Sketchup help?

[stuartpaul]

I've tried without success to get to grips with sketchup for some time.

The online tutorials are good but there just seems to be something I can't grasp.

I'm thinking of investing in a manual and I wonder if anyone has any idea which is best?

I'm aware of the 'for dummies' (quite appropriate!) and also 'missing manual' versions and would welcome any feedback on either.

Thanks

 

[Chris Knight]

By far the best I have found is the series by Bonnie Roskes and I think I have or have looked at at most every Sketchup book published.

You can get Bonnie's books as downloads in a protected PDF format - which you can print, or as real books.

Even after studying SU pretty intensively, I found myself saying "I didn't know you could do that" whilst reading even her basic book. It does pay to follow through the basic book carefully without skipping stuff.

The gateway to SU mastery after reading her stuff is to frequent this forum http://forums.sketchucation.com/ and to read Dave R's stuff at FWW.

Aidan Chopra"s videos are pretty useful too (they accompany the SU for Dummies book but are freely available on YouTube and in fact they are more detailed than the book).

 

[jlawrence]

When I first tried sketchup (ages ago) I tried to follow online tutorials. I could never get to grips with them - it always seemed I was missing some basic understanding.
This time around I followed the videos on http://sketchupforwoodworkers.com/tutorials. Bingo I get it now and can even get things drawn.

 

[RobertMP]

There is quite a lot of useful stuff in the design section here but you will have to trawl through it to find it.

The biggest single tip I could give you is to draw nothing but components. Draw a few lines for say a table leg, make them into a component then edit the component to develop it further. Draw new lines elsewhere for the next component etc. No lines on the drawing that are not already in a component or about to become one.

 

[Shultzy]

This is a good source of tutorials

http://www.go-2-school.com/podcasts

This one in particular is specifically aimed at woodworkers

The Sketchup Show #3 : Digital Woodworking

http://www.go-2-school.com/media/view/51

If you are stuck on a particular problem or you don't understand it , post the problem, there are may able sketchup users here to help you.

 

[Tony Spear]

Knowing how long SU discussions go on for, shouldn't this be moved to the Design Forum?

 

[Vinny]

Got sketchup the missing manual for Christmas and started to work through it today (at work - no faults on, 12hrs with the lappy and SU). made my way through over 100 pages and think I've grasped some of the basics. It has a bit of an american bent but it doesn't detract from the tutorials. All in all very impressed - this morning at 0700 I could just about manage a box, by 1900 I had just SU'd my first house, pitched roof, rebated window frames, garden path and a bench to boot (the bench is the first exercise in the book).
I've used the missing maual series before and know that i like the style of presentation and the way that it continues to build on what you've learn't in previous cahpters. My experience of the "For Dummies" series is that they are quite disjointed and do not "flow" (if you know what i mean)

Thats my 2 penneth worth, hope it helps

vinny

 

[Graeme]

Keep with it. It takes time and practice, but it's so worth it.

I use it for all my designs. Customers love it. I can keep my cut list accurate. Its easier than CAD and best of all its free.

 

[BradNaylor]

Knowing how long SU discussions go on for, shouldn't this be moved to the Design Forum?

Most definitely not! If this thread had been on the Design forum I would never have seen it.

I've been playing around now and again with Sketchup for years. I can see how it would be a fantastic asset to my business but the truth is I just can't get to grips with it at all.

I think the problem is that I just haven't got the slightly obsessive type of personality required to spend hours teaching myself how to do it. I'd rather be in the workshop or chatting to mates online - or even spending time with my wife & kids!

I have learned far more from Schultzy and Steve Maskery at bashes last year than I have ever figured out from the tutorials on Google. If anyone was offering a full-day course in Sketchup where a tutor could stand by my shoulder guiding me through the basics I would pay good money for it. I'm sure plenty of others would, too! There's a potential business idea for someone...

Meanwhile, the links above look good; I will give it another shot. Those books look a bit pricey, though!

Cheers
Brad

 

[Richard Findley]

I've got to say I agree with Brad. I never look on the design forum so this would have passed me by!!

I have SU and it seems like a brilliant program but I can't get to grips with it at all. Like Brad I can see the benifit of having it but don't really have the patience to learn the hard way. Maybe I'll follow one of these tuitions and try again.... :-k :-k

Richard

 

[John McM]

Aother useful video. Drawing a bookcase from an American interior trim type chap. Interesting website too, especially the secret library door...

http://www.garymkatz.com/charts_drawings.html

 

[jlawrence]

Perhaps we ought to try and arrange a specific bash just for going through some sketchup things.

 

[big soft moose]

if someone does (the bash) then i would be interested - i can probably borrow a digital projector from work if thats needed

 

[stuartpaul]

When I first tried sketchup (ages ago) I tried to follow online tutorials. I could never get to grips with them - it always seemed I was missing some basic understanding.
This time around I followed the videos on http://sketchupforwoodworkers.com/tutorials. Bingo I get it now and can even get things drawn.

Glad I'm not the only one who hasn't managed to get to grips with it.

An hour following that tutorial has moved me further forward than many, many hours spent looking at other online 'stuff'. I'd started to wonder if this computer could fly or whether I could use it as a football

Excellent site.

I'll be looking at some of the other hints and tips later and will probably also invest in 'missing manual'.

Thanks for all the help.

Stuart

 

[Chris Knight]

Just when you think you are getting somewhere with SU, someone comes along and recalibrates your standards...

This rendered SU model was posted on Sketchucation.

 

[CNC Paul]

Hey Chris,

There is aways someone to spoil your day, and mine.

 

[Steve Maskery]

That is just astonishing.
S

 

[Richard Findley]

Someone's pulling your leg surely, that's got to be a photo!! :-k :-k :-k

Richard

 

[jlawrence]

It COULD be a rendering but I'd be stunned if that's from sketchup.

 

[BradNaylor]

Perhaps we ought to try and arrange a specific bash just for going through some sketchup things.

A bash specifically for Sketchup tuition - maybe even over 2 days - sounds a great idea to me.

If one or more of our Sketchup experts wanted to organise something in a fairly central location I'm sure most of the pros on here and elsewhere would be interested, even if it meant a bit of pocket dipping to cover 'expenses'.

From what I can tell most of the guys who have mastered Sketchup are hobbyists while those with most to gain from
it - us pros - are pretty clueless!

Anyone up for it?

Brad