Did you figure out whether Blender or SketchUp is right for you? If you did, do us a quick favor and let us know which one is right for you in the comments below… or just let us know you liked the video by giving it a like 👍. Got a SketchUp question you'd like to ask us? Ask it in the comments!
As a hobby, I used a free version of SketchUp for several years and when I reached the limits of this software, I started to get bored. So I started learning Blender a few years ago to create organic models. Now, I can model, sculpt, render my models to print on canvas, and finally for a year I have 3D printers to bring my models to life. I no longer use SketchUp (except when I need to make architectural plans with precise measurements because it is very quick to achieve).
Sounds like you traveled nearly the same path as we suggested to Steven in our video by starting with SketchUp and then adding Blender for the organic and sculpted models. Glad to hear that has worked out well for you!
Really appreciate the instructive video! Great tips, I'm going with Blender because (with the exception of #7) it seems to have most of what I'm looking for. also, I have the time to sit and play with the software so that's ok with me. Thanks!
SketchUp School Hi I love your videos they are really helpful, I was wondering what laptop do you recommend for me an architecture student to use in uni, I was leaning towards a MacBook Pro 13 inch.
Hello.... Can you pls tell me that can we create our own design on sketchup make...... And can u pls tell that is it difficult to make an interior design of a huge villa with the help of blender... and which one will be be easier to use for bigger projects in future like making a ship with interior??? Pls reply on these quieres.... Thank you🙏🙏🙏
I switched to Blender for all my woodworking shop designs. The animation and locked movements are key for me. And I am very tired of Tribble or Audodesk nerfing their products over and over. Open source is the way to go. Takes longer to learn, yes. More powerful and predictably immune from corporate nerfing, yes. And ... it's free. :)
What a clear and straightforward comparison, without getting too mired in the details that beginners wouldn't appreciate anyway! I can tell you put a lot of preparation and production into your videos, and it really shows, thank you!
I learn Sketchup in the beginning and used almost all free extension of it like Fredo tools and Other. Then I inclined to blender and make it my first choice for modelling. Start from 2.8 release it becomes very intuitive and faster also i can get a lot of professional level tutorials both free and paid to kickstart my journey to Architectural Visualization and animation....
@@Claw94 yes, i still do concepting and modelling part in blender using boxcutter. But other material and rendering work in corona renderer due to its simplicity and photorealistic quality. But you can also use d5 or twinmotion instead of corona as quality is almost same but at my time corona was best. I also use 3ds max in my workflow as all archviz tutorials are mainly focused on 3ds max. It has huge library of models, textures,scripts &add-ons and in today's time you can find any model in max format. But still blender is unique in the way of its workflow, all tools under one software(feel of creative spirit), it is a complete package and it's development makes me stick to it and also I can't leave max due to its old legacy. But now surely, i don't use SketchUp but sometimes use moi 3d, this is my process but you can go with SketchUp and any renderer like lumion, d5, twinmotion or any other like vray. Also, it is not bad to learn to upgrade yourself and try your hands on new software and skills.
I'm going to try Blender. Primary reason is I don't want to pay $299/yr for my use (non-professional, personal). I don't want an internet-based program. Having worked with advanced programs like Adobe Premiere, Photoshop and After Effects the "learning curve" ahead to learn Blender is not intimidating and I'm willing to put in the time. Thanks for the video!
The "learning curve" in Sketchup is worse than Blender. There is far too much that Sketchup can not do and a beginner will be utterly defeated trying to figure out why. Avoiding such a headache would be my advice.
Very impressed with how non-biased you were with your presentation and points. You were completely objective and told the viewer what product was (objectively) better for what they needed either for. Kudos to you.
This video was one of the best pieces of professional guidance ever created and shared on RUclips -you set a high standard that few can match. Thank you Sir.
Thank you for the information. It's very enlightening. I have already looked into SketchUp. The question came up about Blender. Now I know I need to learn it!
First of all thank you so much Alex for this wonderful video. Well, I am interior designer and I have been working in sketchup for seven years. And for organic looking models I have 3D warehouse. That doesn't mean I underestimated Blender. But with it's steep learning curves it will be hard for me to shift to blender. As a interior designer can I stick with Vray Sketchup forever. 😊😊
I am blender user since five years. Honestly this is by far the most fair and guiding comparison. If anyone keen to learn 3D animation and VFX then blender is perfect suit for them.
I was about to start using Fusion 360 and came across your video. Definitely made a lot of sense to go with SketchUp instead. Thanks Alex, this was a very fair comparison.
This was REALLY helpful, thank you so much! I am going to invest time learning Blender, since I´m a graphic designer and I need the software for more complicated subjects such as modeling stuff, animation, rendering in a realistic way, and so on. Thank you so much.
By profession I'm an urban/suburban planner (now retired), and I've used Sketchup extensively for 12 years now, and I've dabbled in Blender. I concur with your recommendations. Well done.
Great video comparing Sketchup with Blender. I've used both and have a great appreciation for ease of use. Blender definitely has a much longer learning curve, but very impressive especially given that it's free. I create custom props and have found Blender extremely helpful in this area.
which would you recommend for a starting garden designer (i.e smaller outdoor spaces) in order to show qualities of hard landscaping and also decent plant simulations whose form you have some control over over? Can it display plan views with dimension lines? What can I import Blender work into to get it into a form for construction plans? is there a video on that? Thanks!
For garden design, I would recommend SketchUp. You can create all of the hard landscaping using native tools as well as some extensions. Then when it comes time to visualize the plants, you'd have two choices: 1) You can find lots of great plants in the 3D Warehouse to use in SketchUp. However, you have to be careful about having too many polygons (slowing your model down). 2) If you are looking to create more realistic renderings, then you can take your SketchUp model into a program like Lumion or Twinmotion and use their realistic plant libraries to fill-in all the vegetation. SketchUp allows you to easily create plan views, and LayOut (which comes with SketchUp Pro) allows you to add dimensions and other annotations. So you could always import a Blender file into SketchUp if you wanted to use LayOut to create annotated plans. Unfortunately, we don't have a video covering that workflow.
