3d House Designing using Google Sketchup

Many of you may have read my article, The Lowdown on Sketchup, in the August issue of   magazine.  Click here to read the full article.

I discovered Google's free software, Sketchup, and found it an invaluable design aid. Making a 3D model of my design helped me and my wife visualise space, not just layout. I also used printouts of the model to show to neighbours, Councillors, friends and planners to show exactly how my proposed extension would look. I even placed the model within Google Earth and e-mailed a link to friends and family who aren't local. Suddenly they could see my house with extension within Google Earth exactly where I plan to build it. Light is a very important part of any design, and easily overlooked by the amateur - not with Sketchup because you get to see exactly where the sun and shadows will fall at any time of day on any day of the year.

Click here to read the full article and learn the benefits of this great software.

A couple of jpeg images saved from my Google Sketchup model

Getting Started

First off, you'll need a copy of the Sketchup software. Google offer Sketchup 7 or Sketchup Pro. The former is the free version, and the one I use and recommend. Clicking here will direct you to the Google Sketchup page. Follow the links, but take care to ensure you choose the free Sketchup 7 version not theSketchup Pro version which will only last for a trial period before requesting payment. Just follow Google's download instructions.

My videos are aimed at the Self Build enthusiast, not the computer nerd (no offence). Each video is short - between one and three minutes. I hope this will make it easy for you to recap any topic without having to trawl forward and back through a long video to find the bit you want. I suggest that you pause the video and practice the techniques as you go along. I hope they prove useful; please let me know via the chat or e-mail links.