Sketchup guide 3d PPLE

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1 by Sketchup guide 3d PPLE

2 2 Sketchup Guide

3 Contents Part I: The basics of Sketchup 1.1. Workspace and floating windows 1.2. Units 1.3. Preferences 1.4. Working with Layers 1.5. Working with Materials 1.6. Groups and components Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 2.1. Basic modeling techniques 2.2. Useful plugins Part III: Working with complex models 3.1. Organizing the model 3.2. How to avoid problems Part IV: Presentation of Sketchup work 4.1. Sketchup styles 4.2. Templates 4.3. Cameras and scenes 4.4. Rendering in Sketchup and outside Sketchup Part V: Conclusion 5.1. Good to know Sketchup Guide 3

4 Part I: The basics of Sketchup 1.1. Workspace and floating windows Sketchup is a very intuitive and easy to use modeling program. All the modeling and editing tools are available through the main menu and through floating windows. Below is a screenshot of a Sketchup window with some basic toolbars and some extensions (plugins) accessible through icons. Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

5 To organize your workspace according to your needs and preferences go to View - Toolbars and choose toolbars you would like to see on your screen. Image shows the list of default toolbars and plugins installed on my computer. default toolbars plugins Image Once you arrange all the toolbars as you wish to see them you can save your toolbar positions by clicking on Save Toolbar Positions, which you can see in the middle of the list. If you prefer to see larger icons, choose Large Buttons from the bottom of the list. Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 5

6 While working in Sketchup you will need to set certain parameters through floating windows, which are essencial part of your workset. To choose floating windows that you wish to have handy, go to Window and select all those that you would like to see on your screen (see image ) When you choose your floating windows, your screen may look like that: Image Image If you have two monitors, it is useful to use one of your screens for the main window and the second one for your floating pallets. 6 Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

7 The most commonly used floating pallettes are: Entity Info Soften Edges Shadow Settings Stles Layers Materials Components Scenes Match Photo Entity Info Pallette Entity Info pallette is one of the floating windows which you will look at most frequently. It gives you various information depending on whether you click on a surface, group or component. When you select a surface, Entity Info will display the following information: what material is currently assigned to each face of the surface you highlighted (at the moment there are no materials in our model, but once you create some, you will be able to pick them from the list) the area of the surface in square mm the layer which the surface is drawn on (you can expand the list of the layer and change the layer of the surface here) Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup Image

8 When you click on a group, Entity Info will tell you, that you have highlighed a group. It will give you the volume of the group and it will also count the number of that groups placed in your model and will show you the layer containing the element. You can expand the list of layers and change the layer of the highlighted group through Entity Info, exactly as you would do it using the Layers Toolbar. Image When you click on a component, Entity Info will tell you, that you have highlighed a component. It will give you the volume of the component and it will also count the number of that particular components in your model. It will show you the layer containing the element, which you can change by expanding the layers list. Most importantly, it will display the definition name of the component, which you give while creating the component. You can rename your component here. Also, when you make one of your components unique, the name will be changed automatically to name#1. You can change this name here. Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

9 When you click on a circle or an arch that you have drawn, Entity Info will show you the layer which they have been drawn on, the radius and also the number of segments forming the circle or the arch. By default Sketchup will create a circle with 24 segments and an arch with 12 segments. You can change the number of segments in Entity Info window (refer to images 1.1.8, and below). Image Circle with 24 segments. type the value here Image Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 9

10 When you increase the number of segments, your circle and arch will look smoother. This might help when you need to model large surfaces with archs / curves. Image Circle with 48 segments. Image Arch with 12 segments. 10 Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

11 Image Image Image Arch with 36 segments. Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 11

12 The number of segments of a circle or an arch can make a big difference after extrusion: Image Surface created by extrusion of 36-segment arch. 12 Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

13 Soften Edges Pallette Soften Edges is another useful floating pallet, that you will be using while working with curved surfaces, terrain models or organic forms. It allows you to determine how smooth your surface is going to look like by adjusting the angle between surfaces of your object. The extruded arch seen on images and is a very good example of how Soften Edges can help when it comes determining the smoothness of the surface. angle set to 20 degrees Image Cylinder created by extrusion of 48 segments circle. Click thee times to select all connected surfaces and edges. Entity Info shows you that currently your angle is set to 20 degrees. Edges between segments are hidden and shown as dashed lines. The perimeter of the cylinder is a single surface. angle set to 0 degrees individual surfaces Image Angle for the cylinder changed to 0 degrees. Edges between segments are visible and each segment is now an individual surface. Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 13

14 angle set to >80 degrees Image Angle for the cylinder changed to 80 degrees. Edges between segments are invisible. angle set to more than 90 degrees Image Angle for the cylinder set to a value exceeding 90 degrees. All edges are now hidden, because the angle between vertical segments of the cylinder and top and bottom cylinder caps is 90 degrees. Setting value beyond 90 degrees in this situation affects also the edges between vertical and horizontal faces of the cylinder. 14 Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

15 Another example when Soften Edges tool comes useful is terrain and free form modeling. Image soften coplanar enabled Image Soften Edges with Soften Coplanar. Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 15

16 Shadow Settings Pallette Shadow Settings pallette allows you to quickly set the exact date and time for your scene. It is particularily useful when you need to illustrate the shadow cast on the site and surrounding buildings in different times of the year. In Shadow Settings pallette you can also adjust the brightness of your image and the darkness of the shadows. You can also determine whether you want shadows to be displayed on faces, on ground or cast by individual edges. This last option is by default disabled, but it may be useful some times when you have a mesh built only with lines and not with surfaces. Image Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

17 Casting shadows on ground means, that shadows will be automatically cast on Sketchup s virtual ground. This might be useful, but is not desired where you have elements of your model below Sketchup s virtual ground level (see image ). In these cases you should disable the On Ground option (see image ). On ground option activated. Shadow cast on Sketchup s virtual ground Image On ground option disactivated. Shadow cast only on surfaces Image Working with shadows on complex models may slow you down. Try and enable shadows only when you are ready to export your view as 2D image. Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 17

18 Styles Pallette Styles window allows control of thickness and style of lines and surfaces. There are two ways of playing with line thickness: via Styles Toolbar (image ) via Styles floating pallette (image ) Image styles toolbar allows to enable / disable wireframe, hidden lines, invisible lines, plain colour and texture styles floating palette allows customization of lines and surface styles Image click here to see styles used in your model 18 Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

19 click here to expand list of styles Image Image Sketchy line styles. Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 19

20 To edit individual style, add profiles and adjust other properties, click on Edit buttin in Styles floating pallette. You can also use Style Builder available in Sketchup Pro to build your own styles. Image Editing line styles. Working with a style with many properties enabled (like profiles, extensions, endpoints etc.) or with sketchy edge styles will slow you down and if you also have shadows enabled, you may find navigating your model quite difficult. The best practice is to work with a simple thin line straight edge style and only enable customized styles and shadows for preset scenes for the purpose of exporting your views as images. 20 Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

