Is this possible with SketchUp?

Hi

I need to create a 3D drawing of an object (I have attached pictures), and was recommended SketchUp. I need to know if this can be achieved using SketchUp, and also whether it is realistic that I (a complete beginner!!) would be able to learn how to do this in a short period of time from the learning videos on the website?

Alternatively, if anyone is interested, I would be happy to pay someone proficient in the use of SketchUp to do this for me

Many thanks
Estelle

“Is this possible?” covers a lot of ground, and I’ve seen people do remarkably realistic sculpted figures in SU, so it’s definitely possible, although I think for most of us that sort of thing is pretty hard to do. SU isn’t really designed for modeling organic shapes–its tools are best suited for architectural shapes. That said, if used with sufficient skill and ingenuity they can even create a dog’s head.

Probably the best qualified person to undertake a task like that is our Sage catamountain. She has created a reference of tips and techniques for modeling organic shapes using SU’s native tools here: SketchUp Sage: Tweaking Tool Tips.

-Gully

Estelle PM’d me, and I responded. Yes, a strong sculpture background is quite useful with modeling like this. I always felt manipulating SU was like working with clay - but that’s some of the existing skill set I brought to SU. At least now-a-days people aren’t saying you can’t do “organic” work with SU like they were when I started.

I did not mention in the PM that if the model was to be 3D printed, that a high polygon mesh would be desirable. I developed a working, low-poly modeling style that I enjoyed mainly working only with SU’s native tools. If the end result needed to be 3D printed, then a high-poly mesh is required. For that, I would still model using the techniques I demonstrated with the SketchUp Sage Tweaking pages but subdivide the faces with the plugin called Artisan to produce something that would print with a smoother surface.

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