Chapter 32: Creating 3-D Models with SketchUp

In This Chapter

• Working in three dimensions

• Drawing objects

• Defining entities

• Using the Instructor

• Modifying an object’s geometry

• Grouping objects and creating components

• Setting the camera view

Pop quiz: What do you put on the Goggle Earth view of your street?

Answer: A 3-D model of your house, of course.

It may seem like a far-fetched idea, but you can do it using SketchUp. SketchUp is a full-featured program that allows you to create models of anything from teapots to tankers, sundials to skyscrapers. Google offers SketchUp in both a free version-used in this chapter-as well as a Professional version.

There are several integral stages to 3-D modeling that are covered very briefly in this whirlwind introduction to the program. You see how to draw a model, and how to manipulate and view it in this chapter. In the following chapter, read more about using 3-D models built in SketchUp.