21 Layers Pallette Layers pallette shows you the list of layers that you created and layers that came with the model that you imported. Layers floating pallette allows you do the following: adding and removing layers renaming your layers setting your current layer controlling layers visibility purgind layers enabling / disabling Colour By Layer mode adjusting colours of your layers Image click on + and - to add or remove layer click here to change the colour of the layer double click on layer s name to edit it Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 21

22 Image this layer is switched off this is your active layer Image purge unused layers enable Colour by Layer mode Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

23 Materials Pallette Materials pallette allows you to create, edit and apply materials to surfaces. When you start Sketchup will show you some folders with default materials (see image ). By clicking on the little home button (or by choosing In Model from the list) you can switch to see materials used in your model (refer to image ). material preview editing material default materials currently there are no materials in your model click here to display materials used in your model Image Image For more information on how to work with materials please refer to Working with materials section (part 1.5). Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 23

24 Components Pallette Components floating pallette displays the previews of components that you have either created in your model or imported to your model. currently there are no components in your model click here to display components in your model look for components online in 3D Warehouse Image Image For more information on working with components please refer to Groups and components section (part 1.6.). 24 Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

25 Scenes Pallette Scene floating pallette is a list of saved views (scenes) in your model. menu hide / show details view options use the arrows to move scenes up and down the list click on + and - buttons to create or delete scenes Image List of saved scenes with thumbnails. here you can determine which scenes will be included in animation, if you need to export a movie or image sequence here you can determine which properties will be saved each time you update the scene Image Image Creating a new scene. Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 25

26 When you create a new scene, a tab with the name of your scene will appear: Image You can switch between scenes, delete scenes or rename them using the either the tabs or the scenes list. If you save a scene and make changes to your perspective settings, style properties or shadow settings, you can update your scene by right-clicking on the tab and choosing Update scene. Image Having many scenes in your model displayed on the scenes list as thumbnails may take a moment to update if your model is complex. 26 Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

27 Match Photo Pallette Sometimes we need to compose our models with photographs. It can be done in Photoshop, but in some circumstances Sketchup s Match Photo tool comes useful. Go to Window - Match Photo to display the floating window. click here to import a new photo Image Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 27

28 If you have modelled something that you would like to merge with a photograph (see example image ), you need to import this photograph to your model. As soon as you import an image, Sketchup will create a new scene named as your imported photograph. Depending on the size of your photograph, the imported image might be much bigger or much smaller than your actual model. To adjust the size of your model click on the red horizontal line. The yellow line is the horizon, move it up or down to set the horizon at the correct level. Green and red dashed lines determine the perspective. Refer to image below to see how to adjust the perspective to match the photograph. perspective lines horizon Image drag the yellow box to move the model drag the green box to adjust the position of the perspective lines intersection point When you are happy with your perspective, right-click on the photo and choose Done. If you would like to edit your perspective later, right-click on the photo and choose Edit Matched Photo (refer to image below). Image You can carry on working on the model after matching it with photograph. Your matched view is saved as a scene, therefore you can spin around the model and your work won t be lost. 28 Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

29 1.2. Units The first thing you should do when you start working in Sketchup is making sure what units you are going to work with. By default Sketchup starts with a template set with inches. You can set preferred units through the start-up window that opens when you open the program or later by clicking on Window - Model Info: Image By default Precision is set to 0.0. You van increase it, but it doesn t usually make much sense to work with milimeters up to several numbers after comma while modeling architecture. Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 29

30 1.3. Preferences: shortcuts and file paths When working in Sketchup, you can execute commands by clicking on icons or by using keyboard shorcuts. By default Sketchup has some shortcuts pre-assigned. If you wish to personalize your shortcuts, go to Window - Preferences: Image Select tool which you would like to assogn a new shortcut to Type in your shortcut here Click on + to add the shortcut Click OK Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

31 By detault Sketchup is saving all the textures you use in your model and some other related files on your C drive in your Documents folder. If you would like to define different location for your images, materials, components and other files, go to Window - Preferences and click on Files: Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 31

32 1.4. Working with Layers Understanding and using Sketchup layer system correctly is essential for organizing the model in an efficient way and for avoiding problems in the future, when the model gets complex. In order to work with Layers in Sketchup you need to display the Layers Toolbar and Layers floating pallette (see images below). Image Layers toolbar click here to expand the list of layers used in your model click here to show and hide layers floating pallet Image Layers floating pallette By default Sketchup starts with Layer 0 set as current layer. Layer 0 is a default layer. You can change its colour, you can switch it off, but you cannot delete it or rename it. For basic information on adding, removing and renaming layers refer to section 1 (pages 21-22, Layers floating pallette). 32 Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

33 To move objects between layers, you need to use the layer toolbar (see image 1.4.3) or Entity Info floating pallette (see image 1.4.4). Image Image You can quickly change the layer of an object by highlighting an object, then expanding the list of layers and typing in the first letter of the layer that you wish your object to be moved to. For example type p if you want to move an object to layer called People or hit p twice if you would like the object to be moved to another layer starting with p, for example Proposed Buildings. One of the most common problems that Sketchup users experience with Sketchup s layer system is managing layers of Sketchup model, which contains a lot of components imported from 3D Warehouse or CAD drawings with their own layer system. Usually we import a dwg plans and sections right at the very beggining of our work with Sketchup. If we bring many layers and if we don t organize them, we will end up scrolling through tens of layers and we will work a lot slower right from the very beginning. Usually many of the layers that come with dwg drawings are not useful for us in Sketchup. The layers we will need will depend on the type of model that we need to produce. If we need to build a general masterplan / block model, we will probably need layers such as Existing Buildings, Proposed Buildings, Trees, People, Landscape, Cars etc.. Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 33

34 In such situation Microstation layers such as AG25-G-Wall, AG32-G-Opng, AG5-G-Serv, AG59-G- ServOthr, AZ090-D-Dims, AZ442-H-HtchBldg, AZ900G-NPlt might not be needed in our model and will simply confuse us. 34 Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

35 Image shows an example of an empty Sketchup model just after importing a dwg site plan from Microstation. It is good practice to always import CAD drawing to an empty Sketchup model first. After importing your CAD drawing create a layer which tells us something about this particular imported drawing, for example dwg_l0 or dwg_l1 or dwg_sectiona-a, dwg_sectionb-b and then highlight all the layers and move them to your newly created layer (refer to image below). 1. Create a new layer and rename it. 2. Make your new layer a current layer. 3. Select all layers that you would like to be merged with that layer. 4. Click on the - button. 5. A dialog box will appear (see image 1.4.7). Choose Move contents to Current Layer and click OK. Image By choosing the option Move conents to Default Layer you would move all the contents to Layer 0. click here to make the newly created layer your current layer Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 35

