SketchUp is a fantastic tool for set designers, and being used more and more in the movies as well as for exhibit design, museum design, architecture, and loads of other industries. It's fairly easy to learn the basics, and it has a huge online community plus lots of third-party add-ons. I've been using it for years for my set design jobs.
The problem with it, and where many people get hung up, is that it's not a design tool -- it's a visualization tool. The design happens in the designer's mind, and SketchUp serves as a drawing board to put those designs down. I've seen many beginners sit down to "design a set" with it, and end up with just a bunch of scenery elements (flats, platforms, ramps, etc.) precisely because it's so easy to draw squares and rectangles. It's a classic example of the pencil driving the design instead of the design driving the pencil.
I've written several posts on my blog about SketchUp and how it's used in set design, and you can find them by going to
www.setdesignandtech.wordpress.com and typing SketchUp in the search box at the top. One of the posts, "A set design from start to finish," shows the typical workflow we use and where SketchUp comes into the process.
It's a great, easy to use, efficient, and fun tool, but it won't help you create a set design any more than a word processor will help you create a novel -- it'll help you visualize what your mind comes up with.
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George F. Ledo
Set designer
www.setdesignandtech.wordpress.comwww.georgefledo.nethttp://astore.amazon.com/sdtbookstore-20------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 11-19-2018 07:49
From: Robert DiMartino
Subject: Computer programs for tech/design students
I have had a good deal of success with Google Sketch Up. This is a free solids based drafting program that allows each student to design a set. Often we would read a one act play in class, and then students would each design their own set for the play. I give them a day or so to familiarize themselves with the program, then let them go to town, I use this program for my own set designs.
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Robert DiMartino
Theatre Teacher
Cumberland High School
Slatersville RI
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-19-2018 07:41
From: David Hastings
Subject: Computer programs for tech/design students
I have 43 students in my class this semester. I have been teaching it for 17 years. It has been hard to teach the kids lighting and sound when we only have one light board and soundboard in each theatre. Just getting all the kids around a board is a logistical challenge, let alone trying to give every student the chance to touch the board.
We have drafted set designs by hand with rulers. I have used different texts and paper materials to give the students a chance to design.We have made set renderings and costume renderings. We have done floor plans. We have hand drawn lighting plots. We have made scale models. We have even done storyboarding for short scenes, and made production notebooks with props, cue sheets, and plans for quick changes for costumes or set changes.
Everything has been away from a computer. The skill levels, as well as the student's interest in design, has been all over the board.
Basically, I want to show students computer tools that might make them more interested in theatre, and specifically design.
Sketchup and Audacity are the first ones I considered, but I was curious if there are other programs that might be good for students who have never played with design before. I would love to have a simple computer program to let the students play with light design. I only get to teach these students for one semester.
Whether this class is effective is not the subject for this post. It is what I have been asked to teach. Since each student was just given a computer, I thought I would take advantage of the opportunity and see what other ways I could peak their interest.
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David Tate Hastings
Olathe South High School
Thespian Troupe #5006
Kansas Thespians
Treasurer & Membership Chair
913-481-1868
Original Message:
Sent: 11-19-2018 00:02
From: George Ledo
Subject: Computer programs for tech/design students
Don't mean to be difficult here, but what exactly are you trying to show them? A program to help design a set, or to draft a set, or to design lights, or to run lights, or to build scenery or props, or to design/run sound, or something else? There are lots of options out there, but you need to know the goal before you can choose the tool.
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George F. Ledo
Set designer
www.setdesignandtech.wordpress.com
www.georgefledo.net
http://astore.amazon.com/sdtbookstore-20