Shopsmith Forums

I've put off learning Sketchup for a long time now. But recently decided I really need to give it a fair shot. My job involves a lot of CAD work using Autocad and a couple of proprietary Design and modeling programs for structural engineering. I've delayed learning for a couple of reasons, not least of which are ,I spend to much time in front of a computer, and I have Autocad why would I need another program.

I tried watching some videos on the internet, and taking some of the tutorials offered on Sketchups site, but one of the harder things was figuring out where to start. I recently saw the Robert Lang video discounted at my local WoodCraft and thought maybe I'd give it a try. I'm still learning Sketchup but thought I'd share my impressions of the DVD.

I purchased Part 1 of 2 "Getting Started". The DVD consists of 12 video lessons, 4 Sketchup files and 2 pdf articles from PWW covering the build of 2 of the modeled projects. The video lessons are about 2 hours of total video instruction and cover program setup, the basic tools, modeling and design practices, and adjustiments of drawings.

To start I watched the videos through without opening the software to try to get a better understanding of how sketchup works. I'm in the process of running the videos and working along side of the video, pausing to practice and play. My impressions are as follows:

Robert Lang is a competent instructor and moves through the information in a logical manner, providing the information in digestible portions. The pace is slow enough to let you pause the video to try something and then resume the video without a whole lot of backing up and hunting for the start of the next step. The information provided is squarely aimed at the beginning user, and may not be enough to get you drawing a complicated project by the end but it should get you well on your way. But considering the title I feel like it accomplishes it's stated purpose of getting you started. The production quality of the videos is good. My only real complaint is minor and may only be an issue because I'm on a Mac. There is very little polish or menu to the disc. They provide a pdf table of contents that is supposed to let you launch the vidoes through hot links. Those links do not work on my Mac, and I have to resort to opening the folders and starting each video manually.

Over all if you are looking for something to get you moving on learning Sketchup I would recommend this video series. perhaps the most telling thing is that I will be buying the second DVD in the series, and would even pay full price if I can't find it on sale.

Here is a link to the DVD so you can see the one I'm talking about. There is a preview available on this site.

http://www.shopwoodworking.com/shop-class-on-demand-sketch-up-part-one-get-started-cd

I suggest that you checkout FWW and Dave Richards free SketchUp videos at

http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/456 ... the-basics

I find they provide the basic information needed to get confident in SketchUp. Plus Dave will answer SketchUp questions in Knots.

Forrest

Looks like another good source, but it's not free unless I'm missing something. The link takes you to a page to buy a download or a dvd.

The free help is no longer out there like it was when I first started using Sketchup.

I started with what I believe was "Googles Sketchup for Dummies".

I did find what looked to me to be a pretty good series of YouTube presentations; some of which were very fundamental while others are more advanced.

I was laid up when I first started using Sketchup so I got a lot of time just playing with it to see what it would do.

I drew a lot of squares and cubes and walls and doors and windows and sticks and dowels before I started sketching anything for real.

Once you do get started, learn to create groups and components and learn how to incorporate layers. Then concentrate on editing those components that you created.

I find the measuring tape, the protractor and the rotate tool to be very helpful even when not doing sketches.

I lost many of my Sketchuo projects a short while ago when I had computers issues. I am slowly redeveloping the sketches that I use the most. Previous sketches were pretty generic. Now I am attempting to get more detail. The current project is the Mark V Main Table and I am attempting to include the underside as well.

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On this particular sketch, I am trying to incorporate details within the cutout for a table insert. I am not doing so well as you can see from the generic cutout in this drawing.

Looks darned good to me, Dusty.
But then, I've never attempted Sketchup.

Check out WoodWorkingWithSketchup.com .

This free site has only been up for a few months so you may not have run across it yet. Lots of short tutorials clearly presented with good production value, each addressing a specific function.

It is done by Jay Bates whose YouTube channel I have been following for a while now and enjoy.

You are right reddog, Dave's video is not free but costs $10 for the downloaded version. I got that in 2009 and it was $15 at the time - so the price appears to have come down.

In any case, Dave is a really good teacher and he answers SketchUp questions on the FWW Knots forum. The SketchUp part of Knots has been pretty much free of spam.

Sorry to mislead you - I blame age for my miss on that one.

Forrest

forrestb wrote:
Sorry to mislead you - I blame age for my miss on that one.

Forrest

Not a problem Forrest. I blame age for a lot of my issues

Ive used off and on for years, and toyed with sketchup. I so severely lack design creativity it really is not useful in my woodworking endevors. I admire you guys for diving in.

I, too, was skeptical at first about SketchUp because I don't think that I have much creativity myself. But when I did start using it before going to the shop I found that it could save me from mistakes in assembly. And the design goes so much more quickly than paper and pencil ever did.

I started SketchUp in my 70s, so age isn't a factor IMHO. It is fun to find out what you can do in SketchUp (or any other design tool I suspect) and before you know it you start thinking of things to do that you would not have attempted to do in the shop before.

My example is the Advent Calendar that I built for my grandchildren this year. I used ¼ inch BB Plywood for a structure holding 24 small boxes or drawers. It required 680 #2 x ½ screws, 186 total cut parts, and some dimensions accurate to 1/64 inch. A tip on this website made that accuracy possible but without SketchUp I would not have known that and would probably have given at some point in the shop.

Try it, I think you will learn to like it.

Forrest