36 Now you ended up with a clean layer pallette and you can start creating your own layers, according to your model requirements. Image Cleaned layers Image Newly created project-specific layers. It is good to always import CAD files (and also other models, such as models from 3D Warehouse or models created in other 3D applications) to an empty Sketchup model, because it is easier to clean the model from redundant layers, materials, components or scenes. It also gives an opportunity to save all plans in a separate folder and update them via Components floating pallete once they get developped. You will find more information on working with components in Part 1.6. Groups and components. 36 Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

37 Click on the colours next to the layers to adjust the colour, opacity or to assign texture image. Image Note, that you will still see all your surfaces displayed as white and grey-ish, even if you move your objects to different layers that have different colours assigned. This is because by default Sketchup works in Colour by Material mode. In order to see your obects in colours assigned to various layers that they belong to you need to enable Colur by Layer mode. To do that click on the menu button on the top right corner of the Layers floating pallette (refer to image above). Sometimes it may happen that you end up with various layers that don t have any content on them. In stead of deliting them one after another, you can select Purge option from the same menu and all your empty layers will be deleted. Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 37

38 1.5. Working with Materials To work with material in Sketchup you need to have the Materials floating palette open (refer to Part 1.1. Materials floating palette). Image As mentioned earlier, when you start a new model, there will be no materials in your model and Materials palette will show some folders with pre-set default Sketchup materials. You can use them as they are, edit them or most likely you will be creating your own materials using texture images. 38 Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

39 click here to show or hide details click here to create new material click here to match material click here to materials menu and to purge unused materials click here to edit material unused materials used materials (materials in your model, that have been applied to some objects) Image In Sketchup each surface has two faces. To emphasize that Sketchup is showing them in white or grey-ish colour. You can apply one material to one face of the surface and another material to the other face of the surface. indication of two faces of one surface Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 39

40 In Sketchup each surface has two sides / two faces. To emphasize that Sketchup is showing them in two different colours: white or grey-ish. You can apply one material to one face of the surface and another material to the other face of the same surface. Image No materials applied to any of the faces. It is good to have a habit of applying materials to both faces of the surface where you can, especially when it comes to transparent materials, such as glass. If you are planning to render your image with one of the render engines, for example with Vray, transparent materials applied only to one face of the surface may not render correctly. 40 Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

41 There are two ways of assigning material to surface in Sketchup: you can select a surface, click on each face in Entity Info floating window and choose a material from the list (see image ) it is probably easier and quicked to choose a material in Materials floating window and then drop it on surfaces using the paint bucket tool (see image ) Image Applying materials through Entity Info window Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup Image Applying materials through Materials floating window and paint bucket 41

42 The size of your bricks or floor tiles depends on the actual size of the texture itself. It might therefore be too big or too small and sometimes you may want to adjust the scale of your material. There are two ways of adjusting the scale of the material: by editing material properties in Materials floating window (see image ) by scaling material manually (see images to ) click here to browse for texture images click here to adjust the scale of the texture Image Editing materials through Materials floating window. Another way of adjusting the scale of the texture is manual adjustment. To re-size, stretch or rotate texture manually, right-click on the surface and select Texture - Position (refer to image 1.5.9). Four handles will appear (refer to image ). Dragging different handles will allow you to transform the texture in different way. If you want to resize or rotate the texture, use the green handle and stretch the image (refer to image ). When you are happy with the result, right click and choose Done (refer to image ). 42 Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

43 right-click and select Texture - Position Image drag green handle to resize or rotate texture Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 43

44 Image Scaling / rotating texture. Notice, that Sketchup is showing you the texture tiles (highlighted in red on the above illustration). right-click and choose Done when you finish editing Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

45 Now when you have adjusted the size and position of the texture, you may want other surfaces to have exactly the same texture size. In stead of adjusting surface by surface individually, just use the Match Attributes tool and Paint Bucket. The exact scale and position of your texture will be matched. You can apply the properties to multiple surfaces at once. Image All the textures that you use to build your materials in Sketchup will be automatically stored in program s default location on your C drive. To change this location go to preferences and select different folder (refer to Part 1.3. Preferences: shortcuts and file paths). Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 45

46 1.6. Groups and components If you are used to working in another 3d modeling application, such as 3d studio max or Cinema 4d, you might be surprised that in Sketchup there is no parametric primitives. Only recent versions of Sketchup and some plugins allow to work with primitives a bit like in other 3d modeling software. It is key to learn how to work with groups where possible and with components where required to make the most of Sketchup and to allow yourself greater flexibility for future amendments. The difference between groups and components is the fact, that components are parametric and therefore updating one component will automatically update all of them. Also, components can be stored outside your model. For example, your individual buildings or floor plans can be stored as components outside your model. This may be desired in circumstances, when your model is very complex and when making changes to small detail of one of your buildings could be difficult because of the size and complexity of your model. Groups only keep the geometry together. Changes applied to a group are not automatically reflected in other instances of this group. To create a group, select the geometry that you wish to group, then right click and select Make a Group (refer to image 1.6.3). Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

47 Image shows an example, where a group has been created and additional 4 copies of this group has been placed in the model. When we highlight one of the groups, Entity Info shows us that we have highlighted a group and that we have 5 of them in the model. If we start editing the group (to edit the group, double click on the group or right-click and choose Edit Group), only this group is being amended, other instances remain unchanged (refer to image below). Image Editing a group. It is therefore useful to create groups when we need some geometry to be kept together (and easy to move around or modify), but our groupped object is unique and there will not be any more objects like that in our model. For example, we could group a terrain or an existing building adjacent to our site. For repetitive objects (like buildings, building elements, furniture, trees etc.) it is best to use components, which will allow us to apply changes to them quickly at later stage, because all of them will update automatically, similarily to Microstation cells or AutoCAD blocks. To create a component, select geometry, then right-click and choose Make Component (or use keyboard shortcut that you have assigned to this action through Preferences). A dialog window will appear, where you can type in component s name and other properties (refer to image 1.6.4). right-click and choose Make Component to create a component or Make Group when you want to create a group Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 47

48 type in the name of your component here (each component has to have a unique name) provide description if required (you can leave this field blank) set component s axis (you can leave default axis location) you may want to set which surface the components will glue to (for example vertical, horizontal or sloped) select this option if you are creating 2D component that you would like to always face the camera Image Creating a component. Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

49 When you highlight a component, Entity Info will tell you, that it is a component and will tell you how many of those components there are currently in your model (refer to image 1.6.5). Making changes to any instance of a component will be reflected in all of them (see image below). Image Sometimes you may want to make one or more of your components different from others. To make sure that your changes will not affect all instances, right-click and choose Make Unique. Your component will be automatically renamed to Component Name#1. Use Entity Info to rename it according to your preferences. If you no longer need it to be a component, you can choose Explode. Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 49

