LESSON 2-1 : Starting SketchUp

Starting SketchUp

Let’s fire up SketchUp and see what we’ve downloaded. After getting it started in this task, we’ll get used to a few essential tools in the following task.

1. Double-click the SketchUp program file to start it, or, in Windows, select it from the Start menu. The dialog box you see in Figure 2.5 appears.

FIGURE 2.5 Starting SketchUp.

2. Click the Choose Template button. The template you select will determine the drawing background (if any) and the units of the drawing (feet, meters, and so on). You need to select a template before SketchUp will start, and the template you choose will become your default template the next time you open SketchUp. When you click the Choose Template button, a list of templates appears, as shown in Figure 2.6.

FIGURE 2.6 Selecting a template.

NOTE: Changing the Default Template Selecting a template makes it the default when SketchUp starts up, so when you start SketchUp from now on and click the Start Using SketchUp button, you’ll be using the Simple Template selected in step 3. To change that, click the Choose Template button and select the template you want, then click the Start Using SketchUp button.

3. Click the top template to select it, as shown in Figure 2.6. We’ll use other templates in the following lessons, but the Simple template gives us a blue sky, green Earth, and a person standing in the middle for scale—a good template to get started with.

4. Click the Start Using SketchUp button. SketchUp appears, as shown in Figure 2.7, using the template we’ve selected as background.

FIGURE 2.7 A Simple Template in Google SketchUp.

NOTE: Listen to the Instructor
Note the dialog box along the right side, showing information about the Select tool. This dialog box is called the Instructor, and it’s very useful to learn about the tools in the toolbox, which appear at the top of the SketchUp window. The Select tool (an arrow much like the default mouse pointer) is the default tool in SketchUp, active when you start SketchUp, which is why the Instructor is explaining its use in selecting items in SketchUp.

Leave the Instructor open for now because it’s a very useful guide to the tools in the toolbox. When you close the Instructor later, you can get it back by clicking the round question mark button at the bottom of SketchUp.


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

LESSON 2-2 : Understanding the Parts of SketchUp

Understanding the Parts of SketchUp

As with most applications, you need to become familiar with the basic elements. Let’s take a look at the various parts of SketchUp, as shown in Figure 2.8.

FIGURE 2.8 The parts of SketchUp.

As you’d expect, SketchUp comes with the normal parts of most applications
you’re familiar with :

• The menu bar—Includes familiar menus such as File, Edit, and so on. We’ll be making use of the items in SketchUp’s menus throughout this book.

NOTE: The Getting Started Toolbars Note that by default, SketchUp shows only its Getting Started toolbar, which is the toolbar you see in Figure 2.8. To see the full tool set, select the View menu, then the Toolbars item, then the Large Tool Set menu item.

• The toolbar—Includes various drawing tools, as you can see labeled in Figure 2.8.
• The status bar—Contains buttons to show you who designed the current item open in SketchUp, information about the current item, and a Help button (the button with the question mark caption) that turns the Instructor dialog box on and off.

That’s SketchUp in overview. Now let’s start using some tools.


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

LESSON 2-3 : Using the Orbit Tool

Using the Orbit Tool

There are three primary tools that you have to get familiar with to start working with SketchUp: Orbit, Pan, and Zoom. We’ll take a look at the Orbit tool in this task and the Pan and Zoom tools in the following two
tasks.

The reason that these three tools are the important ones to start out with is that they give you a handle on working in 2D. New users not familiar with these tools can grope around in the dark in SketchUp before finally getting a grip on how to work with 3D.

The Orbit tool lets you examine a 2D figure—called a model in SketchUp—from all different directions. By rotating the Orbit tool, you can examine the model you’re creating from all angles.

Here’s how to use the Orbit tool:
1. Start SketchUp. The Welcome to SketchUp dialog box appears. For this task, we’ll work with the Simple Template we’ve used in the previous tasks.

2. Click the Start Using SketchUp button. This opens SketchUp using the Simple Template from the previous task as the default template, as shown in Figure 2.9.

