A rare instance where 3D might be easier.

I've taken a whole class in 3D modelling--it's kind of a useless class, because I learned a program that, ahem, isn't available for mac.

But Google SketchUp is. And, as a bonus, it has a library of things like the display cases in the image above--I modeled the room, and imported the display cases from the gallery of things other people have created and shared with the world.

And I swear, this program is going to save me so much time.

Why? How the heck can a (slightly evil) program save me time in design?

Consider this: If I want to convey my ideas in a 2D manner, I have to guess at proportions (since I don't have any ISO paper), draft it all out by hand, ink it, color it, and then I'll have one copy susceptible to damage unless I devote another 10-30 minutes getting it into a computer at relatively high quality.

Yikes.

Whereas with this modeling program, I can get the proportions of the room right, I can place pre-made models of things "close enough!" to what I want to represent where I want things (like, for example...a fridge where I want to show that there's an ATS-6 Satellite, because nobody has modeled one of those. For some reason), I can drag and drop them all and my perspective is promised to be correct as are the spatial relations between objects, and life is made easier for everyone.



Oh, and if I want to show things more accurate to what'll actually be in the room, I can take a screenshot (like the image at the beginning of this post) and draw over it in Photoshop. I've seen some quite detailed tutorials before, I just never used them. Hoorah!

I can see the room from all different angles, including shadows to some extent--although I'll probably turn those off to save my computer, which doesn't really like to run something that requires this much RAM--and walk through it. Yes. This is good. 

The Galleries in their Current Condition (More or Less)
Rock Room in foreground, Space Junk Room in Background

And, possibly, better than a storyboard, since Steve will be able to move through the museum--SketchUp is a free program, so anyone who downloads it can see my files if I send them, or upload them to Google's modeling gallery. Admittedly, a 1980s fridge isn't the best stand in for an ATS-6 Satellite, but it's about the same size. So, good enough.

Top View--I skimped a little on adding the furniture, you can tell

I need to get into the library and take measurements there, but we keep that locked. Which is a wee bit annoying.

Anyway, modelling what's already there is comparatively easy--I need to model what I've been imagining, which is another kettle of fish entirely. So far, what I have learned is that--if my dimensions are right and the tiles are 2'x2', I have considerably more space than I thought.

Which is awesome.

...I also think I've lost Dan and Mark, because I mentioned that I wanted to see if there was a way to put NASA's live views of the ISS on one of the gallery screens, but it seemed complicated (or at least annoying) and I hadn't gotten around to it yet. They went charging off. The Chosen Monitor is now showing a google search engine. Oh dear.