Staying up to date
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Hey guys,
I'm a pen-and-paper architect and a bit of a SketchUp virgin but... I'm working on changing that
I have a fresh SketchUp 8 installation, and the tutorials I've followed so far have definitely made things easier (thanks for the "Getting started" posts!).
However, I find it a bit challenging to stay up to date (the SketchUcation forum is huge!), so I was wondering if you guys could share your links/thoughts on where you look for... um... more condensed information/news on pretty much everything related to SketchUp?
For example announcements about updates, news about plug-ins and scripts for SketchUp, new tutorials etc.
I already visit the SketchUcation News and Catchup pages, but are there any other SketchUp-related websites and perhaps even some paper-based magazines (yes, I'm old school) that I ought to be checking out regularly, so I don't miss out on anything?
Tanya
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Hi Tanya, welcome to SketchUcation.
I agree it can be very overwhelming looking through all the information here. What are you planning on using SketchUp for? Commercial, residential or other? My advice would be to start with a project and then ask questions when you get stuck on something. We can then either point you to a solution or offer one straight up. Asking for a general how to can be just as overwhelming to those trying to help you.
Hope that helps.
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Well, there's the official Sketchup blog, for one...
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And of course, there is the SU Help Centre (and especially the users' guide and reference guide on the right) where you can go through the whole application (and the individual tools themselves) step by step.
When I was first introduced to SU, I started to play around but soon hit the walls and realised that I really needed to go through those guides if I wanted to become proficient (back in those days, it had a different structure but the concept is more or less the same)
Google decided not to release the manuals for SU 8 (and probably on) as a downloadable pdf file any more but the manuals for SU 6 and 7 are still relevant in most cases (well, SU 7 is "closer" to SU 8 than version 6 obviously) and are accessible here:
http://sketchup.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=36213&cbidAnd yes, just start a project and keep asking. Do not use a project file which you have a tight deadline for for learning though and be prepared to re-start in case you screw it up big time.
Here is lesson 1 - although you say you have been a pencil & paper architect so far so other software may not influence your workflow but still important for beginners...
YouTube - Using Layers in Google Sketchup
[flash=600,470:touu3fl3]http://www.youtube.com/v/7swKSFCE3AU?fs=1[/flash:touu3fl3]
Ah, and welcome to SCF!
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Actually, getting back to Tanya's original question of how to stay up to date (as opposed to how to learn); the best place is almost certainly right here. Drop in on a regular basis and check out the threads in the main SU forum for different techniques methods of work; and gradually acquaint yourself with the most useful Ruby scripts, which will make some aspects of your work much easier.
As for old school learning; there are some useful books by people such as Daniel Tal, Aidan Chopra and Bonnie Roskes. Aidan also has an excellent set of videos on his site which complement his SketchUp for Dummies book. Link -
Thanks for the warm welcome and all the tips, guys!
I didn't know that there was an officialSketchUp blog, nor that there were so many books available. That SketchUp for Dummies book is right up my street!
The PDF manual for SketchUp 7 will also come in handy, so I can print the most interesting chapters (I'm not keen on reading hundreds of pages on the screen!).
The Layer tutorial video was also useful, I had no idea that hidden geometry can be affected even when layers are turned off!
It will probably take a little while to digest all this, but in the mean time please let me know if you can think of any other SketchUp websites/magazines I should know about if I want to stay up to date (i.e. latest news, new scripts, announcements, new tutorials, competitions, interviews, tips and tricks etc).
Thanks again for all your help!
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There's our own magazine called CatchUp. You'll see it in the line of 'red' buttons at the top of the page. We've just started it so there's just 2 issues but we're in the middle of compiling the 3rd.
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Hey, it's me again - I just wanted to say thanks again for all the links to the websites and books that all of you have provided so far. You've really helped me find my bearings and I'm not feeling like I'm playing catch-up all the time!
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