Has anyone tried Google Sketch-up yet? And did you know it was free?
http://sketchup.google.com/
"Google SketchUp (free) 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."
(http://www.mikenchell.com/images/sketchup.jpg)
Mike...
I think I'll try to download it sometime when I'm at a free WI-FI. I need to take a computer down to Florence soon to download an audio book or two anyway. For some reason it didn't work last night.
Google Sketchup is a very cool tool.
I played with the demo a while back and was impressed. I'm glad it's now free for us to tinker with.
I did and thought it was super! If all it did was show you where the sun and shadows would land during the day/seasons it would be worth the download, but it's so much more. It's not precise like a CAD program, but for quick stuff, it is super! I did the tutorial in about 15 minutes and whipped up a model of the buildings on my land.
This is a must have for site planning unless you have something $$ that does it better.
I really like it, it's amazingly intuitive. Go through the quick tutorials, watch the short videos on the Sketchup web page, and you're ready to make some impressive looking 3d models. The animated Instructor feature is also well done and very helpful when starting out. I tried Design Workshop Lite before but found it a bit frustrating to use even though I'm not new to CAD.
I think Sketchup will give adequate precision because you can specify the exact dimensions you want in feet or inches, or both. Draw a rectangle, type in: 20',12'8" and hit enter. It would be nice if there were an on-screen grid with snapping (or if I could find it). You can draw construction lines though. Export capabilities are pretty limited, no CAD formats, but I guess they have to save something for the pro version.
Mike, you're a modeling guru, what are your thoughts?
If we get some interesting and usable models that people are willing to share I'll build a download section for access.
There's a very useful window tool available. Download the Window-maker and Parametric files from http://www.sketchup.com/?sid=79, unzip them and copy the scripts to the Plugins directory under where you have Sketchup installed. The next time you start Sketchup there is a Windows item on the Tools menu. You specify length and width, choose doublehung or slider, and you get a window to drop into your model.
Ok, Here's what I came up with after a few hours. It's my future FirstDay home:
Neat stuff all of you have come up with.
I'm having trouble getting my drawing saved as a jpeg so I can display it here. Any help out there?
thanks
Download Gadwin Printscreen - a free utility that will capture your screen view and make it into a J-PEG that is postable here.
http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/
Look - I posted my drawing.
Thanks Glenn for the Gadwin tip:
The house I'm building (30' x 57'); up is North; drawn with Sketch-Up (took about 1 hour)
(https://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a291/n74tg/maddox1sketch.jpg)
Thanks to Daddymem for the original Gadwin tip too.
bartholomew:
I've tried downloading the window builder rb file and installed (copied) it to the subdirectory.
Opps, you say to also download the parmetric.rb file too. Maybe I should try that :D
Now it works! Very cool :D
To export, make sure your screen is at the position you want to view your drawing. Then do a File -- Export --- 2D Graphic. This wil bring up a Save As dialog, and you want to put the "Export Type" drop down as .JPG or .BMP. Then you can save it as a .JPG graphic file and post it here.
I think it would be cool to find a way to host some space somewhere to post countryplans-created sketchup models for people to play with. Anyone got some server space?
Thanks Dustin; that is one slick way to get a jpeg out of the program.
Right now I use photobucket.com to store my pics, but it won't be long before I exceed the 100 meg capacity. Anybody got any other free storage alternatives they use?
If anyone has a sketch up model file they can share and let others work with just send it as an attachment to an email addressed to sketchup@countryplans.com. In the email tell me a bit about the design and when we have a few I'll put together a download page where we can see an image and description. For now let's stick to skp files and keep them in the theme of the smaller designs most of our members are planning.
Also, if you have tips about how to use sketch up for our purposes give us those as well.
(For instance, I'm having trouble getting things such as a 20' x 30' scaled floorplan with 6" walls.)
One thing about that window tool is it doesn't actually put glass in the frame! I tried to add a sky reflection and ended up turning the back wall transparent.