50 Image Making changes to a component that has been made unique will not affect other instances of this component. It is possible (and often required) to create components within components or groups within groups or groups within components or components within groups. If it important though, that the number of groups and components does not grow too high. Unfortunately, groups and components used irresponsibly and in large numbers may slow down your model significantly and make applying changes and even navigating it very difficult. This happens very often especially when using models imported directly from 3D Warehouse. Sometimes importing just few very high-poly trees and detailed cars, multiplied by 20, may make working with the model very hard. Therefore it is crucial to understand when to use groups, when to use components and when it is best to just work with live geometry. all the component that you create or import to your model will appear in Components Floating Palette Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

51 When you import another Sketchup model, a model created in another 3D modeling program or a CAD drawing created with software like AutoCAD or Microstation, you will bring this model to your Sketchup model along with all its components. All Microstation cells will appear be brought to your Sketchup models as individual components. When you import a complex CAD plans, sections or elevations, it might be, that you will end up with hundreds of components that you do not need to have in your model (such as wash basins, toilets or other elements). These object will not only confuse you, but will also slow you down a lot, especially if drawn with curves and arches. Below is an example of an empty Sketchup file, where CAD plan was imported (refer to image ). Image trees (Microstation cells) Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 51

52 Image shows the Components Floating Window and the list of all components currently used in your model. You haven t created any components yet, but as you can see, all the trees and other Microstation groups and cells were imported to the model as components. This could have been avoided if the original CAD file was edited beforehand (some objects could have been deleted, some groups and cells could have been exploded). It is now still possible to clean it up, because the drawing has been imported to an empty Sketchup model. Individual components can be deleted by right-clicking on the component in Components Floating Window and choosing Delete Component. It is much better though to do the clean-up before importing the drawing to Sketchup. It is a good habit to prepare a set of tidied-up CAD drawings and always import DWGs and models downloaded from 3D Warehouse to an empty Sketchup model to check them, clean up their layers, materials and components structure, simplify them if required and then import to the main Sketchup model. Models with very large number of components work slower. Components can be saved externally, outside your main Sketchup model. When working with complex models, you may prefer to create the main Sketchup model, which will be your master model as well as serious of components, saved as individual Sketchup files. You can then import these components into your main master model and work individually on each of the components. When you apply changes to your individual components, you can reload them through the Components Floating Window. This way of working might be desired when working with very complex models, where making amendments to small details of a large project can be difficult. This also allows more team members to work on one Sketchup model. Image below shows an example, where individual buildings can be saved externally as Sketchup models and then imported to the master model. Block B Block G Block A Block C Block E Block F Block H Image Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

53 Image Importing components stored outside Sketchup master model. Image Residential blocks saved as individual Sketchup models outside main Sketchup model. Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 53

54 Image List of imported components in Sketchup s Components Floating Window. Image Updating externally saved components after applying changes. 54 Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

55 Image Each building of the masterplan imported to main Sketchup model and placed in the correct location. Image Block A before amendments. Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup 55

56 Image Amended residential block in Block A.skp file. Image Block A component reloaded in master model. 56 Sketchup Guide Part I: The basics of Sketchup

57 Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 2.1. Basic modeling techniques Sketchup is a very easy to use 3d modeling program. Perhaps because it is so easy to learn, it is thought to be very limited. In fact it can handle complex geometry and very detailed models can be created in Sketchup, if only the model is set up carefully (refer to previous sections about Layers and Components). When you start using Sketchup, you may find it useful to display the Large Tool Set (View - Toolbars - Large Tool Set). Select Make Component Paint Bucket Eraser Rectangle Circle Line Arc Polygon Move Rotate Scale Freehand Push & Pull Follow Me Offset Tape Measure Protractor Axes Dimension Label 3D Text Orbit Zoom Undo View Pan Zoom Extents Redo View Position Camera Walk Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup Image Look Around Section Plane 57

58 Select Selection tool is one of the most frequently used tools, therefore it is good to assign a shortcut to it (Window - Preferences - Shortcuts). It is pretty obvious what this tool does, but it is probably good to mention, that: single click selects single surface, edge, group or component (press Ctrl to select multiple and Shift to add or remove objects from selection); refer to images and double click selects surface and its perimiter edges; refer to image tripple click selects all connected geometry; refer to image By right-clicking and going to Select (refer to image ) gives you the following options: bounding edges connected edges all connected all on same layer all with same material Image Select surface. Image Select edges. 58 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

59 Image Select surface and bounding edges (double click). Image Select all connected surfaces and edges. Image Selection options. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 59

60 If you set up your model in a way, that different wall materials are different layers, you can easily assign relevant materials to all surfaces on certain layers. For example, if instead of having just one layer: Walls you create layers: Brick, Render, Metal Cladding, you can select all surfaces on the same layer and assign a material to all of them at once (for example brick material to all surfaces on layer Brick). Image Example of layers preset. 60 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

61 Selecting multiple objects: left to right selection (refer to image and ) will only select objects entirely within the rectangular selection marked by continuous line right to left selection (refer to images and ) will select all objects touched by the rectangular selection marked by dashed line Image Left to right selection. Image Left to right selection. Image Right to left selection. Image Right to left selection. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 61

62 Make Component You can create a component by click on this icon or by right-clicking and choosing Make Component (refer to section 1.6. Groups and components). Paint Bucket Click on Paint Bucket icon to assign material to a surface. You can assign materials also through Materials Floating Palette (refer to section 1.5. Working with materials). Note, that if you work in Colour By Layer mode, clicking on Paint Bucket icon will automatically enable Colour By Material mode. Eraser Using Eraser is probably the easiest way of deleting geometry, groups and components, but it may be quicker in some cases to just select unwanted geometry and press Delete. Line Line tool is the tool that you will use most often. Because Sketchup does not have parametric primitives, all geometry needs to be constructed by drawing a shape in 2D and extruding it. To place a line, click on the pencil icon or type L, define starting point and further vertexes. If you need to draw a line of certain length, define starting point, then show direction, then type in the length and press Enter. The length is shown at bottom right corner of your screen (refer to image below). Image In some situations you may want to draw a line until certain point, but you don t know the distance. In this situation locking axes will help. To lock axis press: right arrow to lock red axis (axis X) left arrow to lock green axis (axis Y) up or down arrow to lock blue axis (Axis Z) Z Lock Z axis Lock Z axis Y 62 X Image Image Lock X axis Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

63 Arc Arc tool works similar to line tool. To draw arc you have to specify: start, end and mid point. You can also specify radius. Radius length is displayed at right bottom of your screen (see image ). Sketchup will show Half Circle sign when your radius is 50% of the distance between the start and and points that you specified (see image ). Mid Start End Image r r Image Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 63

