Datasheet

Part I: Getting Started with SketchUp

Things You Ought to Know Right Away

Before I continue, here’s some information you may need:

✓ You get SketchUp by downloading it from the Internet. Just type

http://sketchup.google.com into your Web browser and read

through the first page of the Google SketchUp Web site. Click the links to

download the application to your computer and then follow the installa-

tion instructions on the Web.

✓ SketchUp works in Windows and Mac OS X. Google SketchUp is avail-

able for both operating systems, and it looks (and works) about the

same way on both.

✓ A Pro version is available. Google offers a Pro version of SketchUp

(Google SketchUp Pro) that you can buy if you need it. The Pro version

includes a few terrific features that folks like architects, production

designers, and other design professionals need for exchanging files

with other software. SketchUp Pro also includes a whole separate

application — dubbed LayOut — for creating presentation documents

with your SketchUp models; it’s the subject of Chapters 14 and 15. If

you think you may need Pro, you can download a free trial version at

http://sketchup.google.com.

Where SketchUp Fits in Google’s World

A long time ago, somebody invented photography (hey — this isn’t a history

book), and suddenly people could make pictures of things that didn’t involve

drawing, engraving, or painting. Nowadays, you can’t throw a rock without

hitting a photograph of something. Everything (it seems) can take pictures,

including people’s phones. Photography is the main way that visual informa-

tion is communicated.

But what comes after photography? Google (and just about every science-

fiction writer who ever lived) thinks it’s 3D, and here’s why: You live in 3D.

The furniture you buy (or build) is 3D, and so is the route you take to work.

Because so many of the decisions you need to make (buying a couch, find-

ing your way) involve 3D information, wouldn’t it be nice to experience that

information in 3D?

Software like SketchUp lets you see 3D information on a 2D screen, which is

good, but affordable 3D printers and holography (yep, holograms) are just

over the horizon. All that’s left is to build a model of every single thing in the

world — and guess who’s going to do it?

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