Google SketchUp Pro 8
$49 for Students / Free for Instructors (List Price: $495)
Google SketchUp Pro 8 is a suite of powerful features and applications for streamlining your professional 3D workflow. Designed to be easier to use than other 3D programs, it also includes features to help place models in Google Earth.
Link via WSJ.com
Wall Street Journal article mentions the use of more affordable 3-D tools for small business from SolidWorks, SketchUp and Autodesk:
Historically, small businesses that used 3-D technology were predominantly in the engineering, industrial design and architecture fields. But now, as software costs have dropped, more consumer-product companies like Mr. David’s are finding it cost-effective to purchase sophisticated modeling tools, rather than outsource product development or use rudimentary in-house methods.
SolidWorks, SketchUp Pro, and Autodesk products are available at an educational discount price from Creation Engine.
Link via Lifehacker
If you’ve got the time to invest, Google’s SketchUp definitely pays you back with precision and customization. In SketchUp, you won’t run into something, like a custom-hung shelf, that’s hard to replicate in ready-to-roll, web-based tools.
- Strengths: It’s got many of the same 3D and solid object design powers as the commercial software used by engineers, but the interface is relatively easier to learn and get around. If you enjoy mousing your way though Google Earth, you can probably learn SketchUp’s controls without too much pain. Our feature on planning improvements in 3D with SketchUp provides a basic tutorial.
- Weaknesses: Unless you’re a perfectionist willing to take pictures of your paint, fabrics, and other designs and colors, SketchUp’s visual cues are going to be a rough draft. Even if you do have digital pictures galore as a reference, figuring out how to stretch them across SketchUp’s surfaces isn’t exactly intuitive.
- Best suited for: Physical projects needing a fairly accurate 3D view, and where color/design play a second-hand role.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 is available at a student discount price of $49.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 is free for instructors.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 Lab licenses are available at a school discount price of $15.
Via Bonnie Roskes of 3DVinci, producers of educational materials on Google SketchUp:
After releasing my book on LayOut, I’ve heard a lot of teachers express regret that their schools can’t afford a SketchUp Pro license. (LayOut is included with Pro, as are some extras like Style Builder and import / export options.)
The $495 commercial license is extremely reasonable for an architecture or landscaping firm, but out of the price range of many schools. So Google offers deep discounts for schools – check out http://sketchup.google.com/industries/education.html. (Why they bury the information for educations under the “Industries” category is a mystery to me.) There are resellers who work with schools, so if you’re interested in any of the Pro features, you’ll likely be able to get them cheap.
Many educators don’t need the Pro version; all of the geometry tools are available in the Free version, as are access to the 3D Warehouse and interface capability with Google Earth. But if you work with older students, perhaps exporting to CNC machines or other CAD applications, Pro can be a huge boon. And of course, the LayOut application, with its seamless integration with SketchUp, can be a great tool students can use to present their work.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 is available at a student discount price of $49.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 is free for instructors.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 Lab licenses are available at a school discount price of $15.
Link via Techworld.com
Creating 3D models can be baffling for beginners. Like any family of applications, from word processors to image editors, 3D modelling tools have their own shared features, toolsets and formats that must be learned first.
That’s why Google Sketchup is such a superb introduction to 3D. It’s about as simple as 3D can be made, comes with a massive catalogue of ready-made models, and the documentation is comprehensive. Oh, and the standard version is free.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 is available at a student discount price of $49.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 is free for instructors.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 Lab licenses are available at a school discount price of $15.
Link via Official Google SketchUp Blog
The countdown to the 2010 Winter Olympics has begun, and the Google Boulder office has been busy modeling the Olympic venues in Vancouver, BC using Google SketchUp.
Last month, we introduced photo-realistic 3D models for eight of the nine venues hosting the games.
Today, we released updates to many of the models using higher-resolution imagery, and, the last venue for the Olympics: the Bobsled Course!
Google SketchUp Pro 7 is available at a student discount price of $49.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 is free for instructors.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 Lab licenses are available at a school discount price of $15.
Link via The Official Google SketchUp Blog
As you probably know, working with LayOut (included with SketchUp Pro) is an excellent way to prepare printed documents and screen presentations with 3D models. What you might not know, is that it’s also a great way to prepare images of SketchUp models for publishing on the web.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 is available at a student discount price of $49.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 is free for instructors.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 Lab licenses are available at a school discount price of $15.
Link via Maximum PC
Sketchup is a free 3D modelling tool developed based on the philosophy that by giving people a small set of powerful, intuitive tools, you can lower the barrier of entry to 3D modelling, so that almost anyone can make quality 3D models with just a couple of sessions of practice.
Still not conviced to give Sketchup a try? We’ve compiled a list of 7 awesome things you can do with Sketchup that you probably didn’t know were possible. Did you know, for instance, that you can create a Left 4 Dead map in Sketchup? How about that you can design your own papercraft models? Read on to find out more!
Google SketchUp Pro 7 is available at a student discount price of $49.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 is free for instructors.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 Lab licenses are available at a school discount price of $15.
Link via Google SketchUp
Use Google SketchUp in combination with Google Earth to model your town and win $10,000!
Google SketchUp Pro 7 is available at a student discount price of $49.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 is free for instructors.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 Lab licenses are available at a school discount price of $15.
Link via guggenheim.org
Over the course of the summer, Design It: Shelter Competition received submissions from people in 68 countries for a total of nearly 600 entries that met competition requirements. On the occasion of the Guggenheim Museum’s 50th Anniversary, we are pleased to announce the two winning entries: David Mares’s CBS – Cork Block Shelter, which won the People’s Prize after receiving 64,875 votes out of more than 100,000 votes submitted online by voters around the world; and David Eltang’s SeaShelter, which was selected by a jury of architecture and design experts for the Juried Prize. Prizes include airfare and two nights accommodation for two in New York City, behind-the-scenes tours of the Guggenheim Museum and Google offices, and Google SketchUp Pro licenses. Congratulations to both winners!
Google SketchUp Pro 7 is available at a student discount price of $49.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 is free for instructors.
Google SketchUp Pro 7 Lab licenses are available at a school discount price of $15.
