Discover how to add materials to a digital model of a clubhouse, from kitchen countertops to exterior doors, to create a more realistic design. Learn how to utilize the paint bucket tool, name and color materials, and customize texture images to bring a once stale and white digital model to life.
Key Insights:
- You can personalize digital models by adding materials of your choice. For instance, you may choose to keep kitchen cabinets white while adjusting the countertops to a different color using the paint bucket tool.
- Consistency matters in design. You can create coherent aesthetics by adjusting all trims on the entire building to a specific color. You can also create custom colors by developing a new material and picking the color you prefer.
- Textures enhance the realism of digital models. You can add texture images and modify their color to achieve a natural tone. For instance, you can download a wood grain texture and modify its color to paint wooden doors.
Note: These materials offer prospective students a preview of how our classes are structured. Students enrolled in this course will receive access to the full set of materials, including video lectures, project-based assignments, and instructor feedback.
Alright, in this video, we are going to add some materials, add some furniture, and really bring this clubhouse to life. Right now, it looks very plain and white.
Let's see what we can do to make this more realistic. We can start by looking at our kitchen. At this point, when you're placing materials, feel free to act as your own artist and designer—have fun choosing the materials you want to use. I'm going to keep all my cabinets white—I like the clean white look—but I'm going to adjust my countertops to be a different color.
If you go to the Paint Bucket tool, let's make the countertops concrete. You can paint grouped geometry. I want the Refrigerator to be metal.
We can go down to the Aluminum color and apply it. We may need to enter the group to paint it if we can't access the surface.
We might want the handles to be a medium gray. Scroll down in the colors and choose a suitable shade. Really, just have fun picking various materials you like.
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For the exterior doors, we can create some consistency. These are separate components. If you go to our Components panel, you can identify them. Scroll down and find the one labeled "Door Kitchen."
Now let's adjust the trim. We want consistent trim across the entire building. Double-click the material, go to Colors, and select a beige-type color. If a suitable color isn't available, we can create a new material and call it "Door Trim Paint." Pick a reddish-brown tone—not too saturated, something warm. You can also add a texture image or adjust its opacity if desired.
Click OK. With the new material created, paint the door trim on both the exterior and interior, then paint the door. Now, create another new material and call it "Door Panel Paint." The color will be slightly lighter but in the same tonal range.
Paint the door. Let's also paint all the door handles in the entire model. If you triple-click, you can apply the material to all exterior and interior handles. For this, let's use the Aluminum color under Metal.
While you're at it, edit this material and rename it "Doorknob Metal." This duplicates the Aluminum material, and now it’s listed as Doorknob Metal in our in-model materials. Deselect, and you'll see that the handles have been updated.
Now for the interior doors—they could be the same color as the exterior. So again, we have Door Panel Paint and Door Trim Paint. You can always update them later. Let’s move around the building and look at other materials we might want to change.
We see more doors on this side. Let's do the same: paint the trim and the door. Now, look at these French doors.
The client wants a rustic-modern clubhouse—black trim windows, natural wood tones, etc. Let’s start thinking about how we’ll achieve that. We'll begin with the decorative door handles. Double-click into the group and paint them.
Go to Metal, select the Aluminum material, and rename it "French Door Handle Metal." You can darken it to more of a black tone to match the modern aesthetic. You'll see the darker color applied to all the French door handles.
Next, paint the door trim. Go into the group, select a color you like, and create a new material called "French Window Trim." Remove any existing texture image and pick a solid color. Click OK and apply it.
Now, paint the doors with a natural wood texture. We provided this in the file downloads. Create a new material and click Use Texture. Navigate to your C drive where you saved the SKP-201 file downloads and open the wood grain texture. Click Open.
Click OK to confirm. You can now use this material to paint the doors. Edit the material and name it "Door Wood Grain." Modify the tone to be slightly grayer or darker if desired to create a natural look.
Close out, and you'll see the result is looking very good. As we zoom in, we may still be undecided about the siding material. Let's wait until we've finalized the trim color before addressing the siding.
Continue applying the same process to the door panels. Zoom into the French window and apply the same wood material and French Window Trim. You may also want to zoom in from the inside to apply French Door Handle Metal to the handles.
Zoom out and rotate to see other parts of the building to modify. Let’s now work on the flooring.
We have a concrete slab here. Triple-click into the slab to select everything, then go to our Concrete materials under Asphalt and Concrete. Choose "Polished Concrete—New" and apply it.
As you zoom out, the pattern may appear repetitive. Edit this material, rename it "Floor Concrete, " slightly darken it, and double the texture scale to 10 feet by 10 feet. If the color appears bluish, reduce the saturation completely. Deselect and review—it should now look really good for the concrete slab.
