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Print at Dec 16, 2025, 6:06:30 PM
Posted by snmavronis at Jan 29, 2021, 6:11:51 AM
3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
I'm working on my first custom furniture 3D model, built within SH3D. It's a retro dining room set of a china cabinet and hutch, they are from my grandparents. So far I only made the two base panels which have a 15% curve in the front. The real cabinets in my house have round tapered legs. I can't make them in SH3D so I looked for and found one I like on the 3D Warehouse, from Designs of Distinction by Brown Wood, Inc. Apparently they post there 3D models there in part to advertise their custom wood making services. I don't see anything here (https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/by/brownwoodinc?tab=products) about copyright, use attributions, etc. Should I contact them to ask permission to include them in my model, especially if I upload it somewhere for others to use? I'm worried about the ethics of using other people's stuff as parts for my model, even for personal use.

I wish that the SH3D developers would make a tool to make tapered cylinders similar to their Generate 3D shape tool. I'd rather make all my own 3D model parts from scratch.


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Steve N Mavronis - Retired PC Tech

Posted by Puybaret at Jan 29, 2021, 12:54:33 PM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
The 3D models in Trimble 3D Warehouse are available under the General Model License described here (be sure to click on the GENERAL MODEL LICENSE tab at the the top of the page).
Its 1.B. section allows you to "create derivative works of models" and "distribute them" but its section 2.vi. section forbids you to "aggregate any content (including Models) obtained from 3D Warehouse for redistribution", so the limit is somewhere between what is considered as distributing and redistributing, probably just a scale story...

About the tapered cylinder, you could reuse the chimney of the example 12 in the gallery.
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Emmanuel Puybaret, Sweet Home 3D creator

Posted by snmavronis at Jan 29, 2021, 1:45:11 PM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
Thanks for the Trimble breakdown. The aggregate part probably means redistributing a "collection" of their models to another hosting site. I did read where you can modify geometry and adapt. I guess the tricky part would be if you uploaded your models to 3D Warehouse and then you are regarded as a Developer and if you "misbehave" and put them legally at risk.

I like that furniture tapered leg though. When I lower its height it's off by around 1/16" higher than the 4 1/4" the cabinet sits off the ground. No biggie since you'll never see that. I could just make a simple 4 sided leg using the Generate 3D Shape tool and forget about it. I used to dabble in Blender back in 2008 where I made this Photon lasertag "bunker" when I was doing scale modeling but the keyboard commands were maddening. I got good results but the process was tedious. I downloaded SketchUp 2017, not sure if that's any easier.


(Image hosted from my Microsoft OneDrive - Imgur seems to be down at the moment.)

Thanks for the hollow chimney if I use it. I really think it would be of value for SH3D to have tapered object tool for cylindrical shapes and rectangles/polygons.
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Steve N Mavronis - Retired PC Tech

Posted by snmavronis at Jan 29, 2021, 2:35:27 PM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
Just a thumbnail for some context on that Blender object shape. I ended up not using it and just kept the native BSP subtractive/additive based modeling done within UnrealEd. This is how 80s lasertag looked like in real-life in-game. It's exact scale from blueprints:


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Steve N Mavronis - Retired PC Tech

Posted by snmavronis at Jan 29, 2021, 11:59:30 PM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
Thank you for the demo level chimney tip. I scaled it to 4 1/2" high, 2" diameter, and added brass end caps with a cylinder 1 1/2" high. The retro legs actually turned out more accurate to real-life than that 3D Warehouse model. Thanks, I appreciate you help! :)


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Steve N Mavronis - Retired PC Tech

Posted by snmavronis at Jan 30, 2021, 9:04:43 AM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
Whew, here's my almost complete first custom retro furniture creation! I still have to add 2 brass door handles and 3 decorative brass faux pull knobs in the middle. Thank god for the 3D shape tool plugin to be able to make my angled shapes. Next there's a longer hutch we have for a matching set.


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Steve N Mavronis - Retired PC Tech

Posted by VeroniQ at Jan 30, 2021, 1:29:28 PM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
Very well done and useful, Snmavronis!! Would you be kind to share it one day (see this article )?

Posted by snmavronis at Jan 30, 2021, 2:26:48 PM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
Very well done and useful, Snmavronis!! Would you be kind to share it one day (see this article )?


Of course! I'm glad you like it so far. :)
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Steve N Mavronis - Retired PC Tech

Posted by VeroniQ at Jan 30, 2021, 3:44:33 PM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
To be honest, I am not totally fond of this sort of furniture in mahogany but it reminds me the ones my parents used to have. But you did a good and realistic design!

Posted by snmavronis at Jan 30, 2021, 4:54:07 PM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
To be honest, I am not totally fond of this sort of furniture in mahogany but it reminds me the ones my parents used to have. But you did a good and realistic design!


