SKETCHUPJanuary 2014

Useful links, tips and information, by Paul Hensey

GREAT WEATHER

To stay indoors and get some new skills learned, especially SketchUp. Matt Donley launched his new book last week and a link is included later, and the Sketchucation people have updated their plugin manager. Rumours have started about SketchUp 2014 already and I’ll pass on any links. This month’s avatar is Alistair, never.. without his beanie. As always, if you come across anything that you would like to share, let me know and I will pass it on.Conference

SketchUp has an annual gathering, in Colorado, known as Base-camp. Held in April it will be full of announcements and discussions and presentations. Whilst it is an ambition of mine to make the pilgrimage one day, most of the event and the fringe meetings are recorded and some are well worth scouring the internet for, start here http://sketchupdate.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/announcing-sketchup-3d-basecamp-2014.html!

No edges? Is this a problem you recognise?

A tube, pipe/ cylinder even a curved wall looks smooth and fine when textured, even when in simple colour

mode but when you need to create a simple line drawing, the edges of the curve vanish. In reality a curved surface doesn't have edges but that’s not much help when trying to indicate geometry. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The solution is very simple:Window/Styles/edit activate

“profiles” and change setting from 3 to 1 close the window and problem fixed! Perhaps the easiest and quickest fix to a longstanding frustration.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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!Part count Despite complaints, SketchUp

can actually count parts. These can be the number of benches in a model, bricks in a wall or plants in a bed. There are several levels of reporting, depending on what you actually want to do.

Renderplus (www.renderplus.com) make a plugin called Spacedesign ($99) that will allow you set up a form and create a custom report of any aspect of the

contents of your model. It does does loads of other neat things as well. SketchUp pro has a built in report function but the output can be somewhat clumsy when all you want is quantity rather than height, width, coordinates etc. TFrubies have a very simple plugin called Timberlist (free) created to help with counting parts in woodworking projects. I tried it on a simple planted bed: The list is

generated as a .txt file (saved wherever you choose) this is simple

to open and the contents can be copied into a spread sheet. Its does rely on groups/ components being given recognisable names, but that should be part of your good modelling practice anyway. !A great SketchUp site is www.sketchupartists.org dedicated to presentation techniques with lots of tutorials. Anything by Jim Leggitt is

worth reading.!Tablets

Skecthup requires some power under the bonnet to process the models generated and to date, tablets have

essentially been devices to look at things with rather than run processor hungry applications. The Surface Pro2, Microsoft has changed that. Tablet sized and just a bit thicker than you might expect it nevertheless has all the things you associate with screen based devices. But best of all it runs programmes, Photoshop and SketchUp inc. A downside is that the

screen is so sharp, icons are minute and take some getting used to. Its a game changer I think. For those of us stuck on tablets of a lesser spec, consider www.sketchfab.com its a free ap that allows 3D models from just about any software to be smoothly manipulated on screen, making presentations pretty slick.Thank you for completing my survey, the response has been unanimous. I will let you know more details when I have finished my current book

project. I will leave the survey open if you didn't get the chance to get your thoughts down last time. Here’s the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TDBJL7H!As part of the work I am currently doing I need to create some CAD hatch fills, there just are not the right type in SketchUp or Layout. I’m working this into a tutorial and hopefully this will be ready for next month. Wood grain was the first on my list.!!

Previous Newsletters I will be adding previous newsletter to my website soon, so if you missed one, they will be available at:http://www.paulhensey.com/Cad-Classes.html

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Matt Donley’s new book SketchUp to Layout is just out http://www.sketchuptolayout.com/

launched at a webinar last week, which has also been made available and is worth watching (despite the double dimensioning !) It is a great resource for getting models ready for use in Layout and creating construction information from them. Well written and easy to follow.

Scheduled Training dates available !Plant plans, using plants Feb 20th: Petersfield 1day modellingCreating drgs, using Layout Feb 24th: Petersfield Construction 1day Intermediate modelling Mar 6&7:North West 2d intermediatecovering : terrain, plants, use of layout, advanced modelling Bumpy shapes & levelsPlant plans, using plants Mar 24th: Petersfield Terrain 1dayBasics:- getting started Mar 31st: Petersfield Introductory 1day!!

Plant plans, using plants April 7th: Petersfield 1dayCreating drgs, using Layout April 14th: Petersfield 1dayRendering in SketchUp inc using Photoshop May 9th: Petersfield Rendering #1 1dayIntermediate modelling May 14th: Petersfield Construction 1dayIntermediate modelling May 5&6:Midlands 2d intermediatecovering : terrain, plants, use of layout, advanced modellingWant tuition? I’ll add you to my list and let you know when there are enough local to you to run a course!

SketchUp Services • On site teaching at all levels• Convert sketches into 3D

models• Planting plans/ libraries• Renderings• Presentation visuals• Construction drawings• Planning applications!Need a course to suit you... If you would like to receive training in SketchUp, at any level and the scheduled courses do not meet your requirements then please get in touch. We can run a bespoke course to suit at your venue, wether a kitchen table, lounge table or design office!!Call the office to discuss dates availableIf you no longer wish to receive these updates please email back and your name will be removed from future circulations.

PAUL HENSEY

m: 07506 558463 t: 01730 263715 emai: info:paulhensey.com

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