SketchUp as a hobby

Of course it is. It is the “street number” of my “cabin in the woods”.

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In that case I’m outa here, so, so long and thanks for all the fish, no doubt Wonko can fill in for me.

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@Anssi it was the bus number from central Turku to the shipyard that I took to work for months on end in the eternal dark or unrelenting sunlight, depending on the time of year. I was convinced it was taking me to the shipyard at the end of the universe. I kept expecting a cow to sidle up to me in the canteen and offer me its tasty rump.

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FOR SCI-FI FANS ONLY

Promo trailer for my novels:

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I’ve always been more of a mechanical draftsman than an artist. I love SketchUp for its ability to let me do almost anything I can imagine. However, there are times when I can’t quite get some free-form shape to look like I want it to. Some of the time I write some Ruby code that does something fun, but other things leave me at a loss and feeling helpless. One thing lacking in SketchUp is some easy way to create a mesh and manipulate the vertices themselves in lots of friendly ways. Faces and edges, yes, vertices not so much. The plugins available can be combined to sometimes do the odd jobs, but there is no universal way (that I know of) to easily manipulate a bunch of points to easily “sculpt” a shape.

I’ve been playing around with a free web-based product called Vectary. It’s a fascinating tool, but it can’t do a lot of what SketchUp can do. Or, if it can, it’s much more cumbersome and unwieldy for many “simple” things in SketchUp. The most common complaint about every CAD product is that it doesn’t do everything. I’ve been using CAD systems since 1980 and there’s still no universal solution. The key, I think, is to assemble the tools you need into your toolbox. That’s the only sure way to avoid looking at every project as a nail for your hammer.

As a simple example, here’s how I made a nice looking chair in Vectary to which I can add the mechanical details very easily in SketchUp:

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35 years ago, my first real CAD experience was with a G.E. Calma system which had really cool workstations. Here’s an example of one shown in the movie Brainstorm (1983):

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I’ve been neglecting my current SketchUp project to finish my latest novel :frowning:

Note: The Kindle version is available for FREE until Friday!

Grand Canyon - Yavapai Point

About a year and a half ago, I made a model of the south rim of the Grand Canyon by creating a mesh from USGS terrain data:

Last week, I finally got around to having it 3D printed in full-color gypsum:

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FOR SCI-FI FANS ONLY

The Chaos Trilogy is a story about the past, present, and future of humanity as it struggles to rise above its natural proclivity for self-destruction. From the dawn of the Sumerian Empire to the sunset of the Shoomaran Empire, this is the tale of how it finally succeeds.

At long last, all three books (The Chaos Machine, Second Contact, and Mankind 2.0) are now available in one complete work. For a limited time only (i.e., today and tomorrow), this compendium is available for FREE as a digital download on Amazon.

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If you happen to be curious about my writing style, but don’t want to buy or fool with trying to read a Kindle book, you can click on the “Look Inside” feature and read the first 10-1/2 chapters of The Chaos Machine in your browser:

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Nearly three years later, I finally got around to having this 3D printed in gypsum:

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I seem to remember seeing a picture in some books written by Eric Sloane “Early american living” ? got to look see myself He wrote 2-3 on Tools Barns Lifestyle Good Study gives a good portrayal of trades and cottage crafting simplicity engueity. Ever since I started with v5 I wanted to see a 3D school of trades and skills a Simulator with historical accuracy A youtube in 3D and as the hololens system and Sketchup could it be possible .

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My latest e-book went live today.

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I’ve combined my first three novels** into one volume called The Chaos Trilogy: Better Life Through ACME.

“It’s a story about the past, present, and future of humanity as it struggles to rise above its natural proclivity for self-destruction. From the dawn of the Sumerian Empire to the sunset of the Shoomaran Empire, this is the tale of how it finally succeeds.”

You can download it for free today from Amazon:

** The Chaos Machine / Second Contact / Mankind 2.0

Using U-V Polygen to draw a leaf:

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Where

X = Math.cos(u) * (1.0 + 0.9 * Math.cos(8.0 * u)) * (1.0 + 0.1 * Math.cos(24.0 * u)) * (0.9 + 0.05 * Math.cos(200.0 * u)) * (1.0 + Math.sin(u))

and

Y = Math.sin(u) * (1.0 + 0.9 * Math.cos(8.0 * u)) * (1.0 + 0.1 * Math.cos(24.0 * u)) * (0.9 + 0.05 * Math.cos(200.0 * u)) * (1.0 + Math.sin(u))

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420 much?

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“A trilogy of exuberant and lucid tales …” - Kirkus Reviews

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When Code Runs Amok

I didn’t intend for this to be the result, but it’s an interesting feature :grinning:

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I finished this book three months ago, but have been waiting for a friend to do the artwork for the cover. Not having @liamk887’s skills at illustration, I finally fell back on my little butterflies for the cover. The phrase “Never judge a book by its cover” comes to mind :wink:

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