SketchUp 7 to design furniture, and TechSmith’s Camtasia Studio 6 for screen capture

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Duration: 3 mins., 4 sec.

Baby steps.

As I write this I am reminded of Zoe Maria, our #6 granddaughter. She will have her first birthday in two weeks. But two weeks ago she started walking, one step at a time, then two, and now will go all the way across the living room before throwing herself on the floor; or rushing to catch my leg before she throws herself on the floor. And so it is for me with both SketchUp and Camtasia Studio.

What I show in this video is old hat to those of you who use SketchUp. However, every now and then I share with you something new in the shop – this time I show off what I did with SketchUp 7, and a short screen capture I did with TechSmith’s Camtasia Studio version 6. I am a newbie with both of these programs, but I feel like I have accomplished a lot, just by getting this far.

I owe thanks to Bob Lang for convincing me to give give SketchUp a try one more time. I attended his SketchUp session during Woodworking in America in St Charles, Ill. a few weeks ago. In 90 minutes Bob showed me – no, he proved to me – that I really must use this nifty program to design furniture. Bob did magic on the screen when he showed the audience how to make a little table, complete with all the joinery! Those of you who have read my blog for a while might remember I have used eCabinet Systems software to design cabinets. But that program mainly uses plywood, using nesting and CNC machines; designing with solid woods requires a little harder work.

As I found a little time to relax over the weekend, I fired up SketchUp and launched Bob’s 21st century workbench model, which I downloaded from the Popular Woodworking area of Google’s 3D Warehouse. And, while playing with the 3D model, it struck me that I should also try my brand-new Camtasia Studio, version 6.

Although I made several mistakes in this video, I share with you two things: First, even though I know very little about both SketchUp and Camtasia Studio, I was still able to produce a short video! And second, it is OK to make errors, for we all learn from the experience of others. The best thing to come out of this: In a few weeks I will chuckle when I watch this video again, for I will realize I probably should have waited until I had more experience under my belt.

I will use this particular video as a reminder of two things:

1. Where I was on the learning curve with both program on September 2009, and;
   
2. That, no matter what, using the programs on a regular basis will make me better. Practice makes better, or something like that. I will be able to see my own progress!
   

Enough, then, and on with the show. Please let me have your feedback and let me know what you think, either via regular e-mail to sandal_woods@bbwi.net, or via the e-mail tab on the menu for the blog. It is OK if you think I should just give up on this effort. But I won’t reject nice, kind words of encouragement.

My special thanks to Betsy Weber, TechSmith’s Chief Evangelist, for her generous support aimed at furthering the video enhancement of my blog entries. If you are interested in screen capture for your computer, I suggest you read her wonderful blog, The Visual Lounge, and also the TechSmith web page, to learn about their terrific products.

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