Finding things in 3D Warehouse

3D Warehouse is the largest web repository of its kind. Boasting around 4 million files available for download, 3D Warehouse is a huge asset to designers, allowing them to simply download and place models into their files rather than having to model everything from scratch.

There is a downside to 3D Warehouse. 3D Warehouse’s biggest asset is also its biggest problem. Since anyone can get an account and upload any SketchUp file, quality can vary greatly, resulting in some models that are great, and some models that are not so good. This means that to get the most out of 3D Warehouse, you will need to be savvy about how you search for and use the models you download.

I have, in the past, referred to 3D Warehouse as being like the Wild West. In the early years of 3D Warehouse, it was very easy for people to create whatever model they wanted, dump it there, and then leave. This ended up causing a lot of files that were of no value to end up sitting...