Drawing 3D by Subtracting Elements
You often draw 3D objects by subtracting elements. To show how this works, we’ll draw a table like the one you see in Figure 5.20.
FIGURE 5.20 A 3D table.
How was that table created? Here’s how:
1. Click the Start Using SketchUp button and click the human figure that appears in the Engineering–Feet template to select it; press the Del key to delete it.
2. Draw a horizontal rectangle.
3. Click the Push/Pull tool in the toolbar and move the mouse cursor to the rectangle.
4. Press the mouse button on the rectangle and drag the rectangle up to extend it into a 3D cube.
5. Select the Rectangle tool in the toolbar.
6. Draw a rectangle on the cube as shown in Figure 5.21.
FIGURE 5.21 Adding a rectangle to a cube.
7. Select the Push/Pull tool in the toolbar.
8. Push the rectangle through the cube until you get a cutout in the shape of the rectangle.
9. Select the Rectangle tool in the toolbar.
10. Draw a rectangle on a cube surface adjacent to the first surface where you drew a rectangle. Draw the rectangle so that pushing it through will give you two of the table’s legs.
11. Select the Push/Pull tool in the toolbar.
12. Push the rectangle through until you get a cutout in the shape of the rectangle. You can see what the result will look like in Figure 5.22.
FIGURE 5.22 Pushing through a rectangle.
13. Select the Rectangle tool in the toolbar.
14. Draw a rectangle on the remaining vertical cube surface. Draw the rectangle so that pushing it through will give you the final two table legs.
15. Select the Push/Pull tool in the toolbar.
16. Push the rectangle through until you get a cutout in the shape of the rectangle. That creates the table in Figure 5.20.
And that’s one technique for drawing 3D—by subtracting elements.
TIP: Making the Table Legs Identical
If you want to make sure the table legs are identical in all dimensions, you can use inferring. Select the Move tool, hover over the surface of a leg, then click another leg’s corresponding surface to snap to the corresponding measurement.
Thanks :
Steven Holzner,
SamsTeachYourself Google SketchUp 8 in 10 Minutes
