"How does Tinkercad differ from Sketchup?"
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http://www.wired.com/design/2012/06/interview-with-tinkercad-founder-kai-backman/
@unknownuser said:
How does Tinkercad differ from Sketchup?
Both Tinkercad and Sketchup are 3-D design tools. The main difference is that Sketchup is a desktop sketching tool that isn’t suited for designing physical objects while Tinkercad is a web app that is actually a real Computer Aided Design program suitable for real design.
I believe he hasn't really observed what SketchUp is capable of. Any suggestions of some nice examples to put him to shame?
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I've wondered about that statement before -- is this a knock on SketchUps accuracy? (excuse my CAD ignorance).
Best,
Jason. -
Seems 123d (Offline) is some more powerful
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Here's a Sketchup Render that shows the design better:
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Marcus - post the example in the article comments - let him eat his words.
I posted my 2¢++ and a link to my 3D printed sketch -> SketchUp -> 3d Print model: https://plus.google.com/photos/103450081381233788032/albums/5754245713469640065
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@jason_maranto said:
So I wonder if this is splitting hairs somehow -- unless they are referring to machining tolerances?
I think Backman referred to 3D printing - which is rather narrow but no problem for SketchUp.
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Bonzai3d is also very powerful, and I've hear the term bandied about in regards to it as well... but I'm old school. I still have (and use) a drafting table, compass, french curves, t-square, triangles, templates, drafting pencil/leads and technical pens -- as far as I have been able to observe SketchUp is far and away more accurate than my traditional drafting tools (not that I do much drafting per se).
So I wonder if this is splitting hairs somehow -- unless they are referring to machining tolerances?
Best,
Jason. -
Bonzai hasn't improved their product in years. No updates
@jason_maranto said:
Bonzai3d is also very powerful, and I've hear the term bandied about in regards to it as well... but I'm old school. I still have (and use) a drafting table, compass, french curves, t-square, triangles, templates, drafting pencil/leads and technical pens -- as far as I have been able to observe SketchUp is far and away more accurate than my traditional drafting tools (not that I do much drafting per se).
So I wonder if this is splitting hairs somehow -- unless they are referring to machining tolerances?
Best,
Jason. -
SketchUp not for designing physical objects?
I don't do anything but.
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@jpalm32 said:
Bonzai hasn't improved their product in years. No updates
Yeah it's been about a year and a half, it looks like they have been putting all their effort into the newest formZ (which also contains bonzai completely) -- although I wasn't really saying anything in particular other than they have emphasized the "true CAD" element... which is a bit lost on me since I'm not clear exactly why I should care about that.
Best,
Jason. -
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@thomthom said:
Marcus - post the example in the article comments - let him eat his words.
I did just that.
btw, notice how the title of the Tinkercad interview is "3-D Design for Idiots..."
sorry, it was too easy@unknownuser said:
I posted my 2¢++ and a link to my 3D printed sketch -> SketchUp -> 3d Print model: https://plus.google.com/photos/103450081381233788032/albums/5754245713469640065
Hey, that's a cool model, and a good one to show the subtle complexity of drawing on curved surfaces with Sketchup. Turned out nice, no?
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@d12dozr said:
Hey, that's a cool model, and a good one to show the subtle complexity of drawing on curved surfaces with Sketchup. Turned out nice, no?
It was really nice to handle the model - stainless steel - good weight and solid. First time I had something printed in metal. I made it really quick as a test so it's no hollowed out in an optimised way - just enough to keep the price reasonable. But the mode material the better it feel. I love it when the tactile experience is pleasing. I was drooling over titanium as well, but that was waaay to pricey. I got a whole lot more details than I had expected of the stainless steel, and I was lucky in how the grain was oriented in my model - I hadn't planned for that. I knew it'd be grain, but I didn't think of using it for surface texture. Eager to make more.
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According to wikipedia:
@unknownuser said:
CAD refers to a specific type of drawing and modeling software application that:
- Is designed for creating technical drawings for distribution electronically and on paper
- Uses the accuracy inherent in a floating point, as opposed to fixed-point drawing database
Great, so I have some answers... does the SketchUp/Layout combo not meet these requirements?
Best,
Jason. -
meh… my images wouldn't attach in the comments section.. they uploaded and the post looked fine but they don't show in the actual post.. oh well..
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@jason_maranto said:
According to wikipedia:
@unknownuser said:
CAD refers to a specific type of drawing and modeling software application that:
- Is designed for creating technical drawings for distribution electronically and on paper
- Uses the accuracy inherent in a floating point, as opposed to fixed-point drawing database
Well someone in wikipedia-land is an idiot. Two reasons (limiting ourselves to this one clause)
- CAD could easily be done with scaled integer arithmetic on suitable machines. Like say using a 64bit integer where each increment represents one Angstrom (seems small enough to cope with important details. That would allow +/- 9 billion metres maximum range, which is plenty for anything up to a RingWorld.
- Floating point is not accurate; there are a mere 53 bits of significand, 1/1000th of the number (roughly, I used floating point maths here) in a 64bit integer.
If you want actual accuracy you need flexible length integers.
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I work with single precision 32-bit floating point data all the time (audio) -- so I was not automatically thinking they were referring strictly to 64-bit... since many "true CAD" packages offer 32-bit versions as well.
Here is the wikipedia page I got the quote from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_computer-aided_design_editors
Still, this does not answer the question of "why is SketchUp not a true CAD application?" Obviously the free version lacks Layout, which means it is not optimized for paper output -- but SketchUp Pro can create create technical drawings using Layout quite well. Aside from accurate arcs and circles I'm not sure where the perceived problem might be.
I think many people simply ignore the plugins when they talk about SketchUp -- which for me is a joke because I think SketchUp is virtually unusable without the plugins... whenever I teach I always point people to these forums and give them a full rundown on how to install plugins, because SketchUp is simply not complete without them.
I was helping a local landscape design specialist (a couple doors down from my office) get up to speed with SketchUp the other day -- they were getting bogged down in performance issues. As part of that conversation I made this statement: "The mistake most people make when first trying SketchUp is they think it is a complete program in itself. But it is really more like a platform -- you really need the plugins to make it worthwhile for much of anything".
They were coming from AutoCAD I think -- so I showed them how to make 2D face-me components, optimize component use and library, set up layers properly, optimize the viewport for navigation of heavy scenes, etc... But I felt the most important thing I did was give them directions here and showed them how to install and use a plugin (ThomThoms CleanUp).
Best,
Jason. -
Mr Backman is so 'off the mark' that I think very few will take what he is saying seriously. Now, if he studied SketchUp a little, which he obviously hasn't, he could have possibly made a case of sorts but as it stands, his blanket statement is for the 'birds'
Mike
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I tried : very more difficult than SU!
And some less powerful!
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