Google SketchUp 8

Today we had a chance to play with Google SketchUp 8. This is a 3-D modeling program where you can design buildings, furniture, and anything else you can think of.

One of the tools I like best is the Rotate Tool. The tool can rotate, distort, or stretch shapes. When I want to make a roof, I just distort the house’s top. The roof still has a flat top, so I distort the distorted sides to make the strange roof even more distorted. It turns into a crazy shape, and I call that a “roof”. Other times, when I need to make a sculpture, I draw a weird shape, and then distort it to make it even weirder. I add some water to make a fountain, and I have a sculpture!

Another tool I like is the Fill Tool. The tool can color in any selected area a certain color, like green. It can also fill the area in with a texture, such as wood, metal, or water. Finally, it can fill the area with a translucent or transparent color, such as gold glass or translucent blue. It has many uses, from making sculptures interesting to look at, to making a creation look realistic.

To sum up, I enjoy using SketchUp!

Here is a link to download SketchUp:

http://www.sketchup.com/intl/en/download/gsu.html