3D Modeling
SketchUp Basics

Want to create 3D graphics for architecture, construction, landscaping, interior design or more? Then try SketchUp, a powerful program that makes 3D modeling intuitive and easy to learn. A powerful tool from Google software, SketchUp makes creating 3D sketches and creating professional-looking renders as effortless as drawing on a napkin.

In this 3-lesson course, you'll learn how to draw two-dimensional shapes and how to bring them to life in 3D. With SketchUp's intuitive inference features and "sticky" geometry, you can create complex interconnected shapes and detailed 3D designs. You'll focus less on the mechanics and more on the drawing-it's as close to pencil and paper as you can get. And in no time you'll be creating surfaces, polygons, complex 3D shapes, even an entire rendered 3D neighborhood of your designs.

Sessions 3D expert Jim Dodson has teamed up with Google to create this SketchUp series (Basics and Advanced) with step-by-step instructions and creative hands-on projects. Drawing in 3D has always been exciting, but never this easy.

James Dodson is an architect and 3-D modeling specialist.
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Use drawing tools to create lines, surfaces, circles, rectangles, arcs, and polygons.

Draw shapes On Edge and utilize SketchUp's "sticky" geometry.

View models in a 3D space.

Create boxes using drawing tools and inferences.

Design complex combined shapes with the Push/Pull and Move Tools.

Create and manipulate cylinders and cones.

Use three different modeling techniques to quickly create 3D forms.

Create concentric surfaces with the Offset Tool.

Arrange an array of duplicated objects.

Use colors and styles to render detailed surfaces.

Outline:

LESSON 1 2D Geometry Lesson One dives straight into SketchUp's working environment, exploring the basic drawing tools. Working initially in a 2D space, you will first make surfaces by drawing lines and then start creating rectangles, polygons, circles, arcs, and curves. You will get familiar with SketchUp's unique "sticky" geometry, which makes it simple to connect lines and align shapes to the axes. In the exercise you will design a simple abstract 2D composition, a la Piet Mondrian.

LESSON 2 3D Geometry Having mastered the basics of 2D drawing, it's time to get down to business. You'll start by taking a simple 2D sketch and viewing it in 3D space, and then you will use drawing tools to create new 3D forms. The lesson introduces you to SketchUp's ultra-helpful inference feature, which helps align your shapes and keep your surfaces coplanar (all edges in the same plane). Using the Push/Pull and Move Tools, you will create and manipulate cubes, circles, cylinders, cones, and some compound shapes. In the exercise you'll take your abstract 2D composition from Lesson 1 and bring it to life, creating either a 3D cityscape or a digital 3D sculpture.

LESSON 3 Connecting and Generating Forms
The basics of 3D are under your belt; now it's on to complex interconnected forms. You will learn three different methods to create the same house, each with its own degree of economy and precision. With the Offset Tool you will create detailed parapets and doorframes for you house, and with the Mirror and Array features you will create an entire neighborhood of duplicate houses. In the exercise you will take your house and render the surfaces in different styles, taking snapshots from different angles for your final project.

Tuition: $142 US