Getting Started

[Gaieus]

First of all, to help you with the different icons on the forum, here are some guidelines what they mean:

• the red pencil shows that in a particular forum or topic there is a post that you haven't read yet (this pencil applies to all other forum or topic kinds below - I won't repeat in every case).
• if there is no pencil, it means that there are no new posts in that particular forum / topic.
  .
• the small, red and blue icons before a subforum name (if it is listed on the board index) also mean that there are (are not) new posts in those subforums.
• the little SketchUp "Open" icon means that this forum has subforums.
• a small lock at the bottom right will indicate that a forum / topic is locked (cannot be answered - you can only read its content).
• a letter "I" (for "Information") indicates that it is an announcement. Announcements are always listed separately from the subfolders or topics below them and can be global (appearing in every forum / subforum) or local (only in that particular forum).
• on the top of several forums you may see "sticky" topics as well (but not separated from the other topics like announcements). These stickies usually contain useful and general information thus they are made to "stick" to the top (and not sink to the bottom).
  This topic you are now reading is also a "sticky" one.
• the topics marked with a small star are the ones you have posted in.

For further information about how to use the board, please, refer to the FAQ or if you have any question, don't hesitate to ask it in the "Ideas Box & Board Issues" under the Corner Bar at the (almost) bottom or just simply here in the Newbies1 Department where every question is practically allowed (well, related to SketchUp or the Forums or something like that).

Happy Sketching!
_______

Further on, in this topic we are posting all different links to tutorials, manuals, videos etc. all which can be of great help for somebody starting with SU. The method will be the same we are using in some of the other subforums: whoever finds a good link, can post into this topic and the list will be "updated" in this first post.

Current (latest) PDF Manuals

SketchUp (and LayOut) versions

• Current versions (download page)
• Release notes

SketchUp User's Guide

• Windows version | Downloadable PDF version
• Mac version | Downloadable PDF version

LayOut User's Guide

• Windows version | Downloadable PDF version
• Mac version | Downloadable PDF version

"Full Dump" of the Google SketchUp Help Center

• Link...
  (Thank TaffGoch)

Video tutorials

• by Aidan Chopra (for the "SketchUp for Dummies" book)
• And on YouTube
  (Thank Chris)

Self Paced tutorials

• by Google (in skp format)

Go-2-School videos

• The website
• Direct downloads
  (Thank Chris)

More old SU videos of earlier versions

• Link
  (Thank Gata (catamountain))

Chiefwoodworker's woodworking tutorial blog

• Link to the blog
  (Thank Joe)

[cadmastr]

Hello All:

I recently came across a very helpful and informative website that offers FREE video tutorials. It is located at http://www.aidanchopra.com. Mr. Chopra has written a Dummies book on SketchUp and the videos link to the YouTube website.

There are 62 in all. You can either visit these links and watch the videos online, or download them to your computer and use a .FLV (Flash Video) freebie program to view them at your leisure. In order to download them, you will need a program like "UltraGet Video Downloader" (http://www.ultraget.com/) or one of the many .FLV download programs that are out there.

There are also some other SketchUp video tutorials on YouTube. They can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=SketchUpVideo&p=r

[blair]

Cadmastr mentioned UltraGet (http://www.ultraget.com/) and this for me is a great find for I have wondered for a while how to download a video for later viewing etc. This looks like a good one for you can download and view with the same program. If there is a way to view FULL SCREEN (or much larger) with this one, or another, that would be even better. Does anyone know of anything better than UltraGet?

I downloaded/loaded the latest v2.0.3 UltraGet just fine. I can capture a video just fine. However, it does not show the individual downloaded video's in a new left hand panel, as shown in the help content, so that I can pick one video and play it. It places all downloads in "Documents and Settings > User Name > My Documents > UltraGet > YouTube". If I try to open a video from there or from within UltraGet I get a message instead of an opening Has anyone else worked with UltraGet?. I have tried to email support but emails are never delivered.

