Computer Drawing for Fun
Want to have some fun drawing on your computer? Check out SketchUp. It’s an easy to use, intuitive program that not only lets you draw easily on your computer, it lets you draw in three dimensions! Google bought SketchUp a short time ago and it is now offered in a free version with a lot of functionality.
I use SketchUp all the time. I’ve drawn everything from cabinetry ideas to entire houses. It take some time, but I’ve found it very useful to develop a 3D computer model of things like kitchen designs and then rotate them around, zooming in and out, to help me and my clients get a better feel for the design than a single, flat drawing could ever give.
Another good use for SketchUp is to examine sun angles. Knowing the position of the sun is valuable information for passive solar and energy efficient, green design. The program lets you take even a rudimentary model of a house and place it anywhere on the planet. Then, you can orient the building relative to the compass by rotating it. SketchUp will then show the shadows for any time of the day for any day of the year. It’s a great tool to check your orientation relative tot he sun and also to see if your overhangs are the right size to shade the windows and walls in the hot summer, yet allow warming sunshine in during the winter months.
If you would like to read more articles about house and home design, please visit my other website, www.about-home-design.com.
Bill Hirsch
www.designingyourperfecthouse.com
Tags: 3D drawing, Add new tag, computer model house design, dream house, Green Building, Passive solar, SketchUp
