Using Sketchup Warehouse for Easy Studio design

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Howdy guys. It occured to me today that many of you may not be aware of a tool that is easy to use to draw/build your virtual studio. That tool is Sketchup. But the real advantage is Sketchup Warehouse. There are literally THOUSANDS of pre drawn models of everything you will find in a recording studio plut thousands of other things such as plumbing, ductwork, furniture, buildings, building materials...you name it -its there. If you've already drawn a room in Sketchup, just go in and pick a model and download it into your own. You can modify them, scale them, or simply use them as is. Make sure your room is drawn in FULL scale though. Most models in the warehouse are drawn FULL SCALE.

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?q=recording&btnG=Search&styp=m&reps=1

Not only that, there are literally tons of tutorials on everything you need to know to draw anything. If you don't know about Sketchup, just Google it. The best thing, the basic version is FREE!! I'll be posting some simple examples in the next few days.
fitZ

 

[thane1200]

That will def. come in handy. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[WhiteStrat]

Great suggestion Rick. I love Sketchup. Just used it to design my custom console/desk. The cool thing is that you can try different permutations that address everything from how it looks to how it fits. Compared to conventional 2D design, it's almost like getting to build prototypes.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

That will def. come in handy. Thanks for the heads up.

No prob. You can see my studio below. And a few other things. I've posted these before but you may not have seen them. I save a view as .jpgs and send the files to a host. Good thing. Two months ago I lost a years worth of work when BOTH my harddrives crashed. What a moron for not backing em up. Now all I have is the .jpgs. I'm building two new computers now, one just for graphics stuff and the net, the other for digital audio. My two old ones are now for midi and my grandson to play around on. Ha, at three years old, he's gettin better than me.

Compared to conventional 2D design, it's almost like getting to build prototypes.

You betcha I drew in Autocad for 16 years, and now I hardly open it. Sketchup lets you turn 3d into 2d layouts at the click of a button too. And you simply pick the view you want. And SECTIONS...beyond cool. And then RENDER them in 3rd party apps. geeeze, no wonder its becoming a standard world wide. My favorite tool is the Push/Pull...wow...NO other program does that cool trick.

The cool thing is you can insert different components into a model to try out new designs. I save my basic room, and like here, inserted different diffuser designs. Thats where the Warehouse comes in. There are already tons of instruments, absorbers, equipment, lighting, furniture..geese, to much to list.

Perspective and view are very cool too.

http://httpics.com/is.php?i=363&img=Tape_Machine_Fi.jpg

When I draw, I start at the smallest detail I want to show.

These just scratch the surface of what I've drawn for my studio. Unfortunately, I lost it when my HD's crashed. Fortunately, my studio was almost done.

BTW, the computer monitors in the Sketchup drawing are from the Warehouse. I simply scaled it down and copied it for the two small ones.

 

[RejectionNinja]

"Mine's THIS big"
"Well mine's the size of my arm!"

Hehe, thanks for the tips. I will be trying to use this for my design.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

"Mine's THIS big"
"Well mine's the size of my arm!"

hahahahahahaha!!!

 

[pandamonk]

Looks amazing FitZ! Look at all that detail!! Wow! What are those blue circles on the side walls?

How's the building process coming along?

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

What are those blue circles on the side walls?

thier translucent Blue plexiglass. Actually, I didn't draw the whole thing. There is lots of colored plex and other stuff. Their part of my "studio art" which are already built. Most of it is made from aluminum extrusions from a company called Stylmark. I just can't put em up till I get the Led controllers in. Just bought them on ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Professional-RG...0|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

The art, console, and ceiling "clouds" have all kinds of LED stuff to put up. All hooked up to one of the computers. Hundreds of random sequences and switched lighting effects. Hmmm, thats not to mention the good ole lava lamps, which I never got around to drawing. Heres some links to show what the Led stuff will do. Theres tons of this stuff on Youtube

These should illustrate some of the concepts using RGB Led's & controllers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3SnA55Nc6o&NR=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a9SsOsGsBA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxPS7OjlPWc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dIPUVqbT-A&feature=related

BTW, the studio is coming along..although slowly because of the econmy...er...my economy But, I AM getting things done. Still have to buy another Compound Miter Saw. Mine old one took a dump I need it for all the angles in the framing for the superchunk/clouds etc.
fitZ

 

[pandamonk]

Still have to buy another Compound Miter Saw. Mine old one took a dump I need it for all the angles in the framing for the superchunk/clouds etc.
fitZ

My old cheapy one took a dump too. The new one is much better, but still cheapy.