General news stuff: Next projects
I'm coming to the end of a couple of my SketchUp projects at the moment, and spending a bit of time planning my next models (hence the little lull in posts at the moment). However, this coincides with a couple of pieces of good news.
First of all, I am now the proud owner of a full SketchUp 6 Pro licence for my Macintosh, thanks to work. This is just as well, as Google seem to have caught on to the fact that many users - like myself - were using the free version for the majority of projects, but then also using the demo of the Pro version to output in the various advanced file formats! :)
Secondly, along with the licence I purchased the official Google SketchUp manuals! Why? Well, despite the fact that sometime I do some SketchUp modelling techniques that could be considered 'advanced', I still make some fundamental 'bloopers' as I have never been privy to a basic manual.
So, I now hope to 'fill in' my beginner's education in SketchUp, and with the Pro version and the manuals boost my skill set to 'intermediate'. :)
Next projects...
All this comes at a good time, as I said, because I am coming to the end of a couple of projects and am now looking for some new ideas to model in SketchUp.
Well, I have been mulling over a few ideas - both in what I will model and how I will present my posts on my modelling.
Thus far I have been showing my progress with blog posts and pictures, but I sometime find it hard to articulate some of teh processes I want to show you with static text and images. So, I have started looking at a way of recording my work as a narrated movie using a tool called 'Snapz Pro 2' (Apple Mac) which record screen activity as a QuickTime movie. There are similar WIndows PC applications.
Above: Scarborough Castle, my next SketchUp project. Bereft of a proper visitor's centre, the visitor to our castle is left in the dark as to what the castle looked like when it was in one piece. Click on picture for larger version. Photo credit: Paul Davis
Hopefully, I will host a couple of these movie tutorials by way of tests over the next month to see if you find them more useful. I'd appreciate your feedback as to whether you prefer the 'old' way of blogged posts, the newer movie posts or a mix of the two.
As to my next model projects, I have started research on our local castle - a partial ruin. I hope to recreate what teh castle looked like before it was destroyed during the English Civil War.
First of all, I am now the proud owner of a full SketchUp 6 Pro licence for my Macintosh, thanks to work. This is just as well, as Google seem to have caught on to the fact that many users - like myself - were using the free version for the majority of projects, but then also using the demo of the Pro version to output in the various advanced file formats! :)
Above: The 'missing' SketchUp manuals - basic and advanced. These books include tips on using some of the more esoteric SketchUp functions, including the 'sand box' tools. The advanced manual also covers how to use Google's new 'Layout' software which come with SketchUp Pro 6.
Secondly, along with the licence I purchased the official Google SketchUp manuals! Why? Well, despite the fact that sometime I do some SketchUp modelling techniques that could be considered 'advanced', I still make some fundamental 'bloopers' as I have never been privy to a basic manual.
So, I now hope to 'fill in' my beginner's education in SketchUp, and with the Pro version and the manuals boost my skill set to 'intermediate'. :)
Next projects...
All this comes at a good time, as I said, because I am coming to the end of a couple of projects and am now looking for some new ideas to model in SketchUp.
Well, I have been mulling over a few ideas - both in what I will model and how I will present my posts on my modelling.
Thus far I have been showing my progress with blog posts and pictures, but I sometime find it hard to articulate some of teh processes I want to show you with static text and images. So, I have started looking at a way of recording my work as a narrated movie using a tool called 'Snapz Pro 2' (Apple Mac) which record screen activity as a QuickTime movie. There are similar WIndows PC applications.
Above: Scarborough Castle, my next SketchUp project. Bereft of a proper visitor's centre, the visitor to our castle is left in the dark as to what the castle looked like when it was in one piece. Click on picture for larger version. Photo credit: Paul Davis
Hopefully, I will host a couple of these movie tutorials by way of tests over the next month to see if you find them more useful. I'd appreciate your feedback as to whether you prefer the 'old' way of blogged posts, the newer movie posts or a mix of the two.
As to my next model projects, I have started research on our local castle - a partial ruin. I hope to recreate what teh castle looked like before it was destroyed during the English Civil War.
