I love sketching logos. Back in school, I maintained a sketchbook of popular logos and such stuff, that I used to sketch during lunch breaks, for fun.

Also during those days, I did some fabric sketching¹ on t-shirts and jeans.

Blogger’s logo not just because it’s beautiful, but also because it means something to me and to millions of bloggers around the world. As buttons, t-shirt prints, et al, Blogger fans, use at will.

1. Fabric sketching is simpler than you’d think — at least how I did: Buy those strong chemical based permanent markers (which read waterproof) in colors of black and red, and sketch out on clothes.

We were chatting about how she did it — over a cup of chocomilk and coffee — when we thought we could build a virtual one too. And so we did. Here it is.

I generally don’t fancy learning new programming / scripting languages for the heck of it², but scripting support in Abaqus is one application I am seriously looking forward, to increase my productivity.

As I am wondering how to go about learning Python³, I would really appreciate if anyone could suggest me a simplified starting point resource(s) to get a hang of scripting in it.

Suggestions, anyone?

1. Python seems to be a natural fit for anything 3D. See Blender, for another example.
2. I think I am beyond that; but there was such a time not long ago.
3. Strictly task related work, generating meshes, modules, which I could replicate towards creating superelements. That kind of stuff.

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.

1. Make (a single line) plan first.
2. 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).
3. Then extrude (Pull up). You’ll get a full block of the entire plan area.
4. 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.

Wireframe

Shaded

Shaded with textures

Update: This three-dimensional model was done in SketchUp Free version that Google released today.

A great day for 3D: The new Google SketchUp is for the do-it-yourselfer, the hobbyist - really anyone who wants to build 3D models for use in Google Earth. Go ahead and model that new kitchen, or deck, landscape your virtual garden, or impress your teacher with a roller coaster or medieval castle. When you’re finished, place your model in Google Earth. There! The beginning of a virtual world. Warning: don’t start messing with this stuff after dinner because your first experience could be an all-nighter.. making an idea come to life in 3D can be very addicting.

Fantabulous!

Blogosphere’s speculation about a free version was right after all! I download the pack and tried it just now, and I must tell you, it’s really really awesome. Not only that, even a six year old kid can do it. That easy! Yes, I know and before you say it, I am feeling like one. Architects would—I think—wet their pants in joy. I am now!

I particularly like this one as SketchUp team addresses a crucial issue to the essentially non-IT professionals.

I’m a design professional. Don’t ruin my SketchUp.
I hear you. The truth is, we’ve been changing SketchUp since the beginning. Every new version has been an improvement on the previous one, and we’re going to keep it that way. The goal here is to introduce SketchUp to a wider audience and to continue to make it the best 3D software around. SketchUp is only going to get better–I promise.

It is reassuring to read that they still have their eye on the ball, and it’s not just about supporting Google Earth to have those 3D dreams.

I am surprised, though, by Google’s move to buy a CAD oriented software, to say the least. Does Google want to build a virtual 3D world, just like it has aggregated its information? Will it start to geo-tag information on that 3D map of the world? The possibilities are endless and mind blowing! Who knows, my kids or their kids will be learning their geography lessons in 3D. Or for that matter, the earth would rotate like it does in Google Earth to point to the source of information when you search on Google 10 years from now.

The only current logical conclusion would be that Google is bowled over by the sheer brilliance of this software to render “3D dreams” with amazing ease. With Ruby API built-in, I guess they can extend this isolated virtual world creator to a connected realtime fly through. May be even a social / commercial app that can be extended to any industry. Aviation, engineering, Marine, Defense, Trade, Tourism, Exploration, you name it. Oh my god, mind shattering possibilities!