Sketchup Make
Sketchup Make
Sketchup Make
SKETCHUP MAKE
STEP-BY-STEP TRAINING MANUALS
ENGLISH VERSION
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TABLE OF CONTENT
Page
Part I Getting Started With Sketchup Make 1
Chapter 1 What & Why Sketchup Make 2
1.1 About Sketchup Make 2
1.2 What Is Sketchup? 2
1.3 Why Sketchup? 2
1.3.1 It Is Surprisingly Easy 2
1.3.2 Almost Like Air, It Is Free. 2
Chapter 2 Introduction To Sketchup Make 4
2.1 Understanding The Difference Between Paper And Clay 5
2.2 What You Should (And Shouldn’t) Expect Sketchup To Do 5
2.3 What Can’t Sketchup Do? 6
Chapter 3 SketchUp Make Tour 7
Part II Establishing The Modeling Mind -Set 10
Chapter 4 All About Edges & Faces 10
4.1 Understanding Edges And Faces 11
4.2 Living On (With, Actually) The Edge 11
4.3 The Facts About Faces 12
4.4 Understanding The Relationship Between Edges And Faces 13
Chapter 5 Drawing In 3D On 2D Screen 15
5.1 Giving Instructions With The Drawing Axes 16
5.2 Point Inferences 16
5.3 Linear Inferences 16
Chapter 6 SketchUp Make Exercise 18
6.1 Getting The Best View Of What You’re Doing 19
6.2 Going Into Orbit 19
6.3 Zooming In And Out 19
6.4 Moving And Copying Like A Champ 20
6.5 Moving Things 20
6.6 Modeling With The Move Tool 20
6.7 To Preselect Or Not To Preselect 21
6.8 Making Copies With The Move Tool 22
Part III TUTORIAL & EXERCISES 23
Chapter 7 Tutorial & Exercises 23
7.1 Exercise 1 Building Basic House 24
7.2 Exercise 2 Make A Basic Chair On Sketchup 33
7.3 Exercise 3 Create A Standard House In Google Sketchup 39
7.4 Exercise 4 Creating A Chair In Sketchup: The Additive Approach 43
7.5 Exercise 5 How To Make A Spring In Sketchup 48
7.6 Exercise 6 Building A Dog House 57
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CHAPTER 1
WHAT & WHY SKETCHUP MAK
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SketchUp users are architects, designers, builders, makers and engineers. They are the
people who shape the physical world. They are important, and they deserve great tools
because great tools produce great work.
Great tools are the ones you look forward to using. They do one thing (or maybe two)
really, really well. They let you do what you want without having to figure out how. They
help with hard or boring tasks so that you can focus on being creative, or productive, or
both.
Trimble provides a free version of SketchUp Make which can be downloaded from the
Internet. The software is absolutely free, so you don't need to fear of being raided by the
policy for using pirated software.
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After SketchUp being acquired from @Google, Trimble released a free version of
SketchUp, along with the Pro version. Please note that Trimble does not restrict the use
of SketchUp Make.
1.4 Things You Ought to Know Right Away. Here’s some information you may need:
SketchUp works in Windows and Mac OS X. Sketch Up is available for both operating
systems, and it looks (and works) about the same way on both.
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CHAPTER 2
INTRODUCTION TO
SKETCHUP MAKE
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Three-dimensional modeling software comes in two basic flavors: solids and surfaces.
Figure 1-1 and the following points illustrate the difference:
Using a solids modeler is more like working with clay. When you cut a solid model
in half, you create new surfaces where you cut; that’s because objects are, well, solid.
Programs like SolidWorks, formZ, and Autodesk Inventor create solid models.
An important point to reinforce here is that there’s no “best” type of modeling software.
It all depends on three things: how you like to work, what you’re modeling, and what
you plan to do with your model when it’s done.
Here’s a list of things (all model-building-related) that you can do with SketchUp:
Start a model in lots of ways: With SketchUp, you can begin a model in whatever
way makes sense for what you’re building:
o From scratch.
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o From a photograph.
o With another computer file.
o From a Geo-location snapshot.
o From Building Maker.
Work loose or work tight: One of my favorite things about SketchUp is that you
can model without worrying about exactly how big something is.
Build something real or make something up: What you build with SketchUp
really isn’t the issue. You work only with lines and shapes —or in SketchUp, edges
and faces — so how you arrange them is your business.
Share your models: After you make something you want to show off, you can do
a number of things.
o Print.
o Export images.
o Export movies.
o Export to other 3D model formats.
o Upload to the 3D Warehouse.
o Contribute to Google Earth.
