Myk SilentShadow wrote:
For newbies KP, I do highly recommend Sketchup, it's what i've been doing my work in with Shadow Bench, also, i've just started using a trial version of Luxion Keyshot, to make my renders look even better, check out the thread 🙂

Look forward to seeing what you come up with 🙂

I also use this site for what's known as Components: http://scc.jezmckean.com/


When you get a bit more confident with Sketchup, you'll probably want to make your own components, because to be honest while the site I linked in has some really good stuff...it doesn't get updated all too often. Oh and look for Sketchup's Tutorial videos, they will really help 🙂

Hey Myk.. I have downloaded this now.. However, any idea on what layout to choose when starting it? I tried a few.. Tried exploring it, found a few useful stuff but still stuck in the main things.. Any pointers would help..

Thanks,
KP

proudpiper wrote:
While sketchup is a great program it lacks driving dimensions, which make creating an dimensionally accurate model much easier that the native set up present in sketchup. There are some plugins for sketchup that add driving dimensions however I haven't seen or heard of any free ones that weren't watered down in order to convince you to purchase a paid version.

If you have a Mac, Autodesk's Inventor Fusion is a great free CAD program that has driving dimensions included in the software. You can download it in the Mac App Store. Happy Modding! 😄

Thanks for the info proudpiper.. Sorry mate, your words just flew over my head.. Very new to this and, still trying to figure out the lingo.. Err, can you kindly explain it in common man terms? 🙂

Cheers,
KP

KPRage wrote:
Thanks for the info proudpiper.. Sorry mate, your words just flew over my head.. Very new to this and, still trying to figure out the lingo.. Err, can you kindly explain it in common man terms? 🙂

Cheers,
KP

Sorry for the delayed response time. Driving dimensions are when you are able to add a dimension to some aspect of the 3D object, edit that dimension, and then have the object visually adjust accordingly. In sketchup you are able to measure dimensions and even have other aspects of the sketch be affected by said dimension, however you lack the ability to put in multiple dimensions that will adjust the object accordingly. This makes it rather difficult when you are trying to input precise dimensions because you tend to end up using the Push/Pull tool, measuring length, and then repeating until you get the right dimension. Below I have linked some videos explaining what I'm talking about.

The first video shows a plugin for Sketchup that adds driving dimensions. The only downside to this plugin is that if you want to add more than 10 driving dimensions you need to get the paid version which is rather expensive.

The second video show someone using a program called Solidworks, which has native driving dimensions. I added this so that you could see it used in a professional setting as well as some of the other benefits of using higher level CAD software.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uqvPu7fp_0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MABLNdK0Hac

proudpiper wrote:
Sorry for the delayed response time. Driving dimensions are when you are able to add a dimension to some aspect of the 3D object, edit that dimension, and then have the object visually adjust accordingly. In sketchup you are able to measure dimensions and even have other aspects of the sketch be affected by said dimension, however you lack the ability to put in multiple dimensions that will adjust the object accordingly. This makes it rather difficult when you are trying to input precise dimensions because you tend to end up using the Push/Pull tool, measuring length, and then repeating until you get the right dimension. Below I have linked some videos explaining what I'm talking about.

The first video shows a plugin for Sketchup that adds driving dimensions. The only downside to this plugin is that if you want to add more than 10 driving dimensions you need to get the paid version which is rather expensive.

The second video show someone using a program called Solidworks, which has native driving dimensions. I added this so that you could see it used in a professional setting as well as some of the other benefits of using higher level CAD software.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uqvPu7fp_0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MABLNdK0Hac

Ahh now it all makes sense.. Thanks mate.. Will try this out asa I get my system to work..

Cheers,
KP