SketchUp
Suitable for beginner to intermediate students.
Taught by Paul Coquerel.  Click here for Paul's profile.

Have you ever wondered what your design will look like in 3D?  Architects, interior designers, media professionals, product designers, and many others around the world are using SketchUp to create detailed 3D models quickly and easily.  This highly intuitive software enables anyone with an idea to transform it into a detailed, sophisticated, and professional 3D rendition for others to see and share their vision, whether colleague or client.

Prior to the use of SketchUp, the process of transferring concepts and design creations into 3D renditions was long and arduous.  Designers were forced to communicate the details of their design concepts to a 3D designer by way of hand-sketched notebooks, casual drawings, verbal description and explanation.  This resulted in countless hours of back-and-forth dialog and exchanges between the original designer and the 3D designer to achieve the original designer's vision.  Essentially, the 3D designer had to act as the hands and eyes of the original designer in order to create a 3D rendition suitable for presentation to a client.  Anyone who is familiar with the endless tweaking and trial-and-error involved in design creation understands how painful it is to try to achieve a final rendition in a 3D program with someone else doing the clicking for you.

Using SketchUp, designers are now able to remove the middleman from the equation and take total control of the 3D rendering process into their own hands.  More and more designers from various fields are employing SketchUp in their work on a daily basis, easing their workload and freeing up an enormous amount of time.  Designers can now work directly in 3D, producing images which depict every minute detail of the project, tweaking and modifying the design concept every step of the way to achieve their own vision swiftly and accurately.

SketchUp is a user-friendly program that provides designers with the ability to draw using a familiar paper and pencil paradigm in a software context and to share the final output as 2D, 3D, or even animated versions.  Create a 3D model for anything you can imagine, from a book to a building, from redecorating your living room to inventing a new piece of furniture.  You can even model an entire city for Google Earth.  There's no limit to what you can create with SketchUp.  This course will teach you the foundations of SketchUp's drawing, design, and rendering tools.  Students will learn the fundamentals of the application, the interface, and all of the necessary skills to model in 3D with SketchUp comprehensively from beginner level through to more advanced knowledge.

The program includes a precise drawing layout functionality, allows surface rendering in various "styles", and accommodates third-party "plug-in" programs enabling other capabilities (e.g. near photo-realistic rendering).  You will be able to make more informed decisions, communicate project details, and share ideas with colleagues and customers to reach a common goal.  Among the advantages of this software is the access to a free online "warehouse" of models already created of existing products (chairs, sofa, windows, kitchens, etc.) that can come in handy to enhance or embellish your design.  Once created and presented, it also has the ability to export the technical design in different formats such as AutoCAD and similar programs to pass on to a designated contractor.

In this class, students will first learn how to create simple objects and understand each and every tool that is available.  Having mastered all of the tools, students will then begin to create more complex models based on individual designs or on any existing image, photo, or object.  Then we will move on to choosing the best views, angles, and styles to present a model.  Finally, students will see how to further develop a model with additional plug-ins and exporting capability.  At the end of the course, students will be able to master and create a 3D model for any object of their desire.

The following topics will be covered:

Understanding the user interface/layout and the basic tools available in SketchUp (push/pull/draw/move/rotate)
Using the basic tools to create simple shapes then combining them into components
Understanding the more complex tools to create more details (arcs, follow-me, offset, scale, terrain)
Organizing the model (grouping, layers, using the Outliner, hiding/unhiding, locking/unlocking)
Modeling an existing object accurately and to scale
Applying patterns/materials/textures to a model (paint bucket, texture tiling, import images)
Understanding the use of scenes, camera and styles, 3D Warehouse
Understanding more advanced modeling techniques (dynamic components, arrays, section animations)
Printing your work (from Windows/Mac, to a specific scale)
Creating walk-through animations for presentation and final output (Animation Export)
Exporting to CAD and other modeling software in 2D and 3D
Discovering add-ons, extensions, and plug-ins for different rendering applications (iRender, LayOut)
Answering questions and working on any problems

Please see below some examples of Paul's work; click on any image to enlarge.

Additional samples of SketchUp possibilities; click on any image to enlarge.

Course Title: SketchUp
Tuition Fee: RMB 3200

Spring Session 2013: March 6th to May 11th

Section A: Wednesday mornings (10:00 AM - 12:30 PM)   Registration Closed
10 weeks from March 6th to May 8th (Course Code: SK103)
Location: ELC Learning Center

Section B: Wednesday afternoons (1:00 PM - 3:30 PM)   Registration Closed
10 weeks from March 6th to May 8th (Course Code: SK104)
Location: ELC Learning Center

Section C: Wednesday evenings (6:30 PM - 9:00 PM)   Registration Closed
10 weeks from March 6th to May 8th (Course Code: SK105)
Location: ELC Learning Center

Section D: Saturday mornings (10:00 AM - 12:30 PM)   Registration Closed
10 weeks from March 9th to May 11th (Course Code: SK106)
Location: ELC Learning Center

Fall Session 2013: October 9th to December 14th

Section A: Wednesday mornings (10:00 AM - 12:30 PM)   Registration Closed
10 weeks from October 9th to December 11th (Course Code: SK103)
Location: ELC Learning Center

Section B: Wednesday afternoons (1:00 PM - 3:30 PM)   Registration Closed
10 weeks from October 9th to December 11th (Course Code: SK104)
Location: ELC Learning Center

Section C: Wednesday evenings (6:30 PM - 9:00 PM)   Registration Closed
10 weeks from October 9th to December 11th (Course Code: SK105)
Location: ELC Learning Center

Section D: Saturday mornings (10:00 AM - 12:30 PM)   Registration Closed
10 weeks from October 12th to December 14th (Course Code: SK106)
Location: ELC Learning Center

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THIS COURSE

Registration Procedure:
First register online to reserve your place.  You will receive a confirmation email with further details and instructions.  Payment must be made on site at the ELC Learning Center during the payment dates shown below (you can come in person or send someone).

Tuition fee payment for the Fall Session 2013 will take place Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, September 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th.  The payment hours are 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM.  Payments will be received in the Registration Office at the ELC Learning Center.  Payment must be received on time to complete your enrollment and maintain your reservation in the class(es) for which you have registered.

Register early to reserve your place, as many classes fill up quickly.  If the course for which you are registered does not reach the minimum enrollment requirement, you will be notified of the cancellation before the payment dates.  As such, we receive payments only for courses which are proceeding as scheduled.  Please note, we do not offer trial lessons or discounts of any kind.  Refund Policy: No refunds will be issued after the start of the term.