Applying SketchUp materials
You will now add some flooring materials straight from the ones included in SketchUp. In Chapter 5, Applying Textures and Materials for Photorealistic Rendering, we will look at creating and obtaining many more materials from photos and online texture banks. For now, let's stick to what's already there, so you can see how good a render you can get straight out of a basic, no frills, SketchUp model.
Timber flooring material
In SketchUp, materials are applied with the paint bucket tool. You only need to select the right material or color and "pour" it onto a surface:
If the Materials pallet is not visible, navigate to Window | Materials to enable it.
Select Wood from the drop-down box.
Select a wood material by clicking on one of the thumbnail images. Your cursor will change to a Paint Bucket symbol.
Click on the floor to apply the material. Try a few different wood patterns until you find the one that you like best.
Now, draw a rectangle on the floor for a carpet, as shown in the following screenshot:
Use the Push/Pull tool to slightly elevate the rectangle.
Select a carpet texture and paint it onto the raised surface, as shown in the following screenshot:
You've now got two textures in the scene that you'll be able to modify in Thea to add shininess, highlights, or reflections. The matt will stay as it is. You will learn how to add surface details such as the ones in Chapter 8, Photorealistic Rendering. We will look at creating and applying SketchUp materials in more detail in Chapter 5, Applying Textures and Materials for Photorealistic Rendering.
