Google Sketch Up anybody?

[thelightingmancan]

I was talking to one of our directors, and they mentioned Sketch Up, by Google. I tried it out, and it had 3D design, to scale, and is extremely easy to use. They even put in pre made "Components" that include stage lights and various prop pieces. This is a great program, and you should definatly try it. www.sketchup.google.com

[Footer]

I have been using it for awhile. Usually I take the 2d DWG that I get from the scenic designer and put it into sketchup to make it 3d, then take that file and load it into WYG to light it. Works very well. I recently did a some scenic work with it, the lighting package in its render capabilities has little to be desired but it works.

[Van]

And you can upload .skp files onto CB. I've been using it for a couple of years now. I love it. I posted in another thread that our Resident Scenic Designer just added a program called Turbo Sketch Studio to his Sketchup suite. It does muuuuuch more realistic photo-renderings than Sketchup alone. It also allows you set lighting up. It's not a WYSIWYG and it's not designed with stage use in mind but it is nice for a scenic designer who wants to give a better impression of his set at First Read. Given that SketchUp is free, there is no beating it.

[len]

Naturally, the site was down when I tried it.

[Van]

Another favorite thing is the 3D Wharehouse that google keeps online. You can upload your drawings or download things that you need. I've posted a couple, downloaded quite a few. There are also committees or maybe they're just groups of folks working together to render whole cities in SketchUp. Personally I think that might be the work of the machines. First they get us to draw all of our cities, next they put us in big vats of goo and use us as batteries. < someone should make a movie about that.....>

[Footer]

Originally Posted by Van

Another favorite thing is the 3D Wharehouse that google keeps online. You can upload your drawings or download things that you need. I've posted a couple, downloaded quite a few. There are also committees or maybe they're just groups of folks working together to render whole cities in SketchUp. Personally I think that might be the work of the machines. First they get us to draw all of our cities, next they put us in big vats of goo and use us as batteries. < someone should make a movie about that.....>

Go watch the new terminator TV show, it will get you all hyped up....

3D warehouse is pretty great, also because you can also import those blocks into wyg or whatever other software suits your fancy.

[gafftaper]

Hey is there anyway we can start a collection of theater specific components and store them all together in one place.

I have only made a few things with Sketchup but so far I love it and am eager to learn more. Having all your stock things pre-drawn as components is obviously a huge advantage.


...and yes Footer the new Terminator show is great.

[Footer]

Originally Posted by gafftaper

Hey is there anyway we can start a collection of theater specific components and store them all together in one place.
I have only made a few things with Sketchup but so far I love it and am eager to learn more. Having all your stock things pre-drawn as components is obviously a huge advantage.
...and yes Footer the new Terminator show is great.

There already is in the 3d wearhouse, just tag your stuff correctly. There are even S4 bodies out there.

[bobgaggle]

I tried the free download of sketch up 2 years ago to try to create a 3-D model of our theatre space. I found it really hard to use, because every shape and structure had to be pulled out from another one. If you create a cube for a square room and wanted an overhanging awning or whatever, you have to pull that awning out of the cube. You can't just create a new object and stick it where you wanted. Maybe the full version is mroe user friendly, but I didn't like it particularly.

[Van]

Originally Posted by bobgaggle

I tried the free download of sketch up 2 years ago to try to create a 3-D model of our theatre space. I found it really hard to use, because every shape and structure had to be pulled out from another one. If you create a cube for a square room and wanted an overhanging awning or whatever, you have to pull that awning out of the cube. You can't just create a new object and stick it where you wanted. Maybe the full version is mroe user friendly, but I didn't like it particularly.

Actually it's much easier than that. I find most folks who aren't used to 3d rendering tend to try what you described. I typically use a space in the environment as a "build area" then make my components there, turn them into a group then move them to their placement. There are other ways to do it but I've found that is easiest and fastest. 2 years ago was also right after google bought SketchUp if I remember correctly, there were a few issues with a couple of the versions but there have been many incarnations since then. The only major difference between free and pro versions is number of "entities" allowed and access to certain add ons and help forums. Personally I have never run into an issue that couldn't be solved via the public forums, and have never run into the component limit.