A few things, actually — but that’s okay. SketchUp was designed from the outset to be
the friendliest, fastest, and most useful modeler available — and that’s it, really.
Fantastic programs are available that do the things in the following list and SketchUp can
exchange files with most of them:
Animation: The movies that you can make with SketchUp involve moving your
“camera” around your model. The true animation software lets you move things
around inside your model.
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CHAPTER 3
SKETCHUP MAKE TOUR
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The point of this portion of the chapter is to show you where everything is —kind of like
the way a parent shows a new babysitter around the house before leaving for a couple
hours.
Just like most programs you already use, SketchUp has five main parts. Figure 1-2 shows
them all, in both the Windows and Mac versions of the program.
Modeling window: See the big area in the middle of your computer screen?
That’s your modeling window, and it’s where you spend 99 percent of your time
in SketchUp. You build your model there; it’s sort of a frame into a 3D world
inside your computer. What you see in your modeling window is always a 3D
view of your model, even if you happen to be looking at it from the top or side.
Menu bar: For anyone who has used a computer in the last 30 years, the menu
bar is nothing new. Each menu contains a long list of options, commands, tools,
settings, and other goodies that pertain to just about everything you do in
SketchUp.
Toolbars: These contain buttons that you can click to activate tools and
commands; they’re faster than using the menu bar. SketchUp has a few toolbars,
but only one is visible when you launch it the first time.
Dialog boxes: Some programs call them palettes and some call them inspectors;
SketchUp doesn’t call them anything.
Status bar: You can consider this your SketchUp dashboard. The status bar
contains contextual information you use while you model.
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A mouse with a scroll wheel: You usually find a left button (the one you use all
the time), a right button (the one that opens the context menus), and a center
scroll wheel that you both roll back and forth and click down like a button.
A keyboard: This sounds silly, but some people have tried to use SketchUp
without one; it’s just not possible.
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In SketchUp, everything is made up of one of two kinds of things: edges and faces.
They’re the basic building blocks of every model you’ll ever make. Collectively, the edges
and faces in your model are geometry.
Other modeling programs have other kinds of geometry, but SketchUp is pretty simple.
That’s a good thing — there’s less to keep track of. The drawing on the left in Figure 2-1
is a basic cube drawn in SketchUp; it’s composed of 12 edges and 6 faces.
Edges are lines. You can use lots of tools to draw them, erase them, move them, hide
them, and even stretch them. Here are some things you ought to know about SketchUp
edges:
Just because you can’t see the edges doesn’t mean they’re not there. (See
Figure 2-3)
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Faces are surfaces. If you think of SketchUp models as being made of toothpick sand
paper (which they kind of are), faces are basically the paper.
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Now that you know that models are made from edges and faces, you’re most of the way
to understanding how SketchUp works. Here’s some information that should fill in the
gaps:
Every time SketchUp can make a face, it will. (See Figure 2-6).
You can’t stop SketchUp from creating faces, but you can erase them if you
want. (See Figure 2-7.)
If you delete an edge that defines a face, that face will be deleted, too.
Retracing an edge re-creates a missing face. (See Figure 2-8.)
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Drawing an edge all the way across a face splits the face in two. (See Figure 2-9)
Drawing an edge that crosses another edge automatically splits both edges
where they touch.
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For computer programmers, letting you draw 3D objects on your screen is a difficult
problem. You wouldn’t think it’d be such a big deal; after all, people have been drawn in
perspective for a very long time. In SketchUp, this means using drawing axes and
inferences.
Color Plate 1 is a shot of the SketchUp modeling window, right after you create a new
file.
Simply put, you use Sketch Up’s drawing axes to figure out where you are (and where
you want to go) in 3D space. When you’re working with the color axes, you need to keep
three important things in mind:
The red, green, and blue drawing axes define 3D space in your model.
When you draw, move, or copy something parallel to one of the colored axes,
you’re working in that color’s direction.
The whole point of using the red, green, and blue axes is to let SketchUp know
what you mean.
Generally, Sketch Up’s inferences help you be more precise. Point inferences (see Color
Plate 4) appear when you move your cursor over specific parts of your model. They look
like little colored circles and squares, and if you pause for a second, a yellow label
appears. Here’s a list of them:
o Endpoint (green circle)
o Midpoint (cyan or light blue circle)
o Intersection (red X)
o On Edge (red square)
o Center (of a circle or arc, dark blue)
o On Face (dark blue square)
In SketchUp, the lines are called edges, and surfaces are called faces. Everything in your
model is made up of edges and faces.
As you’ve probably already noticed, color plays a big part in Sketch Up’s user interface
(the way it looks). Maybe the best example of this is in the software’s linear inferences
— the “helper lines” that show up to help you work more precisely.