64 You can increase (or decrease) the number of facettes via Entity Info (refer to section 1.1. where you find more details about Entity Info floating palette). type in the number of segments here Image Freehand Freehand tool allows you to sketch linework as you would do with a brush in Photoshop. This tool is not used very often though as it is not very accurate. Bezier Curves plugin gives much more flexibility (refer to section 2.2. Useful Plugins). Rectangle Rectangle tool is another essential tool that is used very freequently. You can draw a rectangle by specifying two opposite vertexes. Dimensions of your rectangle are displayed at the right bottom corner (refer to image below). End Start Image Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

65 Circle Circle tool is executed similarily to arc tool. To draw a circle you need to specify the center and an end point which will give the radius. Alternatively you can type in the radius and press Enter. The radius is shown at the right bottom corner of your screen. Start End click or type in the value and press Enter Image Polygon Polygon tool works exactly like Circle tool. To draw a polygon you need to specify starting point, then end points or you can give radius and hit Enter. Before you start you can give the number of segments (sides). By detault Sketchup draws a polygon containing of 6 segments. If you would like to draw a polygon containing of different number of segments, you have to specify the number of segments before starting to draw (refer to image below). The number of segments is shown at the right bottom corner of your screen. You can change radius and number of segments later via Entity Info (refer to image ). Image Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 65

66 Start End Image r Start Image Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

67 r adjust radius and number of segments Image Move Use Move tool to relocate individual or multiple vertexes, edges, surfaces, groups and components. Choose Move and hold Ctrl to create a copy. To create multiple copies, just type in the number of copies that you would like to create followed by x, for example 8x and press Enter. If you would like to move an object of a certain distance, select the object, click and show the direction in which you would like the object to be moved (for example along red axis or along an edge) and then type in a the value and press Enter. If you would like to align an object with another one and you don t know the distance, you can lock axes (refer to images and at page 62). Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 67

68 Rotate To Rotate an object or multiple objects (edges, surfaces, groups, components) select an object and specify rotation center point. A protractor will appear, as on image below. You can either specify a point by left-clicking if you would like to rotate of randome angle or type in the angle and press Enter. The colour of the protractor changes depending on the surface parallel to which you rotate. Blue Protractor - appears when your surface of rotation is perpendicular to blue axis (Z). Red Protractor - appears when your surface of rotation is perpendicular to red axis (X). Green Protractor - appears when your surface of rotation is perpendicular to green axis (Y). Black Protractor - appears when your surface of rotation is not perpendicular to any of the axis. Images and Rotating on surface perpendicular to blue axis. 68 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

69 Images and Rotating on surface perpendicular to red axis. Images and Rotating on surface perpendicular to green axis. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 69

70 To create a copy of the rotating element, press Ctrl. Image Rotate and copy. Image Rotate and copy. 70 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

71 Image Rotate and copy - step 1: show the direction of rotation. Image Rotate and copy - step 2: type in the rotation angle and press Enter. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 71

72 Image Rotate and copy - step 3: type in the number of copies followed by x and press Enter, in example 5x. Image Rotate and copy result. 72 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

73 In some circumstances you may want to rotate an object parallel to a surface that is outside of your object. You can lock the protractor by holding Shift and then pick a rotation point at any place of your model. Image Locking the protractor - step 1. Image Locking the protractor - step 2. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 73

74 Follow Me Follow Me allows to extrude a surface along the path. To execute the tool select the path (serious of connected lines and curves) and then pick the surface (profile) that you would like to be extruded along this path. The profile will be extruded along all the connected lines that you selected. Alternatively you can click on the surface first and follow the path until the point where you will want to stop the extrusion. Image Follow me - select the path. Image Pick the surface and your profile will be extruded along the selected path. 74 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

75 You can obviously use a pre-existing path, like on the example below: Image Follow me - along pre-existing path. Image Follow me - along pre-existing path. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 75

76 Scale Scale tool works similarily to other tools. You can scale manually, by dragging the skaling handles or you can type in the exact value and hit Enter. Scaling tool in Sketchup allows not only to scale but also to mirror objects. As Sketchup does not have a mirror tool, elements can be mirroreded using the Scale tool by typig in negative values or by dragging the scaling handles manually, as shown on the examples below. Image Image Image Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

77 Image Scaling value -1 (mirrored object). It is possible to scale entire model modelled in incorrect units or imported not to scale. To scale entire model or to give a fixed dimension to an edge of incorrect dimension create a group, measure a discance between two points in your model and type in the value that this distance should match and your model will be scaled. Image Scaling by specifying a fixed value. Specify discance between 2 points. Image Scaling by specifying a fixed value. Type in the value and press Enter. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 77

78 Image Scaling by specifying a fixed value. You will be asked whether you want to resize the model. Image Scaling by specifying a fixed value. Now the distance between the 2 points that you specified is 2,000 mm. Offset Offset tool is an equivalent to Microstation s copy parallel tool. It works for flat surfaces and curves. To offset a curved surface you need to use a plugin (refer to chapter 2.2. Useful Plugins). Images to show surface offset. Images to show curve offset. Image Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

79 Image Image Image Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 79

80 Image Image Image Image Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

81 Tape Measure Tape Measure tool allows you to measure distance between points and objects. To place dimension on your model use Dimension Tool. Dimension Dimension tool allows you to place dimensions on the model. To set precission go to Window - Model Info - Units. Image Protractor Protractor tool allows you to place Photoshop-like guides on your model, which you can snap to and use as a grid for your modeling work. Guides can be placed on a layer and switched off or locked. Image Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 81

82 Label Label tool allows you to place some notes on yuor model or mark areas. Image Axes Axes tool allows you to move and rotate axes. It is a good idea to set a shortcut for Axes as you will be using it a lot during modeling process. 82 Image Moving axes. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

83 Image Moving axes. 3D Text With 3D Text tool you can create 3D signage. The text is placed as a component and it is glued to a surface. Unfortunately it is not possible to edit the words after you have placed the text. Image Placing 3D text. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup Image

84 Orbit Orbit tool allows you to spin around the model (which you can also do by pressing the scroll). Pan Pan tool allows you to pan the view. You can assign a kayboard shortcut to Pan tool that will be more intuitive than the default one. Zoom Zoom tool (as well as the scroll) allows you to zoom in and out the model. Zooming with the Shift key will change the field of view. Zoom Extents Zoom Extents tool frames the entire model on your screen. It is a good way out when you zoom in too close or get lost on a big model. Undo Zoom and Redo Zoom Undo Zoom and Redo Zoom buttons allow to undo and redo only the zoom (useful if you accidentally change a view). Position Camera Position camera tool positions a camera at eye-level height. Look Around Look Around tool pivots camera around a stationary point and allows you to look around the model without the need of panning or spinning around with the orbit. Walk Walk tool allows to walk with the camera (without the use of pan tool or orbit tool). 84 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

85 Section Section tool cuts a flat section of your 3d model. You can cut a section wherever you like and produce vertical section or horizontal section. To control visibility of Section plane or cut lines use the Section toolbar or through View menu: show section cut lines show section plane cut section Image Section Toolbar Image Controling section edges through View menu. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 85

