FREE stand design software

[mpcart]

I thought all you DIY'ers who are thinking about building your own stand might be interested in a new Google tool.

It's called Sketch-up and can be downloaded FREE from Sketch-up

Its really easy to use and a nice way of visualizing your custom stand design.

I'm going to use it to design my new stand and thought I'd practice by drawing my current stand.

and here is the real thing way back when . . .

-Mike

 

[mikeadams1985]

ooo - downloading as we speak

will post a sketch

 

[Scuba_Dave]

"Way back when"

When did this come out?

 

[mpcart]

Google just released the free version of the software although the company they acquired had the software out for a few years.

-Mike

 

[gunslingerone9]

hey mpcart i live about an hour from you/ or so i have been to tropical world pets in st. louis and the saltwater store in fairveiw heights cant remember the name but is by the rent a center.(sadly i work at rac.) i live in roodhouse half way between jacksonville and alton and was wondering if you could suggest some saltwater stores around the metro/st. louis area that kick @$$, thanks

 

[BeanAnimal]

Don't look to quick, but I think you will find that google will soon unseat Microsoft and other software houses. MS will end up being an OS only company with stiff competition from Mac.

MS has tried to push the thin client model back to the desktop for 10 years. They dream of subscription based apps. Google has done it in 2 and done it so that it runs on any OS. It will not be long until google has word processors, spreadsheets, graphics and cad (ohh wait they do), accounting, etc. Don't expect them to stay free with features. Once they catch on and MS and the other vednors are whooped, google will start adding subscription fees for everthing but the most basic software features.

In any case, remember you heard it here first.

Bean

 

[mpcart]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7275181#post7275181 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gunslingerone9
hey mpcart i live about an hour from you/ or so i have been to tropical world pets in st. louis and the saltwater store in fairveiw heights cant remember the name but is by the rent a center.(sadly i work at rac.) i live in roodhouse half way between jacksonville and alton and was wondering if you could suggest some saltwater stores around the metro/st. louis area that kick @$$, thanks

Check out the SLASH or SEASL club forums - they have LFS lists for the St. Louis area and they folks there would be happy to give you some suggestions.

A new store in town is Gateway Aquatics. They have a large coral selection and are very popular right now. Another place with a nice selection is Clayton Pet Emporium. Marine Solutions gets a lot of good press but I haven't been there.

-Mike

 

[jeffrey_ropp]

mpcart - I was just playing around with Sketch-up myself so this caught my eye. Please publish your design so others can see it!

Nice work!
Jeff

 

[Sohal11]

I also used it to design my tank. It is a nice software.

 

[laverda]

I have used the software a little and it is pretty slick!

 

[afex]

yeah i used sketchup about 2 years ago to help me design my stand.

haven't tried out the new google version yet tho.

 

[raskal311]

Didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t the head of MS through a huge fit when Goggles hired the head programmer at MS to work on their OS.

 

[mpcart]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7280312#post7280312 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jeffrey_ropp
mpcart - I was just playing around with Sketch-up myself so this caught my eye. Please publish your design so others can see it!

Nice work!
Jeff

It's published under the title "aquarium." Let me know if it works.

-Mike

 

[GARFVolunteer]

Thanks mpcart,

I have been using sketchup over the last couple of days to verify my new large stand calculator. In the past I have had to drive 45 minutes over to a buddies house just so he could do the same thing in a 3D version of AutoCad. Now when I make a modification I can check the calculations myself...

Thanks,

Scott

 

[jeffrey_ropp]

Mike - It worked. Excellent work! But you forgot to paint it!

 

[BeanAnimal]

Somebody had a fairly nice overflow and tank drawn (with sketchup I think), andybody know what recent thread I am talking about?

 

[DHyslop]

Bean,

Mine, perchance?

75 gallon with external overflow

 

[BeanAnimal]

That was it

Was that sketchup? And if so, how do you intersect solids to form holes. I am a self taught autocad guy... Sketchup is easy to use, but a big step backwards and I am pulling my hair out to do what should be simple things.

I remembered contributing to the thread, but still could not find the thing using search (even got the right thread but missed the sketchup with all the other photos)... doh.

 

[DHyslop]

I'm kind of in the same boat: previously self-educated on an obsolete copy of 3D Studio. I can do much much more on Sketchup but there's a lot of unlearning to be done.

It took me a while to get intersection down. There's a page about it in the online help under Modification Tools.

Essentially for my bulkhead holes I made a 46mm cylinder and dragged it into place so it intersects the glass. At this point Sketchup doesn't show the lines of intersection: no new faces are actually there. Then you make sure both the cylinder and the glass are selected, right click, intersect with model. Now it should make faces based on every line of intersection. At this point each part of the cylinder and the faces in the hole can be individually deleted.

At least that's how I remember doing it. I believe I had difficulty when I was trying to do this to parts of groups or components.

Dan

 

[BeanAnimal]

Ahh I made the front wall of my speaker cabinent a component (.75" mdf) and the cylinder the same way. I will go back and take a look again... so used to the autocad wya of extruding and interescting that I just can't wrap my brain around something so easy.