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Color Plate 5 is an illustration of them all in action, and here’s a description of what they
do:
On Axis: When an edge you’re drawing is parallel to one of the colored drawing
axes, the edge turns the color of that axis.
From Point: The dotted line means that your cursor is “lined up” with the point
at the other end of the dotted line.
Parallel: When the edge you’re drawing is parallel to another edge in your model,
it turns magenta to let you know.
Tangent at Vertex: This one applies only when you draw an arc (using the Arc tool)
that starts at the endpoint of another arc.
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MODELING MIND-SET
CHAPTER 6
SKETCHUP MAKE EXERCISE
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Using SketchUp without learning how to orbit, zoom, and pan is like trying to build a ship
in a bottle.
Fully half of modeling in SketchUp uses the navigation tools, which let you change your
view so that you can see what you’re doing.
You can use Zoom to get closer to (and farther from) your model. Figure 2-11 is a
demonstration.
Just like Orbit, you can activate the Zoom tool in several ways.
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To move things in SketchUp, use the Move tool. To make a copy of something, use the
Move tool in combination with a button on your keyboard: the Ctrl key in Windows and
the Option key on a Mac.
The Move tool is the one that looks like crossed red arrows. Using this tool involves
clicking the entity you want to move, moving it to where you want it to be, and clicking
again to drop it. Here are tips for using Move successfully:
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The Move tool works in two different ways; you eventually need to use them both,
depending on what you’re trying to move:
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Press the Ctrl key to copy in Windows, and press the Option key to copy on a
Mac. (See Figure2-22)
You can make more than one copy at a time. Perhaps we want to make five equally
spaced copies of a column, as shown in Figure 2-23 & Figure 2-24. All you have to do is
move a copy to where you want your last column to be; then type 5 / and press Enter.
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CHAPTER 7
TUTORIAL & EXERCISES
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2. To make the roof, start with a line on the roof between midpoints.
3. Use Move on this line, pulling it up (in the blue direction) to make the roof.
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5. To make a more interesting door, add an arc at the top (use the Arc tool).
6. Use the Eraser tool to erase the top edge of the rectangle, so the door is one face.
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9. Of course, windows don't have to be rectangles! Use Line and make some strange
shape for a window. Be sure that you see “On Face” while making lines or the lines might
end up sticking out of the house.
10. Be sure to end the window shape where you started. If your lines are correct, the
edges around the window will be thin.
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11. Now we can color our house, starting with the roof. Click the Paint Bucket tool to
open the Materials window (Colors on the Mac). Open the “Roofing” folder and click
one of the swatches.
12. Then click the roof face (don't forget to paint both sides of the roof).
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13. For the walls, use tan bricks from the “Bricks and Cladding” folder.
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14. For the windows, you can use colors in the “Translucent” folder.
15. These windows are so plain - let’s make them more interesting. Add some vertical
stripes to this window:
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17. If you don't want people to see straight into your house, you probably want to
replace that door. Just use Line to redraw any of its edges, and the face comes back.
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18. To dress up the door, you can add a circle for a window. I painted my door with
cherry wood from the “Wood” Folder.
19. To personalize the house, you can append text using the 3D Text tool (in the Large
Tool Set toolbar or choose Tools / 3D Text from the main menu.)
3D Text requires that you enter a specific font and size, so you might have to try a few
times to get the exact text you want. It also comes into the model as a component, so if
you want to change it, you need to edit the first component (or explode the
component).
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1. Open Google SketchUp. Google SketchUp Make can be downloaded for free at
the SketchUp website. This is not very hard to do.
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3. Using the Line tool, draw a side-view 2D chair on one sides of the object.
4. Use the Push/Pull tool to remove the blocks and shape the chair.
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5. Change your view to under the chair and create a rectangle for the front leg.
6. Use the Push/Pull tool to push that part away and shape the front legs of the
chair.
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8. Increase the height of the backrest of the chair and create an arc near the top
using the Arc tool.
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9. Use the Push/Pull tool to shape the final form of the chair.
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11. Zoom, orbit, and plan to such that you can view the chair in its normal, upright,
position. Refer to Viewing a Model in 3D Space for further information.
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4. Create another rectangle on one of the faces of the shape, preferably the long
side of the rectangle. Use the Push/Pull tool to push at the door a little. Erase the
bottom line of the rectangle.
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5. Use the circle tool to create windows on the side of the shape. Use the select
tool to click on the circles. Click delete on your computer keyboard.
6. Expand the height of the building with the Push/Pull tool. Use the line tool to
click on a place on the lines of the building. Drag the line to the midpoint of the
top of the building. Click on the same spot again and then drag the line
downward until you see a line that crosses the first dot to the dot that you're
dragging down.
