This chapter is mostly concerned with applying materials and textures for added realism in SketchUp or other rendering software. If you're aiming for artistic styles such as pencil or watercolor, it is often better to use an untextured model. In this case, skip this chapter for now and go to Chapter 6, Entourage the SketchUp Way.
We are now going to work through the various texturing processes together. Texturing is the process of applying color patterns (usually taken from photographic images) to 3D surfaces to add more realism or simulate more detail. You will set up great-looking textures one by one until your whole scene looks realistic.
In this chapter, you will learn the following:
When and why to use textures
The process overview chart
Using SketchUp's own textures
Extracting great textures from your own photos
Using Match Photo to generate real-life textures
How to create seamless tiling textures
Applying, manipulating...