I mentioned Google SketchUp when it was released the other day, but I only just got a chance to try it. For those with a short memory (I haven't been posting much lately), SketchUp is a very easy to use 3D modeling program for Windows (Mac version coming?, hopefully Linux eventually?). I find that it isn't nearly as powerful as some other tools I have used (Blender, Alibre Design), but it is great if you want to draw something quickly. SketchUp comes with some tutorials, which seem to cover the basics very nicely, though it took me a minute to figure out what tabs they were talking about (look just below the top tool bar). I also found that the animations in the tutorial were a little choppy, even on my fairly fast computer, but maybe its my older video card's fault (feel free to comment). Once you get it figured out, they have a "warehouse" where you can exchange models. I also noticed that you can import from a couple different CAD formats, but there are very few export options. An interesting feature is the option to import and export to/from Google Earth, though I can't seem to get it to work.
If you have greater needs, you can also buy a "pro" version that supports animations and some more file formats, but I would look into Blender and Alibre (as well as some of the bigger CAD packages, depending on what you are looking for) first.
At any rate, Google SketchUp is an interesting program to play with, and great if you want to draw something in 3D quickly. Worth a look!
1 comment:
Very pretty design! Keep up the good work. Thanks.
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