Wondering what to get that special SketchUp user this holiday season? Or maybe you want to treat yourself to something that will help your SketchUp workflow? This holiday gift guide will help you choose a killer gift for any SketchUp user.
(Affiliate disclosure: Many of the links in this guide are affiliate links, so I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you decide to purchase.)
3D Mouse
Working in 3D with a 6-axis 3D mouse from 3Dconnexion is pretty awesome. Although it’s not required for navigating in SketchUp, it offers incredible control that’s very intuitive. From the simple Spacemouse, to the Enterprise with custom keys, all products from 3Dconnexion are high quality devices that will last years. Learn more about the 3D mouse in my full review here.
2D Mouse
A 3D mouse is not a necessity for SketchUp, however, a traditional 3-button mouse absolutely is! The middle mouse button is used for zooming and orbiting in SketchUp while modeling.
I’ve been using the 3Dconnexion Cadmouse for a couple of years now because of its unique feature of having a third, dedicated middle mouse button. So instead of having to press and hold the scroll wheel to orbit, I have a super comfortable mouse button to press with my middle finger.
The mouse isn’t perfect. While it tracks very precisely, and the buttons feel nice, it feels a little large in the hand, and my biggest complaint is that I accidentally click the forward/back buttons with my thumb quite frequently. Despite this, I love the dedicated middle button so much, I’ve found myself keeping this around as my primary mouse.
Virtual Reality
I’ve owned an HTC Vive for about 3 years now, and also bought and reviewed the Samsung Odyssey+. But my most recent VR headset I’ve bought is the Oculus Quest, and this is definitely the headset you should buy if you’re looking to get a VR headset in 2019.
The Oculus Quest is a wireless, stand-alone headset. This means you don’t need a smartphone or computer to run it. You just put it on, and it starts up. It’s got an excellent tracking system and includes two fully tracked controllers.
The drawback to the Quest is that it has very limited SketchUp support, and the apps that are available for viewing your SketchUp model on the Quest are very expensive. HOWEVER, Oculus just launched the Quest Link Beta, which allows you to connect the Quest to your PC, and run Rift apps and SteamVR apps on the Quest. This gives you the best of both worlds.
3D Printing
It’s an amazing feeling to take something you’ve modeled in SketchUp, and having it become a real, 3D object on your 3D printer. While I’m still using my MendelMax 3.0 from MakersToolWorks ($1,700), which is sort of a niche product at this point, I’ve been hearing great things about the Ender 3 Pro 3D printer, which you can grab for under $300! Prices have come down dramatically with 3D printers, so if you’re using SketchUp, it’s a no brainer to have this thing in the office to play around with.
With your new 3D printer, you’ll need some PLA filament to 3D print with. I’ve gone through a few rolls of Hatchbox PLA with great results.
If 3D printing is not your thing, but you want to get into some type of fabrication using SketchUp, definitely check out the Cricut Maker. It’s a desktop vinyl/paper cutting machine, and I did a full review of the machine here.
Measurement
One tool I use perpetually while modeling things for 3D printing, is a pair of Vernier calipers. Calipers measure inside, outside, and depth measurements to a precision of 0.001″/0.02mm. So if I’m designing a bracket for something, I can measure the existing object accurately so my part is modeled correctly. Some people use digital calipers, which read out the measurement on a small screen, but I prefer vernier calipers because you can see the measurement relative to the entire scale, giving you a better sense of what to round your measurements to.
These Fowler calipers feature a locking fine adjustment wheel.
Another tool I really appreciate having is my Construction Master Pro calculator. It makes imperial measurement arithmetic dead simple. You can feed it feet & inches or metric in any format, and it can convert the measurement to any format (decimal, feet & inches, fractional, metric).
I own Model 4065, which includes advanced functions for construction, such as compound miter calculation, rise & run, slope, etc. but the Model 4020 includes the conversion features I use most often.
Coffee
Most SketchUp users appreciate a good cup of coffee, including myself. I switched over to an Aeropress a few years ago because I was looking for a compact, portable coffee solution I could use for traveling. It’s now my daily source of coffee.
Coffee snobs tell me that you’re not really drinking a good cup until you grind your own fresh beans right before brewing. I have yet to decide if that’s true… But I’ve been using this Javapresse manual coffee grinder and feel like it’s the perfect balance of function and value. I stare out into the back yard each morning and enjoy nature while I grind the beans and wait for the kettle to heat the water. It’s part of my morning routine now.
It’s not as loud as an electric grinder, and while it is an exercise of the forearm, the burr grinding head offers a superior, more consistent grind over the paddle wheel blade design of many cheap electric grinders.
Books
If you’re using SketchUp Pro, and are trying to figure out how to create construction documents in LayOut, you need my book SketchUp to LayOut. If you’re an architect who knows the basics of LayOut, but is looking for a complete workflow for designing and documenting a custom house, SketchUp & LayOut for Architecture is the book for you. I co-wrote it with Nick Sonder, who uses SketchUp and LayOut exclusively to design custom homes in Lake Tahoe, CA.
The post SketchUp User Gift Guide appeared first on MasterSketchup.com.
