Freeware Friday: Google SketchUp Free

Google SketchUp Free puts 3D tools in the hands of the novice and makes it possible for anyone to draw along the Z-axis. Merge your new 3D models into google earth, share them online, or export image files to show off your work.

SketchUp has been around for quite a while as a commercial 3D modeling tool aimed at fast, accurate technical and architectural modeling. It is noted for being very easy and surprisingly flexible. In March of 2006, Google bought SketchUp’s parent company @Last Software and in April 2006 Google released a new free version of SketchUp. SketchUp free is aimed at creating models which can be easily added to Google Earth and shared in Google’s new model repository called the 3D Warehouse. Despite being targeted for Google Earth, It has many uses and is probably the best program to introduce a designer to 3D graphics.

You can really create something in just a few minutes.

SketchUp is perhaps the only full featured 3D program which could be compared to 2D graphics software in terms of ease of use. It’s very easy to draw a rectangle, and using the pull tool, extrude it into a cube, carve out windows doors and draw a roof to make a house. SketchUp also is very intuitive when it comes to detecting midpoints, aligning elements as you draw, and sticking things onto the intended surfaces. It also can texture your 3D objects with one click. These tasks take much more effort to learn in other 3D programs such as Maya, 3D Studio Max, or Blender. In SketchUp you will also find a palette called the “Instructor” which will animate how the tools work when you click on them. This feature is something I’d like to see in every software package.

Now with SketchUp free, anyone can make something in 3D with little training. Brief training module videos are provided on the product website and walkthrough tutorials are embedded inside the program. SketchUp free is of course not as capable as the full version which includes features such as importing and exporting different 3D formats, walkthrough animations, plugin support, and ability to create more organic objects. But one thing SketchUp free is very suitable for is extremely fast product design, rendering and texturing.

Limitations

You can only open and save your models in the SketchUp format. You are able to export bitmap graphics of your models to whatever size your screen resolution supports. The program will export a still of your view of the model as a JPEG, PNG, TIFF or BMP graphic this way. You’ll find the full version will be able to export at custom sizes for printing high resolution images of your creations.

There is also a limited library of textures, though it is possible to add your own textures using graphic files that will store with the model.

Perhaps the most exciting thing about this product is where it might take 3D in the future. With the availablility of SketchUp to anyone with a Windows and soon a Macintosh computer, 3D is going to take off for the novice. You will see SketchUp being used in schools because it’s flexible and fun to work with. Who knows, years down the road, maybe all these models going into Google Earth can make the world one big extensible video game map, just like the games Second Life or Spore. Maybe virtual worlds can be explored and added to by anyone who wants to contribute.

One of the many SketchUp models downloaded from the 3D Warehouse

In the meantime before that revolution, SketchUp is sure to stir competition in the 3D market either by driving prices down or even better, encouraging other vendors to make their products easier to use.

Learn about and Download SketchUp free.
View, Search and download models from Google’s 3D Warehouse.
Learn about SketchUp Pro