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I found the following technical specs for running Sketchup:

Recommended hardware
2+ GHz processor.
8+ GB RAM.
700 MB of available hard-disk space.
3D class Video Card with 1 GB of memory or higher. Please ensure that the video card driver supports OpenGL version 2.0 or higher and up to date.
SketchUp's performance relies heavily the graphics card driver and its ability to support OpenGL 2.0 or higher. [highlight=#ff4040:2i7npo8y]Historically, people have seen problems with Intel-based cards with SketchUp. We don't recommend using these graphics cards with SketchUp at this time.[/highlight:2i7npo8y]
3 button, scroll-wheel mouse.
Some SketchUp features require an active internet connection.

(1) How accurate is the above, particularly the highlighted info regarding Intel graphics cards?

(2) We are going to be doing some sketchups of a very large space ship (miles in diameter). Is doing this even feasible in Sketchup?

(3) Will the above specs be enough, or do I havge to get more robust hardware?

(4) I've had reasonable success in buying reconditioned laptops at a place called Computer Surplus Solutions in Garden Grove. I ran the above specs through their tech guy, and he said that a laptop almost always has Intel graphics, so he is recommending a desktop system at around $250. Thoughts?

Again, thanks in advance.

I'm watching the Sketchup 3D Toolbox YouTube series by Cameron Harris. I learn best when I follow along with a tutorial while doing the same thing in the actual program. Harris is using version 7 of sketchbook, which is (I gather) somewhat ancient. Questions:

(1) How much has the user interface changed between version 7 and Sketchup 2016?

(2) Can I still jump back and forth without getting totally confused?

(Perspective: I'm a retired Finance guy, and I remember that Excel TOTALLY changed the look, feel, and capabilities of the program between the Office 2003 version and the Windows 10 version, which really sucked when trying to jump between tutorials written for earlier versions and the actual program.)

3. Can I even GET Sketchup v.7 from the website, or elsewhere?

4. Would it be better to start with an earlier version of the program that has a solid tutorial, or jump right in to the latest version of the program?

5. I'm NOT looking at buying the Pro version. Until the novel sells, I'm basically limited to the free version. Are there any major differences between the Pro and Make versions, of later versions of Sketchup?

Thanks in advance.

My wife and I are writers, and want some visual feedback during our creative sessions. We decided to see what design software was out there, and quickly found a series of Sketchbook tutorials on YouTube. These are the Harwood Podcast 3D Toolbox videos, presented by Cameron Harris.

I personally found these to be excellent. However, I realize that I am forming that opinion from the perspective of not even having the program yet, and knowing virtually nothing about it.

What I would like is to get some knowledgeable opinions about these videos and Cameron Harris.

Are there better tutorials out there?

Thanks in advance. I will be starting other threads about other Sketchup-related issues, so I hope you don't get tired of my stupid questions.

Hello. I'm new here, and hope to learn a lot.

I always have Ad Blocker active. I've had bad experiences being infected from malware ads, even on major sites (would you believe Forbes?), and do not like the idea of dropping this protection.

But I'm getting red messages about how the ads here are all related to the software.

Are all of those ads vetted? Thoroughly? Will this site reimburse me for the costs of fixing my laptop if a 3rd party ad has malware and zaps me?