86 When cutting a section, the section plane will automatically align with a surface that you pick: Images and Creating a section cut By default Sketchup will cut a section at the surface which you pick and you will need to move the section cutting plane using Move tool to the desired position. Image Section cuts with sections planes visible. 86 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

87 By default Sketchup will leave the cutting plane visible. Use the Section toolbar (Image ) or View menu (Image ) to hide it. Image Section cut with sections plane invisible. Sometimes you may want to export a 2D section as a png, jpg or dwg and you may want to make the camera facing the cutting plane. You can either use the views to set the view: Image or by right-clicking on the section cutting plane and choosing Align View. The view will then be aligned to the cutting plane. Image Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 87

88 Image View aligned to section cutting plane. Camera set to perspective. Image Changing camera to parallel projection. Image View aligned to section cutting plane. Camera set to parallel projection. 88 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

89 These are pretty much all the basic Sketchup tools, briefly explained. You will probably be able to model most of your architectural projects using just these tools, but sometimes using extensions in Sketchup may speed up your workflow and allow you to model quicker or create more complex geometry that wouldn t be easy to build using just the basic features of Sketchup Useful plugins. Some Sketchup users claim, that certain extensions make Sketchup a different program - more powerful and more fun to use. Where can extensions be found and how they can be installed? Sketchup extensions sources Probably the most popular sites with Sketchup plugins are: sketchucation.com and smustard.com, but there are plenty other websites and forums where you can find some useful Sketchup plugins, usually developed by Sketchup enthusiasts and shared for free or for a small donation. Installation In older versions of Sketchup probably the easiest way to install an extension was to just copy the plugin to plugins folder. Newer versions of Sketchup makes the process much easier. The last icon on the Warehouse toolbar gets you to Extention Warehouse, where you can search for plugins. You can install an extension directly from the Warehouse. Extension Warehouse Image Warehouse toolbar. Image Extension Warehouse. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 89

90 To find and install an extension in Sketchup just type in a plugin that you are looking for. Usually a list of few plugins appears. Before installing read the description to make sure that this is something you were actually looking for and click Install button on the top. Image Extension Warehouse - plugin details. When you click Install, you will be asked to confirm whether you would like to install this extension: Image Installing an extension. 90 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

91 When the plugin is installed you will be notified that it is ready to use. Image Extension installed. Here is a list of some useful plugins that you may wish to try. Page ExIm (Page Export - Import) If you have ever thought that it would be nice to be able to export the scenes that you have saved in your model into a different file - you will be pleased to know that it is actually possible with Page ExIm pugin. This extension can be purchased through smustard.com. PageExIm will export and import pages (scenes) between models. Camera and shadow settings will be retained. Hidden entities and hidden layers cannot be retained due to the differences between models. Whether a page (scene) is included in a slideshow can be saved, but cannot be changed by ruby. Display settings are not yet retained (see note below). In the model that contais your saved scenes go to View - Pages and choose Export. Image Exporting saved scenes. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 91

92 You will be notified that your scenes have been exported. Image The exported scenes are saved as an.sup (Sketcuhp Page) file in the same location where your model is. The file name will be the same as the name of the Sketchup model that you have exported the scenes from. Image Sketchup Page (.sup) file containing exported scenes. Now you can go to the Sketchup model where you would like to import the scenes and import them through the View menu by choosing Pages - Import. Image Importing saved scenes. Image Importing scenes to a new file. 92 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

93 You will be asked whether you would like to use the names that you have used for the scenes in your previous model. Image Importing saved scenes. Retaining the names. You will be notified when the import is complete. Image Importing saved scenes. And your scenes will appear in your new model. Image Imported scenes. This is quite a useful plugin that may save a lof of time. However, it is important to note that the scenes will always correspond with the origin of the model. If you have created few options of a project and later moved your model in some files, but not in the old ones where you ve created your scenes, then your scenes imported from one moder to another will obviously not look the same! Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 93

94 Joint Push Pull Sketchup does now allow to extrude non-flat surfaces. There are few ways around this limitation, but probably the quickest one is a plugin called Joint Push Pull. The extension can be found on the Sketchucation website and installed through extension manager. Image Joint Push Pull plugin toolbar. The plugin is very easy to use. Just select a surface or few surfaces and extrude. You can type in a value and press Enter if you wish to extrude of a certain value. Images and Using Joint Push Pull plugin. 94 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

95 Image Extruding multiple faces. You can also either keep the original surface or delete it. Tools on Surface Tools on Surface is a set of tools that deal with a similar Sketchup limitation - offsetting and drawing on non-flat surfaces. Image Tools on Surface toolbar. An offset tool allows to offset contours of a non-flat surface: Image Using Offset Tool from Tools on Surface set. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 95

96 Image Using offset push/pull tool on curved surface. Image Using offset push/pull tool on curved surface. 96 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

97 Image Using offset push/pull tool on curved surface. Image Using offset push/pull tool on curved surface. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 97

98 Curviloft Curviloft is a script dedicated to loft and skinning / generation of surfaces from contours. Image Curviloft toolbar. Image Loft by Spline - joins separate contours, open or closed, by smooth splines. Image Loft along Path - joins contours along a given rail curve. Image Skinning - creates surfaces bounded by 3 or 4 contours. 98 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

99 Curvizard Curvizard is a suite of interactive tools operating on sequences of edges (contours) and Sketchup curves. Image Curvizard toolbar. Image Curvizard launcher. Make Curves (weld) joins curves and create a single curve. Make Curves (weld) explodes curves to segments. Tolls: Cleanup / Simplify / Smooth Contours give you more options through an additional menu: Image Curvizard options. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 99

100 Round Corner Round Corner is one of these extentions that really should be a built-in tool within Sketchup. For some reason it does not come with the basic version of the program, but fortunately can be found on Sketchucation website and easily installed. Image Round Corner toolbar. The extension performs the rounding of the edges and corners of 3D shapes along a 2D profile, in 3 modes: Round corners, Sharp corners and Bevel. Round Corner also supports concave corners (always rendered as Round) and non-orthogonal edge faces. Corners can have 2, 3, or more edges. Image Rounding corners. Image Rounded corners. 100 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

101 Image Sharping corners. Image Sharp corners. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 101

102 Image Bevelling corners. Image Bevelled corners. When using Round Corners extension you can control not only the rounding radius but also the number of facetes. 102 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

