One of my long-term goals has been to get good at architectural 3D modeling and rendering, but I could never commit to the work and spend time consistently practicing. Architectural design is definitely a skill I want to be good at, though, with how much I could use it to help my parents’ business and my passion for architecture.
Thus, at the end of August, I decided to challenge myself to practice architectural modeling in SketchUp every day for 30 days and see where I end up. Welcome to Day 1 of My 30 Days of Architectural Design In SketchUp Challenge!
Challenge Rules and Details
For the most part, the challenge is pretty simple. Do something related to architectural design in SketchUp for at least 30 minutes every day and publish the details of each day into a blog like this. The blog’s goal is to keep myself accountable, help me remember specific learnings, and also serve as a way to organize the next day’s tasks.
Admittedly, I have not figured out the full intricate details of this challenge yet. I realized that some things must be worked out after the first 30 minutes of today. For example, I have not worked out if I should take and follow a course, model after existing architecture, or try to create something entirely from scratch.
There are also other details, like whether or not I should record what I do to see my evolution. Something I will do, though, is take screenshots of my work so you can see the changes from my early days of modeling versus what I design at the end.
But without further ado, let’s get into the first day’s work and learnings.
Day 1’s Work and Learnings
Since starting a challenge of 3D modeling every day was a rather spontaneous decision, I was somewhat unprepared coming into the first day, especially since I’m also dealing with multiple new workflows.
Instead of working from home like I’m used to, I decided to follow my brother to his engineering building with the idea that separating work environments from resting environments would increase my productivity. Unfortunately, I forgot that all my tools were installed on my desktop, not my laptop.
Thus, all I did today was plan what I needed to do and install the necessary tools. This included Sketchup, V-Ray, and various plugins I knew I needed from previous experience following courses. With the setup taking nearly an hour, this is all I have today. Since my desktop is a Windows computer and my laptop is a Mac, I also spent the day getting used to how SketchUp operates on MacOS.
Goals For Day 2
But with all the installation and setup done, day two will be when I can start doing the real stuff. I realized today that I forgot most of the basics of SketchUp and will need some proper guidance. I decided it’ll be good to follow along with a couple of courses to relearn SketchUp fundamentals.
And that’s it for today! While these blog posts are primarily for me, they are public, so I’m open to any suggestions you have. Feel free to let me know in the comment section below!