3D House Model

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Looking to do a 3D model of a house, would Sketchup 2013 be the best software to use in terms of usability and objects / materials available?

Also anyone know any good sites to download extra objects?
 
Sketchup is the way to go, any issues anyone might have with it will be down to a lack of experience of it.

Once you get the basics down, it's the easiest piece of software you could use to get good results with.

I've used loads of software and have a lot of experience in 3DS Max, ArchiCAD and Sketchup, and as long as you don't need to do complex organic shapes, Sketchup is by far the easier piece of software to do architectural visualization in.

I'm happy to give you some tips and pointers on getting started and any hurdles you might come up against when using it.
 
Sketchup is the way to go, any issues anyone might have with it will be down to a lack of experience of it.

Once you get the basics down, it's the easiest piece of software you could use to get good results with.

I've used loads of software and have a lot of experience in 3DS Max, ArchiCAD and Sketchup, and as long as you don't need to do complex organic shapes, Sketchup is by far the easier piece of software to do architectural visualization in.

I'm happy to give you some tips and pointers on getting started and any hurdles you might come up against when using it.

Thanks might have to take you up on that sometime, I have currently just been watching tutorials on youtube. It seems pretty easy to use.

Any idea on where to download objects?
 
Agreed, sketchup is excellent and it excels at architecture.

I teach year 7s how to use it and the vast majority of get the hang of it within a lesson or two. There is some really good tutorials on YouTube, look for ones by aiden chorpa or something like that, he's really good.
 
Thanks might have to take you up on that sometime, I have currently just been watching tutorials on youtube. It seems pretty easy to use.

Any idea on where to download objects?

No problem, and Google has a website dedicated to objects;

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/

It has a lot of household items, a lot of them are poor quality but they are at least useable for doing mock ups of stuff.
 
No problem, and Google has a website dedicated to objects;

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/

It has a lot of household items, a lot of them are poor quality but they are at least useable for doing mock ups of stuff.

Am I right in thinking that google's 3D warehouse is for previous versions of Sketchup though (Pre 2013) and Sketchup 2013 is made by a different company that bought it of google?
 
Am I right in thinking that google's 3D warehouse is for previous versions of Sketchup though (Pre 2013) and Sketchup 2013 is made by a different company that bought it of google?

Nope, it'll work fine. Google has owned Sketchup for years now, and 3D Warehouse has been around for years too, they've just recently rebranded Sketchup.
 
Sketch up is not easy to use at all.

A house deisgn program will be far far easier to use. But has the downside off costing and having less models.
I keep trying to use it, looking at yutube tutorials etc. and for si mple stuff its fine, tryiing to do complicated shapes is a pitta and havent worked it out, where stuff curves in several directions at once. And hollow items with parts inside is impossible (well for me)

Would love to lesrn how to use it properly, but i think it would need proper teaching, as i just cant find decent tutorials for stuff i'm trying to do.
 
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Sketch up is not easy to use at all.

A house deisgn program will be far far easier to use. But has the downside off costing and having less models.
I keep trying to use it, looking at yutube tutorials etc. and for si mple stuff its fine, tryiing to do complicated shapes is a pitta and havent worked it out, where stuff curves in several directions at once. And hollow items with parts inside is impossible (well for me)

Would love to lesrn how to use it properly, but i think it would need proper teaching, as i just cant find decent tutorials for stuff i'm trying to do.

Sketchup is very easy to use, like silly easily. It could be how you're approaching it that makes it difficult.

Any tool can be overwhelming when you don't know its interface and how to use it.

What sort of help do you need and what sort of shapes would you like to be able to create?
 
I have problems attaching seprate parts together precisley.

Things like screw threads(not actually making screws but that sort of shapes) and other objects that have many different curves all working together.

And hollow items with internal structures.

One thing i keep trying to make and giving up on is an aeroplane wing.
So obviusly you have the aerofoil shape, which is complicated in itself, then the wing tapers from the centre to the tip in all three plains, then its hollow inside with reinforcment structures, bit like scafolding.
 
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It sounds like you are trying things that are too complicated for your skill level. Have you successfully made any simpler models/object?
 
Yeah simple stuff is fairly easy. But anything harder than simple, is well hard.
I also cant find any tutorias, for stuff with multiple curves in it. Well other than free hand and then rotate it, but thats not very precise.

I cant even find out if i have a sloped side how to put a "cube" somewhere on that side with the out side face vertical.
There is a lot of tutorials, but seems to be all very basic, or all stupidly hard and no middle progresion stuff.
 
Using Sketchup for anything that involves curves is just asking for trouble if you're a beginner or even an intermediate user.

Most things are possible in the software if you know how but it is not intuitive in the slightest.

Anything that involves straight lines and basic radius' are very easy though and that's where Sketchup comes in to its own. I'm pretty sure it was designed with architecture in mind.
 
Using Sketchup for anything that involves curves is just asking for trouble if you're a beginner or even an intermediate user.

Most things are possible in the software if you know how but it is not intuitive in the slightest.

Anything that involves straight lines and basic radius' are very easy though and that's where Sketchup comes in to its own. I'm pretty sure it was designed with architecture in mind.

Some would say the same about apostrophes. :p

I think Sketchup IS intuitive, I think part of the issue is that because it's SO different to other 3D design applications that some people find it jarring.

I would agree that it's been made with architecture in mind, but it doesn't take long to get to grips with the more complex stuff.
 
Some would say the same about apostrophes. :p

I think Sketchup IS intuitive, I think part of the issue is that because it's SO different to other 3D design applications that some people find it jarring.

I would agree that it's been made with architecture in mind, but it doesn't take long to get to grips with the more complex stuff.

My bad, radiuses or radii :p

I agree that it is intuitive, but imo the more complex your drawing is the less intuitive it gets. There are some wicked plugins which make your life easier though :cool:

The first time I started using sketch up I decided I wanted to draw my house from top to bottom and to scale. I used this guys tutorials and they were fantastic: http://www.youtube.com/user/aidanchopra . I believe he was the guy that did the sketch up for dummies book, well worth a look :)
 
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