Sketchup Match Photo: Overview, Tips and Tricks

Sketchup Match photo is a powerful tool that allows you to trace, draw and model directly in 3D over a perspective picture, may be the original intent was to facilitate modeling buildings for Google Earth the same way as in Google Building Maker, it remains a great and exclusive function in Sketchup that you can use for multiple purposes. As an architect and designer I find my self always ending up forced to use this function to solve many problems, I'll try through this article to share 6 helpful ways to squeeze the max from it.

1- Model 3D components without shop drawings:

Whether it's a building, furniture, product or any kind of geometric shape, sometimes you find yourself in a situation where you need to 3D model with minimum input, minimum details and without shop drawings, in this case having a nice perspective (not isometric) photo or picture will save your life, you just need create a new photo match scene a correctly place your origin point and align the green and red axis to match the perspective vanishing point, and start modeling straightaway from the same view scene tab.

Match photo Origin placing and Axis alignment

You may need from time to time to orbit the camera or pan and use transparency X-ray view mode, and then at end when you are done 3D modeling, you scale the component to the correct dimensions, if the model is symmetrical you can go on one half only then the mirror the other half once you are done.

I modeled hundreds of meshes using this technique esp when I'm required to create a library of products to use later in future projects, while it may look difficult at first, through time you get used to it and you will have your proper workflow, it will become an automatic process to 3d model without CAD drawings and even quicker than modeling from blueprints. As you can see the example below, all these Sketchup components (medical lab equipment) were modeled using Photomatch, to be used later to create medical laboratory layouts both 2D floor plans drawings and 3D Visuals.

Laboratory equipment modeled using match photo

 2- Wrap and project textures in Sketchup:

Because by default and without add-on or extension there is no texture unwrap or UV mapping in Sketchup, the only way to apply textures over a curved surface like cylinders spheres or non geometric meshes like terrains is by making the texture projected aligning it to the mesh and painting it with Bucket tool.

Match photo will allow you to do the same to an existing 3d model or to one that you modeled scratch, you can create multiple match photo perspective scenes and project materials from each angle to any selected area (exploded or grouped), the project texture from photo tool button (in the match photo window) will prompt you to trim visible partially visible faces or not, if you confirm, new hidden lines will be traced to separate the textured visible faces from the invisible ones, the process can repeated from other camera angles to apply materials to the white faces until you finish texturing all faces and reach the desired result.

3- Create quick realistic and decent textures for 3D render and presentations: 

Even if you are able to achieve realistic renders using Vray or with the help of any AI tool, texturing and adding materials is a time consuming task, Photo match remains an option and a quick way to texture objects in Sketchup and somehow cheat to do it the easy way, so if you use high quality and high resolution pictures as background for Match Photo 3d modeling, these can be projected and used as textures directly for quick 3D renders without editing or any additional work, and it will help you achieve realistic and decent renders or create presentations with styles that look at the same time cartoonish with realistic textures.

Direct Render of the projected textures

Presentation with styles

4- Find and deduct dimensions:

This is one of most important part about Matchphoto, sometimes when I don't have time to visit a site or travel to do a survey and take measurements esp for interior spaces, I ask the clients or owners to send me pictures from corners, I just retrace in 3D over these shots from all possible angles by creating multiple Photo Match scenes, then once I finish tracing I scale model using the T shortcut :

• Having no dimensions at all: in this scenario you will need to guess or use as reference a standard known length like door width or window sill height or any standard common or known dimensions like tiles, ceiling height or stair raiser, and because the model will be scaled proportionally, all remaining dimensions should be correct and very accurate, you can check or re-scale using two or three references to make sure you are correct.
  

• Having a single dimension: you scale your model directly by hitting the T shortcut select the two points of this known length, enter the value hit enter and you are done, the entire model will be scaled proportionally and the accuracy is +/- few millimeters.

Using Sketchup Match photo to find dimensions

So with single dimension or without dimensions at all, you will be able to proportionally deduct other dimensions and save time to do drafts, quickly draw floor-plans and wall elevations, then confirm later on site when you have time or access, and in all situations you will be able to start working with a minimum input and without waiting, this tool comes in very handy to confirm survey mistakes by using photos, the trick is also very useful for unreachable exterior areas like roofs, just a nice shot from angle and you are done.

5-Virtual staging straight in Sketchup: 

Because it's all about speed, sometime you will need to do a quick 3D model to see if something goes well and fits the requirements, experiment to see if you like an extension to a house or not, you can use Sketchup match photo for virtual staging an existing building even without 3d rendering, the Foreground option in modeling tab of the styles window will allow you to control the visibility of the matched 3D model, when turned off the 3D model will be superposed and placed in the front, you may also need to do some tweaks to hide some elements on the scene update check hidden geometry because they be disabled when you use the match photo tool.

Before Sketchup virtual staging match photo

After Sketchup virtual staging match photo

In the  example above I projected and extracted the wood texture from the background picture itself and used it on the components, you can barely say its not rendered, the textures blend well and the perspective is matching too. I use Match photo mostly for staging exterior scenes, while it can be used for interior scenes, the results may not be that interesting and probably required 3D rendering and post production.

6-Background, site surrounding and scene set up for render:

You want to quickly insert your 3D model in a certain context, add surrounding, background to cover the horizon line or elements in the foreground to make the scene look a bit interesting for render, you don't have an HDRI, you don't have Photoshop for editing or post production, no problem! This is where Match photo comes in very handy. Since Vray and other render engines will not recognize photo-match background, you will need to draw planes parallel to the desired direction and place them in the appropriate position to control the textures you want to project from the Match photo picture, you may need to retrace over these planes to create cutouts, the scene will appear weird from a different angles but it will match the camera perspective you see in the match photo scene.

 

Match photo scene background projected into a plane

Match Photo Projected background - Rendered Scene

 

Match photo scene with Foreground projected and cutout

To my knowledge this Photo match feature does not exist natively or by default in any other 3D software apart from Sketchup,  I remember I saw a video from Blender Guru on Youtube where he 3D models a Blender subway scene in 20 minutes using Fspy Camera matching Addon (the plugin computes the approximate focal length, orientation and position of the camera in 3D space based on user defined control points) and I was wondering , how much time that would have taken if it was made in Sketchup...

Sometime I receive 3D interior scans, and it makes me question too, how dumb technology can be if not used properly, a 4 walls room scan that creates a mesh with millions of vertices that requires re-topology remodeling and re-texturing, all this can be replaced with two pictures from the corner, this what I call again pure technology misuse or a super bad good idea.

If you are reading this and you are interested in detailed tutorials on how to use and master Sketchup photo match for each section from the above, please share and leave comments.