Using SketchUp For New Homes and Remodeling

The new age of new or remodeled home improvement helps us to take advantage of the latest software which helps us to create our new living area. With some designing software like Google SketchUp, the designers actually have to build the house just as a construction crew would have to. You start by building the foundation, frame, the floors and walls. Add the roof, add windows and doors, siding, shingles, and paint it. Then do the same for the entire interior, add drywall, insulation, doors, cabinets, fixtures, flooring, trim, furniture and decorations. As you can see by building in the same order as the real life builders it is possible to pre determine almost all the possibilities of the finished product. With this information I cannot see why anyone would not have their plans for home improvements modeled in 3d at an absolute minimum. The benefits are clear from just that brief overview of the steps involved to use a cad system to set up a 3d model.

Even though it may seem an added and unnecessary expense to pay to have someone put your plan into 3d, it makes things easier for everyone involved. For starters it puts all the plans into an electronic format which makes it so much easier to view the plans from practically any where. All you need is a computer and you can set up a meeting between all the people involved in your project once you have a computer setup it's possible to have a meeting of all the parties involved the builder, the architect, and the customer. Now that you have all of your plans moved to a computer file you can instantly make change orders anytime you want. Once on the computer it's easy to change the plan and confirm the changes simply by calling the designer and asking for them to be applied to the set-up and 3d model for your viewing. Each and every time that you want a change in plans it's as simple as making a few phone calls and the designer a few mouse clicks. Not only does this save time, money and effort and it also reduces the anxiety of what the change will look like in real time.

When talking about the cost to have a plan modeled in 3D we need to look at all of the things involved. Today usually when you're doing your own home improvement project the cost can easily run from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars all for a very basic remodel and new homes can cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. With such a large investment why wouldn't you want to develop a 3D model that you can check beforehand to see in real time what you're paying for. It seems like a huge expense but to pay a thousand dollars or more for a three D. model is well worth every penny for just the ease of use and having fewer questions down the road. Also it would be so much more helpful to the building inspectors if they could use an electronic format for checking all of their plans because it would make it easier for them to actually see what you're thinking of for your project. It would cut down on all of the paperwork that is involved and going from department to department when you're getting a building permit. I'm sure in the modern age most of the new inspectors probably already has a computer at their desk and would not mind all the modern day conveniences of having 3D modeling and plans in electronic formats. In these days of green, think of all the efficiency of doing plans computer to computer without all of the wasted paper and trees saved. Also all the driving mileage saved if you are building a house or doing the renovation on your vacation home that was hundreds of miles away and you could do all of this just by clicking a mouse, change the plan, look at the elevations and 3D model all without having to leave your own home or your area. Plus the modern software systems have highly accurate material list generators so you can tell exactly what you need, how much you need and some can even narrow down even further by a showing the builder exactly which pieces to cut and where to cut them eliminating it down to virtually nothing. Even though that is just a dream to have zero waste still, less is better.

Now that we're convinced that 3D modeling online is the way to go. Let's talk about some other building practices that really help the modern builder and help all of us save energy for our future. The big buzzword today is Green Building and anyone can be a green builder it just takes a little thought to score your system and say how green of a builder you are. Today by default just getting a building permit for a new house is going to make you a passive green builder. Also anything you can do to increase energy efficiency is one category of green construction. There are lots of ways to build green, one of the best ways is to orient your home layout for natural sunlight to heat and cool your house, and this makes a lot of sense especially in the northern climates where you need sun for heat in the winter and shade for cooling the summer. Plus using energy efficient windows and really help increase the efficiency by bending of sun's rays to help facilitate the same objectives. Another way is using windmills today which are becoming much quieter and smaller, you can get a small windmill that would produce approximately 1/3 of the power needs for an entire year for a reasonable price today and with tax credits you can save even more money and make an investment that will pay off in a relatively few years

SketchUp A New Aspect to the World of Art

If you posses a soul of the artist, now you can have a new assistance to fulfill your soul desire. You can create a artwork that obeys the laws of perspective with the help of none other than Google SketchUp. It is almost invaluable for illustration.

It’s a 3D modeling program which is extremely intuitive. It’s based on the idea of actually making things by drawing lines, so people who are comfortable with pencil and paper won’t find a sharp learning curve. Like any good graphics program, although it is easy to use, there is also a great deal of depth. You can do extremely complex things with SketchUp.

You can quickly and easily build something straight out of your imagination but you can also create 3D buildings or objects from 2D photos.

Once you’ve built your model you can use it for anything you like. Take a shot of it from any angle, change the field of view, etc. You can add textures and colours as well as pre-made elements like windows or trees.

You can print it out and use the squaring up method to transfer it to a drawing surface and incorporate it into your drawing or painting. Or make a loose sketch from the image on the screen. For digital work, of course you can export images and import them into Photoshop. You can even create your own perspective grids.

The thing that’s really great about SketchUp is that it’s FREE. Yes, free. There’s a professional version which does come with a price tag but it is astounding what you can do with the free version.

Review of Beginning Google SketchUp for 3D Printing

3D-printing and personal fabrication are upon us! You’ve heard of incredibly sophisticated, but cheap, 3D printers that supposedly produce almost anything we tell them to. But how do you become part of that revolution?

