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Do you Hate Sketchup?

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sketchup
8K views 18 replies 15 participants last post by  Wakita46 
#1 · (Edited)
I have been noticing a real split between how people feel about Sketchup. It's either people love it, or they hate it. I'm trying to figure out why. It seems like there are some people that just can't get past the basic concepts of Sketchup, so they get frustrated and give up on it. What do you struggle on with Sketchup? Why do you hate it??? I'd like to help, lol.

Sketchup is such a great tool, I can't imagine not using it. Let me know what you don't understand about Sketchup and hopefully I can figure out what people are missing when they are trying to learn the program.
 
#4 ·
I've just started to use sketchup in the last couple of months and the more I use it the more I like it. I am not doing this for a living however, just for my own designs and personal projects.

I think a lot of the people who don't want to use sketchup are those that learned to use pencil and paper to draw what they need and carry so much info in their minds that sketchup is a waste of time. They know from experience what proportions work, what joinery to use and probably have a good vision of how the final piece will look in their minds. Personally, I am strictly a hobby woodworker who can't draw and don't have the experience to know what will work so I love any tool I can use to help me visualize the process.

I've used computers my entire adult life (didn't have them growing up) and for me learning new programs has always been relatively easy. For any program there are certain rules/procedures you have to learn before you are proficient - just like learning a new spoken language. Some people can learn new spoken languages easily and some can not. I think the same is true for computer programs - some will learn easily and utilize the technology and some will not. Unfortunately, the genes for learning spoken languages and computer languages don't seem to have any linkage as I can only speak one.:smile:
 
#9 ·
+1
I was one that used a pencil and a sketch pad to try and show customers prelims on additions, floor plans, etc. Alot of times they could not visualize even then.

I only started using sketchup 4 months ago. The first Tandy computer came out long after I got out of the Army! So, learning to use one took a while, and I only did it because I was an avid gamer. The problem with sketchup's learning curve is that the tips and trick's are scattered all over the net. You have to search to find them. The basic tuts are just that basic. Then there are the plugins... you have to find them, then learn what they do or how to use them. There doesn't seem to be a simple way to find "what plugin do I need to do this" It takes patience and time.

I have spent hours each day learning new things but have reached a point to where I take my laptop to the customers and sketch what they want on the spot. Then go back and fill in the blanks. And most of this is done in a day instead of 2 or 3. MUCH easier now.
 
#5 ·
I own copies of both Autocad and Solid Works and can make both of them stand up on one leg and sing. :laughing: I just never saw the need to bother with it myself. Also, in the back of my twisted mind there is this little demon screaming, Google don't give anything away free except maybe Chrome! Somehow, someway they are getting something from the people.
 
#6 ·
I've played with sketch up a bit . And, it isn't bad, and is actually pretty good.

But I have been using AutoCad since version 4, and was using plotters that we had to right our own FORTRAN code to drive before that.

I just never saw anything in sketch up that I can't do quicker and easier in AutoCad.

I know how to plot full size drawings from AutoCad, of really big parts. Sketch up might do it, but I didn't ever figure out how.

Sent from my iPhone using Wood Forum
 
#7 · (Edited)
I suppose if you have no drawing skills, CAD style programs are helpful. It can 3D things that 95% of people cannot imagine, let alone put on paper.

I'm an architect by trade and still old school draw. Problem with CAD based programs for small projects, it it is tedious and the set up time is not worth it, when in 3 to 5 minutes I can have it on paper in a form I like and improve from there (in 2 , 3 and 4 point perspective, and I can fake further points of perspective for realism.).

Even when designing buildings I don't CAD em, and find I'm actually faster than most CAD users with a pencil, pens and Berol markers (for color).

Understanding I'm the exception in this, rather than the rule, I do respect what CAD users can do, and they do have some advantages over my methods, and I do work with other CAD (Autocad) users in commercial projects, but all residential is by hand. I applaud their talents and realize I am a dinosaur in the field but I studied art and architecture to use my hands in doing so. To use computers for it would be avoiding the whole reason I went into the field in the first place.. "Art Forms!"
Plus, the designs I now do in furniture are too curvy and natural in raw wood form, and there is not a computer program that could come close to designing the free form projects I do. I mean, how can you take a cyprus slice form with all of it's complex natural flow and curves and use a computer to plot it?
Do-able ? Yes! Tedious? Yes!

No thanks.
And most times when designing furniture pieces, I use no paper and let it morph as I'm building it. Then it gets interesting.
Done that in home remodel projects as well, and they come out unique.
 
#16 ·
Is there anything specific that you guys can point out that make you feel Sketchup takes too long, or is too hard to learn? I can see we have a number of different perspectives here with a ton of expertise with different design approaches.
I'd used Sketchup for house design before, and found it usable but not particularly intuitive. When I tried to use it to design a woodworking project, the approach I'd used for house design proved worse than useless.

Then I found the Sketchup for Woodworkers tutorials, and learned to create each "board" as a component, how to use guides, and how to combine components. Now I can create a design almost as fast as I can think of it. I also use CutList to handle material layout, so it tremendously simplifies the design process over pencil and paper, IMO, and I spent a fair amount of time behind a drafting board as a youth.

I think understanding components and learning to create every "board" individually is the key. From that point it's very similar to woodworking itself; after you've created a few boxes you can take those same skills and create more complex projects.
 
#12 ·
Sketchup Tutorials

I can appreciate what you say about Sketchup tutorials being scattered all over the place. That was one of the big reasons I wanted to start my website MasterSketchup.com. I've been writing tutorials and creating videos to help people learn the program, but I know there's a lot more to teach. A little bit at a time.

As far as plugins, it's really hit or miss. Anyone can create a plugin so it's not regulated and you might not be able to find much documentation or training on it. But there are some really excellent ones out there that are well supported.
 
#13 ·
The last company I worked for sent me to a class on AutoCAD rev.14. We were only taught to draw in 2D in that class but I became very comfortable with it. I managed to get my hands on a copy of that software (legit copy) and still use it to this day on an old Windows 98 laptop that still works…totally antiquated stuff for an old dog that doesn’t much like new tricks.

My biggest hang up was making the transition from 2D to 3D. From the Sketchup tutorials I understood the concept of 3D and could work with it, but it was easier and faster for me to revert back to something I already knew.

I’ve always had it in my head that Sketchup is something I should learn when I have time on my hands, but I never seem to have time on my hands. That old laptop is going to croak some day and I’ll be forced to make a change. Until then, well…
 
#14 ·
I am a mechanical designer engineer and have used many programs from AutoCAD R9 or 10 (2D) to Unigraphics (3D) and CATIA (3D), along with a few others over the years. For home use, I settled on a program a few years ago called Alibre (www.alibre.com). Sketchup might have been out then, but I never put much effort into Sketchup, though I see a lot of good things about it. For me, Alibre is more akin to what I am already used to, so that is likely part of my bias. I am using their Personal Edition, though they have grandfathered in several options that they now have put into their more expensive packages (not sure how they do that exactly, something in how features are licensed to you). In any case, I am quite pleased with it and have designed several home projects with it.
 
#19 ·
I am very comfortable with Visual Cadd but it is only 2D. I am just learning Sketchup because I have had times where 3D would be really helpful. I tend to carefully make plans and then find out in the middle of actually making something, that a particular joint is a little more difficult to make than I thought or that I didn't visualize a joint that has wood coming from 3 dimensions correctly. I expect to have to make plan B's but run into trouble when they run in to Plan C's and Plan D's. Hopefully, I will be able to model a 3 dimensional joint in Sketchup to avoid this problem.
 
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