Why Sketchup?
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I'm with Pilou: SketchUp is just plain intuitive. Blender on the other hand, which is also free, and arguably more versatile, if very difficult to use--at least from my limited experiences with it over the years. And then there is the visualization aspect: SketchUp is immediately legible. With it's real-time shadows, simple toon style, and easy export to reasonably high-res, antialiased images, you don't need to spend a lot of time learning to render in order to communicate conceptual ideas.
Intuitive.
Excellent visualization.For me, those are the two biggest reasons.
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The perfect learning tool. Extremely intuitive and flexible.
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I'm lucky enough to work for a large design-build firm. We have licenses for SU, Rhino, 3ds Max, and Revit all of which I've worked with to a greater or lesser extent (I've also played with Blender a bit) so money isn't the issue for me. I would say that of all those I've tried 3ds Max is by far the most robust. It can do anything. But that's also it's problem. It does so much stuff that to get fast and proficient with it would take a lot of time, training, and customization.
I've stuck with SU for the past several years because it's extremely fast and intuitive - particularly for archviz. However, at a certain point you do run into limits involving poly and file size (not really an issue unless you're doing rendering).
-Brodie
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SketchUp was design to work the way a Newbie would imagine it should and it does! No mental gymnastics needed at any stage of the process, the next step in the building / design process is alway obvious
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It's the only one that you can master after 15 minutes!
Even kids from 5 years old!
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Why Sketchup,,, Very good question
For me Who is not a pro designer this was my feeling
Sketch up free version is a Perfect starting block for floor plans and so easy to learn in five minuets turn a sketch on the back of a ciggy packet to a working drawing and it doesn't cost you a penny to produce but your time, as you click you have walls with the advance users Model database you and furnish that model produce a working concept that just landed you a paid contract. as your skills grow (others here very advanced) With no need to understand meshes and all the information you need to use max 3d (Auto Cad products)and other alike and not forgetting the cost to pay to train and learn them packages on top of the price of software mounts to £1000s,
After 6 months of learning sketch up from Free Forums and U-tube, all it cost me was my free time I purchased pro with the Lay out export option saves so much time with sending out plans to clients, thanks to all the Skilled people here the tips plug'ins and much more and (Kerkythea Team) I have learned 1000s of pounds worth of knowledge.
So end of the day i Love the speed the quick response i get from sketchup, the support and advice from all the users, the last time i used a 3d package was Light wave with Amiga 040/video toaster for fun with friends as they gave it away free on Amiga format.
So to date thank you to the team here for all the tips and advice that no other 3d package has that support And that's Why Sketch up Is the one
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Why Sketchup?
Simple.... Because modeling is supposed to be fun and creative not complicated and cryptic.
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I am an experience computer user, I design software for a living.
My interest is house design and conception. My wife and I have built a property portfolio of houses for a pension.
IMHO Sketchup is not good for House or building design. I use Arcon myself, it kicks Sketchup into next week as far as I am concerned.
However for conceptualisation and 3D illustrations Sketchup is awesome. I use it for all sorts of things, studwork, kitchen layouts, bathroom layouts. I get the drawings for the baths,units etc and make them in Sketchup, I can then see exactly what they look like. I make 3D drawings for my contractors so they can see exactly what I mean.
I found Sketchup hard to get into and still run into problems. Compared to Autocad it is easy. You get out what you put in.
Maybe one day I will be an expert like some of the people here but in the meantime I will carry on trundling out wicked 3D illustrations, get a buzz out of every one!
Peter
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@yeahright said:
with all of the 'pro' (e.g. Blender, Maya etc.) software out there, what made you stick with Sketchup? What does it offer you that the others don't?
A lot of us are architects. SketchUp is almost perfect for us: Way more freedom than ArchiCAD, but not as intrincate as Maya or Max.
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Wow - what an awesome response!
Cheers for all of your responses. I have to be honest, I'm still feeling the pull towards more 'pro' packages - specifically Maya - mostly due to the possibility of future employment... I guess I don't want to invest too much time in something (Sketchup) if I'm going to move on to something more powerful (Maya) in a few months.
Does that make sense or am I talking gibberish?
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@unknownuser said:
well not unless you are attempting something incredibly organic that might be more suited to Z-Brush
And yes there are freaks that try doing those models in Sketchup...idiots.
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Hey, yeahright.
Very interesting discussion you started. Thanks.
