Google Sketchup

If you're the least bit intimidated by CAD software, you should take Google SketchUp for a test drive. It's a free offering from Google that allows you to quickly create 3D representations of houses, sheds, decks, furniture and other objects using about a dozen basic tools. These include tools for drawing and modifying geometry, inserting lines and curves, orbiting and zooming around your model, and adding textures like brick, wood, and shingles. The software also provides dimensioning and text tools that enable you to annotate lengths and widths.

As an example, you can create a box by first defining it's base with the rectangle tool and then using the push/pull tool to drag the box to the desired height. To hollow out the inside of the box, it's a simple matter of creating another rectangle on one face of the box and using the push/pull tool to set the depth of the opening. To trim off or chamfer the corner of the box, you can use the line tool to establish the size of the chamfer and use the push/pull tool on the resulting triangle to drag the corner off the object. (The push/pull tool gets used a lot with Google SketchUp.)

Google SketchUp provides a handful of self-paced video tutorials that introduce you to SketchUp's 3D coordinate system, the built-in "inference engine" that infers points from other points in your model, and other concepts that are essential to using the software effectively. The tutorials also guide you through the process of creating some simple objects including boxes, arches, and a set of stairs.

Google deserves a thumbs-up for making these tutorials available. However, I really would like to see some more advanced tutorials. For example, a tutorial depicting how to create a coffee table from start to finish would be really helpful. Note that the online help provides details that are not included in the tutorials so you'll probably need to refer to both to learn how to really use the software. A SketchUp cheat sheet is also provided as a PDF that you can print out and keep handy for quick reference.

Another handy learning feature is the Instructor. It allows you to click on each drawing tool and view help information for that tool in a pop-up window. The cool thing is that the help display includes an action graphic that demonstrates how to use the tool. Very helpful.

One of the big pluses of Google SketchUp is the 3D Warehouse, an online repository of user contributed projects. It includes many different types of objects, including buildings and various pieces of furniture. I did a search for workbenches and came across about half a dozen different models. One of these is shown here. With a few mouse clicks, you can download a model of interest and pull it into SketchUp for further analysis or customization. Before you embark on creating something from scratch, it's definitely worth checking the 3D Warehouse to see if somebody has already contributed a similar object that you can use as a starting point.

I found Google SketchUp to be fun to design with and the learning curve short. The tools are fairly intuitive. For the most part, you just select an object (arc, circle, line, polygon, rectangle, etc.) and drag it to the desired shape and position. You can then view the object from a number of different angles using the orbit tool or zoom in and out just by rolling the scroll wheel on the mouse. It helps that there are relatively few commands to learn: the version I tested had 22 tools on the main toolbar. Simplicity and ease of use were obviously key objectives with this product.

The downside of this simplicity is that certain features desirable to furniture makers are lacking. For example, the product lacks reporting capabilities to produce materials lists or to perform cost and job estimating. About all you can do with a drawing is print it or export it to a graphics format. You also won't find symbol or object libraries other than what you manage to track down in the 3D Warehouse. Google SketchUp also doesn't provide conventional 2D views of the front, top, and sides of the project (a three-view orthographic projection if you will). This capability isn't strictly necessary but many woodworkers are used to working with a three-view drawing. It's also handy if you wish to create a full-scale print to use as a pattern.

But one mustn't be too nit-picky because Google SketchUp is a freebie. To be precise, it is free for personal, non-commercial use. If you're looking for more fire power, you might consider SketchUp Pro, a commercial product that sells for about $500. In addition to all the capabilities of the free version, SketchUp Pro provides a number of import/export and modeling features. Specifically, it allows you to:

* Export models in 3DS, DWG, DXF, OBJ, XSI, VRML, and FBX file formats.
* Export animations and walkthroughs as MOV or AVI files.
* Use organic modeling (Sandbox) and Film & Stage (pre-viz) tools.
* Import and export GIS data (shapefiles).
* Use many available importer and exporter plugins (import from ArchiCAD and export to Vectorworks, Autodesk Architectural Desktop, Artlantis R, and ArcGIS).
* Print and export raster images at higher-than-screen resolution.

By most accounts that I've come across, SketchUp Pro is a great product that has quickly won over those woodworkers willing to shuck out the bucks for it. As for the free version, look for Google to continuously improve it over time and for the number of objects in the 3D Warehouse to grow considerably as more and more designers contribute their handiwork. Bottom line: Google SketchUp will be with us for quite a while.