103 Edge Tools Edge tools is a suite of tools for working with edges. It simplifies curves - reducing the number of segments. Very useful when generating terrain from imported site plans. The Epsilon value asked for is how much the simplified curve is allowed to deviate from the original. It also closes small gaps - useful for importing DWG drawings where edges doesn t quite line up. Gives you a visual map of where there are edges with open ends and offer solutions for closing them with one click. The Divide Edges tool let you offset edges that fit extends to the boundary of the face itself. Image Edge Tools toolbar. Component Replacer Component Replacer replaces selected groups or components while preserving position and scale. The replacement will ensure the bounding box of the instance remains the same - regardless of scale or origin. Just make a selection containing groups and components. (Doesn t matter if it contains more, it ll be ignored.), activate the tool and pick another group or component instance to replace the ones in your selection. Currently the tool does not work for 2D components. Image Replacing groups and components using component replacement plugin. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 103

104 Layer Tools A small utility to quickly hide layers by click on faces/edges. Very useful plugin when working with complex models or imported CAD information with many layers. The extension can be downloaded from Sketchucation and after installation it can be accessed through Tools - Hide Layer by Pick. Image Accessing Layer Tools. 3D Text Editor You were probably thinking many times how to edit the 3D text. 3D Text Editor is a plugin that allows to do that. The tool can ba accessed through Draw - Editable 3d Text and Context Menu - Edit Text. The plugin can be installed through Extension Warehouse. Image Accessing Editable 3D Text plugin. 104 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

105 Image Editing 3D text. Currently this extension does not work as well under OSX as it does under Windows. The plugin developer is looking into the issue. Bezier Curve Tool A tool to create Bézier curves. The extension is used to model smooth curves that can be scaled indefinitely and aren t confined to the limitations of the Arc tool, allowing for more natural and intricate shapes. Image Bezier toolbar. Image Using the plugin. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 105

106 Bezier Surface Creates bezier surfaces from bezier patches. Image Plugin overview. The plugin is still being develped and was released for free so users can test it and five comments back to the developer. 106 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

107 Slicer A useful tool to slice a mass (a group or component). You can specify the thickness of the slices and the gap between them as well as an ofset from the starting point. The plugin can be accessed through Plugins - Slicer5. Image Accessing Slicer extension. To execute the tool you first need to create a group or component. Select it and activate the plugin. A window will appear and you will be able to adjust the values, such as slice thickness or spacing. Image Adjusting parameters. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 107

108 Image Mass before slicing. Image Mass after slicing. You can also choose to have all slices laid down flat and numbered. This might be useful if you want to use the slices to build a physical model (you can export a top view to 2D CAD and print out to scale). 108 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

109 Image Individual slices laid flat and numbered. Vertex Tools Vertex Tools is a set of tools to modify complex shapes. Here are some of the features of this plugin: Extrude edges - you can quickly extrude edges from a selection using the gizmo: Image Source: Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 109

110 Soft selection - type in a Length in the VCB while a selection tool is active. Vertices within this distance from the selected vertices are also affected by tools that modify the geometry. The further away from the selection, the less they are affected. This is illustrated by colour-coding the vertices from Red, Orange, Yellow, Green and Blue where Red is 100% and Blue is 0%. Image Source: There are two types of fall-off for the soft-selction radius: linear fall-off and cosiner fall-off: Image Linear fall-off. Source: Image Cosiner fall-off. Source: Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

111 Lock UV mapping - preserve UV mapping when you manipulate the model s geometry. Image Source: Auto-Smooth - When a face is deformed in such a way that its vertices are no longer coplanar, Sketchup Autofolds the face by adding new edges. Image Source: This YouTube video shows how to model a character using Vertex Tools: Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 111

112 Proxy functions Image Source: Vertex Tools can be purchased from ols+plugin+for+sketchup 112 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

113 Super Section Places an existing section cut on its own layer and it s own scene, and aligns the view. The Super Section plugin is used to create 2D slices through your model. (Timber Framers: think bent sections and wall sections). Make a section cut in your model, then right-click on the resulting section plane. A new menu option, super section will be available. Click that, provide a name, and the plugin will run. It will place the section cut on its own layer with its own scene. The new layer will be visible only on that scene - not in any existing scenes, or future scenes that you add. It also switches the camera from perspective to parallel projection, and aligns the view with the section plane for that scene. The new layer will be the active layer when the plugin finishes. Anything you add to this layer, like labels and dimensions, will only be visible in this scene. Create as many super sections as you like. Nothing you add will be visible on any other scenes. Source: Architect Tools Suite of tools for working with imported map data to generate buildings and stepped terrains. Image Architect tools menu. Features: Generate Buildings Merge Solid Buildings Fill Solid Holes Select Non-Solids Make 2:1 Road Profile Move to Z Contour Tool (For closing contour lines with open ends) Project Down Tool Magnet Tool Move to Plane Flatten Selection Crop Selection to Boundary Put Geometry on Layer0 Grid Divide Extrude Up (For generating stepped terrain) Source: Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 113

114 ExtrusionTools Set of tools allowing to extrude edges in different ways. Image Extrusion tools menu. You have probably wondered many times how to extrude edges only and not solids or how to extrude by vector. This tool does exactly that (and more). Probably the most frequently used is Extrude edges by vector: Image Extruding edges by vector. Let s say you ve got a chain of archs and edges that you would like to extrude of distance A, so it is the same height as the box opposite. You just need to select the edges and specify two points of the vector. A Image Extruding edges by vector. 114 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

115 2 A 1 specify vector A edges are extruded by vector Image Extruding edges by vector. Image Extruding edges by vector. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 115

116 You will now be asked whether you would like to reverse extrusion s faces and whether you would like to expode the extrusion s group: Image Extruding edges by vector. Image Extruding edges by vector. You can obviously extrude in any direction: A A Image Extruding edges by vector. 116 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

117 Image Extruding edges by vector. It is also possible to extrude multiple chains of edges and curves with one click: Image Extruding multiple chais of edges. Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 117

118 Image Extruding multiple chais of edges. Image Extruding multiple chais of edges. 118 Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup

119 Simple Plugin Installer SketchUp s Install Extension button only allows.rbz files, and you have to navigate through several clicks to get to the button. Simple Plugin Installer is a simple utility to make it easier to install.rbz,.zip packages. It also lets you pick.rb files which will be copied to the Plugins folder. Features: ZIP Package - allows for installation of.zip files as if they where.rbz files. RBZ Package - does the same as SketchUp s Install Extension button. RB File - copies selected.rb file to the Plugins folder. RBS File - copies selected.rbs file to the Plugins folder. Open Extension Manager - simply opens the Extension page under SketchUp s Preferences window. For more information on installing plugins: Sketchup Guide Part II: Modeling in Sketchup 119

