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Hi Mick,
We use Sketchup for designs which include a lot of level changes, as it is usually a quick job to rough out a scheme to see if it is working. See the attached images for an example of me using Sketchup for a "proof of concept".
I know other designers use it to work out volumes of material to be added/removed. I also use it to create a 3D framework version of a garden which I will fill out in Photoshop.
Personally, I would need an intensive course to get the best out of Sketchup. I find it extremely easy to do complicated things, but then almost impossible to do things you'd think would be simple. Unfortunately, like most of us here, I don't have time to do an intensive course!
Hi Keith
thanks for the reply. So do you present a finished plan based on Sketchup to a client or do you use it to show ideas;but the actual plan presented is still hand drawn? I'm guessing that younger people would be OK with a computer designed plan but the older generation would prefer to see something that you've 'had to work on' so to speak, so I'm still debating whether to get the pro version.
I know what you mean about something's being easy and others being hard, the wife thinks I'm losing the plot, one minute I'm laughing, the next cursing.
Mick
Our plans are drawn on a computer in Illustrator, with supporting material which could be created in Sketchup or Photoshop or a combination of all three.
Not everyone can understand a flat plan, but we've never had an issue with older clients not appreciating a plan which isn't hand-drawn. If the site is complex, or on many levels, we'll create a Sketchup model and 'fly' the client through it on the laptop.
Used it for several years now and would not go back to pen and paper.
Even now, I am still learning its capabilities and its power never ceases to amaze.
Photo realistic rendering of designs is possible too