I had a free trial about a year ago , messed with it a bit , but had a computer self destruct , got a new laptop , and haven't acted upon Sketch-Up's periodic emails essentially asking me to buy their product .

I have mixed feelings ...essentially , is it worth it ??

T

Yes, occasionally. I've recently found a way to access a laser cutter and a CNC machine, so I'll have to brush up.

You can buy the pro version (actually $100 off right now), but the free version works well for me.

I don't know what the relationship with Google is anymore (I'm sure Wikipedia knows) but as far as I can tell, it's still free in the basic version. Find Sketchup "Make" v8.x at sketchup.com


Andrew

MasonJar Wrote:Yes, occasionally. I've recently found a way to access a laser cutter and a CNC machine, so I'll have to brush up.

You can buy the pro version (actually $100 off right now), but the free version works well for me.

I don't know what the relationship with Google is anymore (I'm sure Wikipedia knows) but as far as I can tell, it's still free in the basic version. Find Sketchup "Make" v8.x at sketchup.com


Andrew

Yup, the basic version is still free and from what I've read, they have a large library that you can also download for free. I have it and I've played around some, but I've got an older version of TurboCad that does everything I need, and I've used it for a good 20 years, so I'm familiar with it. Wood Magazine ran a article a few months ago on how to use Sketcup for designing woodworking projects. It appears to be full-featured for doing 3D. Pretty powerful for a free application.

Yeah , I was quite impressed with the freebie , too . There's a bit of a learning curve ( atleast for me ) and I'm just afraid that if I don't use it enough I'll have to re-learn the thing . Decisions , decisions .

T

I have the free version on my desktop and used to play around with it some but never could figure out how to get good use out of it in regards to my layout.

Hi
It depends on what you want from sketchup really? If its 3d printing then its more than capable. If you check out a website called 'Sketch-u-cation' they have many add ons and plugins that make it just as powerful as some expensive programs.

I have used the free version of sketch-up exclusively for many years to make 3d plans and printable templates for scratch building. The learning curve is much easier than other CAD programs, and the tutorials make it even easier.

This thread has a link in it that will allow you to see all 96 of my plans:
<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://bigbluetrains.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=7250">viewtopic.php?f=22&t=7250</a><!-- l -->

Yes, I use sketchup for all of my 3D printing designs. Solid Inspector is the indispensable plugin for 3d printing.

It is plenty powerful for what we do in our hobby. Watch tutorials on youtube to learn how to create complex objects. Also look for plugins, especially on Sketchucation, which make tasks simpler.

Here are some of my creations, all are products of the free version of Sketchup 8.1:

Passenger car trucks:


Domes:


Swing motion trucks with internal, cosmetic springs:


Archbar trucks:


4-wheel caboose running gear:

I love the fact that you can have things printed that actually work, like sprung suspension and arch bar trucks.

Michael who do you use for printing, they look really well printed.

Shapeways. The springs are mostly just cosmetic. For my first version of the passenger car trucks, I designed them to have a working suspension, which was successful, but I also created a rigid version which is easier to assemble (plus, springs don't scale well, so they won't both function and look right).

The design work I have done for GCLaser, is done with Autocad.
For my personal use, Autocad, works just beautifully.
I will probably never go to 3D printing, when I can "build-up" just about anything I need in the way of "detail".
That said, my "hobby" is model building, my hands, are "my 3D printer".
To each, their own.

Sumpter250 Wrote:The design work I have done for GCLaser, is done with Autocad.
For my personal use, Autocad, works just beautifully.
I will probably never go to 3D printing, when I can "build-up" just about anything I need in the way of "detail".
That said, my "hobby" is model building, my hands, are "my 3D printer".
To each, their own.

Autocad can be a bit pricy... make that a lot pricy. ($4,000 +) For our business, I used Turbocad which was a whole lot cheaper (around $50 at the time) and did a fine job with 2D, plus it could read and create Autocad files. Over the years, it kept getting more and more expensive ($130 for the "Deluxe", and up to $1700 for the "Pro" versions), still a lot cheaper than Autocad, but more than I wanted to spend. They are now up to version 20, but I still use version 8 and it works fine, even with Win7. It does 3D, but I can't find a reason why I'd want to take the time to learn since I really don't have a use for it. Maybe if I got a 3D printer that would definitely change.

And yes, I have downloaded Sketchup and do plan on spending time using it. There was an article in "Wood Magazine" a few months ago on how to use the 3D function for woodworking projects, but still I'm concerned about the learning curve on the 3D even for that. From what I understand, it is a powerful CAD program, and the price is right.

This is probably worth a seperate thread, but its relevant. On a British forum the use of a Silhouette Cameo cutter has been shown to cut out thin plasticard or card to a 2d CAD design. The fact that it will cut through plasticard means that there are numerous uses for it model railroading.

Please read here 1st post is more than enough to get the idea: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/79025-a-guide-to-using-the-silhouette-cameo-cutter/">http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index. ... eo-cutter/</a><!-- m -->

It has its own 2d cad software, but you can import from more professional or other cad software.

Dave