A different approach to 3D
It was interesting to read the review of SketchUp in Mumbai Mirror. I think most people, that have used other 3D like software before, get it wrong.
Like the author of this piece:
I have used 3D home modelling systems before, they were fairly easy to use but, unfortunately, not free. Google SketchUp, however, is not that easy to use. It takes time and a fair bit of instruction-reading before you can make something as simple as a window.
The good part, however, is that there is a helpful tutorial for every icon, telling you exactly what you can and need to do.
My first creation – a single floor apartment was a little tough to achieve because, instead of creating walls, I made one whole concrete block. I later deleted the structure and made another one by making walls. The next part was making the windows; I made a rectangle in one of the walls and used the push/pull tool to give it some depth. Then I filled the rectangle with transparent glass, tinted blue.
SketchUp is brilliant because its approach to 3D-modelling is innovatively different. You should start at the macro level and then go on to micro level of small things. Otherwise, SketchUp’s ingenious technique is wasted if you use the conventional method of modelling. SketchUp is a rapid modeler. The author in the quote above got it right the first time when he created the block, but didn’t know how to convert the block into walls.
SketchUp revels in extrusion technique.
- Make (a single line) plan first.
- Convert all elements of a plan (lines) to one entity (i.e., just make a complete closed polygon (of a single line) that resembles your floor plan using basic tools: line, rectangle, arch, etc).
- Then extrude (Pull up). You’ll get a full block of the entire plan area.
- Now on the top level of the block, offset the entire plan and extrude down (pull down the inner area).
And voila, you have the entire set of walls in just four operations and the floor as well!
So which one is better? Building walls or building a block first and then carve out the excess to get walls? If you’re sane, you’ll get to the latter, and you’ll get it at the fraction of time you’d spend building walls.
Thanks for your tip on getting a set of walls and the floor. I had been trying to figure how to do it since I downloaded the tool.
May 11, 06 at 12:34