Thanks for any suggestions.

blair

[cdubea]

Don't forget the Sketchup Show;

http://www.go-2-school.com

or direct downloads from

http://atotheo.libsyn.com/

I've learned a lot from these guys.

chris

[blair]

I never heard back from support at *UltraGet* mentioned above and I could not get it to work. However, I did find that the free version of Real Player works just fine and play back is full screen. It can be downloaded here:

http://www.realplayercafe.com/download- ... OAodMlDYeQ

blair

[cadmastr]

Regarding downloading videos from YouTube, I recently came across yet another freebie program that will do the same. It is called "Save2pc" and is available at http://www.save2pc.com I had been using "Ultraget" but found that sometimes I was unable to download a video, most likely due to the fact that every so often YouTube changes their restrictions on downloading videos.

I don't play the downloaded video with Ultraget. I use a freebie player called "Any FLV Player". You can get it here http://www.any-flv-player.com/ I like this much better because you can go into the "View" pulldown menu and select "Double Size" and see it in all it's glory.

If you don't want to watch the videos as .FLV files, you can use the "Save2pc" program to download the video as a .AVI or .MPG file. These file formats are bigger than the compact .FLV format, but are easily played using Windows Media Player, which most computer users probably already have on their systems.

Regarding Macs, I have no idea what can be used, as I have never used a Mac before.

I hope this information can help someone.

[cadmastr]

Here is the direct link to downloading the "Save2pc" program (their website is a bit confusing).

http://www.save2pc.com/files/save2pc_light.exe

This program is a standalone .EXE file. It immediately runs when you click on it, no need to install anything. The only bad part is that you can only download one video at a time.

[Danty]

Thanks everybody for the great posts on getting that much better with SU.
As Monsterzero has said on another post, "my head is going to explode".

The sheer volume of HELP by the good people in the SU universe is mind boggling.

As a Mac user -- I want to supplement what Cadmastr has said about video viewers and players.

There is freeware available for Macs called TubeTV, http://www.chimoosoft.com/products/tubetv/

In addition to the above I have an excellent DVD player freeware called MPlayer OSX:
http://mplayerosx.sourceforge.net/

I can save the any video from the Internet and then play it in half or full screen on MPlayer.

Danty

[Danty]

Since I'm on this thread I would be remiss if I didn't promote my very FAVORITE learning tool for SU: Dennis Fukai's 3D Construction Modeling.
In my initial learning phase of SU I was having enormous difficulties and nearly gave up.
Fortunately I found Dennis' book.
The whole concept of the book and it's format is terrific.
You construct an entire model house from the ground up in SU.
Dennis gives you not just the book which shows screenshots of the entire process but also included is a CD which has tutorials broken down for each phase of the model.
This book "pulled it all together" for me.
I learned very fully how to use not only the basic tools: inferencing, groups, components, etc. but how they all "fit" together.
Dennis has a natural teacher's style and voice. He personally narrates the tutorials and I actually felt like it was a one-on-one session with a SU tutor.
Plus (and this may not be the case now) he includes his phone # in the book so you can call him! I called him twice and he was very gracious each time. After that we exchanged e-mails.

So -- I cannot recommend this book too highly for someone who is really serious about learning SU well.

It's available from Amazon or other sources as well:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0976274108

Danty

[Rafa]

Hi. One question. I know for example that the Free version of sketchup cant export to other formats, besides that, Is it much "crippled", compared with the pro version? Or with some rubys here and there is it fairly complete?

[remus]

The exporters are the only difference between the free and pro versions.

[Rafa]

Great!, thanks.

[Jim]

Hi. One question. I know for example that the Free version of sketchup cant export to other formats, besides that, Is it much "crippled", compared with the pro version? Or with some rubys here and there is it fairly complete?

The Pro version will get you more 3D export options (3DS, OBJ, XSI, FBX, VRML, EPX and DAE), but you also get PDF and EPS exporters, you get the Layout application, you get the Style Builder application, and 2 years of tech support.

As far as the modeling tools available and the ability to use plugins, there is no crippling of the free version.

As a related note, the licensing allows for-profit use of the free version.

[dallyc]

hi!
I'm new to sketchup. I'm taking a class.

[troyhome]

Welcome, dallyc!
The links in this thread are so valuable!
All the best with your class.