Blender VS. Sketchup

Desert_Nomad · 03-12-2021, 10:23 PM

I have been looking for a free version of Sketchup with no luck, How ever I can get Blender which is Open Source I believe. So my question is can I use Blender to make 3D stadiums. I'm asking because I am learning to do this from scratch and no almost nothing about the process.

Ty Cobb · 03-14-2021, 11:30 PM

Silvam has a wonderful set of videos on stadium construction. I do believe he uses sketchup...but the concepts shoud transfer to blender.

drksd4848 · 03-15-2021, 01:35 PM

You can absolutely use Blender. In fact, as far as I know, the stadiums that come with OOTP were made in Blender.

*BUT* The trick is... learning how to use Blender to make stadiums.

Sketchup, although not nearly as powerful, is far more assessable than Blender in terms of making stadiums. And, for the record, making stadiums is not easy on either platform.

But, if you know how to use Blender, have at it. The community will love you for it!

Desert_Nomad · 03-15-2021, 08:58 PM

Thanks for the replies. I have been in touch with Silvam, I loved his video series on making stadiums and that's what has gotten me interested making them. Time to learn Blender.

silvam14 · 03-16-2021, 01:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Desert_Nomad

Thanks for the replies. I have been in touch with Silvam, I loved his video series on making stadiums and that's what has gotten me interested making them. Time to learn Blender.

I've tried blender several times and can't get the hang of it. Completely different UI and way of doing things. It would be great to use a more powerful tool, but the time it would take me would be like a second job

micropterus58 · 03-16-2021, 12:07 PM

Blender has good support on the interwebs. Search on Google and YouTube for tutorials. NBA 2K series modders use blender to create cyberfaces, the player faces in the game. You probably will not find any OOTP specific tutorials. You will have to learn the basics first and may have to reference tutorials for other games.

eriqjaffe · 03-18-2021, 12:26 PM

BTW, the last free desktop version of SketchUp was "SketchUp Make 2017", which (for now) you can still get here:

https://help.sketchup.com/en/downloading-older-versions

It will have the "Pro" features for 30 days and then revert to the "free" feature set after that. Other than being able to natively export OBJ files (which you can just as easily do in the free version with a plugin that is referenced a bunch of times in this forum), I don't even remember what the differences in the Pro version were.

twins_34 · 03-19-2021, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eriqjaffe

BTW, the last free desktop version of SketchUp was "SketchUp Make 2017", which (for now) you can still get here:

https://help.sketchup.com/en/downloading-older-versions

It will have the "Pro" features for 30 days and then revert to the "free" feature set after that. Other than being able to natively export OBJ files (which you can just as easily do in the free version with a plugin that is referenced a bunch of times in this forum), I don't even remember what the differences in the Pro version were.

Where can you get the objexporter? The link Silvam linked is a dead link and I cant get the lame Simlab stuff to work.

asrivkin · 03-19-2021, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twins_34

Where can you get the objexporter? The link Silvam linked is a dead link and I cant get the lame Simlab stuff to work.

Here's where I got it: https://sketchucation.com/pluginstore?pln=OBJexporter I had to make a free account to download it in August, but it looks like the download still works. I'll note it's a bit touchy--it'll sometimes crash on me and I'll need to figure out which piece of the model is causing the problem, though it's always (thus far) been a house or piece of scenery I downloaded from 3D Warehouse...

twins_34 · 03-19-2021, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asrivkin

Here's where I got it: https://sketchucation.com/pluginstore?pln=OBJexporter I had to make a free account to download it in August, but it looks like the download still works. I'll note it's a bit touchy--it'll sometimes crash on me and I'll need to figure out which piece of the model is causing the problem, though it's always (thus far) been a house or piece of scenery I downloaded from 3D Warehouse...

Yeah, when I download that and install then try and export a stadium all I get is black when loaded into the game lol.

Only time I was able to do anything and properly export was during the trial. Ever since then, not a chance. Don't matter what sketchup I use.

asrivkin · 03-20-2021, 10:19 AM

What output are you putting into the OOTP folder, and into which folder?

twins_34 · 03-20-2021, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asrivkin

What output are you putting into the OOTP folder, and into which folder?

Ok I finally got it to work. I was following the way that Silvam showed in his tutorial of putting the file into the folder file. Then I put two and two together when I clicked on "install extentions" and omg, it asked for a ruby file or .rbz! Clicked on the file and poof it showed up as an OBJ exporter just like on Silvam's videos.

Did a test export, did not change all files to png, just left them as is, waited for the file to be created and boom, stadium loaded. Now I would just have to edit the MTL and fix the crowd. Everything loaded, nothing is distorted none of the pictures are having any issues. So, I would say I got it setup, FINALLY correctly.

03-12-2021, 10:23 PM	#1
Desert_Nomad Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2020 Posts: 65	Blender VS. Sketchup I have been looking for a free version of Sketchup with no luck, How ever I can get Blender which is Open Source I believe. So my question is can I use Blender to make 3D stadiums. I'm asking because I am learning to do this from scratch and no almost nothing about the process.

03-14-2021, 11:30 PM	#2
Ty Cobb Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Grayling, MI Posts: 4,617	Silvam has a wonderful set of videos on stadium construction. I do believe he uses sketchup...but the concepts shoud transfer to blender. __________________ "You could not live with your own failure. Where did that bring you? Back to me." Thanos

03-15-2021, 01:35 PM	#3
drksd4848 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 1,927	You can absolutely use Blender. In fact, as far as I know, the stadiums that come with OOTP were made in Blender. BUT The trick is... learning how to use Blender to make stadiums. Sketchup, although not nearly as powerful, is far more assessable than Blender in terms of making stadiums. And, for the record, making stadiums is not easy on either platform. But, if you know how to use Blender, have at it. The community will love you for it! Last edited by drksd4848; 03-15-2021 at 01:37 PM.

03-18-2021, 12:26 PM	#7
eriqjaffe Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2003 Location: Under The Christmas Fish Posts: 7,718	BTW, the last free desktop version of SketchUp was "SketchUp Make 2017", which (for now) you can still get here: https://help.sketchup.com/en/downloading-older-versions It will have the "Pro" features for 30 days and then revert to the "free" feature set after that. Other than being able to natively export OBJ files (which you can just as easily do in the free version with a plugin that is referenced a bunch of times in this forum), I don't even remember what the differences in the Pro version were. __________________

03-15-2021, 08:58 PM	#4
Desert_Nomad Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2020 Posts: 65	Thanks for the replies. I have been in touch with Silvam, I loved his video series on making stadiums and that's what has gotten me interested making them. Time to learn Blender.

03-16-2021, 12:07 PM	#6
micropterus58 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 1,245	Blender has good support on the interwebs. Search on Google and YouTube for tutorials. NBA 2K series modders use blender to create cyberfaces, the player faces in the game. You probably will not find any OOTP specific tutorials. You will have to learn the basics first and may have to reference tutorials for other games.

03-20-2021, 10:19 AM	#11
asrivkin Major Leagues Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: Maryland Posts: 357	What output are you putting into the OOTP folder, and into which folder?