That was a great comparison. Thank you. I used Sketchup for many years, but I always had to use a virtual Windows Pc, as I use Linux as my main OS. After I discovered Blender, it was goodbye Sketchup. In my case the price also makes a difference. I will always prefere OpenSource, if the software does what I need to. And Blender, like you said in the video is very capable of doing everything and more than Sketchup. Also, it maybe a little bit harder to learn, but it really pays of in the long run. And like others already commented the latest version is much more intuitive.
Thanks. I had started in Sketchup a few years ago without getting very far. Then when Blender 2.8 came out I tried to get into it with not much succes. Now I'm back in Sketchup for it's simplicity and will pick up Blender when I have gained enough experience.
At Sketchup, I created a project for my entire house. It is very fast and most of all I like connecting objects and accurate, fast measurements and especially the possibility to use auxiliary lines. I am using the latest free Sketchup 2017 offline. I then export interior designs for friends, including furniture, to Blender and use amazing rendering there. And I also present the tour in Blender. For me, it's an ideal combination of both great programs, because I mainly create interiors.
@@doyunkwak550 well, last time I checked they had a dude dressed like a superhero called Captain Disillusion.. as if that wasn't cringy enough they started the siminar with "ladies and blendermen" lol
I have a bachelors in graphic design and 3D modeling and animation. I’m used to Maya, but now that I’m out of school, Maya is WAY out of my budget lol😅. Now I have to learn blender ugh. BUT, could you explain the difference between 2D with Sketchup vs Prismm (All Seated)? Thank you 😊
Been using SketchUp frequently for 2-3 years and started using it even earlier, now, having recently found out about Blender's cycles render engine, I've started my architectural journey in Blender and have already found success in render quality. The modelling part is still not as fast as SketchUp for me, but all the control and extra features you get with Blender solidifies my now-changed opinion that Blender is a step above, not only as far as photorealism goes, but especially when it comes to animating your presentations and controlling movement. That being said, SketchUp is definitely way faster to learn and better for quicker model production.
This video was fantastic. I'm only checking out the capabilities of 3D applications for home use and for some fun. Very insightful. I've subscribed and liked it regardless if I will end up dabbling in 3D. Good work!
Thank u. Your videos are very informative. I don't usually comment, like subscribe but u earned it. U took the time to explain in a thorough way. Good j
After a year that I've switched from Sketchup to Blender just for sake of faster built in render engine for my interior work, now I'm learning to do VFX shot in blender XD , such a good decision I made it helps me improve my skills a lot that I couldn't think I would.
I think that Blender is probably the better choice for visualizing your 3D intarsia wood art designs. If you're interested, we have started a channel for Blender that you can find here: www.youtube.com/@BlenderAcademydotcom
Thanks I was not sure which would be best. I toyed with the idea of Gaming Environments. If I had pursed that Blender would have been the best choice. Appreciate the time it takes you to do these videos.
I've seen quite a few tutorials from you Guys and very well taught tutorials, very structured yet simple enough to understand and practice. This one is perfectly compared both tools. Thanks for such wonderful help.
Hi Alex, excellent presentation - clear, concise and packed full of details. And, yes! I did figure out which one is right for me. Since I do woodworking, and graduating from being a hobbyist to a professional (had my first "paying" customer) I decided to go with Sketchup.
I really like your ideas sir. and i love to see more of your tutorials, now i'm using both blender and sketchup. this two application are so powerful, but i need to learn more, that's why please make more tutorials :)
Happy to hear you like the videos and we'll definitely be publishing more! Be sure to subscribe to our channel so you know when we release the next ones.
If I want to draw backgrounds and dynamic angles for comics as well as illustrations, which is a better program for the task? I suppose it would be Blender after watching the video, but I'm not sure. Anyway, thanks for the breakdown.
SketchUp is actually an incredible tool for this... but Blender has some additional features you might love. Please send this message to team@sketchupschool.com and an instructor will try to help by asking a few more questions that can guide us to the best decision for you.
I am going to use Sketch Up. After looking at some Blender vids, it looks fabulous, but I need it predominantly for a house extension and redesign of several rooms in the house and need the drawings for the builders to get a very good idea of what we need. So from now on I will be looking for Sketch Up tutorials. Thank you very much for this very helpful video.
You're very welcome! Glad it was helpful, and good luck with the project! Be sure to contact us at team@sketchupschool.com if you have any questions along the way.
Fantastic video, very informative. After watching this I think I want to learn both SketchUp and Blender. It was said SketchUp is better for plans and documents. Just wondering what would be a good add-on software in Blender for plans and documents? Maybe someone reading this has an idea.
Thanks for the great video! I was gonna go with Blender since it is free. But since I want to design a house I think I will start with the free version of Sketchup and see how far that takes me. Even if I reach the limit of the free version in a few months it will most likely be worth it since I won't need to pay to learn the basics of the program.
I live in small room and was just looking for a buy furniture and organised it. I am also starting a businesses in hospitality and needed a way to create floor plans. But after watching you video. My choice is clear SketchUp will be my choice. "Thinking ahead blender will be good for somethings in my business plans down the road. I really got a lot out of the video thanks.
As a student in the Sketchup School, I am very interested in your feedback. I eventually plan to go on to rendering but have a lot more to learn about "clean" modeling. I totally agree with everything you have said here. These models and process require a good computer, which I now have. I think that learning 3d modeling in Sketchup to the max, including a few extensions for SU, before worrying about Blender as you seem to suggest. . Eventually I hope to learn more about how best build models in SU that can be exported into Blender.
Hi Jobyna - For the types of projects you are working on, I do think you're on the right path with learning SketchUp first and then adding Blender down the road.
Thanks...it was helpful... I'm a "Pro" user of ver 18 of Sketchup...I'm moving to Blender and waiting for it to catch up to the many of us that are tired of being left behind by this company and its "boardroom," profit margins being more important than old licence holders or the future of the program. Blender (I think) will only get better with time as it applies to Architecture... Thanks again for your video...
Great analisys I´ve started whit Skechtup since it became priced so whent to Blender, Which I started aswell long time ago trying it. You´r absolute wright Blender is lot more hard to learn, but for my privete use and point of view that is no pro I have to go whit Blender. try Zbruhs aswell for modeling but repeats the story as sackechtup,it whent priced. Thats my personal experience , I´m curious whith this type of programs, aswell wiht VR and adding IA. . Thnk you for all your work with your clear videos.
