The nature in which things can be quickly moved, changed or edited make it a perfect solution for over-the-shoulder type work with clients, where amendments can literally be made on the fly. Having said that, high-end visuals are not what SketchUp was designed for and because of this it already has a firm place in the professional market as a pre-visualisation and concept design tool. Although there are various plugins available for the export of SketchUp models to various external ray-tracing software renderers, such as Artlantis, the possibilities for detailed high-end models and photorealistic imagery are limited. Now don't get me wrong - in no way, shape, or form will SketchUp ever replace our trusted CAD or detailed modelling software. After a few hours I was producing conceptual models that would have never been worth modelling in my usual CAD software - I just wouldn't have had the time and would have instead resulted to sketching out the ideas on paper, losing the visulisation and analytical benefits that a 3D model offers. Coming from a CAD/CAM background myself I couldn't believe the ease with which I could quickly model designs on screen. Whether you've never used 3D before or have been an avid user of AutoCAD since the beginning of time, SketchUp's unique intuitive interface makes for a very short learning curve.

The key to SketchUp's success is its ability to let the designer literally build up or design from scratch complex three-dimensional geometries with minimal effort.

Essentially, Google SketchUp is a 3D modelling programme aimed at architects, civil engineers, hobbyists, games developers and other related professionals who are looking to create quick 3D content for pre-visualisation or conceptual purposes.

In a relatively short time, Google's SketchUp has seen its user base go from strength to strength with new users from all sorts of backgrounds encouraged to get into 3D by SketchUp's short learning curve and ease of use.įor those unfamiliar with Google SketchUp, I'll provide a quick overview.

Google sketchup ipad