Category Archives: tools and gadjets

Rendering in SketchUp

Posted on by orangeni
1

I am waiting for my marks… waiting… WAITING…

There is another stuff to do while I am waiting. Sketch book, Curtains book, History of  Styles book  and 3D modelling. I found the book I was looking for – it is Rendering in Sketch Up by Daniel Tal. The book serves as a beginner rendering manual and reference guide to further develop rendering skills. The great thing is that it gives a review for several rendering plug ins. It exists in kindle version too, but I personally did not get used to the kindle bookmark system yet, so after some hesitation I bought the paper one.  I just paid for it at Amazon, in customer reviews they say it is easy to read, I hope I will find it easy too as there are more than 600 pages in it :)

rendering in sketchup

Posted on by orangeni
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I have to move my milestone for another month again…  But yesterday I found a great news on the student forum:

Dear Students,

We have made the decision that any students with previous CAD experience are now able to submit their work on CAD from the start of the course. If however you do not have experience please submit your hand drawings as usual.

Kind regards,

Laura

Assistant to the Head of Open Learning

So I am using sketch up for my home cinema project and feeling a bit more motivated :)

Measure flooring software

Posted on by orangeni
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Starting project 5.3 Flooring I found Measure. It is American flooring estimation software. It handles estimating and layout of carpet, tile, laminate and hardwood flooring for projects of all sizes. They have free 30 days trial version, that is enough to get familiar, to try it for my project and to keep it in mind in case if I need it in the future. I will do my project by hands as required, but it is good to know the easiest way to do the job :) .

Gantt chart software

Posted on by orangeni
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Project 5.5, Order of work has to be presented as a Gantt chart. No, I do not like to draw it on paper, it is XXI century at the end of the day. Pencil, ink and markers are for sketching or painting, not for charts. There are many programs exist, some of them have to be purchased, some have to be installed on computer, some are too complicated. After search and trials I choose Gantter.com – free software, no need to install, integrates with Google Docs, printable, easy to edit. Neat and smart way to do the job.

Splash of colours!

Posted on by orangeni
1

Colour trends in fashion, seasonal Pantone Fashion Color reports in PDF format at fashiontrendsetter.com

Colour theory for designers by Cameron Chapman in 3 parts at smashingmagazine.com. It is written for web designers, but design is design, rules are the same for all. Easy to understand, great examples. About 20% of  information is not new for us, we have got it in our student’s binders, but the rest 80% deserve an attention.

I just said about my favorite colourlovers.com, but there are 9 more! 10 Super Useful Tools for Choosing the Right Color Palette at webdesignledger.com. I checked out only kuler yet and love it.

Well, I am getting back to my projects now, deadline is coming.  :)

Autodesk Homestyler

Posted on by orangeni
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I wrote about it earlier, but after having another look would like to mention this software again. The main feature – it is online tool, so you can present your project to customer straight away, you can share it with friends and colleagues if you like. Another great thing about it – there is a big library of real product, color, finish and size combinations. That means you can calculate the cost of your project precisely and have a list of suppliers immediately. 7 languages, support forum. Autodesk Homestyler

3D interior design software

Posted on by orangeni
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I was looking for something different as usual and found these 10 digital home design tools (9 of them entirely free). They let you play architect or interior designer in 2D and 3D, getting a realistic and accurate look at your design ideas without spending a dime on unflattering paint colors and furniture that doesn’t fit.

I just have to remind you that you have to have a special permission for using 3D software for your KLC projects though. For my opinion we obviously will use 3D modelling in real design practice, it is a quick way to create a neat and clear presentation for customers. So with permission or without it is better to get familiar with these magic tools.

Planning tools

Posted on by orangeni
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There is a good choice of planning and time managing soft, I found Evernote most comfortable for myself. After I made the rough time table for my 4 module, next step was to make it more detailed. It does really work when you plan ahead when and what exactly you have to do. Otherwise it is very easy to find yourself lost in social networks or endless housekeeping.