Thank you. Nice and clear. Been using SU for over 10 years. Works well. Doing complex curved element modelling right now with 2019 Pro and it works very well. All static admittedly, which is all we need for our application. This was a good explanation though. Thank you.
Been using sketchup roughly 8 years then discovered blender and linux , it was the time when cashflow was not good blender helped me a lot because it is free... Sketchup is nice because of GIS plugin but blender now has also GIS plugin for site analysis. . I can say Sketchup is nice when there are no budget constraints. Blender is also nice when you are just starting out. RTX support even if you do not have rtx card is also possible in blender experimental builds that saves my office by not throwing away my old titan x gpu . Thank you for not being biased... Great content subscribing!
I've been a 3D model artist, working with games engines for 19 years now... Fantastic question! I've always been into drawing out room plans, starships schematics, etc. since I was about 13 years old. I do use both pieces of software but I feel that things would be much faster in Blender and other things would be faster in Sketchup. I've set my units and scales up precisely so that I can easily export, to exact scale, from Sketchup to Blender though.
I migrated Sketchup 8 from whatever pc or laptop I had for years, and then somehow managed to lose my files, but luckily grabbed Sketchup Make 2017 before the free desktop version got retired. I use it a lot but only ever for personal use, and I'm so glad I've been able to hang on to it for so many years, because I'm not a natural at learning this, and even some 20+ years on, although I can produce a 3D house model fast, and can do full construction plans etc, how I achieve it is still clunky. I can't imagine having to keep learning a slightly different version - I'd have given up, I think. I can't even manage the web version, as not everything I use is available (or maybe just not obvious to find), and navigation is hard on your hands - much less useable than my ergonomic mouse with the desktop version. I've just installed Blender, as I'd like to be able to do renovation animations, where the 'old' elements of a house fly away and new items drop down and slide in - like a TV renovation programme - but watching this video makes me think I'll invest a bit more time still in exploring Sketchup extensions before tackling a whole new programme. I love the VR capability of Autodesk's Maya - but that's a way too steep investment for what is essentially a leisure past time for me! Thanks for covering so much info without disappearing down technical rabbit holes. I found this comparison & explanation video really, really helpful.
to do a standard 3d modeling I use SketchUp as well as for 3d printing job, thanx to SketchUp for its precise dimension (up to 0.001 mm precision) and also the guide tool in SketchUp is quite helpful where there's no such a tool in blender (or Maya). Blender is free, but it takes a longtime to create just a simple 3d geometry which it must be precise in dimension. So, if you need a precision go for SketchUp, but if you need complex design with less precision you might go for blender
I would have added. If clients are asking for 3D renders, there is a good chance they would like to include that model on interior or exterior renders to present to clients. In this case blender would be the go as the export to fgx, obj, dae is going to be problem free. As apposed to converting tris to quads. Just my thoughts.
Great comparison! Blender 2.9 came up with a lot new features for easier architectural models, so it's a no brainer for me to choose blender. But I have to give it to SketchUp for virtually having more or less drag and drop things. I also do animations, so, again, blender is the final choice for me
I have been using SketchUp for years and your videos have been a great help to me. Thank you. One question I do have is, can I import my SketchUp models into blender to take advantage of the the rendering that Blender seems so good at? I have used Shaderlight in the past for my renderings and appreciate your recommendations for other programs. Cheers.
Yes, you can take your SketchUp models into Blender to render them. The upside is that Blender has fantastic rendering capabilities and it's also free - so no added expense to give it a try. The downside is that you'll need to invest some time into developing a workflow for bringing your SketchUp models into Blender and modifying them for rendering purposes. Another option is to use a SketchUp extension like V-Ray for SketchUp (which is comparable to the Cycles rendering engine in Blender). It's a paid extension (as opposed to Blender being free), but you can render your SketchUp models inside SketchUp which is a bit easier than learning to take them into Blender. And if you are looking for a real-time rendering option comparable to Blender's EEVEE engine, you can try tools like Lumion, Twinmotion or Enscape3D. They are a little easier to use with your SketchUp models out of the box when compared to brining SketchUp models into Blender.
Blender doesn't have built-in functionality to help create construction documentation. You would most likely want to export Blender to another application like AutoCAD to create the kinds of documentation you need.
Great video!!! thanks for taking the time to do it. I think you are spot on. I have been using Sketchup 2014 for years. In architecture and furniture design. I been wanting to up my game and work on more improved renderings. I just started using Blender and the interface is more difficult to wrap my head around. So to keep my efficiency with molding i have been using both with exporting and importing models. have you tried this? how does it work with for you? Any tips and tricks you would like to share?
Yes, if you are comfortable modeling in SketchUp and then want to take those models into Blender to take advantage of Blender-only features, that can work really well. We will definitely put that sort of workflow on our list as a possible future topic for a video.
We don't have firsthand experience using a drawing tablet with Blender, so we don't have a recommendation to share. Perhaps someone else can reply with their favorite?
You could create a vehicle in either SketchUp or Blender, but Blender is more well suited to creating the type of compound curves that you'll need to make it look the most realistic.
Started Sketchup years ago but left it behind when payment model started to change. Liked Rhino better specially when I had to pay for either to get full features. Like grasshopper in Rhino but lately started looking at Blender 2.8. I hate to say it but after learning the others learning Blender was not difficult at all especially the modeling side. The rendering I have not needed much but I figure it will be same level of difficulty as the rest. Overall I think becoming Blender expert would have been the best choice to start with.
There is an option in Maya where you can give vertexes colors so in other programs like unreal engine you can assign these vertexs to behave in other way ( like the whole model being effected by the wind excluding these vertexs) , does it exist in blender ?
