Google SketchUp
Something I have been meaning to do for awhile was to sit down and try to learn Google SketchUp. I was intimidated by it, having had some headaches and frustration with various other 3D programs, like Blender, 3DS and Maya. After working through the video tutorials, I found out that SketchUp is nowhere near as complicated, and is actually very fun to use. SketchUp is not a scary spider and will not throw me in the basement.
Here’s a couple of views of my first try, a fighter or maybe scout-class spaceship with varying degrees of detail.
A Little Spaceship
It took me a couple of hours to model this, but I think I could do it in half that now. Seriously, the tools in SketchUp make it that easy and fast.
Pew-Pew Vroom!
I’m working on a science fiction project right now and I intend to build some ships of various sizes, as well as a funky spaceport, to help with drawing various angles in perspective.
Update 06/27/08: Since this post, two companies have written to me about mentioning their Google SketchUp plugin or other product. I don’t mind at all, but it’s interesting that I’m getting this kind of response to one small post about SketchUp. Is there that little buzz about SketchUp right now that even the humble Glimbit blog gets some attention, or are these two different companies just actively and aggressively marketing their products anywhere and everywhere SketchUp is mentioned?
At any rate, I don’t intend to post much about SketchUp, but if I try out those plugins, I’ll post my thoughts.
Nice! Like you, I ran into a bit of a brick wall with 3DS Max. I think I got about as far as creating a tea pot. I can see the value of such a powerful package, but SketchUp is more suited to my needs.
If you want to see that space ship flying around then take a look at this video on Youtube:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UX2WGIjTXLI
The robot you see there was created in SketchUp, then brought into Antics 3D for animation. At the expense of having to learn another piece of software (!), Antics is great for animating SketchUp models. It’s a free download like SU, and you can import your models straight in. There are tutorials showing how that video was created on the Antics forum. And I’m glad to say Antics is more towards the Sketchup end of the spectrum in terms of ease of use - point and click, drag and drop.
At this point I should point out that I do in fact work for Antics. No hard sell here though (it’s free after all!). I’m more than happy to help if you want to start animating your models, so feel free to pick my brains!
I’m not animating much right now, but if I do, I just might give your free version of Antics 3D a try, (as long as it’s still free!)
What are the thrusters like on that bad boy?
Pretty cool result with SketchUp, bro!