Let's build!: Sportsman's Park

[silvam14]

I'm going to try and document some of what it takes to build a stadium step by step here. I won't be screenshotting every step, but I will do the best I can to show you some of what it takes to maybe help out.

Hope you like it!

Step one: Choose a park!

I have chosen Sportsman park for my next project. First thing I do is go to Andrew Clem's amazing resource for current and former MLB stadiums and save the diagram to my PC



The diagram is saved as a GIF which doesn't work in sketchup. I need to open it in photoshop and save it as a png.

- Open sketchup
- select file -> import and import the diagram of sportsman's park

place the corner on the origin of the axis and click, you should be able to expand the image to a decent size. ( it doesn't matter what the size is at first)
.


Next, we want to scale the image to real life scale. We do this by simply using the tape measure tool to draw a line from home plate down the left field foul line to the wall. once you click to complete the line, type "351'"

it will ask you if you want to scale the model, click yes. this will give you a diagram with exact scale to build off. if you zoom out a little you should be able to see the diagram again.

you can verify the scale by dragging the line using the tape measure tool again from home to the left field foul pole and you should see the 351' distance on the bottom right of the screen (or close enough)

[silvam14]

Next up: outlining the playing field with the pen tool. Just pick a starting point and start drawing the lines along the walls of the playing field until you have connected them and the area should fill in. (this park is all straight walls, no curves)



Now we need to use the offset tool to create the warning track and the width of the walls surrounding the field. you select the offset tool, plate the mouse on any line you have drawn and click and drag inward. you can release the mouse button and type 10' and the enter and you will have a 10 foot warning track surrounding the field



now do the same for the wall thickness. except drag outside this time. I usually select 6 inches to a foot wide wall

[silvam14]

Now we can raise the walls of the playing field.

First thing I do is seperate the left and right field fences from the side walls with a simple line on each side in the corner. This creates different faces that we can raise to different heights



Now that we have the outfield wall independent from the sides and backstop, we can raise the outfield wall. According to clem's site, Sportsman's park had 12 feet fences all around, very easy for this demo.

For this we need to use the push/pull tool. basically, just hover over the section of wall you want to raise, click and drag "up" to raise the wall. You can let go of the mouse button and enter the distance 12' and it will size it exacty.



Now do the same for the sides and backstop. I usually pick 4 feet for these fences. This is where I start looking heavily on google for any images I can find of the park to try to gauge correct heights


Park is starting to take a basic shape now!

don't worry about the dugouts, we get to that later

[silvam14]

The next step is pretty cool. this really gives the stadium life.

I trace the stands profile for the stadium. Some stadiums have multiple. This one has two. The main one is for the entire grandstand aroound the field. The smaller one is for the outfield seats. We will trace both to get them ready.

first one is the main grandstand


Use the pen tool and trace the profile. try to keep straight lines where possible.



and the smaller one:




Now its time to flip (stand up the Profiles 90 degrees. Use the rotate tool

This is difficult to learn, but you need to double click on the profile so it is outlined in blue. take the rotate tool and find the midpoint on the bottom line. click and hold and move the mouse until the tool is red or perpendicular to the line. then click and drag a line perpendicular to the base of the profile and click again. you should be able to move the profile on it axis. type 90 and hit enter and it should be standing up

[silvam14]

Now we have to move the profile to wall and rotate it so it is at a 90 degree angle from the wall.

We have to pick a place for this profile to go. Looking at the diagram, it seems the profile was meant to start on the 3rd base side where the pink section starts and go around to the first base side. the grandstands further out didnt have as many rows as this profle. we can fix this later.

