A graphic designer friend asked me to FaceTime with him because he was about to try SketchUp and wanted some pointers. (…From me. Lol.)
He installed SketchUp, he opened SketchUp, he poked around with SketchUp for a minute or three… and then proceeded over a half hour or so to conjure up a drawing more gooderer than anything I could ever hope to do after a couple years of pounding away at this program.
Spirit crushing? Maybe soul destroying.
How long did it take you guys to git gud at SketchUpping?
I don’t know if I am very good at SketchUp even now, but I loaded the trial of version 3 in 2003, played with it for about 15 minutes and decided that this is a must-have. It sort of syncs with how I perceive things.
About 25 years. I’m in my 15th year now, I’m expecting to be good in 10 I had 15h or training with v6, then there was a LOT of trial and error. There weren’t as many tutoriels, videos, content back then. Kids these days are spoiled
define good.
After a few days-weeks, I could do with it what I needed, 3d sketches, and elements too complex to be made in archicad.
After a year or two, I could make complete projects for visualization in artlantis.
The level I have now, I reached it yesterday at around 1am when closing SU. I’ll probably be better tomorrow since I’m modelling some stuff right now . But joke aside, the two massive level bump I’ve had were when I started teaching, and joining this forum to do some tech support.
Teaching SU taught me a lot, all the tools, in details, vanilla, no vanilla, and I got to answer questions from people in various fields. Last year I did a 3 days course (SU+twinmotion) for a guy working a printshop, he needed to make 3d mockups of embossed and gilded prints.
The forum helped in a similar fashion, just with even more bugs and questions. I mean, before Dave mentioned it, I never thought of stacking viewports in layout.
I still learn. small things, tips here and there. Never stop learning.
I could hardly make a cube for the first year, but then again I was coming right out of mspaint without a fully developed frontal lobe.
reject reality, demand immediate perfection
The starting point for 3d can vary greatly on how experienced someone is with software in general, when people post things saying ‘this is my first model’, it’s usually the terrible ones that win the hearts and minds.
Have had this laying around for awhile, might have to update it
[posts phenomenal collection of models as if they were nothing much, a mere trifle]
People have been murdered for less.
I’m just sayin’.
My relevant background is IT since the punch card era, and actual decades of pencil ‘n’ paper drafting followed by years of 2D CAD. So why aren’t I being carried aloft on shoulders in celebration of my cavalcade of masterpieces? Life sucks.
Being real though it’s a trifle to pull up old things but insanely difficult to move forward a lot of times, we’re in our little spheres as introverted techies and it’s hard to find support for a lot of things.
Lots of people will judge based on what’s in front of them, whether it was made with a prompt in two seconds or put together over a decade with two sticks and rock, but there’s even more people ready to celebrate victories as long as they’re consistent.
Consistency might not align with certain philosophies though, I personally find it overrated
(this is a jest I’m working on things I swear)
I dunno, everything you’ve posted is pretty impressive, and I’d be hard pressed to create them myself.
I started with SU in 2003 and didn’t make anything really professional looking until 2009. Even still, I only did building shells and didn’t venture into interiors until about 2017~2018. As much progress as I’ve made, it still feels like a bottomless pit.
Your skills grow over time. Your robots too, but their “feet” are getting smaller!
I really like sci-fi but you should not forget about science in this name. When the robot is bigger, its feet should also provide stability.
Great works.
I’m reminded of a story relayed to me by a former boss. He loved his Labrador Retriever and took it hunting every chance he got. I asked him how long does it train a Lab to be a great retriever? His reply- about 15 years, unfortunately they only live about 12.
I had 15h or training with v6, then there was a LOT of trial and error. There weren’t as many tutoriels, videos, content back then. Kids these days are spoiled 
. But joke aside, the two massive level bump I’ve had were when I started teaching, and joining this forum to do some tech support.
