Google Sketchup tips & discussion

[JoeHarris]

In an attempt to raise some money for my build I am wondering about writing an ebook about how to use sketchup effectively. I have been using it for more than seven years so it is one of the few things I am an authority on.

Firstly do you think this would be useful? And does a £5 on eBay sound reasonable?

[martin54]

There seems to be a fair amount of stuff available for using sketchup on the net which is free so my first question Joe would be what would your guide offer that's not already available? Not saying it's a bad idea at all, there are lots of tutorials for photoshop available, some are very good some are rubbish so a lot is down to the author.
Other thing is are there any copyright restrictions that would stop you doing it? Don't want to spend a lot of time & effort producing an ebook only to find you have to pay the software producers lots of money.

[WandrinAndy]

I would totally agree with Martin on this Joe. Personally I've found the free tutorials to be excellent and afraid my Scot's blood would stop me spending any dosh when it's available gratis. Lots of time and practice is needed and is unavoidable IMO.

[JoeHarris]

Fair enough guys thanks for the feedback! I know when I was learning CSS there where lots of free tutorials but parting with a few quid for a well written ebook saved me so much time it was well worth it. Not sure on the copyright front though, I guess screenshots might be the only sticking point ??

[WandrinAndy]

Just remember the feedback so far is nothing more than the initial view of two old farts... well, at least one is an old fart!

If you feel it will work, then go for it Joe! Nothing ventured...

[martin54]

Joe, the reason I mentioned photoshop was because there is an abundance of learning support, some free & some very expensive as I am sure you already know, like you I was happy to pay for some of the help I needed but all the stuff I paid for was recommended to me by people I know & trust.
If you are going to do something like this then I am sure some people will be happy to pay a few quid for a good tutorial but how many you sell will be down to how well you promote no matter how good it is.

Andy, your first comment was correct 2 old farts lol

[wilfy]

i'd pay for it but only because at the minute my brain seems to have died... and i infact cant be arsed to find the information i need. i am really struggling, i know what i want the software to do but it either doesnt do it or i dont know the right way of making it do it

[martin54]

Wilfy, sorry don't use the software or know anything about it so can't really help. Don't know what the tutorials are like but just know that there seem to be quite a few about.
Have you watched the vidoes on the sketchup site?? My advice as with any new software is take things easy & start with the basics, don't even think about the cnc build until you have got yourself familiar with how it works.

[wilfy]

i'm keeping this brief as i cant really get in to words what i'm trying to achieve but basicly i'm finding it hard to find video as i dont know what to search for if that makes sense? i'll report back 2moro once i've thought more about things and try come up with ideas of help that i need

[martin54]

Wilfy, have you watched these?? Sorry don't know if they are any good as haven't watched them myself. Don't use this software.

Trimble SketchUp