[TheForge] Sketchup Help

[paul]

robert hensarling wrote:
> I know there are some guys on the forum that know this stuff backwards 
> and forward.  I sure wish one of you would say go through the making of 
> a theoretical drawing, fireplace screen or whatever, so that we could 
> see the mechanics involved with using the program.  To me it has a lot 
> of possibilities.  I'm an old school pencil and paper type of guy, but 
> I'd really like to see how this is done.
> Robert

I just started looking at Sketchup. I teach Autocad for my Plumbers 
Union where we primarily concern ourselves with the 2D functions.

I watched a couple of the videos here:

http://www.google.com/sketchup/training/videos/new_to_gsu.html

and they look like they cover everything pretty well in the 28 flash 
vids online. There are also some tutorials that seem to run inside 
Sketchup.
I know that there is a great temptation to play with new software and 
try to accomplish a definite task right away, but there is a lot to be 
said for following the tutorials that are provided at least until you 
get trough the ones that cover what you want to accomplish.
So much of the pursuit of competence with cad or any thing else for that 
matter depends on sequential knowledge that the instructor or tutorial 
information provides.
More simply: crawl, walk, then run.
What little I have seen tells me that 3D and solids will be MUCH easier 
in Sketchup vs Autocad.
Autocad is the defacto standard for Architectural drafting... and it's 
range of complexity is like a 's' hook vs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sankt_Petersburg_Winterpalast_2005_e.jpg

I have applied for the Pro version educators license. Looks like a great 
product, available time will tell...but if it works as well as it 
promises, the $500 price tag for the pro version is a steal vs autocad's 
5K ballpark.

-- 
Paul Sperbeck
WB9HCO
jadap

  "The difference between genius and stupidity is that
genius has its limits." -Albert Einstein
"Life is hard...it's harder if you're stupid" John Wayne - Sands of Iwo Jima