Quick Sketchup presentation !

altap

Hi !

I'd like to make a quick presentation of Sketchup for our Architecture school students:

what kind of features do you think i should present (or focus on) ? .how long should the presentation take ? have anyone here already done that for architecture students...etc, any exemples ?

thanks in advance for your suggestions ...

remus

Personally id focus on the stuff that makes Sketchup a good modelling program for architects, namely:
-User Friendliness
-Simplicity
-Extensibility
-Integration with Layout

A few examples of real world use would also go a long way.

altap

Thanks Remus, i'll try to see what i can do !

well, i've already prepared a presentation in three steps:

I- general overview
what is Sketchup (one slide presentation)
AEC oriented softwares on the market (purposes )

II- starting to use the software.

1-how SKetchup works ?

a- Sketchup interface
b- Sketchup Principle (lines = surfaces = volumes)
c- 3d work environment
e- Basic (2D) fonctions
f- pushpull tool
g- working on surfaces ( deleteing moving selecting )
h- drawings helps (vbs, etc...)
i- annotation tools
j- surface editing

    2-Advanced fonctions

a- follow me tool
b- intersect with model
c- guide lines
e- layers
f- group & componant
g- material& styles
h- section & shadow

III- Examples ( from simple objects to urban models ) .

In the presentation part :

but i'm not really convinced about that as it will take a lit bit of time to present (so not realy a quick presentation ). there are other intresting features i think i should add like "photo match", some useful ruby scripts ( is that what you mean by extensibility Remus ? )

remus

That is indeed what i meant by extensibility, along with the plethora of integrated render engines.

Looking at your presentation more generally, id cut down on the basic stuff a bit if you think the audience can do without it. I have a feeling reeling of a list of tools wont be particularly captivating. Instead id focus more on the principles that sketchup uses, stuff like the inference engine and auto-fold.

Heres what id probably go for:
General overview
Same as yours.

Getting Started
-lines=surfaces=volumes
-Navigation tools (orbit, zoom etc.)
-2d tools
-Inference
-Move/Rotate
-push/pull and follow me
-autofold
-groups and components

More advanced stuff
-Scenes
-Layers
-Shadows
-Styles
-Materials
-Rubies
-Layout, if you have time.
-Renderers, if you have time.

Example(s)
I imagine you want to show them how SU can help them in their work, so to this extent id show them an accurately modeled project that makes good use of components, layers, scenes and styles. Show them how you could go about exporting stills and/or fly throughs of their work and how youd go about rendering the model. You could also demonstrate exporting the model to layout and getting the plans drawn up 'automatically'.

Thatd be the very thorough version, although you could cut out a lot of the stuff about renderers, rubies and perhaps trim down the example a bit. All depends what you want to show them really.

Another good thing to do would be to provide them with a few example files and point them to the SU website so they can have a go. Nothing like playing around to get people enthusiastic.

altap

I think the modifications for the basic stuffs are easy to make. What will need more indepth investigation is the example:

At first, i tried to find a good reference project (to be realised "live" in SKetchup. (a project that every student will recognise) like one from famous architects ( i thought about Botta's houses ) . i've choosen an exemple ( Origlio ) ; As far as i remember, i gave up because the example wasn't the simplest nor the easiest one to do in skp (while possible)_ consumed a lot of presentation time _... have to look further may be in Botta's exemples to find a simple one ( have you one in mind ? ).

Thank you VERY MUCH for your inputs and time Remus.

Mike Lucey

Yes, I wish to thank you also Remus for the kind helping hand that you show to all SketchUcation Members.

Mike

rickgraham

If these are people with CAD background, I would also throw in a blurb about how layers in SU are NOT the same as layers in CAD. I'm still stumbling with this one after months of SU use. Hard to break old habits.

Rick

d12dozr

Maybe you could talk about the 3D warehouse and all of the models available for free (many are garbage but there are a lot of companies that have quality models in there...windows, cabinets, appliances).

Maybe your examples could include the entertainment industries' use of Sketchup...in the making of Avatar and a Massive Black interview by Google.

altap

Rickgraham
actually, i'm not sure they are all CAD users really. While a agree with you on that point, it seems more than an advanced features as it led to speak about outliner. isn't it ?

d12dozr
The audiance will be mainly be architecture students, however it's not a bad idea ...not at all.

thanks

Daniel

I gave a similar presentation earlier this year to some interns/students. Since SU is so easy and intuitive, and they were also to be somewhat familiar with the program, I stayed away from the easy stuff such as the extrude tool, but focused on those areas I've noticed newbies to sometimes have problems, and how to improve their presentations:

SU's inference system
Groups and components (the difference, and why use them)
The follow-me tool
layers and how to use them
The importance of good materials, places to find them, and positioning them correctly.
Details
Composition
Styles

It was supposed to have been an hour, but based on the questions they posed, some of them had next to no experience with SU, and it turned into 2 1/2 hours, and I covered more than originally planned. It would also be a good idea to have to printed out examples of SU work for them to see.

dylan

I did a three SU tutorials/training for beginners a few months ago and covering the basics took about 2.5 hours.

I then put a tutorial together where we created a house using all the basic commands I had shown such as move, copy, components, groups, follow me, construction lines etc

altap

Thanks every one ...