For anyone who doesn't know, Sketchup is Google's answer to Computer Aided Drafting and is a free, easy to learn, modifiable program with a huge following. I've developed a special affection for Sketchup over the years, especially since I've learned how to model effectively. Sketchup is the first modeling program I learned and it instilled an appreciation for the digital side of model making. Since then I've used it to create all manner of things, some of which you see here and some I will include in future posts as well as new work. Sketchup's extensions feature is part of what makes it even more amazing. Adding tools, functions and rendering abilities to allow you to create damn near anything you can think of. To get photorealistic renderings I use the Maxwell Render Plugin in conjunction with Photoshop to adjust and create materials, textures and backgrounds as well as fine tune the finished image. The only real downside is the number of polygons Sketchup can handle, but if you're clever you can make the most out of those little buggers! Suffice it to say, Sketchup is one of my favorite tools (next to my mini Japanese pull saw), and it really changed the way I look at computer modeling. The fact that it's free has made for a newly democratized way to learn, create and impart any manner of form based idea, giving Ludites like me a chance to soften up to technology as an effective medium. I won't be putting my tool kit away anytime soon, but I will keep Sketchup next to my favorite hand saw. Gush...
-Dan Hauck
