Its an exciting day folks! Fresh out of the Sketchup oven is a new version of Sketchup for all of us to play with! There are some great additions and tweaks that make a great modeling software even better. here are some of the headlines:
Geo Modeling update:
There are lots of new resources available to those who Geo Model. You are now able to use aerial photography, StreetView and Google Earth images to build your geo located models. Google has a massive database of imagery of the planet, and its now even easier to access it right within Sketchup. You can now import Google Earth imagery into your model, in color, without the need to have Google Earth installed anymore!
This is the dialog where you can search any address on the planet and import its imagery in Sketchup
Color terrain data and imagery in Sketchup, and its in COLOR! Pretty cool! You didn't even need to leave Sketchup to get all of this.
The next feature that I think is really cool is the Igloo Modeling tool. Before in Sketchup, you could model a photo using the Photomatch Feature. Now, not only can you photomatch, but you can use multiple images, in any location that you want. Basically, you can combine images from any angle to create an "Igloo" to model on:
Using different scenes, you can "enter" each image and start drawing on top of it. If a particular image obscures the geometry that you need to draw, simply move to another scene. All you have to do is zoom out, double click on the image, and then you are automatically taken "into" that image and you can start drawing on top of it. I think this feature is going to be great not just for modeling buildings, but for modeling just about any object. In the coming weeks, I am going to take some pictures of objects from multiple angles and model them.
There has been a nice update to the Styles window as well. You now get thumbnail images of each of your scenes! This is really helpful when you create models with lots of scenes.
There has also been another interesting update to the Styles tool. You can enable something that is called "Back Edges" Basically, it shows what would normally be hidden lines in your model. This is a little trick that drafts people use to illustrate lines that are important, but wouldn't be seen in a particular view. You could do this before in Sketchup by using a transparent color, but this option is much better because the hidden lines are dotted automatically.
There have been some improvements to LayOut as well. We can now FINALLY do angular dimensions:
You can also export your LayOut documents to DWG and DXF, which is pretty cool because you can now send them to your AutoCAD using friends. (And they now can all be a little jealous of your newly updated modeling tool)
If you look closely, you can see the dotted lines in the back of the "eight".
New Modeling tool: Solids.
Sketchup is a "Face modeler". In other words, everything that you model is made up if faces, and isn't "solid". A lot of solid modelers have tools that allow you to intersect, union, and subtract from "solid" objects in the model.
In Sketchup 8, there are now "Solid" tools offered to help you model. Think of it as a huge upgrade to the "Intersect with model" tool. The intersect tool is a great tool, but sometimes it can be a little tricky to get it to do what you want it to do. With these new tools, its really easy to make complex geometry.
There are a bunch of other improvements as well. In the coming weeks, I will be covering these. In the mean time, I will be at Basecamp learning from the Sketchup creators all there is to know about these exciting new tools and features!
It's where I am heading to on Tuesday for the tenth anniversary of Google Sketchup. Every so often, the folks over at Google invite users from Sketchup from all over the world out to the Sketchup factory in Boulder for what Google calls an "unconference".
Two hundred Sketchup users were invited. Myself, and another fellow Sketchup user will be hailing form western Massachusetts, some folks are local to Boulder, and some are coming from around the world! I have been in contact with a fellow Sketchup user form Australia! We "met" online due to our mutual interest in our favorite 3D modeling software, and now are going to meet for the first time. He's not the only one coming from overseas.
It's events, and people like this that make me really appreciate what I had to go through in high school as a bit of a geek. Now I get to hang with people from all over the world, at one of the biggest tech phenomenons of our time.
Yes, that is the main lobby of the Google Boulder office. Yes, you do see a rock climbing wall in the background!
I'll be keeping my Facebook page and my Twitter feed as up to date as possible while I am out there (and while sitting idle at the airport as well). Stay tuned for more details!
As I am sure you know, I use Sketchup daily for kitchen design. One of the things that comes up all the time when using Sketchup is undermounting a sink. It used to be a tedious process of cutting a hole in the countertop that was the right shape for the sink, and then dropping the sink into the hole. If you were able to get it right the first time, it still took you forever. If you have to move the sink, forget about it, you'd probably give up.
Those sinks have been working great for a long time. They've gotten tons of downloads, and have been used in just about every kitchen and bathroom I have designed for the last year or so.
I was recently inspired by these faucets that are now available on the 3D warehouse from Delta and Brizo. Not only are they extremely useful, but the folks who created the models over at Igloo Studios did a really neat trick with using a single photo texture to make the faucets appear to be real, without having to be rendered. I did a post on this a few months ago where I compared these faucets to Miami Vice. See how Don Johnson faired by clicking here.