FIGURE 2.9 Starting SketchUp and selecting the Orbit tool.

3. Click the Orbit tool in the toolbar (as shown in Figure 2.9).

4. Move the Orbit tool around SketchUp’s workspace. As you do, the angle from which you view the current contents of the window changes, as you can see in Figure 2.10. The Orbit tool enables you to view your models in 3D just by moving the tool around the screen.

FIGURE 2.10 Using the Orbit tool.

TIP: Experiment with the Orbit Tool It’s a good idea to play with the Orbit tool for a while, getting used to what it does, and noting the 3D feeling you get by rotating the current model.

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

LESSON 2-4 : Using the Pan Tool

Using the Pan Tool

The Pan tool lets you move from side to side and up and down. The Pan tool’s icon is a hand, and that’s appropriate, because you “grasp” the display and move it around.

The angle doesn’t change when you use the Pan tool, unlike when you use the Orbit tool. Here’s how to put the Pan tool to work:

1. Click the Start Using SketchUp button. This opens SketchUp with the Simple Template we’ve set as the default in the previous tasks.

2. Click the Pan tool in the toolbar (shown in Figure 2.11).

FIGURE 2.11 Using the Pan tool.

3. Press the mouse button in SketchUp’s display to “grasp” the display.

4. Drag the mouse to move the display. When you do, the whole display moves around without changing angle or perspective, as you can see in Figure 2.11.

The Pan tool gives you a way of viewing your models by moving them from side to side and up and down.


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

LESSON 2-5 : Using the Zoom Tool

Using the Zoom Tool

The Zoom tool lets you zoom in and out of the display—that is, magnify your view, if you want to. That’s great to see the smaller details of a model.

Here’s how to put the Zoom tool to work:
1. Click the Start Using SketchUp button. This opens SketchUp with the Simple Template we’ve set as the default in the previous tasks.

2. Click the Zoom tool in the toolbar (shown in Figure 2.12).

FIGURE 2.12 Using the Zoom tool.

3. Press the mouse button in SketchUp’s display.

4. Drag the mouse upward to zoom the display in and drag downward to zoom the display out. When you do, the whole display zooms in and out without changing angle or perspective, as you can see in Figure 2.12.

The Zoom tool gives you a way of magnifying your models—very handy at times.

TIP: Using the Mouse Wheel to Zoom If your mouse has a wheel on it, you can zoom in and out just by thumbing the wheel—even if a tool such as the Select tool is selected and not the Zoom tool.


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

LESSON 2-6 : Selecting a Work Template

Selecting a Work Template

Until now, we’ve been using the first template that SketchUp had to offer—the Simple Template measured in feet and inches, with a human figure in the middle of it, along with blue sky and green earth.

However, you probably don’t want someone standing there in a field under a blue sky when drawing your own models. The most common template to use has no background at all, no sky, no ground—just a set of three axes to show you the three dimensions.

In this task, we see how to select a good working template that has no features other than the three axes. Here’s how to set this up:

1. From the Welcome to SketchUp page, click the Choose Template button. The template selection dialog box appears.

2. Click the Engineering–Feet template to select it (as shown in Figure 2.13).

FIGURE 2.13 Selecting the Engineering–Feet template.

3. Click the Start Using SketchUp button. This opens SketchUp with the Engineering–Feet template.

4. Select the human figure in the template by clicking it. You can see the human figure selected in Figure 2.14.

FIGURE 2.14 Selecting the human figure.

5. Delete the human figure by pressing the Del key. The figure disappears. You now have a clean slate for creating your own models without any distracting backgrounds.

The Engineering–Feet or Engineering–Meters templates are useful because they don’t give you a background, so you’re free to design your own. We’ll use these templates frequently in this book.


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

LESSON 2-7 : Understanding SketchUp Axes

Understanding SketchUp Axes

If you take a look at Figure 2.14, you’ll see three axes corresponding to the x, y, and z axes you may be familiar with. The x and y axes form the horizontal plane, and the z axis points vertically out of that plane.

