Sketchup Short Course – My Blog

Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Sketchup Short Course
Surface Modeller
Dave Weatherall
2021
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
What are we going to build?
You will build a Sketchup model with your interpretation of the following model
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall

AssignmentTutorOnline

Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Section 1: Work Book
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Introduction
What Sketchup is
All models in Sketchup are made of infinitely thin lines and surfaces. Everything you see is a hollow
shell.
Surface modellers are great for very quickly visualising designs.
Sketchup won’t do everything. But it is quick and it is great to rapid prototype.
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Menu bar, status bar and finding your way around
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Hour 1: Quick Start – Sketchup Screen
1. Title bar – The title bar contains the standard window controls (close, minimize, and
maximize) and the name of the currently open file.
2. Menu bar – The majority of SketchUp tools, commands, and settings are available within the
menus on the menu bar.
3. Getting Started toolbar – Default. It contains the basic tools you need to begin creating 3D
models.
4. Drawing area – The drawing area is where you create your model. The drawing area also
contains a simple model of a person to give you a sense of 3D space.
5. Status bar – Two important elements on the status bar are the tips in the middle and the
Measurements box on the right.
6. Measurements box: This box is a critical tool for creating accurate models. The box displays
dimensions as you draw.
7. Default tray – In Windows only, on the right side of the screen, you see a tray of panels,
including the Instructor, Materials, Styles, and so on. The Default Tray appears when you
open SketchUp.
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Edges and faces
The collection of edges and faces in your model are called geometry.
You can’t have faces without edges.
Faces are always flat (but may be curved built up of many ‘flat’ faces)
Faces don’t have any thickness.
Sketchup will always try and create a face. You cannot stop it, but you can delete the face.
Axes
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Notice the colour of the axes.
When you draw, move or copy something parallel to one of the coloured axes then you are working
in that colours ‘direction’.
The point of using the red, green and blue axes is to let Sketchup ‘know’ what you mean.
Inferences
Inferences help you when you are modelling. you will see ‘inference engine’ helpers such as coloured
squares, dotted lines, yellow tags and other visual clues. Colour plays a big part. They help you be
more precise.
Examples include – Endpoint, Midpoint, Intersection, On Edge, Center, on face.
Getting the best view – orbit and moving around
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Accuracy in your models
Most of the time you need to be accurate. The key is the little text box at the bottom right of your
screen. Called the value control box you cam:
Make a line a certain length, draw objects a certain size, push and pull faces a certain distance,
rotate something a certain size, make a number of copies and much more.
Moving (Edges and Faces)
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Using Guides
Guides are temporary lines used as part of the modelling process. Use the tape measure tool to
create them. They can be parallel, linear or guide points. Use the value control box to inject
accuracy. You can erase guides one at a time using the eraser tool. You can delete all the guides at
nce, hide them individually or all at once. You can move, copy and rotate guides like any other entity.
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Painting faces
To add colours and materials to your model use the Materials dialogue box and the Paint bucket
tool.
A Very Quick 3D Model
The following steps offer a quick overview the basics:
1. Select the person, context-click the selection, and select Erase in the context menu that
appears.
2. In the Getting Started toolbar, select the Rectangle tool ( ).
3. On the ground plane, in the space between the red and green axis, click the Rectangle tool
cursor ( ). Then move your cursor to the right and click again. A rectangle appears on
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
the ground, as shown here.
4. On the Getting Started toolbar, select the Push/Pull tool ( ), and place the Push/Pull
cursor over the rectangle you just created, as shown in the following figure.
5. Click and drag your rectangle up into a 3D shape. Keep an eye on the Measurements box and
release the cursor when your shape is about 1500mm tall.
6. Without clicking or selecting anything, simply type 1800mm and press Enter. Notice how the
height of your shape changed to exactly 180mm tall, and the value you entered appears in
the Measurements box.
7. In the Getting Started toolbar, select the Orbit tool ( ). Place the Orbit cursor above
your shape. Then click and hold while you move the mouse down. Notice how the view of
your shape changes, as shown in the following figure. Practice clicking and dragging with the
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Orbit tool as much as you like. It’s a pretty fun tool!
8. In the Getting Started toolbar, click the Zoom Extents button ( ). If you orbit around until
you lose track of where you are in your model, the Zoom Extents button is a handy way to
reorient yourself.
9. If you have a scroll-wheel mouse, scroll down to zoom out a bit. Working in SketchUp is
much easier with a scroll-wheel mouse. However, if your mouse lacks a scroll wheel, click
the Zoom tool ( ) and you can zoom in and out that way, too.
Tip: No matter what tool is selected, holding down the scroll wheel activates the Orbit tool until you
release the scroll wheel.
10. In the Getting Started toolbar, click the Paint Bucket tool ( ).
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
11. In the Materials panel that appears, select Colours from the drop-down menu, as shown
here. Then select a colour from the options that appear on the Select tab.
12. Click one side of your model with the Paint Bucket cursor to apply your selected colour.
Experiment a bit with the different options in the drop-down menu if you like. For example,
select Landscaping, Fencing, and Vegetation from the drop-down menu and apply pebbles to
your model. Select Tile from the drop-down menu and apply a tile pattern that you like.
Orbit around and apply different materials to each side of your model, as shown here.
13. Close the Materials panel and select Window > Styles, which appear in the Default Tray.
14. From the drop-down menu, select Sketchy Edges and then select a style option. In the
following figure, Marker Wide is selected. Notice that the style completely overrides all the
materials and colors applied. To see them again, select In Model from the drop-down menu
and then select the Simple Style option.
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Saving and reopening a model
To save your model, follow these steps:
1. On the menu bar, select File > Save. If this is the first time you’re saving a model, the Save As
dialog box appears, as shown here. To save an already saved model with a new name,
select File > Save As.
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
2. Use the Save In area at the top of the dialog box to select where you’d like to save your
model.
3. In the File Name box, type a name for your model. SketchUp model files end with the .SKP
file extension.
4. Click the Save button.
Tip: After you save a model, you can reopen it later and continue working on it. (Simply double-click
the file wherever you’ve saved it, or in SketchUp, select File > Open.) Or if your model is complete,
you can show it off by exporting it as a graphic or creating a virtual walk-through.
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Hour 2 : Quick Start – Modelling
Making a quick model
There are always a number of methods to create a model in Sketchup. This is just one.
Choose the architectural template working in mm.
Draw a rectangle 5.40 x 7.80m.
Delete the ‘man’
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Pull the top face up 5.25m
Spin the model using the orbit tool and then draw a line between the midpoints of each end ‘wall’
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Using the move tool, pull the ridge line upwards
Using the tape measure tool, create a series of guides, 300mm depth to create the verge and fascia
boards. Repeat for both gables.
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Draw the lines to form your verge boards and fascia boards.
Push/Pull the fascia boards out at both ends by 0.45m
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Using guides, create the positions of windows, use any dimensions to suit your model.
With the rectangle tool, draw the window positions, and the push them back by 0.15m.
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
Painting
Now lets add some materials. From the materials tray, choose translucent glass and apply it to the
windows
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Repeat the same exercise with the walls and roof choosing brickwork and roof tiles. Notice when
you orbit the model, you can see through the translucent glass.
Styling
Let’s get stylish. Using the style tray, pick one that you like. Use the ‘Assorted styles’ choice.
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall
A Little Sunshine
Switch on shadows from the View menu:
Now switch off your axis and your guides from the View menu.
Well done, your first quick model is complete.
Sketchup Short Course Dave Weatherall