LESSON 1-1 : Getting Started with SketchUp

Getting Started with SketchUp

There’s a huge amount of material to cover when talking about SketchUp, so we’re going to spend this first lesson getting a short overview of what’s possible. In the book as a whole, we’re going to get a real working knowledge of SketchUp—enough to get you building and working with complex models.

Let’s start by taking a look at SketchUp itself, which appears in Figure 1.1.

As you can see in Figure 1.1, Google SketchUp gives you a set of three axes, giving your drawing a 3D feel from the start. That’s appropriate because SketchUp is a 3D program; that is its main claim to fame.

It’s simple to create 3D objects in SketchUp, and you can do so in a variety of ways, as we’re going to see. The most amazing 3D models are possible in SketchUp. Take a look at Figure 1.2, for example.

You draw models like the one in the figure using tools from the toolbars. By selecting individual tools such as the Line tool, the Circle tool, the Polygon tool, and so on, you create the shapes step by step that compose your desired model.

Let’s start with an overview of SketchUp in this lesson; then we’ll install and start working with SketchUp in the next lesson.

FIGURE 1.1 Google SketchUp.

FIGURE 1.2 A 3D model.

Thanks :
Steven Holzner,
SamsTeachYourself Google SketchUp 8 in 10 Minutes

LESSON 1-2 : Drawing Lines

Drawing Lines

When you first start SketchUp, the Line tool is selected by default. And, as you might expect, you can draw lines with this tool—see Figure 1.3.

FIGURE 1.3 Drawing lines.

Drawing lines is one of the simplest of figures you can make in SketchUp—lines are one-dimensional, so they don’t exhibit any of the helpful behavior SketchUp adds to other figures, such as snapping to axes, being colored automatically, and more, as we’re about to see.



Thanks :
Steven Holzner,
SamsTeachYourself Google SketchUp 8 in 10 Minutes

LESSON 1-3 : Drawing Simple Figures

Drawing Simple Figures

Using tools such as the Rectangle tool, you can draw 2D shapes, like the rectangle you see in Figure 1.4. Besides rectangles, you can draw circles, polygons, and arcs using the corresponding tools.

FIGURE 1.4 A horizontal rectangle.

NOTE: Starting Simple
Information about the various tools is spread across all the lessons in this book; you are encouraged to follow them in order because they build on one another. However, you’ll find specific coverage in certain lessons. For example, there’s more on drawing lines, rectangles, and other simple figures in Lesson 3, “Drawing Shapes: Lines, Rectangles, Polygons, and Circles.”

Notice that the rectangle in Figure 1.4 has an orientation—it’s horizontal. Keep in mind that Google SketchUp is a 3D program. When you draw a 2D figure, you’re drawing a 2D figure in 3D. By default, SketchUp makes such a figure horizontal, although you can rotate it. SketchUp will also snap 2D figures to any underlying surface, aligning them along that surface, as you can see in Figure 1.5, where we’ve drawn rectangles that SketchUp has snapped to the sides of a 3D polygon.

FIGURE 1.5 Rectangles snapped to the sides of a 3D polygon.

How do we create a 3D object like the one in Figure 1.5? By going 3D, as we’ll see in the next section.

Thanks :

Steven Holzner,

SamsTeachYourself Google SketchUp 8 in 10 Minutes

LESSON 1-4 : Pushing (or Pulling) for 3D

Pushing (or Pulling) for 3D

Converting objects from 2D to 3D in SketchUp is one of the coolest things you can do. How does it work? You draw a 2D shape, and then pull (or push) it into 3D.

For example, take a look at the polygon shape shown previously in Figure 1.5, the one with the rectangles on its sides. SketchUp recognizes the rectangles as shapes, and so lets you pull them into 3D from the surrounding surface using such tools as the Push/Pull tool.

For example, using the Push/Pull tool, you can push in the inner rectangle in each face of the object, as you see in Figure 1.6. All you do is select the Push/Pull tool, press the mouse button on the shape you want to push or pull into 3D, and, holding the mouse button down, push or pull the shape. It’ll be pushed into or pulled out of the surrounding surface, as you see in Figure 1.6.

FIGURE 1.6 A 3D object.

You can the elaborate the object by pulling out the larger rectangles into 3D, as you see in Figure 1.7.

A couple more clicks let you add more structure to the object, as you see in Figure 1.8.

Using the Push/Pull tool, you can also cut out sections of existing objects to create holes, or windows, in those objects, as you see in Figure 1.9.

Thanks :

Steven Holzner,

SamsTeachYourself Google SketchUp 8 in 10 Minutes

LESSON 1-5 : Panning and Orbiting

Panning and Orbiting

Given that objects exist in 3D in SketchUp, you might think that there are various tools that let you see objects from various perspectives, and you’d be right.

FIGURE 1.7 An elaborated 3D object.

FIGURE 1.8 Elaborating the 3D object even more.

FIGURE 1.9 A window.

Creating and manipulating 3D models is something you’ll likely spend a lot of time doing in SketchUp. We’ll get deeper into using the Push/Pull tool in Lesson 5, “Going 3D.” For example, you can use the Pan tool to move the drawing left or right, up or down, or any combination of these, as you see in Figures 1.10 and 1.11. You can also use the Orbit tool for a more truly 3D experience. This tool lets you “orbit” around a model, changing perspective to any angle, as you can see in Figures 1.12 and 1.13.

NOTE: Want More?
Panning and orbiting are given the in-depth treatment in Lesson 2, “Up and Running with SketchUp.”

FIGURE 1.10 Panning a drawing one way.

FIGURE 1.11 Panning a drawing another way.

FIGURE 1.12 Orbiting to one position.

