I don’t know about you, but I have no creativity. Ask my friends and family. Well this program is pretty exciting because its so easy to use. I’ve often thought about mocking up something in 3D. Say a home improvement project or something. I’ve used several 3D design tools and they are all complicated to use. The easiest to use was one of the most aggrevating to use (Punch Software Home Architect series). The pro tools are very difficult for an amateur to pick up. Anyway, this is neat stuff. Check out the castle I made (about 80% done in about maybe 1 hour).
The official blurb:
Google SketchUp is an easy-to-learn 3D modeling program that enables you to explore the world in 3D. With just a few simple tools, you can create 3D models of houses, sheds, decks, home additions, woodworking projects - even space ships. And once you’ve built your models, you can place them in Google Earth, post them to the 3D Warehouse, or print hard copies.
(flash demo from Google)
Other stuff to check out:
* Anim8or - I haven’t looked at this one–just now found it in Google. Lemme know if its any good.
* Blender - This is the most popular OSS 3d tool out there. Its as complicated as the rest IMO but a very successful project so I hear.
[…] I’ve written about Google Sketchup before. It’s a 3D CAD program but…how to say this…you don’t need to know what a spline or a bump map is. It’s really easy to get into and be productive right away. […]