Who is alexanderSIMPLE?

Hello Basecampers!

I'm Sasha. Also known as "alexanderSIMPLE". I'll be putting up more stuff on the blog and will also have a real website in the near future. My university one disappeared (a year after I graduated) so I'll rebuild it soon. For the meantime, "alexanderSIMPLE.com" will route here.

A little about me: I live in Indianapolis and work in the manufacturing industry after having received my Bachelor's degree in Computer Graphics Technology from Purdue. I am in the process of implementing SketchUp at my work but in addition to that I've been working with it for fun for a few years now. I do full-builds of self-designed floor plans. My models are detailed but I use them mainly to figure out if my designs can be built. I started designing floor plans after picking up a Unique Homes magazine in 1996 and would draw stuff up on Staedtler paper. SketchUp has made my life much easier in recent years.

Anyways, due to working 40 hours a week, I don't have as much time as I want to for SketchUp. I think that after 3DBC, I'll try to display some more elaborate work. I'm backed up by about 100 models since the last time I posted here, so the best will be up soon!! :)))

As most people say, it's true... it's an addiction. Be sure to check out my Picasa web album too. Thanks for stopping by!

3d Basecamp Submission

From the SketchUp Vault: My Excessively Complicated Townhouse

Once upon a time, about a year ago, I got in over my head. I had a major plan to create a large-scale luxury townhouse in SketchUp, from scratch. The difference between mine and the typical designer's was that I chose it to be represented "as-built"... with the first layer of walls being drywall over studs, followed by a space between the exterior and interior walls, the exterior stone/stucco walls themselves, subfloor, floors, ceilings, soffits, roofs, etc.... ...you get the picture.. (!)

To make a long story short, it was COMPLICATED, and it turned into an unfinished project. Nevertheless, I learned from my mistakes and I will make one of these work one day, hopefully when I'm actually getting paid for it.. :)

For now, here are the pics of my attempted creation.



Basically, while still in college, and focusing on getting a job and final exams, this thing got too complicated for my own good. I do, however, think that 3D modeling in this fashion keeps things realistic. Hopefully I can make one work soon!!!

Home Plan Animation

I have only a few days left until I leave Purdue and come back only to graduate next weekend. I am excited. This is a final project for one of my classes. The goal was to create a virtual walkthrough/animation, on a very tight schedule. The thing that truly boggles the mind of most people is that none of these "things" exist in real life. The house was designed in SketchUp, the interiors modeled in 3ds Max, and the video was created with Adobe AfterEffects. My team members produced great work and it was an awesome experience that lead to a great result. Much credit to Tom Banker and Evan Eagleson for their part in this project. As a bonus, I finally got a place to include my music!! :-)



*The featured video is compressed from the original.

I'm Making a Huge House!

Simply put, I'm excited. I've had this idea for a while now, but it's time to get the wheels rolling. I am modeling a house from scratch, making up the design as I go along. That's not to say that it looks bad or is disproportional. On the contrary, this is a very classic and proportional home, although it does tip the scale at about 11,000 square feet. It's inspired by gracious colonial one-story homes in the Atlanta area.


SketchUp-wise, I am doing this model in the most accurate fashion, with individual layers for all materials (walls, brick, countertops, etc) and with accurate spacing and sizing of all entities. This isn't the first time I've used that approach. I did a townhouse a while ago but that grew to be too complex for my own good, and since I didn't have an official "client" for the project, the work inevitably stopped.

One important thing when making these models is not very intuitive. Despite the fact that SketchUp is a 3D modeling tool, one must first model all walls and concept plans in a 2D "top" view. All entities can then be grouped and extruded upward. I've found it hard not to "jump the gun" on that one... having been all too excited about the possibilities. :-P



Close-up views:





Preliminary 3D Extrusions:

Pre-Purchase Real Estate Visualization

I have always searched around for good deals online, especially when it comes to real estate. A lot of the residences I identify as a "good deal" disappear off the market in a matter of days. Of course, being a poor college student I don't really have the money to jump on one of these "investments", but I do play around with the ideas in Fantasy Land.

So this example is a Chicago condo that caught my eye a few weeks ago: Plaza 440, right around the corner from Trump's new tower. It was a two bedroom unit that was on the market for just under $280k. So I thought to myself... "What can be done with such a unit? And what does this thing look like anyways?"

A few easy steps later I had all the answers I needed!

First, I found the developer's website from which I grabbed the floor plan.



I then imported it into SketchUp and scaled it by way of known sizes (aka the width of the range in the kitchen, or the door in the main entry).



Once I was satisfied with the plan, I extruded it up and went from there.



Using SketchUp and basic construction knowledge, I was able to understand the "feel" of the condo without actually driving up to Chicago to see it. Apart from that, something like this can work as a great marketing piece. Any takers? :-)


in action!

"For the Interior Designers"

Efficiency saves money. Everything in today's market is geared toward efficiency. As a student, I often cross paths with those who major in Interior Design, due to the similarity of our interests. So over time I've developed some questions to the expectations of a designer, and the methods by which a design can be produced.

Most people are still asked (if not required) to render plans by hand. I know that hand-rendered layouts often look amazing, but as with construction and BIM, I'm certain that they could be phased out as people become more efficient in their careers. I am advocating SketchUp and its use in Interior Design. SketchUp's "styles" do the trick when it comes to presenting materials, and can make any model look like a hand-drawn picture. And when it's all done, a functional model is already completed! I haven't seen many people really harness the technology yet, and I highly recommend it!! :-)

*Visualization models used by way of creative commons license from the following Google Sketchup users: caspkeeley, HODAPPdesigns, IDW, gaj, l_a_scorpio, STONEFREE, zeuss, Acorn