google(r) sketchup (r) for dummies (

Considerably easier to use than other 3D software, Google SketchUp has found a niche in architecture, landscaping, real estate development, furniture building, and other design professions
The fun and friendly approach assumes no previous 3D modeling experience and explains the basic concepts involved in 3D modeling
Shows readers how to build a 3D model, print it, share it, export it to another professional design package, export it to Google Earth, and create a 3D animated tour
Helps readers harness the power of Google SketchUp so that they can populate Google Earth with 3D buildings, monuments, and other sculptures

Aidan Chopra has always had a thing for computers — his parents thoughtfully sent him to Apple camp instead of hockey lessons like every other eight-year-old in Montreal — but he learned to draft and build physical models the old-fashioned way, working for his architect father. These days, Aidan is a Product Evangelist at Google, where he’s been since that company bought SketchUp in the first part of 2006. In the three years since he graduated with a Master of Architecture degree from Rice University, he’s done a lot of writing and lecturing about the way software is used in design. Aidan writes the SketchUpdate, a monthly e-mail newsletter that reaches a half million SketchUp users worldwide. He has taught architecture at the university level and, at Google, works on ways to mediate between power and usability; he believes the best software in the world isn’t worth a darn if nobody can figure out how it works. Aidan is based in Boulder, Colorado, even though he is what many would consider to be the diametric opposite of a world-class endurance athlete.

Introduction.
Part I: Getting Started with SketchUp.
Chapter 1: Meeting Google SketchUp.
Chapter 2: Establishing the Modeling Mind-set.
Chapter 3: Getting Off to a Running Start.
Part II: Modeling in SketchUp.
Chapter 4: Building Buildings.
Chapter 5: Keeping Your Model Organized.
Chapter 6: Going Beyond Buildings.
Chapter 7: Modeling with Photographs.
Part III: Viewing Your Model in Different Ways.
Chapter 8: Changing Your Model’s Appearance with Styles.
Chapter 9: Working with Light and Shadow.
Chapter 10: Presenting Your Model Inside SketchUp.
Part IV: Sharing What You’ve Made.
Chapter 11: Working with Google Earth and the 3D Warehouse.
Chapter 12: Printing Your Work.
Chapter 13: Exporting Images and Animations.
Chapter 14: Exporting to CAD, Illustration, and Other Modeling Software.
Chapter 15: Creating Presentation Documents with LayOut.
Part V: The Part of Tens.
Chapter 16: Ten SketchUp Traps and Their Work-arounds.
Chapter 17: Ten Plugins, Extensions, and Resources Worth Getting.
Chapter 18: Ten Ways to Discover Even More.
Index.