Attached Link: @Last announcement about Google SketchUp, with links

With all the buzz over Hexagon, you may have missed this. (I know I did.)

A few years ago I heard about an app called SketchUp that was notable because it made 3-D modelling so simple to do, and because of its great user interface. I really liked the app, and the quirky company that produced it, but it was always too pricey for me to buy it. It was geared more at the architectural modelling crowd, and went for around $500.

Sometime in the last few months, the company (@Last) was bought by Google. And now they have released a FREE version of SketchUp!

I think everyone should download this app and give it a try, but I'd make that recommedation ESPECIALLY to people who have been afraid to try modelling software for building your own 3D objects. SketchUp make this process almost laughably easy, and what's more - fun!

The cons are these: advanced features are still locked away in the $500 version (now called SketchUp Pro) and that includes OBJ export. However, you can move models into and out of Google Earth and Google's 3D Warehouse. I'll be looking into the Ogle program (which can pick 3D models out of Google Earth without exporting) to see if it can be used as a back-door for getting geometry out of Google SketchUp.

But even if you can't ultimately export from Google SketchUp to Poser, the program is worth checking out just to see how easy 3D software CAN be!

• Jimdoria  ~@>@