Having scoured the forum search facility for answers I am a little confused as to the best method of inserting a photograph into TFP. I am designing a residential dwelling in an urban area. I have taken a photograph of the block from the front which shows the background etc. I want to place the newly designed house on the allotment photograph. What is the best way to do this and are there any tricks of the trade worth considering. Many thanks. Bob
Hi Bob,
There are several ways to do this.
1. Go to Settings / Program Settings/ Background and select the daytime image, right click in the Catalogue list and add your photo. Advantages: easy to do and it will always be 'sunlit'. Disadvantages: The same scene will be there even if you a render from the back of the building. You cannot move the image up or down to get the horizon in the right place so you have to take the photo with the horizon in the centre. The unnecessary forebround will be under your Terraine so wont matter.
2. Import the photo as a Photoboard. This can be easily positioned anywhere and can be moved around, elevated or lowered to get the position exactly right. The principles are the same as in this post: forums.turbofloorplan.com/index.php/topic,2173.0.html (http://forums.turbofloorplan.com/index.php/topic,2173.0.html)
3. Insert a Box or Mirror, size it to the same as your photo, insert the photo into the modified box texture or mirror and turn off Tiling on the image. Use the Mapping button if necessary to move the image into the 'frame'.
The advantages and disadvantages with 2 and 3 are similar. They can be moved around but care has to be taken with the sun position so it is properly lit and does not cast any unwanted shadows. They also need to be very big and renders from even just slightly different angles, mean it may have to be moved or a new image used. The image in these cases is just from the horizon up. In the followimg post the city behind the building used the Background, while the one used to create the reflection in the windows was a photobaord.forums.turbofloorplan.com/index.php/topic,758.0.html (http://forums.turbofloorplan.com/index.php/topic,758.0.html).
Personally I would try them in the order listed.
Allan
Many thanks Allan, the links were very impressive.