Sketchup manuals/guides

Mike Grimm

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So I know there are lots of tutorials and what not out there online, unfortunately, while I'm at home where I can hear them, I usually don't have time to sit down and work on learning this wonderful program.

I'm currently looking at a couple different books to purchase that I can take to work with me and get going on learning sketchup. (I'm a 911 operator, and we have lots of downtime and they allow us to use laptops and what not).

The one I'm thinking of getting for sure is:

Sketchup for dummies

There was another one I was looking at yesterday, but just read the reviews on it, and apparently its not all that hot, so back to the drawing board (no punn intended) for a follow up.
 
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Mike, I struggled with Sketchup for awhile then got the Sketchup for Dummies book. Read the first three chapters and was off and running. It gives a good basic foundation of how the program works. The book does not go into advanced features and is by no means all encompassing.

For getting started, it's worth $16 in my opinion.
 
Mike I'm with Tony on this also I think the guy who wrote the book helped
in developing Sketchup. I have another book, but when you draw the examples in
that one they are not too practical. Thats my feelings anyway.
 
Mike,
The best advice I was given for learning any CAD or drawing program:

Draw every day.

It's simple advice, but it has helped me learn faster than anything else.

Good luck - Sketch-up is a great program - and you can't beat the price!!:D

Wes
 
SketchUp for Dummies is good as far as it goes but I found it wasn't terribly useful for a lot of woodworking related stuff. Still, it should get you going.
 
Dave can you point me in the direction of anything else that doesnt require sound? Or if it does have sound, something I can download and watch later, like a short movie or some such thing? I plan on getting into this program at work, so if there is sound I'll need to download whatever it is and watch it there w/ headphones.
 
The tutorials that come packaged with sketchup itself are a great start - i don't think they need sound.

Then I went on to the videos that Dave put together a couple years ago - those really moved me into the next level. They do need sound, i'm afraid.

But the biggest thing that helped me learn it was using the heck out of it. Trying to find ways to draw every little piece possible - knowing that I can model every single part individually rather than just blobs with various bits cut out of it to represent shelves and such.

I have drawn up complete furniture pieces, joinery included, and that really helped me to pick up the nuances of the program. One of the goals I had was to avoid making anything more than once if I could avoid it ... like table legs ... if they're symmetrical, you should only need to draw one, then copy and mirror that component to get all of them. Finding ways to optimize my drawing really helped me explore many of the tools. :)
 
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