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Google SketchUp

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macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 23, 2003
1,455
246
Gravesend, United Kingdom
Ok, I might be completely behind-the-times (I know it's been out for a while)...

But SketchUp is absolutely fantastic.

I'm converting our spare bedroom into a second lounge. After a quick whip-round with a tape measure and a notepad, I had a plan of the room done in under an hour. I've never attempted something like this, but it was an absolute breeze to do (and a lot of fun too). It's great to browse sites for possible furniture, stick its dimensions into the plan, and see exactly how much floor-space it's going to consume, helping enormously with details like ensuring there's enough room to walk comfortably between tables, chairs, etc. A quick Print as PDF, and I've got something handy to print out and take around DIY stores (I also did a 'bare' plan of the room with free floor-space measured and noted on the room - handy for estimating when window-shopping).

Has anyone else used SketchUp for something similar? I know it's a multi-platform application, but it's certainly added another feather to my MBP's cap :)
 
Never heard of it but I just checked it out. Holy crap this is neat! This should keep me busy this weekend :D
 
phungy said:
Never heard of it but I just checked it out. Holy crap this is neat! This should keep me busy this weekend :D
Click to expand...

It's absolutely addicting. If I put this much effort into actually decorating the room, it'll be great :)

To start with, the plan was quite simple. 'This rectangle here is the futon' became 'this block here is the volume the futon will consume' which, with a few addition of some lines and deletion of others became 'this futon-looking thing here is the futon' :D

It's a small-ish room (372x330cm - sorry about the Godless Commie Metric Units, but it's what I'm used to ;)), so it's awesome to tinker with the layout onscreen rather than lugging around heavy furniture.

Take a look at the Walk feature. Brilliant!
 
I'm an architect and have been using SketchUp for the last two years. What started out as something fun to do has turned into to something all my clients demand. It's probably consumes about 50% of my work.
 
I use it, but from version 5 when it was free from Google. I can't find the free version anymore, is there no more free?
 
I tried it awhile back and it's interface just felt too "fisher price" for my taste (I guess I'm just too familiar with AutoCAD).

Maybe the new version is better.


EDIT: I just checked, I was using version 5 - I'll go give version 6 a try.

EDIT (2): It doesn't seem any different.
 
zflauaus said:
I use it, but from version 5 when it was free from Google. I can't find the free version anymore, is there no more free?
Click to expand...

6 is still free. There's the 'Pro' version which you'd have to pay for.
http://sketchup.google.com/

Here's the plan I put together... nothing amazing to look at, but incredibly useful!
 

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I've said this a dozen times and I will continue to say it- SketchUp is my absolute favorite modelling program, hands down. So simple to use and if you know what you are doing you can make some truely amazing renderings.

I've been using it since my third year of college (years ago... the program had just came out), tinkering with it here and there. My last year of college I did ALL my work using SketchUp- it was still a little known prgarm at the time and most professors thought it was the coolest thing ever (not many had seen or heard of it before).

You can do some truely awesome renderings straight out of SketchUp that have a fantastic hand drawn look to them. You can also export to other programs to get a photorealistic rendering (I use Kerkythea, a free progra, unfortunately Windows only at the moment).
 
i am an architecture student and although I know some professional architects who use the program, it is frowned upon in education. the main criticism is that it always has cartoony, simplistic renderings and there is limited control over the "mood" of the image.

other professional apps are much better at rendering textures and shadows, giving a photo realistic look to a building. i think it has its uses and market, and is very good for whipping up buildings quickly, but for the most professional looking 3d designs, it seems a little lacking.
 
theBB said:
Isn't it gonna be tough to reach into that closet behind the futon. :)
Click to expand...

True, true :) But that wardrobe (words like 'wardrobe' come hand-in-hand with the godless commie metric system over here :D) is rarely used - mainly full of old nurses' uniforms (oi - no giggling - I live with a nurse!)

Still, I checked with SketchUp's tape measure tool to ensure there's still enough room for the doors to open.

joshysquashy said:
i am an architecture student and although I know some professional architects who use the program, it is frowned upon in education. the main criticism is that it always has cartoony, simplistic renderings and there is limited control over the "mood" of the image.

other professional apps are much better at rendering textures and shadows, giving a photo realistic look to a building. i think it has its uses and market, and is very good for whipping up buildings quickly, but for the most professional looking 3d designs, it seems a little lacking.
Click to expand...


Agreed, but it's horses-for-courses, isn't it? The key part of your post is 'other professional apps...' - I don't think SketchUp's aimed at that level. Photo-realism certainly isn't one of the program's goals. However, professionals like skd still seem to find it a useful tool. I've no experience of pro-level architecture applications, so maybe I'm off-base here, but I'd imagine SketchUp could be handy for playing with layout possibilities whilst you're actually with the client, whilst advanced design software would be called in for the actual "it will look like this" stuff.
 
irmongoose said:
LethalWolfe: Do explain :)



irmongoose
Click to expand...

I finished reading this book about guerilla film making called The DV Rebel's Guide: An All-Digital Approach to Making Killer Action Movies on the Cheap and in it the author talks about using SketchUp to make story boards for your movie if you are lacking in drawing ability. So I decided to check it out really quick. I'm not working on a movie currently (even if I was I'm typically not involved in the pre-production phase) but I like knowledge for knowledge sake and, who knows, it just might come in handy some time.


Lethal
 
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I am also a Google Sketchup fanatic! It's such a great program to use, so easy and useful. Plus the file type is exportable to Blender, Inventor, and CAD. It can also import these file types too!

I have a CAD class, and we had to design a floor plan for a house in AutoCAD, and once we finished, we made it 3D with Sketchup.

An absolute must for this program is the 3D warehouse. You should see some of the stuff people have made with it, simply amazing. I have a few models in the warehouse myself under my MR tag, look me up if you have the chance.

Great software, at an unbeatable price :D
 
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