SketchUp A (Free) 3D Modeling Program even I can drive....
I still use Radwall Design Group for blueprinting, but I am now doing my own proposal renderings with this life-changing (and addicting) program from Google
Download Google SketchUp
here FOR FREE It's a quick download and you will
probably want to use it all the time once you have it. Just be careful....it
really is addicting!
(left) A rendering for a climbing gym (shown better below) and indoor "canopy tour" for a new client in Atlanta. I drew all this with just a mouse and my (five-year-old) laptop
Tip: Get the companion book, SketchUp for Dummies if you want to get even slicker. It's excellent and a real time saver.
Want to Know More?
Google Sketch Up: is about 3D computer modeling for people who don't want to learn AutoCAD or "SuperGeek Pro 6.0," or whatever. I learned about it a couple of years ago from my Colorado resident, techie brother-in-law when SketchUp was a Boulder-based mom-and-pop shop. That was before Google bought it and made it free software. The same people are still running the shop, and the newsletter is a fun and refreshing email in my In Box when it arrives. You can learn SketchUp in about 30 minutes. Build a deck on your house...or build your house...(or a whole city) then walk through it. Anyone can draw anything with it. This program has changed the way I do business. No more coordinating with my busy, Bay Area, designer before I can get a proposal rendering to a new client. I can have something (polished) to them same day in many cases (the bottom left drawing took only two-and-a-half hours)...I could even draw a rough cut on my laptop while a client watches and gives feedback over my shoulder.
Better Communication of Ideas: When I am ready for blueprinting, SketchUp is the clearest way to show my designer exactly what I have in mind without the endless phone discussions we used to have describing and visualizing (actually I kinda miss that part with Wayne-O). We can email files with tangible ideas back and forth all we want. The Pro version (not free) even interfaces with his more advanced software, so that he has a ready-made place to start for nuts-and-bolts blueprints (saving him loads of time that's billable to me), as I'm sure it would for your architect or engineer. Easy to edit, SketchUp also gives my clients more direct input during the design process, so they can see and alter the model(s) early on to get exactly what they want.
More Samples of my drawings
Sharing: Your models export VERY easily into JPEG and other photo formats for printing, Power Point Presentations, emailing, and - as you can see - web design software. You can even animate a walk though, save it as a standard movie file, and put this into your presentations! Now that is more fun than getting a puppy to chase a laser! and you'll look like a wizard to that cutie at the office who needs a little help with the next presentation. Who knows, maybe they'll have you doing SketchUp for work from then on. Paid to play with this stuff? "Great Success!" Then your Spousal Unit (almost) can't even give you a hard time when you are on the couch with it at 2am.
Too easy: The first time I needed to share my drawings, I dreaded the formatting acrobatics I was sure I'd have to learn before getting them into these 'easy to send' versions for people who (**gasp**) don't yet have this software. But even though it was the first time I had tried, converting them was as quick and easy as "save as" would have been (just hit "File," then "Export," and choose another file extension - JPEG is the easiest for people to view and use, especially over the internet). If all that were not enough, SketchUp interfaces with Google Earth too. Tres bien!
The Virtual Warehouse: You can also import "components" and whole drawings from other people so you don't have to do everything yourself. If someone in Latvia has drawn a semi trailer you need, or an airplane, or nearly anything, you can import it right into your model from the on line 3D warehouse and then customize it for your needs. You can even find standard building materials there. Soon you'll want to become a member of the world CG community by uploading your own best models (Google quality acceptance standards apply). And I can't stress enough how easy it all is. It even makes me (almost) look like a CG professional. The Pro version (not free) also has some additional skins and interfaces with AutoCAD, Vellum, etc. Plug ins for SuperGeek Pro 7.0 coming soon ;-)