So, I am in the process of writing a book. This book is about SketchUp. I am sure I will share more about that in a future post. For now I was hoping to reach out to this amazing community to ask if you could share with me images of your computer peripherals that I may include in said book.
I am writing a chapter on how certain hardware setups can help with designing in SketchUp (don’t worry… this is in additional to chapter after chapter on improving technique, first and foremost), and I would love to include some images of forum member hardware setups.
If you have a unique monitor setup (thinking of you @sonder) or use a unique mouse (like one of those Razer mice with a dozen buttons), and are willing to share a decent resolution image with me, I would love to include it in my book (along with credit to you, of course).
Hey Aaron, I’m sharing my space. Curious to read the book and this chapter when it’s out!
A little bit about the space: I’m an interior designer who works from home (my own business), and I work at the dining table. Everything it setup on a sit stand so that I can A - stand while working, and B - so that when we need the dining table for guests, the whole office gets lifted off is one swoop.
The laptop on the bottom is a Dell G7 gaming laptop with a Nvidia card so that I can render with Vray and have smooth modelling. That’s my main computer because I often work away while travelling and need to be able to take work with me.
The top is an LG 27" monitor so that I can have LayOut and SketchUp open at the same time when working on drawing sets!! Very crucial!
As for mouse… just a regular 3 button, plugin headphones and I use the camera in the laptop.
Funny, but a recent discussion of Wacom tablets a few days back had me rummaging through boxes and finding my old ones for some pictures.
Three decades of Wacom tablets:
Left: 1993 model with Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) cable
Middle: 2000’s model that actually came with a Wacom three button mouse
Right: My current 2010’s model that’s getting pretty worn
The pens have changed. The first was slim and had no rubber grip:
Then there’s that mouse that used to come with it. In the early/mid 2000’s, I was fine doing everything in PowerCADD with the pen, but SketchUp was frustrating, so I’d just switch to the mouse. Now I’ve adapted so I can live with the pen in SketchUp.
Here you go, TV remote, Spacemouse, Android Tablet running Touch Portal for shortcuts, Wacom Intuos Pro Mid Paper version and ancient German supermarket special keyboard that has outlived many a more expensive variety. Three more monitors out of shot.
When I’m standing (which is a lot) it’s a the perfect height. When I’m sitting, it forces good posture. I used to have screens to either side, and I found that I would absent mindedly start looking at one of them for too long and give myself creeks. Hence the switch to top-bottom.
My setup- spacemouse, keyboard, tablet monitor for changing music (speeding up/ slowing down tunes actually helps a lot), and I tried a big variety of crazy mice but a light three button mouse seems to work best for me.