I sell a line of stainless steel sinks by Artisan. They are quite popular, and end up in a lot of our kitchen designs. A few of the other designers I work with were asking me if I could build an offset double bowl sink in Sketchup, and a "D" bowl. Instead of creating a generic one, I decided to create one that we sell. In the next few pictures, you will see the process I used to build these sinks. If you are impatient, and just want the goods, get into Sketchup and search for "Artisan Sinks" on the 3D warehouse.
There are a few things I need to model a sink in Sketchup accurately. First, I need the dimensions. I headed over to Artisan's website and grabbed a technical drawing on one of their sinks.
I imported the drawing into Sketchup. There I was able to scale the image based on the dimensions that are on the drawing. From there, I started to trace right over the image to start getting the shape of the sink.
Next, I used Sketchup's famous Push Pull tool to start massing up the sink.
I removed some unnecessary geometry, now you can see that the sink is starting to take shape.
Now I have hidden edges that I don't want to be seen. Notice that I left the edges along the top, and bottom. In the next picture you will see that I can select those edges, and use a plugin to round them over.
Using this plugin I was able to select the edges that I wanted to round over. Much easier then using Sketchup's built in "Follow Me" tool.
So there it is, a model that is all ready for some textures.
I grabbed a picture of the sink from the same website. I placed the picture directly over the model that I wanted to paint it onto. You can "project" textures onto models. Think of it like standing in front of a projector, the image is "projected" onto you. Using this method, you can paint flat textures onto 3D models.
Since my model was drawn accurately, and the picture I was using was distorted (as most images are, because camera lenses bend images) I had to use Sketchup's built in texture positioning tools to fine tune the texture. If you've got a texture that is really out of shape, you can fix it up with a little Photoshop trickery. These texture tools were designed for texturing buildings, but they can work rather well for this sort of modeling.
There is the final product. Its a accurately sized, textured kitchen sink. It doesn't end there though. Next I made a Dynamic Component out of this sink.
This will help you, the end user with a couple of things. First, the component will automatically cut a hole for you in your countertop. It also has an option to set how deep its undermounted. And lastly, in the component, there are links to the specs of the sink, and a video on how exactly to use it! To get to all of these, simply right click on the sink when you have it in Sketchup, go to Dynamic Components, and then to "Options" and you will see the settings and the link.
So, go into Sketchup and search for Artisan Sinks. I've got a collection of three different ones in there to help you model!
At the AIA show this year, Mike Tadros, president of the Sketchup training company, www.go-2-school.com did several presentations during the AIA show. As with all of Mike's presentations, they are well thought out, and very informative. Mike has a really fluid manner of teaching, and he's great at sensing what his class needs, and molding the presentation on the fly to accomodate everyone in the room. Check out some of Mike's videos to get an idea of what I am talking about:
Of all Mike's presentations, there was one that really stuck out for me. Mike started building a kitchen using the Kraftmaid models that are available in the 3D warehouse. He went on to show how easy it is to create kitchens and living spaces with these models. At one point, a lady asked if she could build her own kitchen with these tools. Mike said "Sure!" and then asked, "How about I build your kitchen for you?" She agreed. At this point, she, I, and I think everyone else was confused as to how Mike was going to accomplish this. Remember, we're all on a trade show floor, and even though we were surrounded by architects, nobody had any idea what her kitchen looked like.
Without skipping a beat, Mike asked what her address was. He pulled up Google Earth, and zoomed in on her location, and found the aerial photography of her house.
With just a few clicks, Mike had the aerial photography in Sketchup, where he began to trace the outside of the house. He was quickly able to model up the walls. The lady at the show was rather confused up until this point, because she had no idea how Mike was going to draw her house, without ever seeing it. As soon as she saw the walls go up, she was able to easily describe where her kitchen was located.
After finishing the walls, Mike started to build a kitchen for her...
Right there on the screen, Mike put the cabinets where she wanted them. There was no waiting, no render time, it all happened live, right there on the trade show floor. Mike was using Merillat cabinets, which are available on the 3D warehouse in Sketchup
After Mike built her a kitchen, he even emailed her the Sketchup model. She can now go home, download Sketchup Free, and view her dream kitchen herself, right in her own home. When she decides its time to get it built, she's got a great 3D model to start with! They say a picture is work a thousand words, but how many words is a 3D model worth?
So after spending some quality time with my friend Paul Anater in Miami this past week, I have become inspired to expand what I write about on this blog. I usually like to stick to strictly Sketchup topics. I am a bit of a geek sometimes, and I'd like to share some experiences I have had switching smartphones.