We’ll call the axis in the foreground that’s closest to a horizontal line the x axis; the other horizontal axis, which goes into the page, the y axis; and the vertical axis the z axis, as shown in Figure 2.15.

FIGURE 2.15 The three (x, y, z) axes.

Those are the three names we’ll use for the axes—x, y, and z.

What you can’t see in Figure 2.15 (because this is a black-and-white book)
is that the axes are colored:

• The x axis is red.
• The y axis is green.
• The z axis is blue.

TIP: Axes Coloring
You’ll sometimes see axes referred to by color in the SketchUp help files, so it can be helpful to bear the previous list of color associations in mind.

The reason the axes are colored is that the shapes you draw (see the next lesson) are usually aligned with one or another axis by SketchUp automatically, and SketchUp will indicate the color axis the shape is being aligned with. So, for example, as you draw one edge of a rectangle, a ToolTip (a small yellow window with some text) will appear, reading On Red Axis to show that your drawing action is being aligned with the x (red) axis. This is helpful because by default SketchUp automatically snaps what you draw to be parallel to an axis to let you draw shapes easily without wondering how they will line up with the axes. This will become more apparent as we start to draw shapes in coming sections.


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

LESSON 2-8 : Understanding Edges and Surfaces

Understanding Edges and Surfaces

Another crucial SketchUp concept is about edges and surfaces. All models are constructed using edges and surfaces in SketchUp. Edges and surfaces are just what you think they are, as shown in Figure 2.16.

Surfaces are always bounded by edges, and you need a closed figure created out of edges to create a surface. For example, you might use the Line tool to draw two lines, as shown in Figure 2.17.

When you connect the two lines with a third line to create a closed figure, SketchUp automatically recognizes that you’ve created a surface and colors it in, as shown in Figure 2.18.

TIP: Erase an Edge and Your Surface Is Gone If you erase one of the bounding edges of a surface, that surface disappears—it’s no longer a surface. You can, however, re-create the surface by redrawing the last edge—a process known as healing a surface.

FIGURE 2.16 Edges and surfaces.

FIGURE 2.17 Two lines.

FIGURE 2.18 SketchUp colors in closed figures.

Another thing to know is that a surface must lie in the same plane in SketchUp. That is, you can’t have single surfaces that curl up in any way—they must be flat. That’s not a problem when drawing curved models, however—you simply use a lot of flat surfaces.

TIP: When a Closed Figure Does Not Create a Surface
You create surfaces from figures with closed edges, and SketchUp colors the surface in when it’s done. But what happens if you draw a surface and SketchUp doesn’t treat it as a surface and doesn’t color it in as a surface? Often the problem is that the edges you drew turn out not to be in the same plane. Because SketchUp snaps the lines you draw to the various axes or other already-drawn edges, and you’re drawing in 3D, it’s easy to create figures that are all in one plane by mistake. However, it’s hard to see that they’re not in the same plane. To check whether a surface is all in the same plane, use the Orbit tool to orbit around it in 3D.

When you draw an edge, by default that edge is aligned with the x, y, or z axis as you draw, and the color of the edge will match the color of the axis (x=red, y=green, z=blue). If you don’t want to align a line with the axis SketchUp has chosen, just shift the line as you draw it (by dragging the mouse while you’re drawing the line) to match the axis you want, and SketchUp will align the line with that axis.

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

LESSON 2-9 : Drawing Edges

Drawing Edges

Let’s get started doing some actual drawing in SketchUp by drawing a few edges using the Line tool. Here’s how it works:

1. Click the Start Using SketchUp button. SketchUp starts with the Engineering –Feet template we selected as the default in previous tasks. Click the human figure that appears in the template to select it, and press the Del key to delete it.

2. Click the Line tool to select it (shown in Figure 2.19).

3. Press the mouse button where you want one end of the line to start. Pressing the mouse button anchors the line you’re about to create.