FIGURE 1.13 Orbiting to another position.

You can also move and rotate objects themselves rather than just perspective.

Thanks :

Steven Holzner,

SamsTeachYourself Google SketchUp 8 in 10 Minutes

LESSON 1-6 : Rotating and Moving

Rotating and Moving

Although these tools are fairly self-explanatory, they are incredibly useful, as you might imagine. Note that while the Orbit tool lets you orbit around an object, the Rotate tool lets you rotate the object itself. Take a look at Figure 1.14, showing a piano and a drum set.

FIGURE 1.14 A piano and a drum set.

Using the Rotate tool, you can rotate objects, as shown in Figure 1.15.

And using the Move tool, you can move objects around your drawing, as shown in Figure 1.16. Notice that the piano has been rotated from its position shown in Figure 1.15.

There is an infinite number of reasons you might want to rotate or move objects, so for more on these tools check out Lesson 8, “Using the Rotate, Scale, and Follow-Me Tools,” and Lesson 5, “Going 3D,” respectively.

FIGURE 1.15 Rotating an object.

FIGURE 1.16 Moving an object.

Thanks :
Steven Holzner,
SamsTeachYourself Google SketchUp 8 in 10 Minutes

LESSON 1-7 : Painting

Painting

Google SketchUp lets you paint the objects you create. You can paint them with solid colors, and you can select from dozens of textures as well.

For example, say you want to draw three wooden crates. You draw three cubes as shown in Figure 1.17, but they don’t look much like wooden crates.

FIGURE 1.17 Three cubes.

Using the Paint tool and selecting a texture, you can paint them to look like wooden crates with a few clicks, as you can see in Figure 1.18 (in black in white in this book, of course).

SketchUp provides the board-by-board texture and aligns the boards to the various surfaces automatically. All you have to do is click a surface to paint on. You’ll learn more about painting in Lesson 7, “Painting Your
Objects.”

FIGURE 1.18 Three crates.

Thanks :

Steven Holzner,

SamsTeachYourself Google SketchUp 8 in 10 Minutes

LESSON 1-8 : Using the Component Libraries

Using the Component Libraries

Google maintains a 3D warehouse of prebuilt models for you to download and use. There are dozens of such prebuilt models, and using them can save you plenty of time.

Models with multiple parts are treated as a single unit called components in SketchUp, and SketchUp offers you a number of component collections in its 3D warehouse:

• Architecture
• Landscape
• Construction
• People
• Playground
• Transportation

Inside each collection are multiple subcategories. For example, you can see the subcategories for the Architecture category in Figure 1.19.

FIGURE 1.19 The Architecture subcategories.

Some subcategories are themselves divided into further subcategories—for example, the Furniture collection in the Architecture collection is divided into the collections you can see in Figure 1.20.

You can see actual models from the furniture collection in Figure 1.21.

And you can see a simple glass-topped table from the collection in Figure 1.22.

As you can see, there are dozens of models waiting for you to use them. We’ll get more in-depth with these in Lesson 6, “Creating Components and Groups.”

LESSON 1-9 : Zooming

Zooming

Another powerful tool is the Zoom tool, which lets you zoom in and out. For example, suppose you have the drawing in Figure 1.23, a small boat, and you want a closer look.

FIGURE 1.20 The Furniture subcategories.

FIGURE 1.21 Furniture models.

FIGURE 1.22 A glass-topped table.

FIGURE 1.23 A small boat.

You can zoom in with the Zoom tool to see more detail, as you can see in Figure 1.24.

FIGURE 1.24 Zooming in on a small boat.

In fact, zooming is such a common thing to do in SketchUp that the mouse wheel is reserved for this purpose—wheeling one way zooms in, the other zooms out.

Thanks :

Steven Holzner,

SamsTeachYourself Google SketchUp 8 in 10 Minutes

LESSON 1-10 : Creating Guides and Dimension Indicators

Creating Guides and Dimension Indicators

There are all kinds of construction aids in SketchUp as well. For example, take a look at Figure 1.25, where you can see a cube with some construction guides added.

Construction guides can be positioned anywhere in a drawing, and you can use them to align objects. As you can see, they appear as dotted lines in a drawing, and if you wanted to add another cube lined up with the current one, you could use those guides to help.

FIGURE 1.25 A cube with construction guides.

You can also add dimensioning indicators to a drawing, as you see in Figure 1.26.

Those dimensions will change as you resize an object. Lesson 10, “Dimensioning, Drawing Angles, and Getting Cross Sections of Models” is where you will find more on this topic.

Thanks :

Steven Holzner,

SamsTeachYourself Google SketchUp 8 in 10 Minutes

LESSON 1-11 : Lots of Cool Stuff Coming Up

Lots of Cool Stuff Coming Up

There is a lot of cool stuff coming up, such as the Follow-Me tool, which lets you specify a path and a shape, as you see in Figure 1.27.

With the Follow-Me tool, you can make SketchUp move the shape along the path you’ve specified, resulting in a new object, as you see in Figure 1.28.

Suppose you had a model of a playground, as shown in Figure 1.29.

FIGURE 1.26 Dimensions added to a drawing.

FIGURE 1.27 A shape and a path.

FIGURE 1.28 A new object.

FIGURE 1.29 A playground.

You can take a cross section of the model anywhere you want to get a clearer view of various components, as you see in Figure 1.30.

FIGURE 1.30 A sectioned playground.

You can even do 3D text, as you see in Figure 1.31.

With all this coming up, let’s dig in immediately to the next lesson and get you up and running with SketchUp!

FIGURE 1.31 3D text.

Thanks :

Steven Holzner,

SamsTeachYourself Google SketchUp 8 in 10 Minutes