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Google Sketchup Newsletter: April 2012

The 212 teams that participated in this year’s Google Model Your Town Competition produced thousands of models, the vast majority of which were jaw-droppingly, heart-stoppingly, mind-bogglingly gorgeous. Narrowing down the field to six finalists was a gut wrenching affair, but it had to be done. In alphabetical order, the finalist teams for 2012 are:

Evansville, Indiana
United States
Modeler: Randall Crane

Getaria, Gipuzkoa
Spain
Modelers:
Josetxo Perez Fernandez
Pedro Domecq Aguirre

Leominster, Herefordshire
United Kingdom
Modeler: Tom Harvey

Lowell, Massachusetts
United States
Modeler: Beryl Reid

Toruń, Kujawsko-Pomorskie
Poland
Modelers:
Arkadiusz Pawlowski
Górniak Grzegorz

Zielona Góra, Lubuskie
Poland
Modeler: Tomasz Szular

This video tours each of the six finalists’ models in situ. Make some popcorn and enjoy.

Now it’s up to you (and the rest of the world) to pick an overall winner. We’ve created separate, minute-long video tours for each town, as well as KML files that you can download to see the models in Google Earth. Peruse the entries, then vote for your favorite. You have until May 1st, 2012 to cast your ballot.

Congrats and thanks to everyone who entered—this year’s models were truly amazing.

Happy sketching (and voting),

Aidan

Product Connect makes it easier to design with real products
Last April, our friends (and partners) at Igloo Studios released Product Connect for Google SketchUp to help designers document the product choices made in their SketchUp models. Today, I’m happy to report a new version of Product Connect is available for download from the Igloo Studios website.  Keep reading…

Mechanical design for everyone: SpaceClaim
SpaceClaim is a solid modeling application with a goal similar to SketchUp: make a 3D mechanical design tool so easy that anyone can use it. Their latest release is a big step forward for engineers who are looking to use SketchUp in their workflow.  Keep reading…

SketchUp Pro Case Study: Alexander James International
We recently came across some marvelous work from Alexander James International (AJI), an interior design firm in the UK that specializes in the Hotel & Leisure market. Michael Reekie, Senior Interior Designer for AJI, was good enough to provide some insight into how they use SketchUp Pro.  Keep reading…

Modeling cultural heritage sites with SketchUp Pro
CyArk is a non-profit dedicated to digitally preserving cultural heritage sites by collecting, archiving, and providing access to data created by laser scanning, digital modeling, and other technologies. CyArk is also the recipient of SketchUp Pro licenses as part of our SketchUp for Nonprofits program.  Keep reading…

‘Save a Copy As’ is my new favorite command
Mitchel Stangl is a mechanical engineer who uses SketchUp Pro to build massively intricate models of processing and manufacturing facilities. On his last visit to SketchUp HQ, Mitchel helped me improve my workflow by telling me about the File > Save A Copy As… command.  Keep reading…

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Follow us for up-to-the-minute news:

Twitter: @sketchup, @yourworldin3D
Facebook: facebook.com/googlesketchup
Blog: sketchupdate.blogspot.com

Sketch up Notebook from Google

With Halloween just a few weeks away, we thought it might be fun to instigate a little modeling throw-down for anyone with extra time on their hands. To participate in the first-ever SketchUp Halloween Challenge, just model a jack-o’-lantern or a haunted house and submit it. We’ll publish our favorite models on the Official SketchUp Blog and feature the three best entries (in each category) in next month’s SketchUpdate. This is more about fun than prizes, but we’ll also send the winners a glossy photo of James — his face is great for scaring trick-or-treaters off your lawn. Just kidding. Check out this blog post for rules, links and other details.

Happy sketching, and good luck,

Aidan

FormFonts has a new blog
The über-modelers over at FormFonts have just launched a new blog. From the looks of it, the content is fresh, relevant and nicely varied. This post (their first one) talks a little bit about the history of FormFonts. Well worth the read. Welcome to the blogosphere, FF! Keep reading…

Shaderlight V2 is now available
Our friends across the pond at Shaderlight would very much like you to know that they’ve just released Version 2 of their intuitive, affordable rendering tool for SketchUp. Keep reading…SketchUp Case Study: André Silva
André Silva is a freelancer in Lisbon, Portugal who mainly works on industrial projects and technical illustrations. He’s also currently working on some architecture and archaeology projects. Keep reading…SketchUp Pro Case Study: Dave Richards
Dave Richards is fine woodworker living in Rochester, Minnesota. He’s a an authorized SketchUp trainer/rockstar, contributing and teaching on the popular blogDesign. Click. Build. finewoodworking.com and the SketchUcation forums. Dave is an expert on using SketchUp for woodworking. Keep reading…Scaling imported raster images in LayOut
If you’ve ever inserted an aerial photo or an old scanned site plan into LayOut, you might have wanted to give it a specific scale on the page. My favorite technique for doing this uses the Clipping Mask feature. Keep reading…Visualizing circuit boards with SketchUp and PCB Converter
In the world of electronics, designing a stylish, functional and ergonomic product casing around a complex circuit board — with its chips, connectors, buttons and displays — is a critical step. As it turns out, SketchUp can help in this process. RS Components developed the PCB Converter plugin for SketchUp. Keep reading…A treasure trove of textures
If you’re into such noble pursuits as geo-modeling or photo-realistic rendering, there’s a good chance you spend a lots of time hunting for photo-textures online. To make life easier, our friend John Pacyga just posted a long list of his favorite texture sources — for both SketchUp and Photoshop. Keep reading…