Back to the Basics

Tips & Tricks on using the default tools...

Default Tools

Alignment

Area: There are several ways to have SketchUp display the area of a face. SketchUp will also display the cumulative total of all the faces selected.

      • The area is the default text displayed when you click on a face with the Text tool.

      • The Query tool displays the area when you hover over a face.

      • The Entity Info box displays the area of the selected face or the total of all selected faces.

      • In the context menu, select Area, and SketchUp will display the area in terms of Selection, Layer or Material.

Boolean

      • Boolean Selection Alan Fraser - The old way, before SketchUp 8 introduced the Solid Tools. xxx [dead link]

Printing to Scale

Push/Pull

3D Warehouse Tutorials

Circle verse Polygon

      • ...the difference

      • Circles and polygons have the same adjustments. The radius and segmentation can be changed. But they extrude differently with the Push/Pull tool.

And one of the places you can exploit the difference is through the Convert to Polygon tool in the right-click context menu. If you start modeling with circles, but later realized you want visible edges, Convert to Polygon allows you to change the edge smoothness property of those circles without needing to explode the circle into individual segments.

        • Note: You can see and change circle and polygon properties through the Entity Info palette, Window > Entity Info (on a PC).

- catamountain

Tips

Try Group/Component naming system based on standardized prefix codes as discussed in Creating Hiearchies in Outliner:

Plain Jane, Patent Drawing-like Style

Enjoy 3D modeling in SketchUp with whatever style is comfortable. Using a style with some face shading, like the default Architectural style may even help you 'see' and create the model. Multiple styles can be and set up Scenes with specific camera projections and style attributes for final presentation.

Here is an example of setting up a plain, fast modeling style.

Eliminate shading/shadow:

    • Open Shadow Settings: Window > Shadow

    • Shadows off

    • Use sun for shading

    • Putting the Light slider to 0 and the Dark slider to something like 80 seems to make the materials come nearest to the Materials browser swatches. It may depend slightly on your screen. The Light slider flattens the lighting and then the overall brightness is adjusted with the Dark slider.

Set Camera Position:

    • Refer to the tutorials from in the "Drafting" section on setting up diametric projection.

Extensions

    • Axo + Iso View TIG - Plugin to change the current view to the axo/iso format desired and model-extents are zoomed.

    • Eneroth Axonometric Projection Eneroth3 - Plugin that distorts a group or component to resemble an axonometric projection when viewed from above.

Save as Template:

If this set-up is done often, save these settings (everything: Shadows, Styles, Scenes, Tags...) as a Template through File > Save as Template. Access templates through Window > Preferences > Templates.

But before adding a new Template, you should delete/purge all models/components, styles, layers, materials you do not want to clutter up your next project before making the template. To purge: Window > Model Info > Statistics > Purge Unused.

Note: Most panels have a Detail button, which contains an option to purge unused elements and styles contained within that panel.

Setting up a custom Style

If you do not want to bother with a template, save most of the settings (sans shadow settings) as a custom Style. Open the Style browser, Window > Styles.

In the Styles panel, create a new style by clicking on the little plus button

A new style will appear In Model.

After any changes/adjustments, update the style.

To save the Style for future use, open the second Styles pane.

Drag the new Style to one of the existing Styles through the collections drop-down list.

Or create and save a new collection through the options under the details menu.

A collection is another word for a folder on your hard drive where you can store your stuff.

Because you choose the location, the folder is easy to find when it is time to update SketchUp and/or add the folder to a different computer.

For a true, isometric drawing use LayOut, a companion program which comes with SketchUp Pro.

To get a 1:100 iso view where the axis directions are to scale, you must use 1:81.6497 as the scale. See the attached isoscale.skp for why.

For more on hatch patterns, variety of line weights, and dashes, try SketchUp Pro's LayOut. For more CAD-like options and useful plugins for SketchUp, including dashes and line options see more relevant information in the Working with CAD section.