Background Image

[Pommares]

How do I put a picture in the background of my model (a chair in this case)


I get as far as View / Model Setup / Render Control and then there are several possibilities.


1) As per help: click on an icon that looks like a magic wand. I don't get that icon in the Render Control taskbar. So how do I call up Environment Editor to go on and do Background / Settings / Image ?


2) in Render Control you can Load Image and it appears on your workspace. Neat. But when I ask fora redraw, the image dissapears and I get the regular background. How can I get that image to stick around while I manipulate the object?


3) Under Render Control goto Render Setup / Config / Output and request Alpha Channel. Use that to Composite image with background sez Help. OK but how; andIs there a simpler method?

 

[mgnt8]

You need to map a color texture onto the wall of your room. This is done in Room Editor > (Click on wall) Room Appearance Editor > Map > Color Texture.

 

[Pommares]

Thanks, but a bit far from intended goal.


You would have to do at least two walls and a floor, but what happens if you want a real lived-in livingroom with sofas, bookcases, coffe tables and random objects lying around, like an open magazine and such. You would have to do a lot of modeling.


So that was my option 4); while option 5) was create a slab, map a photo of the livingroom and prop it up behind the chair. Also lacking in many respects.


In other packages; such as Chief Architect from A.R.T. I used to just take a photo of the site, fiddle around with the perspective and lighting a bit, and the house would appear to be built on the site. Only took a few minutes.


for example:


2004-11-17_152324_Melena.zip


Please, can someone tell me how I can just load a background image onto the workspace or in back of a rendering?



Edited by: Pommares

 

[mgnt8]

My suggestion is to go back to your architectural rendering program because Pro/E doesn't do perspective or landscapes. The best you can do is place your model in a room. See [url]http://www.mcadcentral.com/proe/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=23 944&KW=photorender[/url]for the best that can be done.

 

[Pommares]

OK I give up. Here's a real quick and dirty.


Create a slab. Schlop onto it a picture of the living room. Place the model of the chair in front of the panel.


It helps to anchor the panel and not the chair. Scale the slab and not the model. Request a front view of the slab. Also place three axis on the model for easy manipulation. Translate the model on the view plane and rotate with the axis. Adjust the lights.


It only takes a few minutes and you get a photo realistic room to showcase the model. Here's an example:


2004-11-17_203752_Livingroom.zip

 

[Pommares]

mgnt8


Proe does perspective pretty well. You can even adjust focal distance, that is to say how pronounced the perspective distortion is; by adjusting Eye Distance under View / Model Setup / Perspective


About your suggestion that I return to the architecture modeler, that's pretty interesting; trying to do industrial design with a system that was designed specifically for walls, windows and roofs. Quite a challenge. Horrible results guaranteed. Much better with the slab system or your room modeling approach.


As for landscapes, both systems handle them the same way. Take a picture of the great outdoors and schlop it onto the background panel, whether it be the room, a slab or the workspace.

 

[Pommares]

Here's another example of the paste picture onto slab method. The laundry closet is synthetic. Note the missing shadows. Also note that the perspective is very real. Proe has no problem with handling perspectives.


What's interesting about the two examples, is that both illustrations were created entirely within ProEngineer and in a matter of minutes. You can get even better results by using render and paying some attention to the lighting.


2004-11-18_162207_Cupboard.zip
Edited by: Pommares

 

[mgnt8]

Pommares, now I see what you're trying to do - good luck and thanks for the tip/technique. This looks like a photoshop job.

 

[Pommares]

Hi Mgnt8


Well actually it is 100% proE. Just took a picture of the living room and the staircase landing and placed the furniture in them without setting foot outside ProE. Which I think is a requirement because that way you can do the tweaking more freely and rapidly. I'm not too handy with Photoshop.



Edited by: Pommares

 

[Pommares]

Here are a couple more examples of what you get with the schlop pix on slab method.


The dining room table and chairs have been rendered in low definition to help distinguish them from the background and to make their lines more readable.


The rocking chair appears to be floating above the floor because of the lack of projected shadows. I don't know how to work around that shortcoming with this method. Any suggestions?


2004-11-22_224339_Dining.zip


2004-11-22_224411_Rocker_b.zip