Maximum PC

Guys, you have to check this out. My Dad found this and pointed it my way. he is working on finishing his basement and drew up the basement to the proper size so that he could model it and see what it will look like... he knew I was working on designing a new computer desk so he recommended it to me.

http://sketchup.google.com/

After about 2 hours of playing around (downloading, watching a few tutorial videos, and actually drawing) I have a 3D model of the main part of the desk I am planning...



You can orbit, zoom, pan around the model. Really pretty sweet stuff. I am going to make models of some of my stuff, to see how it will all fit together on the desk. It really helps to be able to visualize things to see how it will work out.

Holy crap. That sure will come in real handy! Thankyew!!
Tom

This Program is awsome I was able to plan out how i want to paint the inside of my NZXT Tempest.

Autodesk Inventor is ALOT like it, but Google sketchup is free and ALOT easier to use (trust me. It took me nearly 3 hours to draw a simple gear system in inventor...)

I bet people whom have more experience and training can do things much faster in Inventor. However, it isn't as free

Maybe this time I download it, it'll actually run! I'll give it a try. Never been able to get it to actually launch, once installed. Tried, somewhere like 4 or 5 times, over the past year.

Yeah that's true. Working with inventor for about 5 weeks in school is nothing compared to how much time people put into learning the program.

I down loaded that a while ago, really slick.

Being a CAD user I can appreciate how easy it makes 3-D.

I really like the function where you can take a pic of your house and then just stick it to the 3-d model of your house. It'll even take the skew out of the picture, it's really amazing. hence google earth database, right?

I am interested to see what else everybody has made with sketch-up. If you feel inclined, post a screenshot and the .skp .skb files for others to play with? I will upload mine when I get home from work today.

Google Sketchup Challenges... Your computer:

http://sketchup3dchallenge.blogspot.com ... puter.html

Inventor is pretty sweet, I got it free from my school. I love it. Google sketch up was less organized I think but since its free its probably fine for most people

If I could afford Inventor I would get it.

http://www.bdwakefield.com/googleskp/basic_desk.skp
http://www.bdwakefield.com/googleskp/ba ... k_plus.skp

Bit-Tech just finished an insane SketchUp contest that Bill Owens and I gave prizes for.