Considering that I had no experience with modeling in Sketchup and my limited artistic experience as a youth, I found the program to be easier to use than I expected. I was extremely excited with process involved with creating my art and the satisfaction of tangibility experienced in creation. That stated, it was still annoying to navigate and I left the assignment with some apprehension towards any future projects that will require it.
90% of my time spent on this project was spent making minor adjustments to a line I was drawing until it eventually turned a specific color. The developers made an excellent call by adding a grid to the program, but failed to add a consistent way to interact with it. The presence of a more consistent function that automatically adjusts your lines to line parallel or in line to the axes or other edges would improve the modeling process immensely.
I also found that the camera was disorienting and managed to be a consistent source of frustration on my journey to Sketchup mastery. I’m not sure why normal click in drag isn’t a staple for every program that operates in three dimensions in 2020.
I found that over time, I was able to compensate for the shortcomings of the program to a greater degree. Although this improved the process, I still found that it was far from fluid. I had to accept some level of imperfection in the project, but I hope to find a solution to this in the future. The program seems to have great depth, so perhaps my issues would just go away with practice.
The applications of this program are robust. Sketchup is an accessible way to bring ideas to life. It allows experts to become creators and helps make the intangible tangible.
3 replies on “Sketchup First Take”
I also had issues with the camera becoming disorienting, good to see I wasn’t alone! As nice as the orbital tool was, having one or two buttons dictate three to five different kinds of motion seemed like a bit of an imbalance. Perhaps other softwares handle this differently?
The camera was a problem for me too, I wish I had known earlier about the view options discussed in class. Your house has many details that I had trouble with on my own project (window sills, chimney, etc.) so props to you for figuring out those details! I agree that with time, this software could be great for an amateur or experienced user. While the basics were easy to figure out, small problems kept cropping up and I’m sure they would iron themselves out if I used the program regularly.
Reading this makes me think of SketchUp as a language really. It’s one that is easy to start but difficult to be completely fluent at. I guess it’s also with everything you do – steep learning curve in the beginning and it takes patience for you to hone the skill.
You did a pretty good job reflecting on the experience, with the pros and cons, and I’d say pretty much the same.