Getting Started
SketchUp’s 3D capabilities are what set it apart from the rest of the pack of drawing tools. You’re going to see how easy it is to create 3D models in SketchUp. Although you might think that you need to draw every edge to make a model 3D, that’s not true—SketchUp operates in a very clever way to give you 3D power.All you need to do is to draw a 2D surface (and remember, such surfaces can be aligned to any plane). Then you use one of SketchUp’s 3D tools, such as the Push/Pull tool, to pull it into 3D. Thus a rectangle becomes a cube, for example.
The Push/Pull tool, which works on any surface that’s in one plane, is the primary 3D tool in SketchUp. This tool lets you push or pull surfaces into 3D in a way that’s quite impressive. But other tools in SketchUp have 3D power as well, such as the Move tool, which we’ll also see here.
You can use the Move tool to move objects around, of course. But when you first use the Select tool to select an edge, you can use the Move tool to pull out that edge in such a way that the connected surface follows, while still being anchored on the opposite edge (think of opening a cabinet door).
We’ll see both the Push/Pull and Move tools in this lesson, along with some auxiliary tools, the Select tool and the Eraser tool.
This is a big lesson for us, because it’s all about 3D, and that’s also what SketchUp is all about—3D.
Let’s get started immediately with the Push/Pull tool.
Pulling Objects into 3D
You need to start with a basic shape or surface. For this task we’ll keep things simple and use a rectangle. (Refer to Lesson 3, “Drawing Shapes: Lines, Rectangles, Polygons, and Circles” for more.)Use the Rectangle tool to create a rectangle similar to what you see in Figure 5.1.
FIGURE 5.1 A rectangle.
Now, what you really want is a cube, so to transform the rectangle, we’ll use the Push/Pull tool, as shown in Figure 5.2.
FIGURE 5.2 The Push/Pull tool and the resulting cube.
When you use the Push/Pull tool (shown in Figure 5.2), you literally pull the rectangle into a 3D shape. This tool is at the center of what SketchUp does for you, so it’s an important one to learn.
Here’s how to go 3D with SketchUp and the Push/Pull tool :
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 shape.
3. Click the Push/Pull tool in the toolbar (shown in Figure 5.2).
4. Move the mouse cursor to the surface you want to pull or push into 3D. Note that the surface must be flat.
5. Press the mouse button on the surface and drag the surface in the direction you want to extend it into 3D.
TIP: Pushing or Pulling Surfaces
Note that you can only push or pull surfaces perpendicular to themselves.
As you drag the mouse, the surface pulls into 3D. The sides of the new 3D shape are defined by the edges of the 2D shape.
6. Release the mouse button. The object becomes 3D, as you can see in Figure 5.2. As you can see, pulling shapes into 3D is one the coolest features in SketchUp.
Thanks :
Steven Holzner,
SamsTeachYourself Google SketchUp 8 in 10 Minutes