I remember when the iPhone first came out in 2007. I watched in envy as everyone was able to switch over to get what at the time was, the most advanced smartphone out there.
I jumped on the iPhone bandwagon on the day the iPhone 3G was released. That was a great year to be an iPhone owner. There were 10,000 ways to waste time on the app store, and limited 3G coverage. The best part was, this was before AT&T was REALLY bad....
For two years I used my wonderful white iPhone. I loved it. It did everything I wanted it to. When the 3GS came out, I didn't even really want to upgrade. The 3GS was quite a bit faster, and I did feel myself wanting for a little more speed on my phone, but my 3G still ran great, and I never ended up trading up to the 3GS.
Then something happened, Apple released the new iPhone 4. At the same time, they also released a huge software update, iPhone software 4.0 for all models except the original iPhone. Apple has a nice habit of upgrading software on old devices, even as they release new hardware. This is nice for current owners as they usually add some nice new features, and performance enhancements. I think this is a really good move on Apple's part, it makes current customers happy, which generates good PR, and drives sales for new hardware.
I have been through three major software revisions with my iPhone. Each time there is a major release, there is a slew of new features, and a few bugs. Apple usually quickly fixes the bugs, so I always have felt really comfortable upgrading the day these new updates come out.
I upgraded to 4.0 the day it came out, and things were not as they usually are. The software took forever to install on my 3G, and once it did, I immediately noticed a major performance hit. Instead of feeling like I had all my apps, and the internet at my finger tips, it felt like I had to reach through a bowl of Jello-O to get to any of them. Once I got them they were, sticky, and hard to handle. I think that Apple put out a piece of software that was not well tested on the old iPhone.....
Check out my friend Paul Anater's blog post on the subject. There's a great video embedded in that post as well. If you're a current 3G owner, you will be able to relate.
I have a theory that this has something to do with their business model, but we'll keep theory and conjecture for another article.
My resolution was to switch phones, and carriers. I was sick of getting dropped calls, and slow internet connectivity on my iPhone. That software update did me in. I walked into my local Verizon store and picked myself up a Droid Incredible. I was a sucker for the original Droid ads. As a geek, they really got me interested... This was the first commercial.
Now, this commercial is a little dated already, as the new iPhone CAN do all of these things... But there is so much more to Android then just side by side comparions of features.
Lets break the two platforms down. You've got Apple, they want everything to be perfect. They control the entire process, from the hardware, to the software. I'll bet they'd even love to control the cell towers if they could afford to. You can't do anything on your iPhone unless Steve says that you can. Things are magical and perfect in iPhone land.
Then there is Google Android. Its open, customizable, and available to anyone who's got a piece of hardware that they want to put it on. This has its upsides, and downsides. The upsides are that you can do ANYTHING you want on Android. If you want to run 60 apps at the same time and drain you battery, go crazy. If you want to have a different music player then the stock one, just go ahead and download one. If you want to have apps that have full access to the phone, you can get them. A great example of allowing devolopers access to the entire phone system is that you can create apps that work great with other apps. For example, just about any piece of media on the phone can be shared. If you have your favorite Twitter app on your phone and you want to post a photo, that app comes right up in the list of ways you can share a piece of media. No longer to you have to launch the app, create the tweet, go to your camera roll, and search for the picture.
Perhaps you aren't happy with the dialer pad on the phone, simply download another one! Smartphones are more and more becoming portals to the internet, and less and less about phones. I think the internet should be open and free, and I also think that the device that you use to access it should be the same. Remember how angry we all got when Microsoft blocked Netscape back in the day? Its funny how we now tolerate that sort of Draconian control from Apple, just because they are "Hip" and "Cool".
Now for the really good stuff: The speed of the Droid Incredible. Between Verizon's speedy 3G network, and the Incredibles hi octane processor, this phone can go faster then you can think. The internet operates at nearly broadband speeds. You can even load Flash on it! Then there is Google's system wide voice search. Want to find something, anything on your phone or the internet? Simply tap one button, and just ask it!
You can ask Droid anything. Things like "Call Paul Anater" or "Navigate to Orlando Florida" will do exactly what you expect them to. The voice recognition is uncannily good.
If you are thinking of making the switch, you should. I use this phone more then I ever used my iPhone. Now have at the disposal of my thumbs the ultimate connection to the world. Its brilliantly fast, and rather then get in my way, it gets out of the way and just gets things done. Droid definitely Does.
As an aside, I was able to take my now deactivated iPhone 3G and downgrade it to the old 3.13 software. Its not as easy as upgrading, and you do have to wipe your phone and manually put everything back on it, but it does work perfectly now!
