Sketching out your next mod

[xmetrix]

Just a quick word for those of you who wish to make sketches of your next mod. I'd suggest using a program called Sketchup. It's truly amazing in the way it works compared to other programs (rhino, autocad, 3dsm, etc.) It allows the complete novice to create intricate designs/cuts/shapes with ease.

I rate myself as pretty advanced with 3dsm, master of rhino, and proficient in autocad and I highly recommend using sketchup for its pure modeling speed and ease of use.

Check it out by downloading the fully functional timed trial here:

http://www.sketchup.com/

[raphael2040]

Hehe. I use SketchUp for all of my mods. It's a cool program, albeit the timed trial. =O

[aghastpumpkin]

Sketchup was also suggested in Custom PC. I'll give it a go - sounds good.

[xmetrix]

http://xmetrix.net/render2.jpgHere's a model of something robbiedude might be able to tell you what it's a model of. I sketched up this model in Sketchup 5 exported to a .3ds file, imported in 3dsm7, rendered it out. watcha think?!

http://xmetrix.net/render1.jpg

[xmetrix]

I'll be posting the video on my site shortly and I'll throw up a link frontpage anyone?

[dsio]

Extremely good bit of kit mate.

[kellamne]

Thats pretty cool

[xmetrix]

ok, i've uploaded a nice 38 minute video lol. you can watch how easy it is (without narration sorry) to model in sketchup.

I've set it up to stream so you can jump to any location instead of downloading the 52mb file.

it's at mms://xmetrix.net/sketchup or http://www.xmetrix.net/sketchup
You'll need windows media player, vlan, or any other player that supports the MMS protocol.

[robbie]

Do you ever sleep!?!?!?! HAHAHAH Nice work on our old house!!

[Favu]

Guys, Google bought up Sketchup (hah) and you can download it for free HERE

How cool is that?

[booman]

I'm a huge Auto CAD fan. I love it because it is so quick. I've have designed websites, 3d renderings, computers, and my custom house with CAD. I have been working with 2007 recently and they have made some of the 3d tools easier to use like in 3d max. It is really cool.
I'll check out Sketchup and see what it is like. I have used Rhino and VIZ Render (just like 3d MAX) and still think that CAD is superior in the 3d building. CAD doesn't quite have the rendering or animation capabilites and Viz but the 2007 has stepped it up.

Great Rendering of the house by the way. It looks like it was made of real foam core or card board.

[booman]

Here's a recent model I did of a computer mod idea.
MOd

[xmetrix]

Originally Posted by Favu

Guys, Google bought up Sketchup (hah) and you can download it for free HERE

How cool is that?

There are some differences though. You don't get the full version with the ability to export to popular 3d file formats (dwf, 3ds, etc). As well as a few other things. check the site www.sketchup.com for the list of differences.

[booman]

I played with Sketchup on Friday and was very impressed. It is very user friendly! I could draw on any axis just by rolling the mouse around. I love how the lines snap to almost anything without being annoying.
I also love the guides (dotted lines) that help you to line up everything.
And I love that you can draw to scale just by inserting numbers for the length of lines/offset/diameters. Very cool program. I caught on quickly because I am familiar with 3d drawing and quickly added some mapping.
I haven't had a chance to mess with the rendering part of the program like lighting.

[xmetrix]

hold shift while you hit any of those dotted guide lines and it snaps to that axis. you can also hover over any point, vertice, line, intersection to get it to snap perpindicular, parallel, or tangent or whatever! it's fast fast fast !! What I like about it is that, using the pencil tool, you can make a 3d cube in perspective mode with perfect accuracy without rotating your view or object. AWESOME I say.

The tourguide is a nice feature, the rendering is ok for what it is, nothing fancy. If you want real good renders export as a 3d model, then render that sucka out using Brazil, Vray, Final Render, etc.