2015 SketchUp Make questions

[Alan Heffernan]

I am considering launching into learning SketchUp Make 2015.

I have searched and read several posts here from the last year. I would be using it for my woodworking and metal working hobbies and cannot justify the expense for the Pro version. I have used CAD software in the past but that experience is badly outdated. I now have time to pursue learning an up-to-date CAD package for use in my hobbies and have downloaded SketchUp 2015.

I’d appreciate insights on a couple of questions that I am trying to resolve.

1. Using the newest Make version, will I be able to generate and print dimensioned views for use in the workshop?

2. Could you recommend tutorials with the woodworker in mind that are applicable to the 2015 version? (I do not know how much the software has changed from year to year and if some of the older tutorials are still applicable or not.)

Thanks for the help,
Alan

[Gene Davis]

Been using Sketchup for years now, to make houses, their kitchens, their bathrooms, and all the furniture you can stuff inside them. Always the free version, never pro.

Yes, dimensioned views are easy to make and print. Not as pretty and pro looking as from layout, which is part of pro, but certainly all I ever needed to do stuff.

[Dave Richards]

Alan, did you see my reply to your question in the other forum?

[Alan Heffernan]

No Dave but I will go look. Candidly the other forum is a bit difficult and in poor beta form still, so I didn't hold out much hope. So thanks in advance.

[Dave Richards]

You're right. I try to keep up with that one, anyway.

[Alan Heffernan]

Posting this for others on a similar search and/or journey. Thanks to a new found friend who helped me find this.

This is a very good solution for the tutorial I was looking for. I bought it on-line at Taunton and am very pleased with it. I had toyed with some on-line tutorials and had gotten some of my introduction to SketchUp out of the way but had become frustrated in the process. My frustration has now evaporated and I am moving forward with my "learning by doing". This is great to have this video on my desktop. It allows me to work well using two displays. I work with the video/tutorial on one and my lesson/work in SketchUp on the other. I am quite satisfied with the immediate progress I have made and I can now work at learning the software more effectively, when I have time, and at the pace I want.

Fine Woodworking’s Google SketchUp® Guide for Woodworkers - The Basics (Video Download)

[Shawn Pixley]

Alan,

it is good. It is the same Dave Richards on SMC (two previous posts in this thread). Dave helped me a lot.

[Alan Heffernan]

Yes Shawn, Dave obviously is an expert, is very kind, and a genuine help.

[Dave Richards]

Thank you for the kind words, gentlemen.

[Scott Wadland]

Just to add my two cents to the topic - I just recently decided to learn Sketchup after using a very simple CAD program (DeltaCad) for a number of years. I read all the various SMC threads on Sketchup and decided to start out by watching Rob Cameron's set of online tutorials - Sketchup for Woodworkers. I watched all of them from start to end, then went back and watched them one at a time - stopping along the way to try and duplicate what he was doing in the video. That seemed to work best for me, as I now feel like I can tackle anything that I might build in the shop. This week I'm on vacation with the family and we usually have downtime at the start and end of the day, so rather than picking up a book like the rest of the family I just hopped on the computer and worked on it. All together I probably have about 8-10 hours invested.

[Daniel O'Neill]

I use AutoCAD daily for work. I can't use it to design my woodworking projects though. So I'm in a similar boat. I designed a rough air cleaner (built) and an entryway bench (not yet started). It worked okay so far but what I'm having trouble with is how get a good cut list or dimension list from sketchup. Not sure how I would even get that from AutoCAD but oh well :P any tips would be appreciated. I downloaded cutlist 4.1 yesterday and got some really odd measurements so maybe I have to play with that. Do you guys just hand write your mat'l lists?
Thanks for your input and the great links. I think I might get that FWW video next payday

[Dave Richards]

Daniel,

Like anything done on a computer, the cutlist you get out of Sketchup is only as good as your model. There are a number of reasons why you might have gotten screwy numbers with it. If you want to send me your SKP file, I'll be happy to have a look at it and give you some feedback on how to fix it up so you get useful numbers for the cutlist. I'll send you a PM with my e-mail address. Maybe we can connect and look at it together.

If you make a good model to begin with, an accurate cutlist is only a few seconds work. Much easier and less prone to have errors than making one by hand.

[Jeff Nolan]

For years, I have been a paper and pencil designer, appreciating CAD but never fully embracing it. With drafting tools and oversized notepad, I could draw anything. I decided to suck it up and dive deep to learn Sketchup, started with the 4 online videos that Sketchup makes available and then poked around their forums. It's an easy application to learn, I'd sit in bed at night while my wife watched television and go through the videos and sample exercise.

After about 8 hours, I was competent and over the next week I used it to design everything from simple household objects to an actual project, racks for a wine cellar. The wine cellar was a motivating factor as the racks curve into the corners and the work doesn't allow for designing on the fly. I figure I have 20 hours total over the last 3 weeks and I'm comfortable enough to go with it as my first choice now.

There is more to learn, much more, and I'd like to get better at printing so I have easier to read shop drawings. I'm glad I put the time into it and were it not for the videos I think the curve would have been a lot steeper.

[Dave Richards]

There is more to learn, much more, and I'd like to get better at printing so I have easier to read shop drawings.

Jeff, if you want some assistance with that, drop me a PM. I can help.

[glenn bradley]

Posting this for others on a similar search and/or journey. Thanks to a new found friend who helped me find this.

This is a very good solution for the tutorial I was looking for. I bought it on-line at Taunton and am very pleased with it. I had toyed with some on-line tutorials and had gotten some of my introduction to SketchUp out of the way but had become frustrated in the process. My frustration has now evaporated and I am moving forward with my "learning by doing". This is great to have this video on my desktop. It allows me to work well using two displays. I work with the video/tutorial on one and my lesson/work in SketchUp on the other. I am quite satisfied with the immediate progress I have made and I can now work at learning the software more effectively, when I have time, and at the pace I want.

Fine Woodworking’s Google SketchUp® Guide for Woodworkers - The Basics (Video Download)

If you are starting out in SU, Dave's video is a boon. I still re-run it now and again to watch "how" he does something in addition to "what" he is doing. Very helpful in making a big jump at the start.