If you've never heard of Massive Black, you're in for a treat. They create concept art for movies, advertising and game studios, and their work is super-inspiring. We found out that they use SketchUp, so we asked if we could create a profile on them for YouTube. It turned out great:
If you're interested in this kind of stuff, also check out conceptart.org, the online art community "wing" of the folks who started Massive Black.
Massively cool models
Monday, October 27, 2008 12:54 PM
File --> 3D Print
Thursday, October 9, 2008 8:44 PM
Creating a 3D printing file from a Google SketchUp file has never been easy. Today a new class of 3D printing technology has slashed the time and expense it takes to create a physical model. Our friends at CADspan just released a plugin that allows for the generation of solid, 3D printable files directly from a Google SketchUp model. This software re-creates a model by "shrink-wrapping" it with one continuous mesh. The result is a single object, in STL file format, that is completely solid and ready-to-print.
3D printers create a physical object from a digital model by first dividing it into thin virtual “slices.” Then, the printers build the physical model, one layer at a time. These machines can typically build a shoe box sized object with almost any detail, overnight.
The new CADspan plugin makes 3D printing from Google SketchUp easier than ever. Install the plugin, and use the included tools to clean up and put some finishing touches on the model. When ready to export, click upload and let CADspan's servers take care of the rest. Then, go right on to working on your next Google SketchUp project while the first model is being resurfaced. When it's finished, simply download the STL file, review it, and the model is ready to print. Check out their User Guide for video tutorials and informative help. To see the rest of what the CADspan team can do with SketchUp visit LGM and Rapid Arch.
This model is your model. This model is my model.
Monday, September 29, 2008 4:11 PM
We've been thrilled to see the Google 3D Warehouse community grow and thrive these last two years. However, sometimes we've felt that a model in the 3D Warehouse is like an island - isolated and constrained to a single owner. So, in the spirit of communal collaboration, we've created a new sharing feature for models.
You control who edits, views, or even downloads your model. If your intentions are to collaborate, this feature can do it. If privacy is the "name of the game," we've got that covered too.
If you're itching to get started but not sure where to begin, try this out:
- Visit one of your models in the 3D Warehouse, and click the "Share" link.
- Invite a friend as a collaborator and select the option, "The owner must approve all changes to this model."
- When your collaborator proposes a change you'll receive an email. Select the "History" link to see the "pending edit."
- If you like the changes, click on "Accept" and the model will be updated for everyone. Otherwise, click on "Reject" and hurt your collaborator's feelings.
Tommy Acierno, Strategist in Consumer Operations Permalink | Links to this post |
Construction Visualization at DPR
Thursday, September 25, 2008 6:18 PM
Our friends at DPR Construction are using 3D visualization in Google SketchUp to enhance communication through the many phases of their construction projects. They are able to identify errors and inconsistencies that can derail progress. From presenting site logistics to resolving construction details in RFI proposals, DPR uses SketchUp to design and review in 3D. As Justin Schmidt from DPR puts it, “SketchUp helps take the inefficiencies out of the traditional construction process and really breaks down the walls that used to obstruct communications.”
Take a look at the DPR Construction case study to see how they are utilizing Google SketchUp and the power of 3D.
Design Your Dwelling: Runners-Up
Friday, September 12, 2008 4:08 PM
As promised, here are the runners-up from the Design Your Dwelling Competition, as determined by the judges at SketchUp and Dwell. They're not presented in any particular order:
Matt Hutchins | Model
Modern means giving back to the community. In this case, the house gives over most of the allowable square footage for a community room/exhibit hall (1210 sf.) to create an anchor for a new public sculpture park. The residence is situated on the second floor, using the broad roof of the community room as an artificial ground plane, simultaneously eliminating the conflict between the public park and the private residence and allowing maximum transparency for the residents. The house is situated at the east end of the park, along the arcing path, and incorporates an existing extension across the path, overlooking the wetlands.
A small permanent collection of sculpture inhabits the site. The glass screen provides security, and electricity--the design on the glass is created with a photovoltaic interlayer, which powers the house and hall. Stormwater is captured, stored and used to feed a vegetable garden on the roof. The hall is a multipurpose space, more infrastructure than building--for public events, private events, exhibits etc, inspired by sculpture gardens in Minneapolis, Seattle and the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. The glass sliding panels open the hall to the public, the park and the bridge view. The core contains public restrooms, storage, and a staircase to the residence (252 sf on 2 levels). The residence split into a large family space with easy indoor/outdoor living, and utilitarian 2 bedrooms sharing a bath (912 sf). The concave roof expands toward the bridge and toward the city.
