Our fantastic easy-to-follow short course Sketchup for Garden Designers is available here to download. This course has been created by AWB Associates Sketchup guru Ed Golding as a direct result of the popularity of our in-person Sketchup course. We’ve translated the in-person course into ten videos for you to download and follow in your own time. In each video Ed carefully guides you through all the elements of Sketchup that you will need to create accurate and engaging models of your garden. Like the in-person course, this bespoke collection of videos has been specifically created for garden designers so focuses on those aspects of Sketchup that you will need to create the formwork and levels of your garden, add textures and colours and bring life to the model through plants and accessories.
This course has been developed using SketchUp on a PC and, as a result, is tailored to the PC version of the software. However, when you download the course, you will receive a full set of MAC notes that go alongside the course. These notes will identify those commands and tools in each of the ten videos for which a MAC-specific action needs to be taken so that, as you progress through the videos, you are aware of when and how your keyboard and mouse commands differ from those in the videos.
Each video includes a real-time image of Ed’s keyboard and mouse, so you can see exactly which buttons he is using as he shows you a host of commands and tools. The course is delivered as ten chapters, beginning with an introduction to how to navigate the screen and find the most important tools, before diving into our carefully designed step-by-step guide on forming your model. The format of the videos is based on showing you a particular tool or command then allowing you to pause the video while you have a go yourself. Ed has set a pace to the videos that comes from our extensive experience teaching Sketchup, settling you into the software and gently building your confidence.
The course comes with some wonderful added extras too, to kick start your SketchUp journey. When you download the course you will also receive a garden design plan and a template model that Ed has created for you to use as you follow the tutorials, so you’re working on the same model as Ed as you go. Images of the model you will be creating and accessorising during the course can be seen at the bottom of the page. This will help you settle into the software before you have a go at creating your own model of one of your gardens. In addition to this you will receive the AWB Associates catalogue of plants and garden accessories that we as a practice have modelled over the years for our own projects. These aren’t available through the ‘warehouse’ of components that the software offers and we have created them specifically to suit the needs of our projects, so they will add another dimension to your models and save you stacks of time.
Obtaining a Sketchup Licence
Our course relies on you having an up-to-date full version of Sketchup rather than the free download. If you are a student on an existing UK-based college or university course, you may use the CADsoft link you will be sent after purchasing the course to download a Sketchup Studio Student Licence using evidence of your student status.
If you are a student in the United States you will need to access your Sketchup Studio Student Licence via your local SketchUp provider and we would recommend Creation Engine for this. If you are a student outside the UK and US, you will need to download your Sketchup Studio Student Licence from your local provider (CADsoft Sketchup Studio Student Licences are only available to students with a UK address). Full details will be sent in your confirmation email following purchase of the course.
Sketchup Studio Student Licence includes SketchUp Pro for your desktop, SketchUp for an i-pad and also SketchUp Layout. For UK-based or designers looking to use their SketchUp models commercially, we will also include a CADsoft link to an annual SketchUp Pro Graduate licence. For US-based students of designers looking to use their SketchUp models commercially please access your Graduate licence from Creation Engine.
If you are not a student on a college or university course, you will need to download a graduate or full SketchUp licence to access the software. For those in the UK and US this is also available via CADsoft and Creation Engine respectively.
Your licence will last for one year which will give you up to 12 months to complete the exercises set by the course and to refine your skills.
This course offers superb value and will give you access to the years of experience that Ed has built up, along with a host of excellent hacks and tips for garden designers when building their 3D models. We will be following this later in 2024 with a sequel course for those who would like to take their garden modelling skills further. SketchUp meets Photoshop will take your models to new heights be showing you how to export shots of your model and add fantastic layers of texture, light and detail using photoshop. Watch this space for further details.
