Google Sketchup Cookbook: Practical Recipes and Essential Techniques [Paperback]

Bonnie Roskes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 6, 2009

As the first book for intermediate and advanced users of Google SketchUp, this Cookbook goes beyond the basics to explore the complex features and tools that design professionals use. You'll get numerous step-by-step tutorials for solving common (and not so common) design problems, with detailed color graphics to guide your way, and discussions that explain additional ways to complete a task. Google SketchUp Cookbook will help you:

• Use SketchUp more efficiently by taking advantage of components and groups
• Learn new techniques for using Follow Me, Intersect, and constraints
• Go beyond simple textures with tools such as texture positioning and Photo Match
• Create animations and walkthroughs, and explore design scenarios by using layers and scenes
• Learn how to use styles to customize your presentations
• Combine SketchUp with the 3D Warehouse and Google Earth

Google SketchUp Cookbook is ideal for architects, engineers, interior designers, product designers, woodworkers, and other professionals and hobbyists who want to work more efficiently and achieve true mastery of this amazing tool.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bonnie Roskes is the founder of 3DVinci, a company that provides 3D design training for all ages and stages. Her books for design pros on SketchUp, Piranesi, and OneCNC have attracted a loyal following, and her SketchUp project books for kids K-12 are making 3D modeling and geometry accessible and fun for teachers, parents, and kids. Bonnie's practical, hands-on focus is based in her education in structural engineering and years of experience in bridge design.

Product Details

• Paperback: 386 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (April 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596155115
• ISBN-13: 978-0596155117
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #508,441 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great help for advanced tools, April 11, 2009

By 

Zevi's Dad - See all my reviews

This review is from: Google Sketchup Cookbook: Practical Recipes and Essential Techniques (Paperback)

This book is a huge help! I've been using SketchUp for a few years and never knew about some of the topics covered in this book. For instance you can use section planes and styles as part of an animation, which I never saw explained in another book or video. The stuff on presentation and model display is really helpful for developing models that my clients want to see. The tutorials are easy to follow, and the use of color is great bonus - very unusual for a how-to book. Excellent book!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take your SketchUp skills to the next level!, June 11, 2009

By 

J. Kibbe (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Google Sketchup Cookbook: Practical Recipes and Essential Techniques (Paperback)

After trying to teach myself SketchUp last year, I decided to try again this year so I can teach my middle school gifted students how to make 3D models. Using the free tutorials at Google, SketchUp for Dummies, SketchUp Level One DVD, and SketchUp 7: Hands-On Basics (also by Roskes) will provide the new SketchUp user with a strong introductory foundation. Once you are a strong beginner, you should check out Google SketchUp Cookbook to take your SketchUp skills to the next level. Written in a problem & solution format, this book does not have to be read from cover-to-cover (though I did!), rather one can simply use the well-organized table of contents to find exactly the answer needed as problems arise. Full-color screen captures and tons of ready-made models in the 3D Warehouse make this book even more valuable. Some of the skills addressed include Follow Me; using groups, components, and layers; modeling with photos and textures; creating animations; and using the 3D Warehouse and Google Earth. Working through the entire book and all of its `recipes' takes weeks, but in the end you'll be able to anything in SketchUp that is worth doing! :)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Profoundly straight-forward and informative..., February 8, 2010

By 

Lee Henry (Cleveland, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Google Sketchup Cookbook: Practical Recipes and Essential Techniques (Paperback)

A profoundly straight-forward and informative guide to quickly mastering and getting the most out of Google's SketchUp. Bonnie Roskes years of experience in design and education are readily apparent in how the book is organized and presented. Like it's title's namesake: it is literally a volume of practical recipes that anyone can follow easily and without getting bogged down in techno babble and irrelevant details.

The book's usefulness cannot be underestimated and was perfect for both novices and advance users alike. The simple to follow tutorials for solving and learning the many amazing abilities of SketchUp made learning as easy as making pie.

The color graphics liberally included throughout her book provide are useful and perfect for the visually driven users of SketchUp ( a common sense detail clearly lacking in some other How-To Guides for SketchUp ). As a bonus; in this digital age, O'Reilly has thoughtfully included a complete online version of this book through their Safari Books Online service for which the purchaser can access. Also as of this writing, a Kindle version of this book was available through Amazon.com.

- Lee Henry
e-Zine Co-Editor
[...] (Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group)