@@RoloTV2 Thanks for the comment man ! I already got into blender and ooh boy I should've done this a long time ago, the program is insanely good I never got back to vertex painting thou, should check that out
Great to have your information!! It’s really helpful to decide which one I should start first. I’ll start from SketchUP Pro as I want to use 2D drawings and construction informations. Thank you so much for making the video:)
Blender has a few plugins to enable it to be more architectural friendly on your point 7. Like TinyCad, or BlenderKit for free/paid assets to populate your architecture, sketch style for 2D looking fun, Real Units, so you can get around blender arbitrary measurements, especially when importing into other software for final layouts with proper scaling. And others.. Basically both can be plugged to highwater and back to do each other's feature. It really just come down to time management to learning each other's interface. Blender may have too many options tho for most users and may get in the way, it's also a rolling release so it's constantly changing breaking plugins sometimes as a moving Target. SketchUp may have too few, plus the cost of SketchUp pro, plus paid add-ons to may end up adding up really quick.. but it's almost an industry standard at this point if sharing documents. As long as your making something off your work tho it's probably worth the cost even if you have to buy into a few of the better plugins to bring it up to feature parity. Minor issue is this is almost like comparing Apples to Orange in the grand scheme of things. Even if they can be made to accomplish the apple or orange of it's opposite. Good luck.
Great point about being able to add plug-ins to Blender to accomplish all sorts of things that it doesn't do out of the box. Thanks for sharing your insights!
also archicad and archimesh are great add ones for architecture..and a box cutter is one of the most powerful plugin that I ever have seen available for a blender that brings push and pulls SketchUp future into the blender
We just finished another semester and time is money or get the homework done right showed how quickly sketchup just fails when you do something semi complex particularly when you deal with curved surfaces. And then dealing with uv texturing and rounded edges becomes a major pain. While the uv texturing in sketchup is perfect for flat surfaces - that’s also then kinda it. Modeling basic stuff in sketchup and rendering in blender offers a workflow that also defeats Enscape or Lumion. Too bad blender has a deeper learning curve to jump into it. The ease to jump into it about sketchup is really true.
I use Revit for most of my Architectural and documentation needs. I'm planning to learn a more flexible software. Which should I go for? Sletchup or Blender
I think since you got the documents parts covered in Revit , go for blender ( you can already create simple things using Revit straight away ) , or you can learn Revit deeper and start using massing which creates very complex shapes
Did you figure out whether Blender or SketchUp is right for you?
If you did, do us a quick favor and let us know which one is right for you in the comments below… or just let us know you liked the video by giving it a like 👍.
Got a SketchUp question you'd like to ask us? Ask it in the comments!
As a hobby, I used a free version of SketchUp for several years and when I reached the limits of this software, I started to get bored. So I started learning Blender a few years ago to create organic models. Now, I can model, sculpt, render my models to print on canvas, and finally for a year I have 3D printers to bring my models to life. I no longer use SketchUp (except when I need to make architectural plans with precise measurements because it is very quick to achieve).
Sounds like you traveled nearly the same path as we suggested to Steven in our video by starting with SketchUp and then adding Blender for the organic and sculpted models. Glad to hear that has worked out well for you!
Really appreciate the instructive video! Great tips, I'm going with Blender because (with the exception of #7) it seems to have most of what I'm looking for. also, I have the time to sit and play with the software so that's ok with me. Thanks!
SketchUp School Hi I love your videos they are really helpful, I was wondering what laptop do you recommend for me an architecture student to use in uni, I was leaning towards a MacBook Pro 13 inch.
Hello.... Can you pls tell me that can we create our own design on sketchup make...... And can u pls tell that is it difficult to make an interior design of a huge villa with the help of blender... and which one will be be easier to use for bigger projects in future like making a ship with interior??? Pls reply on these quieres.... Thank you🙏🙏🙏
I switched to Blender for all my woodworking shop designs. The animation and locked movements are key for me. And I am very tired of Tribble or Audodesk nerfing their products over and over. Open source is the way to go. Takes longer to learn, yes. More powerful and predictably immune from corporate nerfing, yes. And ... it's free. :)
Hey Ron - happy to hear that the switch to Blender has been successful for you!
I would really be happy seeing you how you use blender for woodworking? would you make some videos for that?
What a clear and straightforward comparison, without getting too mired in the details that beginners wouldn't appreciate anyway! I can tell you put a lot of preparation and production into your videos, and it really shows, thank you!
You're very welcome!
This is by far the most fair comparison I've ever seen on youtube!!!
Awesome - glad to hear you liked it!
Hey minced xD
@@Ratatted Hello!!! : )
The unbiasedness in his video made me appreciate this man like a lot.
+1
I learn Sketchup in the beginning and used almost all free extension of it like Fredo tools and Other. Then I inclined to blender and make it my first choice for modelling. Start from 2.8 release it becomes very intuitive and faster also i can get a lot of professional level tutorials both free and paid to kickstart my journey to Architectural Visualization and animation....
Thank you for sharing your story!
how is your journey going with Blender so far? Is it your go to choice for Archviz?
@@Claw94 yes, i still do concepting and modelling part in blender using boxcutter. But other material and rendering work in corona renderer due to its simplicity and photorealistic quality. But you can also use d5 or twinmotion instead of corona as quality is almost same but at my time corona was best. I also use 3ds max in my workflow as all archviz tutorials are mainly focused on 3ds max. It has huge library of models, textures,scripts &add-ons and in today's time you can find any model in max format. But still blender is unique in the way of its workflow, all tools under one software(feel of creative spirit), it is a complete package and it's development makes me stick to it and also I can't leave max due to its old legacy. But now surely, i don't use SketchUp but sometimes use moi 3d, this is my process but you can go with SketchUp and any renderer like lumion, d5, twinmotion or any other like vray. Also, it is not bad to learn to upgrade yourself and try your hands on new software and skills.
I'm going to try Blender. Primary reason is I don't want to pay $299/yr for my use (non-professional, personal). I don't want an internet-based program. Having worked with advanced programs like Adobe Premiere, Photoshop and After Effects the "learning curve" ahead to learn Blender is not intimidating and I'm willing to put in the time. Thanks for the video!
Awesome - based on everything you mentioned, Blender sounds like the perfect choice for you! Good luck!
The "learning curve" in Sketchup is worse than Blender. There is far too much that Sketchup can not do and a beginner will be utterly defeated trying to figure out why.
Avoiding such a headache would be my advice.