4. Drag the mouse to the other end of the line. You can see a line being drawn in Figure 2.19.

NOTE: SketchUp Automatically Aligns Your Lines
Note that SketchUp automatically aligns your line with one of the axes (the one you’re dragging parallel to) so it’s easy to draw exactly parallel to an axis. The line is colored to match the axis it’s aligned to (x=red, y=green, z=blue). A ToolTip will appear as you’re dragging the mouse to tell you what axis you’re aligned with (as appears in Figure 2.19).

FIGURE 2.19 Use the mouse and the Line tool to draw.

5. Release the mouse button to complete the line. When you release the mouse button, your new line is drawn and becomes an edge.

Congratulations—you’ve created a new edge.

To make it easy to draw other edges that connect to this edge, SketchUp labels various points on the edge as you let the Line tool roll over the edge, as you can see in Figure 2.20.

TIP: Connecting Edges
When you draw an edge that you want to connect to another edge, you typically let the mouse hover over an end point of the first edge until the end point circle and the ToolTip labeled Endpoint appears. Press the mouse button over the end point and then draw the next edge.

FIGURE 2.20 An edge’s midpoint.

In particular, when you hover the Line tool over the ends of an edge (that is, over the line’s end points), a small circle appears on the end point of the edge with the ToolTip labeled Endpoint. When you move the Line tool so that it’s on the edge (and thus any edge you draw will be connected to the current one), a small red square appears where the mouse cursor is on the line with the ToolTip labeled On Edge. When you hover the Line tool above the midpoint of the edge, a small circle appears on the edge at the location of the mouse pointer with the ToolTip labeled Midpoint (as shown in Figure 2.20).


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

LESSON 2-10 : Inferring Edges

Inferring Edges

Many times when you’re drawing edges, you want to draw one edge parallel to another and end so you can connect the two edges with another edge that goes from end point to end point while the new edge is parallel to an axis. For example, take a look at the situation in Figure 2.21.

FIGURE 2.21 The need for inferring an edge.

There are two edges there—now suppose you want to draw a third edge on your way to making a rectangle. The third edge will be at the bottom of the figure, parallel to the top edge.

But how far should you draw the bottom edge so that its end point will be directly under the corresponding end point of the top edge? You can guess visually where to stop drawing the third edge so that its end point will end up right under the top edge’s end point, but SketchUp provides you with a better way.

Because this is such a common operation—ending an edge at the correct location to match another edge’s end point—SketchUp has a special name for it: inferring. When you infer an edge, you align it with another edge so that its end point is ready to be connected to another edge’s end point with a new edge that is parallel to an axis.

Here’s how inferring works, making it easy to draw figures so that all edges line up with axes:

1. Click the Start Using SketchUp button. SketchUp starts with the Engineering–Feet template we selected as the default in previous tasks. Click the human figure that appears in the template to select it, and press the Del key to delete it.

2. Click the Line tool to select it.

3. Draw two edges like those in Figure 2.21.

4. Draw a new edge from the end point of the vertical edge until a dotted line appears connecting the new edge and the top edge, as shown in Figure 2.22. That dotted line appears automatically as SketchUp infers you might want to line up the current edge’s end point with the end point of the top edge.

FIGURE 2.22 Inferring an edge.

5. If no dotted line appears, indicate to SketchUp which edge you want it to infer from by letting the mouse pointer hover over the top edge for two seconds. This establishes which edge you want to infer from, in case SketchUp doesn’t guess right. After letting the mouse hover over the edge you want to infer from for two seconds, redraw the third edge, and the dotted line connecting the end points should appear.

6. Release the mouse button to draw the third edge, as shown in Figure 2.23.

FIGURE 2.23 A new edge.

Now you’re in a good position to complete the figure and create a surface (because all edges are in the same plane). To complete the surface, just connect the end points of the top and bottom edges—thanks to inferring, their end points are already lined up.

When you connect the last two end points, SketchUp realizes you’ve created a surface and colors it in as a surface, as you can see in Figure 2.24.

In the next lesson, we’ll start drawing shapes in SketchUp.

FIGURE 2.24 A new surface.

Thanks :

Steven Holzner,

SamsTeachYourself Google SketchUp 8 in 10 Minutes