I'm not sure I see the advantage of having a separate CountryPlans download area for SketchUp models when Google already provides one... http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/
If we upload models there we can tag them with "CountryPlans" so they'd be easy for us to find. And if we tag them with "cabin cottage" and add the CountryPlans.com url, then others can find them and might follow the link to join us here. Here's a nice staircase that could be stretched / flipped to fit a plan...
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=45d9f4344c41e2ef55cf2c361543f528
I was also wondering about the easiest way to build a house model. With Design Workshop you would draw a large block representing the house and then use the "wallify" command to get real walls. SketchUp doesn't seem to have an equivalent command. Instead would you build the floor then draw the walls on top and stretch them up, repeat for the second floor, and then do the roof? Would it be easier to draw the roof in profile and stretch it out to length rather than trying to pull it up? Would leaving one wall off make it easier to finish off the inside?
Oh yeah, was going to add that sizing stuff is easy once you get used to typing in the dimensions. Just draw a line and then type the length you want. You don't have to click anywhere, just type. A number by itself is taken as inches. To enter feet or feet and inches use the ticks: 6'8". For a rectangle, enter the dimensions separated by a comma: 9',12'6"
good review:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Google_SketchUp/4505-3633_7-31861341.html?tag=cnetfd.sd
I have been fooling around with SketchUp and enjoying it. Here are some pics of what I did. The cabins are variations on John's Little House - the red cabin has a 6 ft extension along the long side for a covered front porch and a small foyer and storage. The blue little house is my interpretation of a shingle stlye cottage - its still basically Johns little house with a different roof and a 6 ft extension along the short side. I need to add real windows and draw up the floor plans.
(https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f50/jstig/SketchUp%20Cabins/gtinyshinglehouse1jpg.jpg)
(https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f50/jstig/SketchUp%20Cabins/gtinyshinglehouse2jpg.jpg)
(https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f50/jstig/SketchUp%20Cabins/gtinyshinglehouse3jpg.jpg)
(https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f50/jstig/SketchUp%20Cabins/gtinyshinglehouse4jpg.jpg)
(https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f50/jstig/SketchUp%20Cabins/gtinyshinglehouse5jpg.jpg)
(https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f50/jstig/SketchUp%20Cabins/googlecabin1jpg.jpg)
(https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f50/jstig/SketchUp%20Cabins/googlecabin1-2jpg.jpg)
(https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f50/jstig/SketchUp%20Cabins/googlecabin1-3jpg.jpg)
(https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f50/jstig/SketchUp%20Cabins/googlecabinview3.jpg)
Neat! I particularily like the Red Cabin and the saltbox roof extension.
Thanks John. I prefer the red one also mainly because I think it would be easier to build and the style fits in more for a country house than the other. I was inspired by the little houses on Bearskin Neck in Rockport, Mass for the little shingle style house and it would prob look better at the beach.
I think I should be able to use your plans for the 14 x 24 little house and add the saltbox addition to it.
But I still have other designs floating around in my head - like my idea for a pole house. Oh well, commitment is so difficult :-/ But it would be nice to have a cabin on my land. Every time I camp up there I imagine a party of black bears dancing around my campfire while I am sleeping in my tent!
Jim
I finally got to give shetchup a try and I'm delighted with it! Thanks for pointing it out!
Cross sections made easy.
Impressive!
yeah this program ....FREAKIN rocks! 8-)
Wow!! You guys are pickin' this stuff up pretty fast. :D
I think my older brain isn't as tech savy as I sometimes like to think. :-?
John:
Take some time and just PLAY with the program. My first drawings were pretty crude, but now after playing for a couple of hours they have gotten much better. Now, I have no hesitation about using SketchUp to help me visualize any 3d problem. Most recent example; how I'm gonna get all my plumbing in the crawlspace and not interfere with the hvac ducting or the tornado shelter or the basement workshop; all of which are in conditioned air space.
Just wanted to show what i've done ...this is my floorplan ( I didn't want to create the roof and such quite yet b/c I have found with walls and roof very tough to work on interior...I'll post the exterior soon too......
