Modeling a Complex Structure - Google SketchUp Workshop: Modeling, Visualizing, and Illustrating - page 223

FiG 12.23 Position and number of (some) supplementary light sources: A new scene with supplementary lighting in place is shown.

Tip

For supplementary lighting, the attenuation of the light sources needs to
be set at 1/r or even 1/r 2 , so as not to “wash out” the scene.

Stage 13: Generation of a QTVR Panorama
in Cheetah3D

Objective : To generate a QTVR panorama to enable the viewer to look
around the interior space.
Data : Cheetah scene created in stage 12.
Tools : Cheetah3D, Apple MakeCubic.app.

The greatest advantage of making a QTVR panorama is the speed with which
usable results can be obtained. Although the calculation of a frame-by-frame
animation can take days, a fully navigable QTVR panorama that lets the
viewer look around the entire space may take only a quarter of an hour to
generate.

To generate the panorama, the Panorama projec-
tion was chosen for one of the cameras in the
Cheetah3D scene. The location of the camera will
determine the pivot point about which the QTVR
panorama turns; so a camera was set up in the
middle of the space to give a good, all-around 360°
view. The height of the camera also influences the
view obtained; so this camera was set at 5' 6" off the ground (average eye
height). It was then just a matter of clicking Cheetah's Render button and
waiting for the result.

FiG 12.24 Setting up a Cheetah
camera to record a panorama.

Once the render was complete, an image like the one shown in Figure 12.25
was obtained.