once i got the hang of sketchup, i've found that it's one of the best things since sliced bread and rolled tp (the stuff they sell in the stores larry
). nowadays, the only time i put pencil to paper, is to run the numbers on something. i use the dimension tool a lot, and have never had a problem with it. my process is to take it from an evil thought, fire up sketchup, turn it into an evil thought plan
, run it through the free cutlist plugin to get the hard numbers on the project, then run those numbers through cutlist (which i load with current lumber prices), and i get the pick list, layouts, and even how much i may wind up paying for lumber and such. but sketchup gives me a very good look at what is hiding behind the rough sketches, and see what it really looks like
, then you can make adjustments as needed. right now i'm at a point of, if i can think it, i can do it in sketchup, if i can do it in sketchup, i can do it in the shop. wonderful tool!