Yeah totally retro look from the maybe 60s through 70s. The real furniture is darker with the stain put on it. I just used the red wood texture in SH3D so it's a little brighter than it should be. Originally it was a yellow blonde wood finish from looking inside the bottom cabinet doors.

I just added 0 thick black lines to simulate the sliding glass grooves. Had to use the 3D Shape plugin for that too because you can't size a box with a zero dimension. It's becoming a great tool for me.

Next I'm working on the brass door and panel hardware. They have conical shapes in their retro design elements. I plan to use the same tapered "chimney" used for the legs scaled down. Where they join at the corners I'll use tiny spheres so it doesn't look rough edged.
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Steve N Mavronis - Retired PC Tech

Posted by snmavronis at Jan 30, 2021, 7:10:47 PM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
Here's a new render. I had to make those 3 knobs as a model 4x actual size (to manage working with tiny objects) and then grouped the parts and scaled it proportionally down to 3/4". Next I'm making the 2 door handles the same way. Also, I scaled down a copy of the angled glass panels to 3/4" x 3" x 1/8" and inserted them into the glass panels to represent the recess where you grab to slid the glass doors open. I'm going a little detail crazy LOL.


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Steve N Mavronis - Retired PC Tech

Posted by snmavronis at Jan 30, 2021, 8:58:13 PM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
Okay this one is finished unless I go ahead and add the small disk shaped hinges at the outside corners of the doors.


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Steve N Mavronis - Retired PC Tech

Posted by snmavronis at Jan 30, 2021, 9:55:05 PM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
Sorry I just had to add the door hinges. All done now. ;)


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Steve N Mavronis - Retired PC Tech

Posted by Puybaret at Jan 30, 2021, 10:54:49 PM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
Very nice !
For your information, you can also build a plank with a complex shape by drawing a room at upper level (to ensure it has two faces), that you export to OBJ format then reimport as a piece of furniture.
These export / reimport steps can even be simplified with the Copy as new furniture plug-in and a simple paste + a rotation around an horizontal axis if needed.
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Emmanuel Puybaret, Sweet Home 3D creator

Posted by Mike53 at Jan 31, 2021, 3:39:53 PM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
Very neat Steve, well done. As Puybaret says, rooms work well either drawn on their own or within walls, these enable easier curves. I use them a lot. As you can see here

Posted by snmavronis at Jan 31, 2021, 5:06:02 PM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
Yes, I’ve wondered about using floors as object shapes. I’ve done that to re-shape and modify floors by adding and/or removing points. Walls you can split which is somewhat limited. What’s cool though about walls/floors is when you have to overlap your textures are seamless as an OBJ. If you mix walls and blocks that have to overlap you get an ugly shimmering texture effect like a double exposure. Floors will be great for making flat irregular shapes like furniture panels. I used the 3D shape tool so far, sometimes the orientation of the XYZ axis messes with my head and need to double-check the 3D preview. I think the numbered trapezoidal polygon would be better illustrated as a simple cube. I’m making the matching hutch furniture now. I still used a wall for the curved front edge and another wall for the rest of the shelf frame. But I will try a floor to make the compound side panels on each end instead of patching 3 blocks together to avoid having to mess with texture alignment offsets between them. Using walls/floors is a much cleaner approach. Thanks guys.
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Steve N Mavronis - Retired PC Tech

Posted by snmavronis at Jan 31, 2021, 6:44:45 PM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
I just made the irregular shaped hutch side panels using the floor technique and that saves a tremendous amount of time and effort! I made the upper floor thickness the same as my panel to be exported. The first try that worked but noticed a ceiling 8 feet higher during the import process, LOL. So I went back and made the upper floor's ceiling the same height as my panel and it worked perfectly and precise!
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Steve N Mavronis - Retired PC Tech

Posted by Mike53 at Jan 31, 2021, 7:30:32 PM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
once you have layed out your room, modify by un-checking the boxes for ceiling and area

Posted by snmavronis at Jan 31, 2021, 9:45:39 PM
Re: 3D Custom Models - Using Other's Parts?
Well here's what the finished "Hutch" companion furniture looks like as a 3D model. I spoke to my dad because I thought it was my grandparents, but my mom and dad purchased both of them in 1957 when they got married and moved into what became my childhood home. Later when they got a new dining room set, they gave it to my grandparents. When me and my wife got married in 1987 we inherited them as a housewarming gift. What comes around goes around, LOL.



Anyway, I'm interested in donating the matching 1957 era China and Hutch retro cabinet models to the SH3D community. I'm not sure how to package the OBJ/MTL/JPEG files and give to you guys if you want them.
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Steve N Mavronis - Retired PC Tech


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Dec 16, 2025, 6:06:30 PM