Just try to make terrain in skp is a nightmare. I’m RhinoCAD it’s just a command called contour.
Very impressed with how non-biased you were with your presentation and points. You were completely objective and told the viewer what product was (objectively) better for what they needed either for. Kudos to you.
It is definitely our goal to help people make the best choice - whether that be SketchUp or a totally different tool. Happy you noticed!
@@SketchUpSchool Well, I wish you and SketchUp success. You definitely deserve it.
This is the best comparison I'v ever seen. Thanks man!
You're welcome!
This video was one of the best pieces of professional guidance ever created and shared on RUclips -you set a high standard that few can match. Thank you Sir.
You're welcome - glad you enjoyed it!
I've been working as a prop and environment artist using Blender for the past few years, and this is absolutely spot on. Really good video.
Really happy to hear that you liked the video!
Thank you for the information. It's very enlightening. I have already looked into SketchUp. The question came up about Blender. Now I know I need to learn it!
You're welcome! Glad the video was helpful!
First of all thank you so much Alex for this wonderful video. Well, I am interior designer and I have been working in sketchup for seven years. And for organic looking models I have 3D warehouse. That doesn't mean I underestimated Blender. But with it's steep learning curves it will be hard for me to shift to blender. As a interior designer can I stick with Vray Sketchup forever. 😊😊
You're very welcome! Glad you liked the video!
Ive used blender since 2.76, for fun. I guess I'm now hooked to it. It is troublesome for me to switch. The presentation was wonderful.
Awesome - glad you liked the video, and happy to hear that Blender has worked well for you!
I really like that, although your channel is SketchUp School, you give an honest comparison to Blender.
We worked really hard on trying to make an honest and fair comparison - happy to hear that shined through for you!
I am blender user since five years. Honestly this is by far the most fair and guiding comparison.
If anyone keen to learn 3D animation and VFX then blender is perfect suit for them.
Really happy to hear that you agree with the way we compared the two applications!
I was about to start using Fusion 360 and came across your video. Definitely made a lot of sense to go with SketchUp instead. Thanks Alex, this was a very fair comparison.
Glad we could help!
This was REALLY helpful, thank you so much! I am going to invest time learning Blender, since I´m a graphic designer and I need the software for more complicated subjects such as modeling stuff, animation, rendering in a realistic way, and so on. Thank you so much.
You're very welcome! If you're interested, we have a Blender channel as well that you can find here: www.youtube.com/@BlenderAcademydotcom
By profession I'm an urban/suburban planner (now retired), and I've used Sketchup extensively for 12 years now, and I've dabbled in Blender. I concur with your recommendations. Well done.
Thanks - glad to hear you agree!
Thanks a lot for your this VIDEO, I had the same query and it helps me a lot to be finalized,
First SketchUp than Blender
You are welcome!
this is rly helpful! thank u
You're welcome!
The best comparison video on you tube...thanks
Glad you liked it! And you're welcome!
Very nice video man, totally on point and comprehensive. Liked
Glad you liked it!
Great video comparing Sketchup with Blender. I've used both and have a great appreciation for ease of use. Blender definitely has a much longer learning curve, but very impressive especially given that it's free. I create custom props and have found Blender extremely helpful in this area.
Glad you liked the video and thank you for sharing your experience! Very helpful!
which would you recommend for a starting garden designer (i.e smaller outdoor spaces) in order to show qualities of hard landscaping and also decent plant simulations whose form you have some control over over? Can it display plan views with dimension lines? What can I import Blender work into to get it into a form for construction plans? is there a video on that? Thanks!
For garden design, I would recommend SketchUp. You can create all of the hard landscaping using native tools as well as some extensions. Then when it comes time to visualize the plants, you'd have two choices: 1) You can find lots of great plants in the 3D Warehouse to use in SketchUp. However, you have to be careful about having too many polygons (slowing your model down). 2) If you are looking to create more realistic renderings, then you can take your SketchUp model into a program like Lumion or Twinmotion and use their realistic plant libraries to fill-in all the vegetation.
SketchUp allows you to easily create plan views, and LayOut (which comes with SketchUp Pro) allows you to add dimensions and other annotations. So you could always import a Blender file into SketchUp if you wanted to use LayOut to create annotated plans. Unfortunately, we don't have a video covering that workflow.
That was a great comparison. Thank you. I used Sketchup for many years, but I always had to use a virtual Windows Pc, as I use Linux as my main OS. After I discovered Blender, it was goodbye Sketchup. In my case the price also makes a difference. I will always prefere OpenSource, if the software does what I need to. And Blender, like you said in the video is very capable of doing everything and more than Sketchup. Also, it maybe a little bit harder to learn, but it really pays of in the long run. And like others already commented the latest version is much more intuitive.
Thanks for sharing your experience! Happy to hear that Blender has been the best choice for you!
Great info in this video 👍
Glad you liked it!
Thanks. I had started in Sketchup a few years ago without getting very far. Then when Blender 2.8 came out I tried to get into it with not much succes. Now I'm back in Sketchup for it's simplicity and will pick up Blender when I have gained enough experience.
Good luck with learning SketchUp. And be sure to let us know if you have any questions!
Thank you!
Made my life easier.🤝
You're welcome! Glad to hear it!
Thank you. Your video's are helpful!
You're welcome!
thank you. helped a lot!
You're welcome!
So so many thank bro ! it still working ! wish you so much happy in life
You're welcome!
Really important and realistic points, the same question I asked myself
Thanks for taking the time to share!
At Sketchup, I created a project for my entire house. It is very fast and most of all I like connecting objects and accurate, fast measurements and especially the possibility to use auxiliary lines. I am using the latest free Sketchup 2017 offline. I then export interior designs for friends, including furniture, to Blender and use amazing rendering there. And I also present the tour in Blender. For me, it's an ideal combination of both great programs, because I mainly create interiors.
Thanks for sharing how you use SketchUp and Blender together - sounds like a great combination for you!
Thanks Alex. You really know your stuff!
You're welcome!
Great video. Sketchup sounds like the better choice for me, at least for the short run. As I am modeling a fictional ship layout.
Glad you liked the video - best of luck with your project!
