[Edu-sig] anyone using Python with Sketchup (free Google tool)?

[Lee Harr]

> http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2008/12/coffee-shops-network.html (top
> one by me, bottom by Russell Towle)

You might like this talk from PyCon :

		PyCon 2011: Algorithmic Generation of OpenGL Geometry
http://pycon.blip.tv/file/4882916/




> Actually, it hadn't really occurred to me to compare them, as I think
> of Sketchup as 3D etcha-sketch, whereas Blender is more about multiple
> objects with independent motion, or at least has that ability.

I use Blender all the time for what I call "sketching."

Maybe the limits of SketchUp are what I might feel if I were
trying to use an etch-a-sketch for sketching. It would be
terribly frustrating.


> I'm awed by this movie of Blender autogenerating whole cities, ala
> 'Inception'

There are a lot of great python scripts and plugins for blender.
I think that Make Human is mostly python:
http://makehuman.blogspot.com/
(Possibly NSFW due to unclothed humans)



> One possible advantage of SketchUp is the awesome on-line library of
> contributed buildings, other structures, which you can just download
> and snarf.

There are lots of free blender resources available:
http://www.blendswap.com/

I also found a way to bring SketchUp resources in to blender:
http://sites.google.com/site/alexvaqp/sketchupblender


> My friend Trevor has been productive with Sketchup, in doing this
> retro-seeming movie of a never-realized concept in housing

> John Driscoll picks up on a lot of the same themes

Maybe I have just never had any use for architectural sketching.



> As for myself, I came down in Visual Python, which is hard to beat for
> easy of use right out of the box:

I've used VPython before, but found it difficult to set up sometimes.


> > I tried getting in to SketchUp a few times but I never got
> > to the point where I could do anything very interesting.

> You don't mention what you've been able to do with Blender. Cool
> stuff?

Mostly I use if for sketching robot designs:
http://robotics.easthighschool.net/design0
http://robotics.easthighschool.net/design1

One nice thing there is that with just a bit more work, the robot
can be driven around the arena in blender game mode.



> The learning curve is pretty steep.

I agree, somewhat. But I think that any 3D design tool is
going to take quite a bit of work to master.


> I'm not thinking
> either/or. I'm thinking work out in Sketchup, get your feet wet, then
> move up to Blender maybe. Or take the VPython route. Or....

I ran in to some resistance when I wanted students to learn
blender. People were either saying "we already have SketchUp"
but when I tried to use it I could not get it to do what I wanted.

Or else they say "We have an Autodesk ___ license. We should use
that." But like I was saying, these programs take a lot of time to
master, so if students can install the program at home, or on any
computer they happen to sit down at (portable apps) then they
will have that much more time to work on it.

For me, Blender suits just about perfectly. And the fact that they
are so invested in Python just makes it all that much better!