
1/16/07 at 3:54pm
how do u get the inside views...i have my room but only looks like a white 3d house...how do i change the view?
Reply
Reply
post #30 of 30
1/16/07 at 4:14pm
nm...messn around and got it ;-)
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › Home Entertainment & Theater Builder › Dedicated Theater Design & Construction › Home Theater Design Software????