does anyone have experiences with sketchup? my test out project.

[harican89]

hey dudes...

yesterday i installed the sketchup 7 3d editor and tried out some skills.
its very funny but sometimes frustrating to play with the tools in sketchup.

the main point is, that the tools are neatly arranged.

i test out some tools and try to work in 3d without any reference pictures.
here is the result





here is the project file
http://www.4shared.com/file/b1pQ4wQO/test.html

hope you can give some tricks, tipps or criticism

 

[Ral Partha]

They look very good but here's a caveat about SketchUp 7: it will not export your 3d model to Google Earth 4 format. It will only do the regular Google Earth but this is not supported by Pep Designer.


EDIT: Use SketchUp 6 instead. Google Earth 4 is supported as an export file format.

 

[harican89]

sketchup 7 can export in 3ds formats... pepakura designer 3 can import this format. i tried this with a normal box that i used to built a mobile phone case.

do you create your stuff with sketchup too?
i think its nearly impossible to create a helmet
i dont know where to start, have you some usefull tipps or advises? tutorials as well?

 

[Ral Partha]

sketchup 7 can export in 3ds formats... pepakura designer 3 can import this format. i tried this with a normal box that i used to built a mobile phone case.

I'm using the free version of SU7 (7.1.6860) and unless I get the Pro version, it can only export Google Earth and Collada formats, neither of which are supported by Pep Designer 3.

do you create your stuff with sketchup too?
i think its nearly impossible to create a helmet
i dont know where to start, have you some usefull tipps or advises? tutorials as well?

Nope. I only use it to prep and re-scale 3d models for pepping to fit my body type. I really don't know what to tell about how to use it but there are some online tutorials on the Google site.

 

[harican89]

what type of programm do you use for 3d models? or dont you create your own models?
i need a programm which doenst contains 1000 of options, tools, plugins and so on... it should be easy and i want a quick overview of the features just like sketchup does...
but its not perfect for 3d modelling a helmet ... just easy shapes

 

[Ral Partha]

what type of programm do you use for 3d models? or dont you create your own models?

Nah. I only use 3d programs to edit models or add reference strips. I got no talent for making 3d models from scratch.

i need a programm which doenst contains 1000 of options, tools, plugins and so on... it should be easy and i want a quick overview of the features just like sketchup does...
but its not perfect for 3d modelling a helmet ... just easy shapes

So 3dsMax is out of the question? Any 3d modeling program worth its salt will have to contain that much option. Many people around here seem to like Blender so you might want to try that. Vrogy used to use Cinema 4D and his models look awesome. Not sure if it's free, though.

 

[deactivyoke]

Ive made a few things on sketch up. Ill look and see if i have any pictures. Also go on youtube and look how to make a sphere on sketch up. That might help with a helmet. My brother says its not that hard and he made a full scale modle of out house in sketch up.

 

[harican89]

shapes like a house or geometric figures arent that hard... the main point are models like a helmet, chestplate.
easy shapes like an houses (normal faces), bottle, glass and so on arent the top level in modelling...

but, does your brother have any experiences with modelling a computer mouse oder an organic species?

 

[OverKill]

I have sketchup as of now, so I would think of it as a way to make more low def models. I would do it a shape at a time.

But I would say only use sketch up for low def and weapons models. as it is more of geometric modeler (houses and chairs etc.)

 

[DarkEST Soul]

I am using sketchup 7 and i would say, that it`s simple, but also good program for modeling, and helmet is very doable. I can send you the file to see,when i`m finished with it, if you want.

 

[Ravenwolf]

I've been using sketchup off and on for a few years now, and I can say with certainty that it is capable fo some extremely detailed models.
I'll see if i can find the model of a Blackhawk i saw this one guy do over at the sketchucation forum.(thread was called Eye candy 1 or something like that) massive amounts of intricate detail. Granted this guy is a phenominal modeller
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=12513&hilit=eye+candy+2 The blackhawk
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=20385&hilit=eye+candy another of his models

http://forums.sketchucation.com/ Excellent resource for learning sketchup

as for the exporting issue with 7, its not hard to get ahold of a plugin that will allow you to export to all the same formats that the pro version does.

 

[Hugh Holder]

That's really impressive!

I agree sketchup is capable of making some good stuff. But for those that have gotten use to the intuitive tool sets of other packages I doubt many would find working in it anything but frustrating ^_^

Of course, this is great inspiration for anyone that wants to get into this sort of field. Good link

 

[Ravenwolf]

yeah the base tool sets that come with sketchup are quite limited. i've had to download alot of expanded toolsets for the version that i'm using.
Sketchyphysics was always a fun add-on never did finish that watch design..... anywho.
I had started my 3D experience with Autocad bout eight years ago, only went to sketchup because it was free. But i do agree that going from one tool set and modeling philosophy to Sketchup's is a bit of an about face.

 

[ithinkibrokeit]

I use Sketchup a fair bit to do architectural stuff for school. If you were going to do a helmet, I would recommend starting with a solid box and using the modify tools (view->toolbars->modify) to push and bash it into a helmet shape. Sketchup's learning curve is no where near as steep as blender's so i found it a great free program for learning to model in 3d. If i can get access to this site at school i might post some of the architectural stuff I've done (in the off-topic forum). Good luck learning Sketchup!