John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum

I've fallen in love with a new 3D drawing program that one of our members posted some pics with. It's called sketchup from http://www.sketchup.com and you can download a viewer for either mac or PC from their site. They also offer a trial version that lasts for 8 hours of use also for either mac or PC. The trial version allows for the creation of full AVI video files of the animations and you can access the layers etc.

I started with the trial but was soon converted as the program is easy to learn. (unlike other 3D progs I've tried) so I had to buy it - (around USD$470.00)

It allows you to draw totally in 3D to 1/8" accuracy. Changed my life

Anyway I've recently designed a couple of rooms for a friend in town and as he's not a client I can post the design for all to view. It's your typical basement with a low ceiling and cross beams etc. I'm still working on it so it'll probably change but it will give you an idea of how to construct one of these typical basement type studios, build soffits and resonators etc.

It shows the construction in a way that a 2D drawing can't.

The link to the file is here

http://johnlsayers.com/Stuff/Paddy2.skp

BTW - with the viewer you can look through the different pages where I've hidden layers or you can go to "View/Tourguide/slideshow" and it will play them in an animated sequence.

To move around:

Hold down scroll wheel and move mouse allows you to orbit around the model.

Hold down shift with the above allows you to pan left right.

Scroll wheel allows zoom in and out.

It takes a bit of practice but soon you'll be flying around the model :)

enjoy

cheers
John

Hi John,

I had posted some stuff here with SketchUp and am still trying to get accurate with it. I am so glad to see the switch happening here as seeing things in 3D makes a world of difference.

Rock on!

-bassman

I love that program. It actually made me think that I could draw....until I saw your drawings, John

was it you bassman? - thanks for the tip

cheers
john

Yikes! I just finished composing my epistle, accidently hit escape, and whoosh, my laboriously typed post dissapeared!! Here goes again-now watch that key...

Hey guys-been studying the site for months now, along with the other studio sites. Learning a lot, thinking a lot, wishing a lot...

I noticed that very few people use 3d images, and from the start of my endeavor, 3d design seemed obvious. I came up with this:

[/http://www.artifice.com/free/dw_lite.html]

Works great, fairly simple, although a little tricky at first-better ead the instructions/tutorials . I'll post my current design for sake of demonstration. Please don't lose any sleep over my "design". It's far from being satisfactory and finalized. Although if someone wants to commment, hey why not, right? I plan to post a thread soon, but I'm still studying so that I won't be a sorce of major frustration to all you acousticians and engineers. I am amazed at the repetition in the "newbie" threads, but I'm honest enough to admit that I'll probably do a little of the same thing too. So, reading...

The program is, of course free, the only limitation I've run into yet is a maximum of 100 objects per design allowed. May be a problem, depends on how detail-istic you are.

Thanks John, and everyone for making this site informative and helpful, and for helping us all to reach our music making dreams.



DAVE

The dimensions are 11x15' outside. 2x6 with four layers.

I think it might have been. I had a design of a garage space that was oddly shaped with a slanted roof that you could only see in 3D. I have version 3.1 and can't open your version 4 files but the viewer works just fine. Sweet!

Hopefully my project will get rolling in the spring and I will be seeking your advice on it. Sketchup will make that a snap!

-bassman aka Ashley Shepherd

Here's the direct link to begin downloading the windows version...

http://www.sketchup.com/try/windows_download.php

and the mac version:

http://www.sketchup.com/try/mac_download.php

(OSX - 10.3 required)

Awesome program. I just imported my 3D autocad file of the studio (which by the way has mods not in this picture...) and looks very cool.

That looks like sketchup in X-Ray mode.

cheers
john

"I just imported my 3D autocad file" -

OK, John, now you guys are gettin' me interested; what all kinds of files can be imported, or are you gonna make me get the demo?

you can import DXF and DWG files.

You can export it as a 3d object, 2D jpeg or as a full AVI/DivX
animation at various resolutions.

Download the trial - it lasts for a full 8 hours use and will export to avi files etc.

To make an avi you create a series of pages with each page being where you want the video to track. Then export it and it will track your pages as a full video sequence - amazing for such a small program.

cheers
john

Yep sketch up is way cool.

That studio you've done in 3D is awesome.

I used it to design the desk in my control room. The cool thing was I could actually construct it in sketchup to figure out the best way to make it & then voila - all the measurements. The final desk turned out kick ass. Cost about $200 to make a custom desk that would have cost $2000 to buy.

John,

Thanks for that link. Although I don't think I'll be able to afford the money for the software, having 8 hours of demo, AND your 3D studio design is going to help me no end. The control room size is very close to what I have available, and being able to take measurements, pan / zoom etc and look at the construction method in so much detail from all angles is mindblowing for a novice like me.

I do have a couple of questions if you have the time.

I posted a very basic question a couple of day ago about stone / brick outer walls, and I think the 3D design answers it. Are you assuming :

Outer brick wall is leaf1; followed by :-
Air followed by
Drywall(leaf2) followed by
Studding followed by
Internal acoustic treatments as required ?

If that is the case, and if the '200mm inside out wall' described on the SAE site can be used, I think that is a good plan for my proposal.

Second, I don't see any insulation in the 3D design. Is this simply because it would cause too much confusion in the drawing, or am I missing something way more fundamental

Once again, thanks for all the info. available here. Great reading. The only difficulty is actually getting round to making a decision! Seems everyone has a different take on most things but after a while a few fundamental issues start to come through. I think its becoming easier by the day

Cheers,

Peter

This program is awesome

Yes Peter - that's an inside/out wall design - I didn't put in the insulation as it messed up the look.

I wish I could post some of the bigger drawings I've created but unfortunatley they are copyright

I'm currently waiting on a local client who is building a similar design to the one I posted but in a shipping container. They are working on the finishing details as I speak. It has a control room and small booth. Fully airconditioned.


cheers
john