David-Alexandre Cote | Model
Shaped by the elements, this house takes full advantage of the abundant sunlight afforded by the open site with its roof being made out of solar panels sandwiched between two glass panes. The cool breeze from the sea is used to cool off the roof and take out excess heat from the house. In winter the hot air from the roof is re-used for heating. The ribbon like wall/floor/roof is denser on the south side to minimize solar heat gain and afford more privacy to users. This house reflects the attitude we need to embrace to be able to live in this modern world. The dynamic and playful shape is designed to meet the need; it is frank, opened to the outside and very respectful of the setting in which it is placed.
Stephen Cheung | Model
Prism house is a dwelling for a small family of four, with sustainable features. A small footprint of approx. 30ftx 30ft is intended for that reason. The four facades each has a distinct character. The south entry facade has a 15ft x30ft louvers, which is adjustable and monitored by computer to response to the sun intensity, angles, to allow for optimum amount of natural light, heat penetration. The louver is adhered with photovoltaic films that generate electricity. Behind it is energy efficient windows with openable sections for cross ventilation.
The north side is rather transparent to allow view. Full height windows off the living space with guard rail outside can be wide opened. Privacy provided by interior screens. The west elevation, accommodates three water tanks, which stores the “filtered” water runoff from the green roof, re-filtered and pumped back for irrigation and to the pond, and also provide greywater for toilet use. The east side, which faces the “lagoon” has a more amorphic or sculptural projection. The house is supported on stiles over a pond, to minimize fill and intended for better earthquake performance. There will be a green roof on top. The lower level will be a multipurpose room/home office. No garage is designed-intended for more bicycle/public transit use or car rental when necessary. Hopefully, this will provide a sense of place for us, conscious and try not harming of our only living environment while we dwell.
Chris Craver | Model
Inspired by a passion for surfing and the natural beauty found at this coastal site. The views, wind, sky and waves converge at this location, creating the perfect location to live within nature. The shape of my dwelling is derived from a wave, rolling and cresting as it reaches the shoreline. As it begins to break, a hollow space is formed. It is within this space my dwelling occupies. The vehicle used to inhabit this space is a serious of shipping containers, sip's and glass walls that will house bedrooms, bathrooms and living spaces. The angled scrim that protects the exterior walkway is made up of multi-colored glass units with semi-transparent PV modules. This solar screen will provide electricity for the dwelling.
The living spaces are elevated off grade by a serious of steel frames that have minimal contact with the ground, minimizing the disturbance to the site, native plants and users. The shipping containers, outdoor spaces and the main living areas are oriented towards the views of the water and the Golden Gate Bridge. The dwelling is placed at the intersection of two existing, converging paths. The existing path will be used for vehicular and pedestrian access.
Hsiao Ling Tang | Model
Fab(3) dwelling is an affordable pre-fabricated stack-up housing unit made up of 8.8mX8.8m modules that can be customized in different materials and rotated around a stair core to respond to different view corridors, in this case - 'Waterfront view', 'Islands view' and 'Golden Gate Bridge View'. Upon rotation of these modules, interesting ‘leftover’ rooftops spaces can act as spill-out balcony spaces for outdoor activities and dining purposes. The sustainable grass roof seeks to replace the green groundcover that was taken up by the building footprint, also an effort towards the reduction of carbon footprint and contribution towards Urban Heat Island. The internal spaces are flexible and can be furthered partitioned to suit individual needs. The red stairs and decking take reference from the Golden Gate Bridge and the waterfront deck adds a little surprise element to visitors of this unique home.
Take a look at this 3D Warehouse collection to see all the submissions.
Digging Deep with Google SketchUp
3:42 PM
A core piece of Google's efforts to fight global warming is our Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal initiative. We've created a series of tools demonstrating a new renewable energy technology called Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). We're extremely excited about EGS as it has enormous potential to create huge amounts of inexpensive renewable energy. The centerpiece of our campaign to explain EGS is a Google SketchUp model of an EGS power plant.
EGS works because it's very hot underneath the Earth and by drilling a well into it, you can extract heat to create electricity. To do that, you have to drill 2 or more wells and fracture the rock down there to connect the wells. Once the wells are connected, cold water is sent down one well and hot water is brought up from the other one.
