Design Software Resources
There are many options you can use for software to design your dog house for the virtual Sustainable Dog House Challenge (SDHC). This page provides some resources for you to help with learning or perfecting your skills with the two platforms that we recommend:
Both Professional releases of these software are available for UT students to use free of charge in the Learning Resource Center (LRC) computer lab in ECJ. For information on how to access these software virtually, see the Remote Access page.
SketchUp is a user-friendly design software that is easy to pick up even if you have no prior experience with design software. There are plenty of tutorials online and you can easily find videos related to the various tools and workflows you might be working with. Below are a few videos and channels we recommend:
- SketchUp School's Tips for Before you Get Started
- TheSketchUpEssentials: YouTube channel that provides a wide array of SketchUp Tutorials
Rhino is a more complicated design software, but includes advanced features that SketchUp does not. We highly recommend learning how to use Rhino if you are a younger Architectural Engineering student, as the CAEE department is pivoting towards using this software. Below are some links to a few videos developed by Maarten Janssens - a seasoned Rhino user.
Maarten also hosted a training session for the 2021 Virtual SDHC which you can watch also watch - scrub to 7:00 for the beginning of the tutorial.
- Rhino Training Session - 2021: you will need to sign in with your UT zoom account to view.