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MAY 2004

Product Review:
Last Software's SketchUp
by Mitchell Levine

Although I'm not a visual artist by any means, I've had a great deal of interest in 3D modeling for game design for some time now. Unfortunately, like most people, limited by my experience: most drawing tools for three-dimensional design are constrained by one's ability to think in two dimensions. One's expected to be able to use the building blocks of plane geometry—lines, borders, curves, and so on, to create the solid objects that are of interest in this form of graphics.

SketchUp, on the other hand, allows even an inexperienced user to quickly create their own 3D primitives, and construct complex objects from them immediately, a far more intuitive process than operating from a two dimensional basis. With very little background in CAD, I was able to produce design objects in three dimensions, which, while not looking like the work of skilled professionals, were far from typical novice scratch work.

The documentation included with the software, which allows access to a series of Quicktime videos, seems a little less than entirely optimistic about the speed with which a typical newbie can round the learning curve, but I'm here to tell you it's misguided: if I can do it, anyone can. While the product seems specifically intended for the most conceptual stages of design, it also offers a powerful set of interfaces allowing its models to be exported to a formidable array of third party animation and CAD applications.

For the education user, another aspect of the company's promotions deserves discussion: the educational program. In exchange for a post-course evaluation, Last Software makes available a free instructor's copy of the software, and additional licenses for only $10 per student and an additional one-time participation fee. In addition a complete education user's forum is provided online without subscription.

While not every graphics instructor in the schools may be planning on teaching the complexities of 3D design, for those that would like to broach this rich subject area, or just about anyone else that's curious, it would probably be difficult to find a more intuitive, well documented, solid approach for beginners than SketchUp. For a free trial, online purchase, or information about applying for the educational trial, log on to the manufacturer's site at www.sketchup.com.#

Education Update, Inc.
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