A comment on one of my SketchUp posts prompted me to provide clarification in the form of a new post rather than just a quick reply. The issue was that exported images from CAD files (SU in this case) can be quite grainy.

To export an image of the current view in SketchUp, go to File > Export > 2D Graphic... and select a file format for the export. In the save dialog that opens, there is an option button that allows for customizing. That's where you want to make the following adjustments:

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So far I have used SketchUp for a lot of things, but a 50-minute presentation wasn't among those. Besides, one of the big no-no's for "classic" Powerpoint presentations is having too much happen on-screen (flying-in arrows and the like). Given the dynamic 3D interface of SketchUp I was curious if flying around inside its space would be too confusing for the audience. I just had to give it a try and see if it works.

The video below shows the exported (and sped up) version of a presentation I just gave at the 2008 UMass family weekend. The topic was mainly the Google Earth model of our campus that my students prepared but I also gave some background on 3D CAD. Originally, I started to prepare a Powerpoint presentation for this, but quickly realized that it would be too limiting and much more appropriate to actually do it right in SketchUp. All slide transitions and animations were done with the tabbed slideshow feature and I interspersed the show with some live model-building and a switch to Google Earth for a view of our campus.

Building a 3D World from Alexander Schreyer on Vimeo.

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If you liked Demeter, then you'll like this one. The Department of Energy has just released a plugin for SketchUp (works with both the free and full version) that allows for an EnergyPlus analysis to be run on a SketchUp building model from within the familiar SketchUp interface. The geometry of a building can be modeled (and modified) easily this way and several parameters can be set for the run.

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After working a while with SketchUp, every 3D modeler will invariably find out that the best thing about this software is that it can easily be extended using free plugins. If a function is not available in plain (free) SketchUp, then chances are actually quite good that there is a plugin available on the internet to fill that void. Functionality that can be added to SketchUp in this manner includes curved shapes (like spheres or onion domes), physics simulation, otherwise unsupported file export (like OBJ or STL) and many others.

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Apparently today is blog action day. I didn't know that myself... Oh, well... The official SketchUp blog just published an environmental design feature with examples of green building design using SketchUp. It is always good to learn from how others are using a design tool like SketchUp - particularly in a commercial environment.

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