Objects of Rotation in Google Sketchup: A Problem of Nomenclature

I've been using Google's free Sketchup program for some 3D object designs lately. I've been using it for a while, but I only use it off and on, so my expertise is growing slowly.

Tonight I wanted to model something based on an Object of Rotation, which we all remember from math class is what you get when spin a shape around an axis. This is usually a trivial thing to do in both CAD and 3D design programs like AutoCAD, Lightwave, and so on. I couldn't remember how to do it offhand, so I did a quick search, expecting "sketchup object of rotation" would get me there in moments.

Technically Accurate, but Useless
I soon got lots of results for "Rotate Object", including a Sketchup tutorial video link. Unfortunately, I realized about 30 seconds into the video that it wasn't what I was looking for. It's a very nice tool for rotating an existing object's position around some arbitrary center of rotation, and possibly replicating it in a pattern around that center.

Nice, but not what I needed.

After a few frustrating attempts to rephrase the search to get what I wanted, I ended up just doing a search on what I knew is usually created as an object of rotation: a rocket.

"Sketchup rocket" yielded a couple of promising results. An amateur rocketry buff had instructions for drawing model rockets in Sketchup. The instructions for the nose cone were: how to draw an object of rotation in Sketchup.


Words Get In the Way
The tool for creating objects of rotation in Sketchup is the Follow-Me tool. In Sketchup terminology, an object of rotation is called a Lathed Object. Which makes perfect sense, if you already know it. (Thank you for the meme, Arthur Conan Doyle!)

So, to successfully search for how to create an object of rotation in Sketchup, use the terms "sketchup lathed object" or "sketchup follow me tool" to get what you want.

Hopefully this will show up when you search for "sketchup object of rotation" and save you some grief. ;)

Cuil: Color Me Unimpressed

OK, I had to go give Cuil a try. I should have known that something with a kewlio name like "cool" misspelled would be anything but.

I ran some searches that I'm familiar with the Google results, so I would have a point of comparison. Specifically, I tried the searches that most often hit my Atari 7800 site and other more common searches that I often use in class to demonstrate search engines for my students.

First, I came up with a "No Results Found" page. I'm afraid I laughed pretty loud when that popped up. Then I used the same terms in a different order.

"Want to find XX YY ZZ? We've got it!" "We're your source for XX YY ZZ! Buy Now!" jumped out at me. The first page of results had two people asking questions related to my subject, two pages that were relevant, three totally irrelevant pages, and four spam ads like the ones above (both on the first line.)

The second page was two relevant hits, three completely irrelevant hits, one more "how do I?" question with no answer, and five more spam ads. "Celebrity photos featuring XX YY ZZ!" Gee, I wonder where they fit the cables?

I did a number of other searches, but the results were about the same. Finding the one or two relevant results per page was tedious. The addition of irrelevant graphics to almost every hit didn't do anything to make finding the needle in the haystack any easier.

Scanning back and forth across three columns didn't help, either. Different doesn't mean better. It also made it harder to find results when going back to a page previously viewed. The odd, unbalanced layout resulted in empty space at the bottom right of the page that made it look like the results had been exhausted, when there were additional pages to view.

Google Killer?

The high incidence of spam results on my searches suggests that Cuil suffers from the same disease that drove me to Google in the first place. The last time I used one now-defunct search engine I closed the window on "We have got all your Hittite cuneiform right here!"

As much as the buzz makes out that this outfit is headed by some sort of search engine dream team, I find it hard to believe when I see results that look like something that was a PITA for me ten years ago. Not everybody with a successful company on their resume contributed to that company's success. Cuil looks like the QED to that.

I'd like to have another search engine that gives me relevant results without animated ads of imbeciles in chiaroscuro offending my sensibilities. Maybe Cuil can still pull it together. But dang, if this is the best they can manage for their grand unveiling, I'm not going to be hurrying back.