To demonstrate this process, we created 3 SketchUp models that show the world's first commercial EGS system in the Cooper Basin in Australia. The models not only show the power plant and drill rigs above ground but also go underground to show the drill holes and, most interestingly, the fracture cloud that connects the two wells. You can view the models in the collection on the 3D Warehouse.
David Bercovich, Program Manager, Google.org
Design Your Dwelling winner announced
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 2:56 PM
We're pleased to announce that the winner of the Design Your Dwelling Competition has been determined. The winning submission is from Drew Wilgus, an intern architect from a firm in North Carolina. Here is Drew's description of his project:
Drew Wilgus | Model
This house seeks to combine influence from Crissy Air Field’s historical and environmental site context. Using salvaged bridge structure, the house references the nearby national landmark while at the same time achieving an aesthetic that recalls militaristic construction.
Steel is portrayed in varying scales as both powerful and delicate. Reclaimed redwood balances the steel and represents the city’s outlying wilderness. A planted roof emulates overgrowth as if the structure were wreckage returning to the earth. The house sits perched atop a landscaped plinth. While this gives the house a monumental presence, the plinth also functions as a way to funnel incoming northern winds under the house and through a turbine array. Deriving energy from wind uplift references the basic principal of flight.
Formally, the front of the house promotes a sense of privacy. Windows, appearing as punched openings, are modest. A pair of tapered retaining walls guides one beneath the elevated house toward the stair and frames the view beyond. Ascending the stair, one gains an unrestricted perspective of the view north. The rear of the house opens up with a large porch that wraps nearly the entire perimeter. Full height windows and tapered roof overhangs enhance the view of the park, waterfront, and Golden Gate Bridge. With concern for preserving the park land, the challenge is to design a house that adapts to the landscape and still retains a monumental identity. This house uses material and technology to embrace the site’s history, climate, and surrounding built environment.
Check out Drew's model on the Google 3D Warehouse, and be sure to take a look at the announcement post on the Dwell blog.
See your building's energy performance
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 3:53 PM
We're very excited to announce that Google SketchUp users now have greater access to free building performance simulation tools. IES (Integrated Environmental Solutions) has just released a free plugin, the IES VE SketchUp plugin (available for Windows only) that determines your building's energy use and carbon dioxide emissions. The plugin works within Google SketchUp 6 and connects with IES's analysis tools: VE-Ware (free), VE-Toolkits and the full Virtual Environment.
According to IES, the plugin allows SketchUp users to assign important sustainable design information like location, building and room type, construction types and HVAC systems to their SketchUp model and then import it directly into their chosen IES analysis tool, without having to re-build any geometry.
Download the plugin and the free VE-Ware to get started, and watch the video to see how the plugin works. You can also download any of the IES 3D Warehouse models to test the plugin.
Visit our SketchUp: Go Green! website for more information about how Google SketchUp can help you design more efficient buildings.
Elections in full swing
10:05 AM
As many of you know, the 2008 U.S. political conventions--two weeks of party business that begins for the Democrats in Denver today, and for the Republicans in Minneapolis next week--marks the beginning of the general election season. To help you stay informed and engaged in the upcoming election, we're launching a one-stop shop for political information: www.google.com/2008election.
Can't make it to Denver or Minneapolis? Go to our conventions site to view the latest news, videos, photos and blog posts. See the DNC agenda in Google Earth and fly to each event and venue.
We also have 3D models of the convention venues in the Presidential Conventions collection in the Google 3D Warehouse. Turn on the "3D Buildings" layer in Google Earth, fly to Denver or St Paul and you'll feel like you're there in-person, and you saved the airfare! You can also interact with a wide variety of political mash-ups in the Google Maps Elections Gallery.
Brittany Bohnet, Google Elections Team
Design Your Dwelling Competition: one week left!
Monday, August 25, 2008 1:53 PM
Just a reminder that the Design Your Dwelling competition is closing this Sunday, August 31st. If you haven't submitted your model yet, start by visiting the site location in Google Earth. Each model must be uploaded to the Google 3D Warehouse and be submitted through the Dwell entry form. The chosen design will win a trip to San Francisco (airfare and hotel accommodations included), have lunch with Dwell & SketchUp staff, attend the Dwell/AIA home tours and receive a physical model of their dream home. We can't wait to see what you come up with!
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