2008 3D Field - SketchUp

[Cyberguy34000]

Originally Posted by MiniNerd24

Very nice. I see you found Sketchup too. I agree that it isn't a good as inventor, but it gets the job done.

Different tools for different tasks...

Inventor is a be-all engineering-grade swiss-army-knife of awesomeness that can accurately model anything (given enough time). It also has a steep learning curve.

SketchUp is a dumb-solid modeller aimed at prototyping designs and modeling extremely fast. Has a fairly shallow learning curve.

Eventually someone needs to make an inventor model of the field, but it will likely take quite a while to do so. Until then, this should do just fine for basic measurements.

I would highly recommend that teams use SketchUp in the early phases of design, as it allows you to focus on the big picture rather than getting bogged down in minuscule details. When it gets time to start building parts, go for Inventor. It's kind of the whole, "would you use a carving knife or a chainsaw for the task at hand?", kind of deal.

Anyways, be sure to tell me what you think!

-Chris

[MiniNerd24]

It looks just like the model from the animation!

[Cyberguy34000]

Originally Posted by MiniNerd24

It looks just like the model from the animation!

Minus a couple support posts, bases, and some details like lights and number boxes in the alliance stations... But yeah! It's pretty close

-Chris

[Madison]

SketchUp is not a solid modeling program at all. It's a surface modeling program.

You have the patience of a saint if you managed to do this all in SketchUp. I use it for creating "art" -- buildings and things -- but I could never use it for mechanical design.

[Projectt2501]

Very nice.

I love Sketchup. I have the full version and have been using it for a couple years now, before google bought them out. It has to be one of the quickest way to create 3d models, due to how easy the UI is to learn and use.

I just wish more people would use it so that more models would be available for use.

Here's a .pdf version of the model so you don't have to download sketchup to view it:

[Cyberguy34000]

Originally Posted by M. Krass

SketchUp is not a solid modeling program at all. It's a surface modeling program.

You have the patience of a saint if you managed to do this all in SketchUp. I use it for creating "art" -- buildings and things -- but I could never use it for mechanical design.

Yes, you called me out on my typo about solid/surface modeler.. Oops! I guess I meant "dumb-surface" modeler

I could never use SketchUp for mechanical design either, but it works well to communicate basic 3d forms and ideas to people without going into too much detail.

http://flickr.com/photos/34917134@N00/
Haven't updated it in a while, but here's a few other projects I've used SketchUp on.

-Chris

[Projectt2501]

Originally Posted by Cyberguy34000

I could never use SketchUp for mechanical design either, but it works well to communicate basic 3d forms and ideas to people without going into too much detail.

-Chris

I have to disagree, I have made many models that are accurate to the nearest 0.05mm

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH364OReW9A