Offsetting Edges with the Offset Tool
The Offset tool lets you create copies of edges and move them away from the original edge. That’s good when you have a complex surface and want to draw a matching surface that’s smaller or larger. To see this in action, we’ll start in this task with the object you see in Figure 9.3.
FIGURE 9.3 A 3D object.
Using the Offset tool and the Push/Pull tool, we’ll change this object to the one you see in Figure 9.4 with just a couple of clicks.
FIGURE 9.4 Decorating an object using the Offset tool.
Here’s how it works:
1. Click the Start Using SketchUp button.
2. Select Toolbars from the View menu. This opens a submenu.
3. Select the submenu’s Large Tool Set item. This opens the large toolbar.
4. Select the Polygon tool in the Large Tool Set toolbar.
5. Draw a horizontal pentagon. Pentagons are the default polygon drawn by the Polygon tool.
6. Select the Push/Pull tool in the toolbar.
7. Pull the pentagon up into 3D.
Now we’ll use the Offset tool to draw the offsets we need.
8. Select the Offset tool in the Large Tool Set toolbar. The Offset tool is the tool that displays an image of two concentric circle sections with a red arrow connecting them (shown in Figure 9.4).
9. Click a surface of the object. Clicking a surface tells the Offset tool which surface it should draw offsets of.
10. Move the mouse to make an offset appear. The Offset tool draws an offset following the edges of the current surface, as you can see in Figure 9.5.
FIGURE 9.5 An offset on a surface.
11. Size the offset surface by moving the mouse.
12. Release the mouse button. This locks the offset into place.
13. Repeat steps 8–12 for all visible faces of the object. Use the Rotation tool if you need to get a clearer view of a face.
14. Select the Push/Pull tool in the toolbar.
15. Select each offset surface and push it into the object, as shown in Figure 9.4.
As you can see, offsetting surfaces is useful and easy.
Thanks :
Steven Holzner,
SamsTeachYourself Google SketchUp 8 in 10 Minutes