Sandeep Singh takes you through the skills we need to learn, and the services and technologies you need to know—separating the hype from reality and explaining what 3D printing is, how it works, and why you need to be able to engage in it. You’ll gain the knowledge needed to produce complex designs that can be fabricated by online 3D printing services or privately owned 3D printers.

This book first be dives into using Sketchup and its plugins to make design products. Then it demonstrates how to present and animate 3D models, and in particular how to use Google Earth and 3D Warehouse to make an optimal case for sales and marketing your 3D models. Finally, you’ll take a look into the future of 3D printing, ripe with even more disruptive technologies like RepRap and widespread personal fabrication.

• Introduces Sketchup
• Teaches 3D Modeling
• Builds 3D Printing Expertise

What you’ll learn

• 3D design for beginners
• Using Sketchup
• Using the online 3D printing pipeline
• Animating Sketchup 3D models
• Becoming familiar with rapid prototyping technology
• Navigating new 3D and personal fabrication technologies
• Negotiate Google Earth and 3D Warehouse with confidence
• Who this book is for
• 3D Designers, hobbyists, woodworkers, craftsmen and artists.

About the Author

Sandeep Singh currently works as a project engineer in technical support at Energy Management Software (EMS). He has a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering from California State University, Sacramento and a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Sandeep started using SketchUp in 2007 after taking a class in product design and development where he learned how CAD software can be used to prototype models for biomedical prostheses and artificial organs. He found SketchUp to be the simplest modeling software to use and yet advanced enough to design complicated models for his own projects.

Book Details

Paperback: 328 pages

Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (December, 2010)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1430233613

ISBN-13: 978-1430233619

File Size: 16.7 MiB

Blog: How to Create Virtual Model in SketchUp

In every sphere of life you may have to create a virtual model of any design. For a student, a virtual model can be useful for his or her school project. If you want to make a house of your own then a virtual model is important to see the floor plan and get a better understanding. For a designer, interior decorator or an architect always seek the help of the virtual model for the success of their profession. Though there are various tools for 3D designing. SketchUp is known as the most user friendly and easy to access 3D drawing tool from the house of the Google.

Making a free virtual model lays the foundation for creating entire scenes and environments, which you then use for games or simulations. With some simple tools you can easily draw a model in SketchUp. You can rotate and view the details of the model from all sides. SketchUp gives flexibility and freedom to make change in the model. You can add suitable color material and texture in the model according to your choice. In the following part there is a short guideline on how to make models on SketchUp.

Make a Model with Sketchup:

1. Open SketchUp, which is the easiest free CAD program to learn. SketchUp can create only simple animations for evaluating a model. In contrast, Blender and Art of Illusion can animate walking characters. Also, SketchUp lacks a full rendering engine; models you render with it don't look as realistic but there are some plug ins to fill up the void. You'll make a model house with SketchUp.

2. Click the top toolbar's square icon to enter the mode for drawing squares. A square forms the base of the model house.

3. Drag a square on the ground plane, then press "P" to run the "Push/Pull" tool.

4. Click the square and drag upward to turn the square into a box.

5. Press "Control-C," then "Control-V" to make a copy of the box, which will form the roof.

6. Click the second box's top face, then press "S" to run the scale tool. Drag any two opposing edges of the box's top face until they touch each other. This forms the wedge shape of the roof.

7. Press "M" to run the "Move" tool, then drag the roof atop the house to complete the house model.

SketchUp, an Innovative Tool for Home Designing

SketchUp is the place where creativity mingles with fun, where simplicity wins over complex procedures, where hand paint effect adds with photo realistic rendering. Now you don’t need to be a professional designer or architect to draw a model in 3D. SketchUp makes all your necessities of designing possible without any hassle.

With the help of SketchUp you can draw the complex floor plan of your house in a simple way. With the three axes you can easily draw the lines with the pencil tool. There are many tools like Arc tool, Freehand Tool, Rectangle tool, Circle Tool and Polygon Tool to give you the flexibility to draw as you like. Then the Push or Pull tool helps you to make the design in to 3D. You can add colors, texture material according to your choice from the Paint Bucket Tool. You can do any modification with the help of the Eraser Tool. The Move Tool, Rotate Tool, Scale Tool Follow Me Tool and Offset tool will help you to modify the existing geometry of the image.

You can experience the model of you house will look at different times of day and night. Landscape of your house can be added in SketchUp. From the 3D Warehouse you can add different types of components like tree, shrubs, indoor plants, car, building, people and many more things. All these things will help you to give a real time feel on your 3D designing. It will help to have you a better understanding of the floor plan of your dream home. SketchUp also allows you to have last minute change in an inexpensive way and see the model in ‘what if’ condition.

SketchUp is also a great option for redesign your existing home. You can change the color of your rooms and rearrange the furniture to give a new look. You can also add new furniture or components like show pieces, table lamp, sofa, electronic gadgets or indoor plants. You can also change the carpet of your room. Furniture is also created with it. You can make 3D designing of various new furniture unlashing your creativity. You can find help in www.sketchup4architect.com which is a wonderful website providing tutorials, components and many other important requirements for 3D designing.

Posted By
Debarati Nath
Content Writer
Sketchup4architect