What's your intended use? You mention employ-ability, so you are looking at software packages to learn as career skills, right? There's another dimension to "why sketchup?" if you have a particular use in mind. Some people have mentioned architecture, archviz, interior design, set design, exhibit design; there's game design people on this forum, too, and I'm sure many, many other professions. However, there are many people here that can point out all the shortcomings of SketchUp right along with its strengths. That's where you need to know WHAT you are using it for.
Organic shapes? Don't use SketchUp.
Maybe you need BIM or parametric features, so something like Revit, Bentley GC, or CATIA.
Are you doing fabrication? Maybe SolidWorks.
Are you going to do character animation? Maya, Blender, or something with character rigging... now I'm getting into territory I know very little about.So, what profession are you in? I have a philosophy that one should use the right tool for the job. I use SketchUp, Rhino, AutoCAD, and Revit all the time and often work between programs depending on the project or the task. I think one should learn the concepts behind modeling, rendering, scripting, etc. so it is that much easier to learn a new tool when you need it.
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I have the same opinion and feeling like Pilou, even my 7 years old little boy draw in SketchUp since he was 5 and every time i checked the forum for new posts, when I see new plugins appearing, he says - dad, let's try all this!!
Finally, when I use this fantastic piece of software I fell free and ideas comes easy. -
Because it's actually quick and fun to design with, unlike some BIM monsters out there that tie you down with programed limitations and administrative complexities.
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@unknownuser said:
It's the only one that you can master after 15 minutes!
Even kids from 5 years old!Not saying I'm a sketchup master but it did take quite a bit longer to really learn it.
At least a year or two but maybe I'm slow.
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yeahright, what a great thread you've started here. Almost every post so far has the answer to your question...fun. For me Sketchup is so versatile it's like a cordless drill but plug it in (plugins) then it becomes a mighty hammer drill, often under rated to what it's really capable of.
John -
It's not so much that people 'stick with' SketchUp rather than moving on to something more 'sophisticated'. There are plenty of people on this forum that have used Max or Maya for years but have actually ditched them in favour of SU. Sophistication is not necessarily of paramount importance; there are plenty of fields in which a short turn-around of visuals is equally, if not much more important....and it's here that SU wins hands-down over the competition. The vast majority of my company's clients (we offer SU components) fall into this category and are mostly involved in architecture, archviz, interior design, and movie or theatre set design/previz. They all relate how dramatically this reduction in time has affected their workflow.
The Intuitiveness and the fun go hand in hand. It's fun because it doesn't get between you and your ideas....well not unless you are attempting something incredibly organic that might be more suited to Z-Brush.
It's default image export is often far more effective in getting ideas across than some photoreal render. I used to use it for book and magazine illustrations, precisely because of its illustrative style. However, if you do require a more photoreal finish, there are a myriad of renderers available, or you can export to something like Lumion if you need easy-peasy animated elements such as people windblown trees, vehicles...even pigeons. Buy both and you'd still come out way ahead over purchasing Max to achieve the same result...with a heck of a lot less work involved. -
I design and make furniture, (amongst other things), the only downside to SU for me is that once I've designed and built a piece in Sketchup, I often lose interest in actually making it, because, there it is!
But really, since starting with SU (V4), my work has improved in efficiency 10 fold.
No more getting halfway thru a project and seeing the proportions are wrong and no more spending hours with pencils, (remember those?), trying to visualize a connection.And especially, no more clients saying "Oh, I didn't think it was going to be like that".
Yay for sketchup
Baz
PS: I do actually invariably start a new project with pencil and paper, nothing beats it yet for going crazy with ideas.
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Wow, more fantastic replies... I think I'll be sticking around here
@ledisnomad: my intended use is - for the moment at least - to play! I work mostly in web design / graphic design, but I'm a bit of a jack of all trades (i.e. master of none) so I'm always happy to have something else to add to my CV. 3D modeling wise I'm interested in archviz and potentially organic landscapes - I've seen some amazing stuff done with instancing and indigo renderer.
Fun is definitely the keyword here - personally I tend to try and turn things I enjoy into a potential career (see the CV comment above!) which sometimes sucks all of the fun right out.
However, based on you guys and gals I'm going to stick with Sketchup! I had a peek at the 'get started' guide for Maya and threw up a little bit!
Next up is a thread asking for your recommendations for 'must have' plugins - i.e. what every newbie should have!
Thanks everyone for your views!
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@unknownuser said:
Not saying I'm a sketchup master but it did take quite a bit longer to really learn it.
At least a year or two but maybe I'm slow.Sure...(and you are a modest Master
...but from zero that is only "complex" and "versatile" prog that you can use with very pleasure of building 15 minutes after
its start without any 3D knowledge!
I am not sure that you can make the same with Blender or Zbrush or ...!
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