SketchUp updates
Lord knows I love me some Google SketchUp . Every time I turn around it seems, Google's finding a way to make it better. Somehow, they keep making it more intuitive as they make it more powerful. I found out last Friday that SketchUp is gearing up to roll out a new release and I cannot wait to see the next iteration of this software.
SketchUp comes in two variations, SketchUp Free and SketchUp Pro. SketchUp Free packs all the modeling and visualization features of SketchUp Pro. It's meant to be used by normal oldsters, however it's powerful enough that quite a few experts use it. The difference among the two versions is that the gear for presentation, analysis and documentation that include SketchUp Pro are lacking from SketchUp Free. SketchUp Free has no regulations on file length, rendering or performance. Why anybody would use every other rendering software program is past me.
So the new release of SketchUp, both Pro and Free will be along shortly. If you're already a SketchUp 7 Pro user, the new release will be free. If you have an earlier version of SketchUp Pro, the new release will cost $95. If you're a SketchUp Free user, the new release is yours for the same price you paid for the current version. And now through 30 September 2009, if you want to buy the current version of SketchUp 7 Pro and get the new release for free, Google's offering $100 off the $495 purchase price. All you have to do is enter the promotion codeS7MPTR in Google's Online Store .
Part of why I love so much about SketchUp is the ever expanding and ever more useful 3D Warehouse . There are thousands and thousands of models in the Warehouse and they're all free for the taking. The images I have scattered around this posting are some particular favorites form the Warehouse. Many of them are what Google calls Dynamic Components. This means that they are interactive. Appliance doors open, drawers close and sofas can be upholstered in any fabric you can imagine. What I say is a great new development is that there are as many user created models as there are manufacturer created models.
When I want to show someone how an Eames Lounge appears in their living room or if I need to play around with a few table lamps from Crate and Barrel, they may be there on the Warehouse and geared up for me to insert directly into my version. I can truly show a person a true representation of a renovated domestic. I can use the real KitchenAid dishwasher or the GE Monogram pro variety they've already fallen in love with. I don't ought to pretend a blank box is a French door refrigerator or that the brownish color at the ground is Ariete Black Travertine. It's all right there. It's like magic, I swear. For what it is well worth, this clothier unearths himself specifying in actual existence the goods he reveals on the 3D Warehouse. Marketing departments take note!
So come join the in crowd, download a copy of SketchUp Free and learn how to use it. Once you master the basics, they will be no stopping you.