Thanks for this useful and clear video
You're welcome!
I use SketchUp quite a bit at my work. I am learning Blender now for use with animations and such. I found this video helpful. Thanks for sharing.
You're very welcome!
Wow!!!! So interesting!!!! Thank you a lot !
You're very welcome!
Really helped, thanks a lot! I'm going to gull full in with Sketchup pro, and then try Blender for rendering!
Awesome! That sounds like a great combo!
#9 community
Just search for tutorials and look at the results..
Sketchup: How to model a house
Blender: How to model a three-headed lizard
😂😂😂
Well i do not want to offend everyone but if you did a little bit of research on the blender community this is not true lol
@@doyunkwak550 well, last time I checked they had a dude dressed like a superhero called Captain Disillusion.. as if that wasn't cringy enough they started the siminar with "ladies and blendermen" lol
@@m.g9011 not a fan of captain disillusion myself.... but people like blender guru or anyone else is great
🤣🤣🤣
I have a bachelors in graphic design and 3D modeling and animation. I’m used to Maya, but now that I’m out of school, Maya is WAY out of my budget lol😅. Now I have to learn blender ugh. BUT, could you explain the difference between 2D with Sketchup vs Prismm (All Seated)? Thank you 😊
We also have a Video Course Library for Blender available at Blender Academy. You can check it out at www.blenderacademy.com/
Been using SketchUp frequently for 2-3 years and started using it even earlier, now, having recently found out about Blender's cycles render engine, I've started my architectural journey in Blender and have already found success in render quality. The modelling part is still not as fast as SketchUp for me, but all the control and extra features you get with Blender solidifies my now-changed opinion that Blender is a step above, not only as far as photorealism goes, but especially when it comes to animating your presentations and controlling movement. That being said, SketchUp is definitely way faster to learn and better for quicker model production.
Happy to hear that you've been able to make a successful transition to Blender. If you can make that leap, it's certainly a powerful application!
Thank you for this. Im searching and planning to switch from Sketchup to Blender
You're very welcome!
Don't if u r an architect or interior / landscape designer .. or even structural engineer .
@@faresjawad3096 why is that?
This video was fantastic. I'm only checking out the capabilities of 3D applications for home use and for some fun. Very insightful. I've subscribed and liked it regardless if I will end up dabbling in 3D. Good work!
Glad it was helpful!
I've used both and they both are quite fairly matched in my opinion.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Thank u. Your videos are very informative. I don't usually comment, like subscribe but u earned it. U took the time to explain in a thorough way. Good j
You're welcome! And glad to hear you subscribed!
Great information! I just started with SketchUp 😃, but my goal is to learn both programs.
Glad you liked the video and best of luck!
After a year that I've switched from Sketchup to Blender just for sake of faster built in render engine for my interior work, now I'm learning to do VFX shot in blender XD , such a good decision I made it helps me improve my skills a lot that I couldn't think I would.
Really happy to hear that the switch has been worthwhile for you!
Thank you very much for the video. I have a question is that I am creating 3d intarsia wood art so which 3d program do you recommend? TIA
I think that Blender is probably the better choice for visualizing your 3D intarsia wood art designs. If you're interested, we have started a channel for Blender that you can find here: www.youtube.com/@BlenderAcademydotcom
Thanks I was not sure which would be best. I toyed with the idea of Gaming Environments. If I had pursed that Blender would have been the best choice.
Appreciate the time it takes you to do these videos.
You're welcome! Glad this video helped!
Great Video, thank you. I use both programs and I think you hit on all the important differences.
Awesome! Glad to hear your experience matches up with what we covered in the video.
I've seen quite a few tutorials from you Guys and very well taught tutorials, very structured yet simple enough to understand and practice. This one is perfectly compared both tools. Thanks for such wonderful help.
You're very welcome!
Hi Alex, excellent presentation - clear, concise and packed full of details. And, yes! I did figure out which one is right for me. Since I do woodworking, and graduating from being a hobbyist to a professional (had my first "paying" customer) I decided to go with Sketchup.
SketchUp is definitely a great choice for woodworking!
I really like your ideas sir.
and i love to see more of your tutorials, now i'm using both blender and sketchup. this two application are so powerful, but i need to learn more, that's why please make more tutorials :)
Happy to hear you like the videos and we'll definitely be publishing more! Be sure to subscribe to our channel so you know when we release the next ones.
@@SketchUpSchool Thank you so much, Sir!
Your videos are just soooo informative . I now know what I need. Thank you soo much ❤
You are so welcome!
Very Helpful video.
Glad it was helpful!
Blender. This was one of the best instructional videos I've ever seen. Great job!
Wow, thanks!
If I want to draw backgrounds and dynamic angles for comics as well as illustrations, which is a better program for the task? I suppose it would be Blender after watching the video, but I'm not sure. Anyway, thanks for the breakdown.
SketchUp is actually an incredible tool for this... but Blender has some additional features you might love. Please send this message to team@sketchupschool.com and an instructor will try to help by asking a few more questions that can guide us to the best decision for you.
I am going to use Sketch Up. After looking at some Blender vids, it looks fabulous, but I need it predominantly for a house extension and redesign of several rooms in the house and need the drawings for the builders to get a very good idea of what we need.
So from now on I will be looking for Sketch Up tutorials.
Thank you very much for this very helpful video.
You're very welcome! Glad it was helpful, and good luck with the project! Be sure to contact us at team@sketchupschool.com if you have any questions along the way.
I am going to start looking at your vids to start from scratch tonight. Thanks.
Fantastic video, very informative. After watching this I think I want to learn both SketchUp and Blender. It was said SketchUp is better for plans and documents. Just wondering what would be a good add-on software in Blender for plans and documents? Maybe someone reading this has an idea.
Thanks for the great video!
I was gonna go with Blender since it is free. But since I want to design a house I think I will start with the free version of Sketchup and see how far that takes me. Even if I reach the limit of the free version in a few months it will most likely be worth it since I won't need to pay to learn the basics of the program.
SketchUp Free is definitely a bit easier to learn for designing a house so I think that's a good first choice.
@@SketchUpSchool Great! Seems I chose a good starting point then :)
it was a great comparison video, thanks. it helped me a lot
You're welcome!
