SketchUp News: 3D visualisation made easy

By Ruth Slavid

When it launched in 2000, SketchUp provided new freedom for people who wanted to think imaginatively in three dimensions. Unlike the more “serious” design programs, it did not pin down the user to a degree of accuracy that was inappropriate at the birth of an idea. Dimensional accuracy and calculation of properties are frustrating, not enabling, when you are trying to be creative.

Google bought the company that developed SketchUp in 2006, partly because it had a plug-in that linked to Google Earth, so a tool that had previously been the province of aficionados was now embraced across society. Architects loved it, children loved it, autistic children in particular loved it. And it was used to design everything from kitchen layouts to buildings to music videos.

Google continued to refine SketchUp, now on version 7, and has added to the professional version (not free but very affordable) a package called LayOut which helps users to import models to slick presentations.