Lots of you entered the SketchUp Halloween Challenge, and the results are impressive. In no particular order, here are our favorite entries:Haunted HousesHaunted Chapel by Sebastian Sosnowski of Wrocław, PolandSketchUp and Twilight Render | Model | Mo…
A quick reminder: The SketchUp Halloween Challenge deadline is only 13 hours from now. If you’re planning to submit a haunted house or a jack-o’-lantern, now’s the time.Posted by Aidan Chopra, SketchUp Evangelist
When it comes to using the Follow Me tool, most folks have it wrong. There are actually two different ways to use Follow Me, and for complex extrusions, one works way better than the other.Follow Me: The Hard WayIn most cases, the wrong way to use Foll…
With Halloween just a few weeks away, nerds here in the Google Boulder office are in a tizzy about their costumes. We take this particular holiday very seriously.A haunted house I modeled years ago, with two pumpkins by IDW. He modeled them for SketchU…
Two years ago we launched a web-based tool that creates 3D models from a 2D workspace: Google Building Maker. At the time of the launch, users could only make models in 50 cities. Today we’re adding two more cities, just in time for the anniversary o…
You might not realize that the display settings you choose to apply to your models can affect SketchUp’s speed and general responsiveness. Turning on fancy edge effects and other doodads will slow you down when your model gets big.When you’re worki…
This case study comes to us from André Silva. André is a freelancer in Lisbon, Portugal who mainly works on industrial projects and technical illustrations. He’s also currently working on some architecture and archaeology projects.I was first intro…
Just a heads up: The good people over at Ponoko are planning to hold an Online Training Extravaganza to get newbies up and running with their “personal factory” workflow. If you’re interested in 3D printing, laser cutting or CNC routing, this is for yo…
If you’ve ever inserted an aerial photo or an old scanned site plan into LayOut, you might have wanted to give it a specific scale on the page. My favorite technique for doing this uses the Clipping Mask feature.Step 1Choose File > Insert… to in…
The über-modelers over at FormFonts have just launched a new blog. From the looks of it, the content is fresh, relevant and nicely varied. Some of my favorite recent posts:Convert a SketchUp 3D Model to RevitWho is Master 3D Modeler Alan Fraser?Make a…
Our friends across the pond at Shaderlight would very much like you to know that they’ve just released Version 2 of their intuitive, affordable rendering tool for SketchUp. I’m no rendering guru, and I certainly haven’t tried all the alternatives…
In the world of electronics, designing a stylish, functional and ergonomic product casing around a complex circuit board—with its chips, connectors, buttons and displays—is a critical step. As it turns out, SketchUp can help in this process.Recentl…
If you’re into such noble pursuits as geo-modeling or photo-realistic rendering, there’s a good chance that you spend a ridiculous amount of time hunting for photo-textures online. Flickr and other photo sharing sites are goldmines for content, but…
The most sure-fire way to mitigate your model’s geometric complexity (its count of faces and edges) is to pay attention to extruded circles and arcs. Experienced modelers know that curves in SketchUp are actually constructed out of multiple, straight…
Plain ol’ SketchUp lets you walk, run or crawl around your model till your fingers fall off, but you’re limited to SketchUp’s selection of non-photorealistic rendering styles. Pushing your model through a fancy rendering engine can make it deliciou…