3D Experience with SketchUp

During the past summer I worked as a front-end developer at a company in Minnesota, where part of my job was creating 3D models and logos for clients. Because I have a little bit of experience working with 3D, SketchUp tools and interface were fairly intuitive to me.

Even if you are new to 3D modelling, SketchUp is great for beginners because of how popular it is among developers. There is a large number of documentations out there, as well as video tutorials and additional tools that you can download to make your life significantly easier.

For my first experiment with SketchUp, I decided to model the house I grew up in. I was fairly pleased with the model’s resemblance to the original, and had a lot of fun during the process of its creation.

house

My favorite thing about SketchUp is the fact that it is so easy to import external models and components into your own projects. All you have to do is click on Window -> Components, then type in something like “doors” and press enter. Within few seconds, you get all the door models out there are published on the web.

TIP: Don’t be afraid to experiment with keywords. For example, typing in “grill” and “outdoor grill” gave me completely different results!

For lazy people like me, having this tool means that I don’t have to spend time drawing corners of my own version of a door (more time for fun stuff yay). For passionate visual designers, the features provides a simple and universal platform to display their works of art.

So yeah, if you haven’t done so already, go ahead and play around with SketchUp! It is certainly my best and most fun experience with 3D so far.

Quang Tran

One Comment

  1. Your model looks good, and the grill and palm trees really set it off and make it look inviting — I want to go hang out there! You are right that there are many tutorials and tools out there. Any in particular that you can link to to give your readers somewhere to follow up if they’re interested in giving it a go themselves?

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