I live in small room and was just looking for a buy furniture and organised it. I am also starting a businesses in hospitality and needed a way to create floor plans. But after watching you video. My choice is clear SketchUp will be my choice. "Thinking ahead blender will be good for somethings in my business plans down the road. I really got a lot out of the video thanks.
Sounds to me like you're making a good choice to start with SketchUp. Glad the video helped!
thank you so much sir!
You're welcome!
As a student in the Sketchup School, I am very interested in your feedback. I eventually plan to go on to rendering but have a lot more to learn about "clean" modeling. I totally agree with everything you have said here. These models and process require a good computer, which I now have. I think that learning 3d modeling in Sketchup to the max, including a few extensions for SU, before worrying about Blender as you seem to suggest. . Eventually I hope to learn more about how best build models in SU that can be exported into Blender.
Hi Jobyna - For the types of projects you are working on, I do think you're on the right path with learning SketchUp first and then adding Blender down the road.
As a Civil Engineer SketchUp is the best software for me!
Thank You for this video.
You're welcome!
Thanks...it was helpful...
I'm a "Pro" user of ver 18 of Sketchup...I'm moving to Blender and waiting for it to catch up to the many of us that are tired of being left behind by this company and its "boardroom," profit margins being more important than old licence holders or the future of the program. Blender (I think) will only get better with time as it applies to Architecture...
Thanks again for your video...
You're welcome!
Great analisys I´ve started whit Skechtup since it became priced so whent to Blender, Which I started aswell long time ago trying it. You´r absolute wright Blender is lot more hard to learn, but for my privete use and point of view that is no pro I have to go whit Blender. try Zbruhs aswell for modeling but repeats the story as sackechtup,it whent priced. Thats my personal experience , I´m curious whith this type of programs, aswell wiht VR and adding IA. .
Thnk you for all your work with your clear videos.
You're welcome for the videos, and thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts! Very helpful!
Sketchup is the best tool for me, thanks for the informative video!
You're welcome!
Great as always.
Glad you think so!
Thank you. Nice and clear. Been using SU for over 10 years. Works well. Doing complex curved element modelling right now with 2019 Pro and it works very well. All static admittedly, which is all we need for our application. This was a good explanation though. Thank you.
You're welcome!
Been using sketchup roughly 8 years then discovered blender and linux , it was the time when cashflow was not good blender helped me a lot because it is free... Sketchup is nice because of GIS plugin but blender now has also GIS plugin for site analysis. . I can say Sketchup is nice when there are no budget constraints. Blender is also nice when you are just starting out. RTX support even if you do not have rtx card is also possible in blender experimental builds that saves my office by not throwing away my old titan x gpu . Thank you for not being biased... Great content subscribing!
Glad you liked the video! And thank you for sharing your experience with others - really helpful!
I've been a 3D model artist, working with games engines for 19 years now... Fantastic question! I've always been into drawing out room plans, starships schematics, etc. since I was about 13 years old. I do use both pieces of software but I feel that things would be much faster in Blender and other things would be faster in Sketchup. I've set my units and scales up precisely so that I can easily export, to exact scale, from Sketchup to Blender though.
Thanks for sharing!
now i know blender is the way for me, thank you and have a nice day everyone!
You're welcome!
I migrated Sketchup 8 from whatever pc or laptop I had for years, and then somehow managed to lose my files, but luckily grabbed Sketchup Make 2017 before the free desktop version got retired. I use it a lot but only ever for personal use, and I'm so glad I've been able to hang on to it for so many years, because I'm not a natural at learning this, and even some 20+ years on, although I can produce a 3D house model fast, and can do full construction plans etc, how I achieve it is still clunky. I can't imagine having to keep learning a slightly different version - I'd have given up, I think. I can't even manage the web version, as not everything I use is available (or maybe just not obvious to find), and navigation is hard on your hands - much less useable than my ergonomic mouse with the desktop version. I've just installed Blender, as I'd like to be able to do renovation animations, where the 'old' elements of a house fly away and new items drop down and slide in - like a TV renovation programme - but watching this video makes me think I'll invest a bit more time still in exploring Sketchup extensions before tackling a whole new programme. I love the VR capability of Autodesk's Maya - but that's a way too steep investment for what is essentially a leisure past time for me! Thanks for covering so much info without disappearing down technical rabbit holes. I found this comparison & explanation video really, really helpful.
Glad you liked the video and that it was helpful. And thanks for sharing your experience!
to do a standard 3d modeling I use SketchUp as well as for 3d printing job, thanx to SketchUp for its precise dimension (up to 0.001 mm precision) and also the guide tool in SketchUp is quite helpful where there's no such a tool in blender (or Maya). Blender is free, but it takes a longtime to create just a simple 3d geometry which it must be precise in dimension. So, if you need a precision go for SketchUp, but if you need complex design with less precision you might go for blender
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Nice comparison!
Glad you enjoyed it
ALL YOUR VIDEOS ARE HELPFULL THANK YOU ALOT .
You are welcome!
Thank u it worked.
You're welcome!
I would have added. If clients are asking for 3D renders, there is a good chance they would like to include that model on interior or exterior renders to present to clients.
In this case blender would be the go as the export to fgx, obj, dae is going to be problem free. As apposed to converting tris to quads.
Just my thoughts.
Thanks for the feedback - really helpful!
Great comparison! Blender 2.9 came up with a lot new features for easier architectural models, so it's a no brainer for me to choose blender. But I have to give it to SketchUp for virtually having more or less drag and drop things. I also do animations, so, again, blender is the final choice for me
Glad it was helpful!
Blender is the best imo, especially since the UI is now improved and simplified.
Yes, the UI improvements in Blender make it so much more friendly to use now than in previous versions.
I have been using SketchUp for years and your videos have been a great help to me. Thank you. One question I do have is, can I import my SketchUp models into blender to take advantage of the the rendering that Blender seems so good at? I have used Shaderlight in the past for my renderings and appreciate your recommendations for other programs. Cheers.