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7. Use the Push/Pull tool to push back the lines until you see the word offset.
8. Click on Windows and then Materials. Use Brick and Cladding and then Roofing
to finish the building.
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You will create a chair by starting with a chair seat and adding the legs and back. To
create a chair using an additive approach:
5. Zoom, orbit, and plan to such that your rectangle is large enough to push/pull
with the Push/Pull tool.
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9. Draw a line to the back of the seat to represent the profile of the seat back.
10. Use the Push/Pull tool on this rectangle to create the seat back.
11. Draw an arc across the top of the back starting just below the left side of the
back of the chair. Two separate faces will be created at each corner of the top of
the chair.
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12. Use the Push/Pull tool to remove the two areas at the top of the chair and create
a rounded chair back.
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13. Zoom, orbit, and pan to such that you can view the bottom of the chair seat.
17. Type 2 and press the Enter (Microsoft Windows) or Return (Mac OS X) key. Your
dimensions appear in the Measurement toolbar and a guide will be created 2"
away from the edge.
18. Repeat steps 15-17 to create three more guides. Your model should look like the
following:
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19. Use the Rectangle tool to create the profiles of each chair leg within each corner
of the chair bottom. The Rectangle tool will snap to each guide in the corner to
make accurate 2" x 2" legs. The following picture shows the resulting four
rectangular faces in each corner of the chair bottom.
20. Use the Push/Pull tool to create the legs from the four faces created in the
previous step. You can use inference to align length of the second through the
fourth leg to the length of the first leg.
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SketchUp can do a lot of things. Make houses, landscape yards, design cars and just
about anything else.
1. Create a circle using the Circle tool. With the line tool, draw a line and halve the
circle.
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2. Use the Push/Pull tool and pull one of the half circles up. Hold down CTRL and
pull up the circle again by the same distance. The screenshot shows them at 6
feet (6').
3. Click on the Arc tool and at the bottom left of the two half circles, click. Then go
up to the top right of the two circles and click again. Draw out the arc to
approximately match the other half of the circle.
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5. Make sure that you have the arc as shown in the screenshot.
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6. Select the arc, click on the Move tool, move it, then hold down the CTRL key so
that you are moving a copy.
7. Select the set of arcs that you now have and then repeat the process from
before. Once you start to move it, press CTRL and moved a copy and move it a
short bit away.
8. Rotate the ones that were just copied. Click on the Rotate tool and put it on the
end of the bottom arc.
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9. Rotate the arcs about 180 degrees. Eye it and move it so that it is roughly in line
with the other set of arcs.
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11. Delete one of the two connected arcs so you have one complete 'coil'.
12. Select the entire coil, use the Move tool with CTRL and copy and connect. Do
these until you have the size of coil that you want.
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Here is where you will know if you did something wrong with the shape of your first coil.
If something is 'off', then your coil will be slanted.
13. Select the whole spring and then click S. This will allow you to scale the coil to
the size that you want.
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14. At the end of the coil, add a small circle. Be sure that is perpendicular to the coil.
15. Select the entire coil. If you can't not select the circle, hold down SHIFT and
deselect the circle.
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16. Click on the Follow Me tool and then on the circle. This will complete the coil.
17. Select the entire spring, right click on it, and then Soften/Smooth edges. Do
that until you like the look of it.
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Remember that you’re in a 3D, perspective, view of the world, so your rectangle looks
more like a diamond — 90-degree angles don’t look like90-degree angles in perspective.
Figure 3-4 shows what you should aim for in this step.
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a. Click once at the midpoint of the top of your box’s front face to start your line.
b. Click again somewhere along one of the side edges of your box’s front face to end your
line.
c. Repeat the previous two steps to draw a similar (but opposite) line from the midpoint
to the edge on the other side of the face.
a. Select the Push/Pull tool and then click the right triangular face once to start the
push/pull operation.
b. Move your cursor to the right to push the triangle as far as it will go (even with the end
of your box).
c. Click again (on the triangle) to end the push/pull operation and to make the triangular
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face disappear.
d. Still using the Push/Pull tool, double-click the left triangular face to repeat the previous
push/pull operation, making that face disappear as well.
9. Select the Eraser tool and then click the horizontal line between the rectangle and
the arc to erase that line.
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Use Push/Pull by clicking a face once to start, moving your cursor to push/pull it in or out,
and then clicking again to stop.
11. Erase the horizontal line at the bottom of the doorway by clicking it with the Eraser
tool.
This makes the line (and the whole face above it) disappears. Figure 3-10shows what
your finished doghouse looks like.
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