I picked the starting point and drew a line perpendicular to it out. this is the liine we need to rotate the profile to and push it against the wall



Now make sure the profile is still selected and select the move tool. the click on the bottom right of the profile and connect it to the line drawn by dragging the profile over to the line and clicking somewhere along the line

now place the rotate tool on the same spot

click once and drag along the bottom of the profie

click again and you can rotate the structure to line up with line drawn

now move the structure against the wall by choosing the same point to rotate and move it to the point on the base of the wall

[silvam14]

okay, before I go to bed, gotta show you the follow me tool. really makes it worth it.

select the follow me tool. This might take a while to get used to, but the idea is to select the face of the profle and have it follow the base of the wall all the way around to the other side by clicking and dragging it along the line at the base of the wall

As you can see, once you get the hang of it, you can easily create a good portion of the stands! Pretty cool.



Hope you enjoyed this so far. hope to pick up where I left off soon

[Chico Guilbault]

And you thought you wouldn't be good at training how to do this stuff! This is great, please keep it going when you have time. I am determined to learn it and start helping you with requests and maybe coming up with my own designs.

[drksd4848]

Silvam, what can we do to thank you?

I'm serious.

How much time do you have left with the demo version of Sketchup? I wasn't kidding about the gofundme idea. If there is anyone who deserves his own copy, it'd be you.

[silvam14]

Originally Posted by drksd4848

Silvam, what can we do to thank you?

I'm serious.

How much time do you have left with the demo version of Sketchup? I wasn't kidding about the gofundme idea. If there is anyone who deserves his own copy, it'd be you.

Thanks man. I have around 24 days left on the license on a different laptop I have. I'm still holding onto the possibility my fiancée will be able to get a free copy with her being a teacher

[Chico Guilbault]

Originally Posted by silvam14

Thanks man. I have around 24 days left on the license on a different laptop I have. I'm still holding onto the possibility my fiancée will be able to get a free copy with her being a teacher

If she's a teacher then it's very easy to get a free copy. The license would be good for a year and could be updated each year by providing proof that she is still a teacher. It's as simple as e-mailing a link to the school's website if her name is listed on there, although there are other types of proof they accept. Alternatively, you could always send me the files to be converted when your trial runs out.

[RchW]

This is amazing. You are right. Clem's site should be in everyone's bookmark list.

[RchW]

Originally Posted by drksd4848

Silvam, what can we do to thank you?

I'm serious.

How much time do you have left with the demo version of Sketchup? I wasn't kidding about the gofundme idea. If there is anyone who deserves his own copy, it'd be you.

How much is it?

[zappa1]

Holy smokes. You're a teacher, too!!! This is terrific. I'm a dummy and I think I could possibly do it. haha Understanding all the tools and how to use them is the key. Thanks for the lesson.

[silvam14]

Originally Posted by RchW

How much is it?

$695

Yikes

[silvam14]

Looking into how to make an instructional video. Basically how to record my actions. Might be easier than constantly taking and uploading pics


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RchW]

Originally Posted by silvam14

$695

Yikes

Yikes II.

[silvam14]

Originally Posted by RchW

Yikes II.

Mere pocket change for Markus "zuckerberg" Heinshon these days though, haha

[silvam14]

Ok, next step. We are going to start on the bleachers before we tackle the corners of the stands.

Do the same steps with the covered bleachers as shown above to get it upright and attached to the wall


use the follow-me tool to drag the bleachers across


there is a little pie slice that needs to be built manually do it drawing with the pen tool


next we need to copy a profile without a roof for the uncovered bleachers in left field. do this by drawing a line to separate the faces and then select the bleachers


after you have moved and connected the uncovered bleachers, use the push pull tool on each end to extend them into the corner





(mind you, /i don't know the correct way to approach the corners so I'm just winging it

[silvam14]

ok, sorry guys, I wasn't sure how to proceed with the corners so I had to go on my own to figure it out. I have finished them with a lot of trial and error. again. I'm not a complete pro at this so bear with me.

here is what one of the corners looks like. you can see the triangles from me using the pen tool to connect edges. not as clean as the follow me tool, but it gets the job done I guess.

[silvam14]

built up the center field area to put the shrubbery



now to look on 3D warehouse for some shrubs



This could work, next I'll show how to use the copy function with the move tool to duplicate these shrubs