Yes, you can take your SketchUp models into Blender to render them. The upside is that Blender has fantastic rendering capabilities and it's also free - so no added expense to give it a try. The downside is that you'll need to invest some time into developing a workflow for bringing your SketchUp models into Blender and modifying them for rendering purposes.
Another option is to use a SketchUp extension like V-Ray for SketchUp (which is comparable to the Cycles rendering engine in Blender). It's a paid extension (as opposed to Blender being free), but you can render your SketchUp models inside SketchUp which is a bit easier than learning to take them into Blender.
And if you are looking for a real-time rendering option comparable to Blender's EEVEE engine, you can try tools like Lumion, Twinmotion or Enscape3D. They are a little easier to use with your SketchUp models out of the box when compared to brining SketchUp models into Blender.
Hey
!) Very informative video. Tell me how to make construction documentation in blender 3d?
Blender doesn't have built-in functionality to help create construction documentation. You would most likely want to export Blender to another application like AutoCAD to create the kinds of documentation you need.
Why your are so perfect maaan ! thanks alex a lottt
Ha! Thanks for the kind words!
Great video!!! thanks for taking the time to do it. I think you are spot on. I have been using Sketchup 2014 for years. In architecture and furniture design. I been wanting to up my game and work on more improved renderings. I just started using Blender and the interface is more difficult to wrap my head around. So to keep my efficiency with molding i have been using both with exporting and importing models. have you tried this? how does it work with for you? Any tips and tricks you would like to share?
Yes, if you are comfortable modeling in SketchUp and then want to take those models into Blender to take advantage of Blender-only features, that can work really well. We will definitely put that sort of workflow on our list as a possible future topic for a video.
For every job, there's a tool. Want to build a house to live in? SketchUp. Want to build a haunted house, complete with ghosts? Blender.
That's a great way to put it!
Whats a good recommended drawing tablet for blender?
We don't have firsthand experience using a drawing tablet with Blender, so we don't have a recommendation to share. Perhaps someone else can reply with their favorite?
What exactly is rendering? in either Sketchup or Blender, I hear this all the time, is it the type of design of a finished product or design?
It is the process of adding light and reflections to take a dull or "cartoony" looking model and turn it into something more realistic or stylistic.
Super helpful. Thanks!
You're welcome!
Great comparison. Been learning blender but might switch to sketchup since I only need simple 3d models
Yeah, if you just need to create simple models, SketchUp could be quicker to learn for that.
Which should I use for modeling a vehicle? Say a public transit bus?
You could create a vehicle in either SketchUp or Blender, but Blender is more well suited to creating the type of compound curves that you'll need to make it look the most realistic.
Thanks! 👍🏻
Started Sketchup years ago but left it behind when payment model started to change. Liked Rhino better specially when I had to pay for either to get full features. Like grasshopper in Rhino but lately started looking at Blender 2.8. I hate to say it but after learning the others learning Blender was not difficult at all especially the modeling side. The rendering I have not needed much but I figure it will be same level of difficulty as the rest.
Overall I think becoming Blender expert would have been the best choice to start with.
Glad to hear that you have landed on Blender and that it's been a relatively smooth transition!
Blender... All day, every day... PERIOD!
Glad to hear that Blender is the right tool for you!
@@SketchUpSchool😂
There is an option in Maya where you can give vertexes colors so in other programs like unreal engine you can assign these vertexs to behave in other way ( like the whole model being effected by the wind excluding these vertexs) , does it exist in blender ?
Alaa Entabi yes! There is a Vertex color mode where you can paint your model.
@@RoloTV2 Thanks for the comment man ! I already got into blender and ooh boy I should've done this a long time ago, the program is insanely good
I never got back to vertex painting thou, should check that out
Great to have your information!! It’s really helpful to decide which one I should start first. I’ll start from SketchUP Pro as I want to use 2D drawings and construction informations.
Thank you so much for making the video:)
Really happy to hear this helped you make the choice!
Blender has a few plugins to enable it to be more architectural friendly on your point 7. Like TinyCad, or BlenderKit for free/paid assets to populate your architecture, sketch style for 2D looking fun, Real Units, so you can get around blender arbitrary measurements, especially when importing into other software for final layouts with proper scaling. And others..
Basically both can be plugged to highwater and back to do each other's feature. It really just come down to time management to learning each other's interface. Blender may have too many options tho for most users and may get in the way, it's also a rolling release so it's constantly changing breaking plugins sometimes as a moving Target.
SketchUp may have too few, plus the cost of SketchUp pro, plus paid add-ons to may end up adding up really quick.. but it's almost an industry standard at this point if sharing documents. As long as your making something off your work tho it's probably worth the cost even if you have to buy into a few of the better plugins to bring it up to feature parity.
Minor issue is this is almost like comparing Apples to Orange in the grand scheme of things. Even if they can be made to accomplish the apple or orange of it's opposite.
Good luck.
Great point about being able to add plug-ins to Blender to accomplish all sorts of things that it doesn't do out of the box. Thanks for sharing your insights!
also archicad and archimesh are great add ones for architecture..and a box cutter is one of the most powerful plugin that I ever have seen available for a blender that brings push and pulls SketchUp future into the blender
@@amirshayanmoghtaderi5840 I hope archicad will support the grinder for export (import). I am using archicad and blender
Could not agree more using and mastering both Blender and SketchUp.
Glad you agree!
We just finished another semester and time is money or get the homework done right showed how quickly sketchup just fails when you do something semi complex particularly when you deal with curved surfaces. And then dealing with uv texturing and rounded edges becomes a major pain. While the uv texturing in sketchup is perfect for flat surfaces - that’s also then kinda it.
Modeling basic stuff in sketchup and rendering in blender offers a workflow that also defeats Enscape or Lumion.
Too bad blender has a deeper learning curve to jump into it.
The ease to jump into it about sketchup is really true.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
I use Revit for most of my Architectural and documentation needs. I'm planning to learn a more flexible software. Which should I go for?
Sletchup or Blender
Flexible in what way? What sorts of things do you need to model?
I think since you got the documents parts covered in Revit , go for blender ( you can already create simple things using Revit straight away ) , or you can learn Revit deeper and start using massing which creates very complex shapes
@@alaaentabi7879 checkout the blenderbim add on