Google SketchUp

When I downloaded Google Earth, I also grabbed its spiritual cousin, Google SketchUp, a 3D modeling tool that Google bought a couple years ago. The two programs connect in an unusual way: You can plant models of buildings onto Google Earth that other GE tourists can see. For instance, when you visit the Palace of the Fine Arts in Google Earth, you can see a 3D Model of the building instead of the top-down aerial photo. You can also see the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, superimposed over the flat picture of our famous landmark.

But the program works independently of Google Earth. I've played with a few 3D modeling programs in the past, but they've always featured a steep learning curve. That's why I was so impressed with SketchUp. The designers managed to make a straightforward program that makes most things easy and hard things possible. To make a polyhedron, you just click the pencil from point to point. SketchUp connects the dots whenever you close a polygon. You can pull surfaces away from others, and move surfaces while SketchUp adjusts all the other faces to keep them attached. Want a roof shape on the box you just drew? Draw a line down the middle of the face, creating two new ones. Move that edge up the z-axis, and watch the two faces slant upwards in response. Within a few minutes of doodling alongside the user's guide introductory chapter, I had created a complex shape with weird slopes and faces. And I knew exactly what I had done, which is unusual with 3D programs.

So check it out, if you haven't already.