Google+Sketch+Up

There is a free version of Google Sketch Up 8 that we use here at Stimson. It is a great program for our Technology classes to use. The students learn to draw with exact dimensions and create very intricate designs. It is fun, educational, and easy to use.....................

You can use Google SketchUp to explore design ideas and experiment with 3D. You can draw your home or famous buildings, use it for projects at home or school, or create fun stuff like cars, space ships, barns, or your dream house. You can share your models with others via the Google 3D Warehouse. And if your model has a location (you built it on a Google Earth image), you can also view it in Google Earth. Using SketchUp (free), you can:
 * Draw, modify, measure, rotate, scale, and move geometry.
 * Use accurate dimensions, and communicate them with text tools.
 * Place section slices to view and work on model interiors.
 * Add pre-made textures like brick, wood, shingles and glass to your models, or create new textures.
 * Add pre-made components like trees, cars, doors and windows, and people to your models, or create new components.
 * Soften and smooth faces.
 * Cast real-time shadows for any location on earth.
 * Simulate movie camera placements.
 * Perform walk-throughs.
 * Create presentation tours.
 * Use organic modeling (Sandbox).
 * Import 2D images:
 * JPEG image (.jpg)
 * Portable Network Graphics (.png)
 * Tagged Image File (.tif)
 * Targa File (*.tga)
 * Windows Bitmap (.bmp)
 * Import 3D models and information:
 * SketchUp (.skp).
 * Google Earth terrain. //Note://You can get the current image-in black and white snapshot-of the terrain image currently displayed in Google Earth by clicking the "Get Current View" button. Two versions of the terrain image are imported: 2D and 3D, and you can toggle between them by clicking the "Toggle Terrain" button. The terrain images are for reference only, and are not included when you place your model in Google Earth. The image includes a reference to the latitude and longitude of the location in Google Earth, so it can be used for shadow studies, as well. Google Earth doesn't export its own 3D buildings (the buildings that are displayed when you select the "Building" layer in Google Earth). That information is licensed and can't be redistributed, so you can't import those buildings into SketchUp.
 * 3DS (.3ds). //Note://If you want a 3DS import to include textures, before the import you must save the texture files in the same folder as the 3ds file itself.
 * DEM (.dem, .ddf)
 * Export 2D images of your models:
 * JPEG image (.jpg)
 * Portable Network Graphics (.png)
 * Tagged Image File (.tif)
 * Windows Bitmap (.bmp).
 * Export animations and walk-throughs as MOV or AVI files.
 * Create geo-located models and place them in Google Earth.
 * Export a Google Earth file directly in KMZ format.
 * Share SketchUp models to the 3D Warehouse. For models that have a location in Google Earth, the upload creates a SketchUp (.skp), a Google Earth (.kmz), and a Collada (.zip) file.
 * Print the portion of your model that is displayed in the SketchUp drawing window.
 * Print and export raster images at a resolution you choose.
 * Create add-on programs using the Ruby programming language.