Also, my friends over at www.go-2-School.com put together wonderful videos on a variety of topics. I have embedded two here that I think apply really well to Sketchup in kitchen design.
These guys do videos on a variety of topics, and they also do online, and live training classes, check out their website!
You read that right, SketchThis is now in HD! All of the old video's have been re-posted in HD so that they look great when in full screen mode. All videos from now on will be recorded in the wide screen format as well!
Also, if any of the readers have any requests for a video tutorial, please contact us, we'd love to hear your ideas!
Undermounting a sink is a difficult thing to do in Sketchup. Cutting the hole in the countertop and getting it to the correct shape of your sink can be a difficult task.
This is something that I do on a regular basis, so to make things easier, I have created a special dynamic component that will automatically cut, and size the hole, and place the sink for you!
There are a few steps you have to take to prepare your countertop first, which I cover in this video. Using this technique will save you time, and much frustration!
Also, here are links to the models used in the video. Feel free add the models, or the collection into your collection of models! If you want to know how to to this, watch this video, and this video.
The developers of Sketchup have made much of it "open source". They allow anyone with programming skills to write their own plug ins. This has allowed a large community of Sketchup users to make plug ins for all sorts of applications. Some plug ins are made by large companies, and some are made by all night programming spree's fueled by Mountain Dew and Hot Pockets . As you might expect with this broad range of talents, there would be varying results. I am not sure if this plug in is backed by corporate investors, or skin irritating microwaved food, but I can tell you the results are genius!
The most obvious use of this plug in is for making crown moldings and trim. For years, I have been using the brilliant "Follow me " tool to make moldings. This works well, but it is a multi step process.
First, you need to draw your profile. Then you need to place it in the right spot, then you need to draw out a path for it to follow. Finally, you get to use the "Follow Me" tool and drag the profile along that line. This may sound a little "Rube Goldberg" It isn't all that hard, but it does require a bunch of clicking, and you do have to re-draw, or copy and past your molding profile each time you place a new molding. Often times when you have curved moldings, you have to "soften smooth" the edges to remove unnecessary lines. Lastly, if you need to change the path of your molding, you have to re-draw it over again.
Check out this video, made by the creator of Profile Builder to get an idea of how it works. At the end of this post, you can view my tutorial on how to use Profile Builder in kitchen design.
Profile builder can be used for so much more then just crown moldings. I also use it for walls, and even counter tops!
Profile Builder can also export lists of the lengths of moldings that you have used. If you want to save time, and make your Sketchup experience even easier, I highly recommend that you head over to Smustard, and purchase this plugin! You won't regret it!