(http://morriscs.org:82/images/homage%201.jpg)
(http://morriscs.org:82/images/homage%202.jpg)
(http://morriscs.org:82/images/homage%203.jpg)
I'm sorry if the pics are to big ... next time I'll try to resize... at least it shows detail? :)
also wanted to note that this program has a fast learning curve..it's quite amazing the detial you can get so quickly....
one more of outside.... the boxes are just rough idea's of the northside berm
(http://morriscs.org:82/images/homage%204.jpg)
Kitchens tend to get hot, especially in the summertime.
(on the other hand, solar heat is nice too, in the winter)
If that's a big plate-glass window in the kitchen, it might be a good idea to prepare accordingly.
(and the cook may not want all the kitchen visible to, say, the UPS guy or the visiting missionaries, through a very large window, which would mean that all the trouble you went through for daylighting in the kitchen may be wasted)
When you go to buy, might check to see if the dishwasher is going to be intolerable with a refrigerator that most likely extends past it a couple of inches--of course you could move the dishwasher a few inches--since the counter top will probably extend over it--put space for trays or something between that and the fridge.
Nice layout Jeff. I think the little kitchen works quite well. Amanda is probably right about the window sizes (depending on orientation and climate) but you could also do a trellis or exterior shades to control the heat in summer. You will probably end up changing that big window anyway as the design evolves.
What are your dimensions for that floorplan?
thanks for the suggestions guys (& girl 8-) ). The windows do face true south. The windows are sized much larger then a conventional passive solar house, being that this house will have ALOT more mass then conventional solar homes. Also I will most likley come up with a insulating curtin for the large windows , mostly for the winter nights. I'm using the concepts listed in john haits PaHs http://www.earthshelters.com/Tour.html. The whole floor will be concrete with no insulation under it. The insulation is setup like an skirt around the house, going 20 ft horizontially out in all directions and about 2 ' under the ground. The insulation (2" sytro ) is alternated with plasitc and pitched so that water will not go near the heat storage area.....(next to the home ) & will not wick away my stored heat...bad water!! So basically all the dry earth will act as a heat sink, i'm acutally counting on the summer sun to heat up the slab (recharging the earth battery) and in turn the heat sink under it so that come winter that stored energy will be drawn back out of the earth to heat my home. Here's from rocky mountin institute's web page , i suck at explaining things lol :)
What is Passive Annual Heat Storage?
It is a proven method of producing a stable temperature within a building by controlling the natural heat flow on an annual basis by means of materials placement and building design. As a result, the home can maintain a nearly constant comfortable temperature. In the summertime heat is extracted naturally from the home and stored in the earth about the home. In the winter that stored heat comes back out, also by natural heat flow, to keep the home warm. Essentially, PAHS, when properly applied, produces a home with a built-in temperature.
Amanda the great part about our home site is it sits on top of a south facing mountin and we are in the middle of a wooded 15 acre plot. Privacy :) as far as the dishwasher good ideas...I'll prob just burry it under the counter top like u mentioned.
John: The dimensions are 30x22.... with the loft being 10x12'6" (10x10) subtracting the stair way up for a total of 760 sq. ft
Several of us have at least thought about PAHS.
Probably not hard enough to buy the second edition of the book, though--there is a copy of the first edition in my truck. Even though I've concluded that I don't have the right shape to my land to do it right, and not the earth-moving skills either (and the best of the back-hoe guys stays backed up several months).
One person here has put cool tubes under his property (it's hot where he lives).
I have a couple of friends on other lists who are playing with either PAHS or AGS. One is on his second house built that way. I've shamelessly stolen ideas from him. The other is trying to make lemonade with a high seasonal water table. She thinks it may work.
Yeah it's not for every site. Good southern exposure, can't have high water table and need enough room for umbrella. Got the backhoe lined up though ;D 2nd week of july I'll be able to make big holes
oh btw amanda ...I loved to e-mail your friend that's built the pahs or if they have a website to gain some of his experiences...
pm if they wouln't mind at all..
Jeff
didn't mean to stray from topic... :) maybe b/c i havn't really used a cad type program that didn't baffle me complelty that i think the sketch up is so cool. The limited expore to home programs were frustrating unless your building a cookie cutter ranch ( for me anyway).
Now available for MAC!! WOO HOO now I can play with it too!!! ;D