120 Part III: Working with complex models 3.1. Organising the model Some of the tips in this chapter you may find very obvious, but perhaps they can be useful to new users of Sketchup. In chapter one there is some explenation on organising layers, materials, views and keeping the model tidy. Generally it is a good practice to keep the layer system tidy and logically organized, with clear and consistent naming convention. This helps a lot when the model gets bigger and more and more complex. The same is with the materials. Avoiding materials called Material 1, Colour 029 etc. and giving logical names helps, especially when you later want to render your scene with Vray (or other render engine) and edit material features. Better you organise your model right at the beginning, smoother your workflow will be in the future. Files with many layers, materials and components (even unused components) quickly become extremely heavy and working with them is a slow process. Therefore before you start, it is good idea to think what sort of model you need to create and what layers you may need. For example for a large masterplan model you may want to create layers like: existing buildings, proposed buildings, trees, terrain, people, cars etc.. While when creating a detailed model of an interior, you will probably need layers like: furniture, wall finishes, floor finishes etc. This is only an example and it is entirely up to you how you will organize your layers, but it is just good idea to organize them somehow and keep the naming consistent. If you happen to work with a model that has been created by somebody else, it is also a good idea to follow their layer / material / scene naming convention so you don t end up with layers or materials called Windows and Windows-type 1 or Brick walls and Walls_brick etc. The same is with components. Components are listed in alphabetical order and it is much easier to browse them and place them in your model when you have them named correctly, so for example: Window Type 01, Window Type 02, Window Type 03 and not: Window Type 01, Window_2, Large Window ground floor. The above examples seem obvious but unfortunately these mistakes appear to happen very often in models edited by different people in the team. 120 Sketchup Guide Part III: Working with complex models

121 3.1. How to avoid problems Making the most of Sketchup means understanding its limitations. Sketchup can handle complex geometry and large projects, as long as the models are kept organized and tidy. Here are few tips that you may find helpful: Layers: Name your layers in a logical way and keep the naming consistent. Working with imported geometry (.dwgs etc): Always import a dwg drawing to a new empty Sketchup model and not directly to your working file. After importing, select all the layers and move to Layer 0 or another layer that you create, for example L0 plan or Section A-A. CAD layers are usually useless in your Sketchup model and having a whole list of layers called AF3--G-Circ, AG1--G-SitePrep etc. just doesn t help. When your dwg drawing is tidy, when you delete unwanted layers and purge unused or useless materials or components, then save your file in a subfolder and then go back you your working file and import your L0 plan or Section A-A and put it on a layer with the same name. This will allow yuo to avoid having hundreds of meanless layers and you will be able to quickly swich on and off various dwg plans, sections and elevations that you import. Image on the next page shows a list of layers in a file with imported dwg plan drawing. They can all be moved to a single layer. Working with 3D Warehouse models 3D Warehouse is a great resource and you can find many good models there. It is tempting to just put a lot of nice detailed 3D cars, trees or furniture. Unfortunately a model overloaded with these models can quickly become a nightmare to work on. The best habit is therefore first of all always import 3D warehouse models to an empty file, similarly to working with dwg described above. Then you can check whether your car has too much detail (maybe it has too much geometry inside, that you don t need for your masterplan views). You can clean up your model from unwanted geometry, re-name or remove unwanted layers, materials and scenes and then your model will be ready to import to your working file. The same is with any 3D models that you may receive from another architect working on the same project or imported from 3d studio max or other 3d software. 2D camera facing components These are the most Sketchup-friendly components as they are simple flat shapes and having a lot of them in the model will not slow you down. It is good idea to use 2D components whenever they can replace heavy 3D models. Unused components Unused components, even if they only appear on your list of components in the floating window and are not placed in your model can significantly increase the file size. Purgning components regularly is a good habit. On many occasions I have seen simple models size 80MB, which have been very difficult to work with. After tidying up their size came down to aroung 15MB. Sketchup Guide Part III: Working with complex models 121

122 Image Layers of imported dwg file. 122 Sketchup Guide Part III: Working with complex models

123 Scenes: Saved views (Scenes) with clear naming convention help navigating the model. Sometimes, especially when the model has a lot of saved views, naming scenes not only as: View 1, View 2, View 3, but providing a bit more description, like: View 1_Main entrance, View 2_Reception, View 3_Car Park etc. may be helpful especially to people not familiar with the model and who have been asked to apply some changes to your file. Styles: You have probably noticed that working with shadows, extentions or end points on slows you down a lot. It is better to work in the simplest possible mode and only have some scenes set up with such features if needed. Sketchup Guide Part III: Working with complex models 123

124 Part IV: Presentation of Sketchup work 4.1. Sketchup Styles Sketchup allows to present the scenes in a variety of different line / colour styles. The latest versions of Sketchup include a Style builder which allows to create and save a personalised style. In order to get Sketchup working fast and smooth you should work using the most simple style (no end points, no extensions, no shadows, no profiles, if possible with plain colours rather than textures and just with straight lines). But if you do need to make your image look like a sketch or if you would like to have extended lines etc. then it is best to save such personalized view as a scene, but still work in a working scene with basic set up. Below are some examples of Sketchup default styles. You can still tweak each style by clicking on Edit label and adjusting line thicknesses and other properties. Image Basic styles. Image Sketchy edges. 124 Sketchup Guide Part IV: Presentation of Sketchup work

125 Image Straight lines. Image Color sets. You would think that Sketchup styles could be a great and quick solution when you need to show an image that looks like a free hand sketch. Unfortunately Sketchup is a bit dummy in this case and does not recognise the perspective very well. It will trace over every single line and may make your views looking a bit heavy. The sketchy line styles or other personalised styles usually work best with simple models, diagramatic massing diagrams, simple masterplanning models etc., but don t give great outcome when exported from very detailed models of complex projects. Sketchup Guide Part IV: Presentation of Sketchup work 125

126 Sometimes exporting a view as a simple thin line black and white picture and colouring it up in Photoshop gives better results than an export with Sketchup default colours. Image Image exported from Sketchup and coloured up in Photoshop. Image Image exported from Sketchup and rendered using another software. 126 Sketchup Guide Part IV: Presentation of Sketchup work

127 4.2. Templates If you personalize your working scene, edit your line styles, adjust properties, purge components, remove unused materials and would like to save such style as a template so it activates when you start Sketchup, you can do so by choosing File - Save as template. Image Saving templates. Image Saving templates. Make sure that Set as detault template is ticked if you would like your personalised style to be used by Sketchup each time it starts. Sketchup Guide Part IV: Presentation of Sketchup work 127

128 4.3. Cameras and scenes It is easy to create, modify scenes and navigate between them through the Scenes floating window (refer to Part I, page 25). It is also possible to adjust camera settings and save. Sketchup gives 3 basic options: Parallel Projection Perspective Two-Point Perspective Image Camera settings. You will probably work most often in Perspective mode. You may want to export your scenes as Two- Point Perspective and your 2D elevations or sections as Parallel Projection. But you may also want to adjust the Field of View. To do that, click on File - Field of View or on Zoom icon. The angle will be displayed at the right bottom corner of your screen. Just type the value and press Enter. 128 Sketchup Guide Part IV: Presentation of Sketchup work

129 Image Adjusting field of view. You can also adjust the field of view by using the Zoom tool while holding Shift key. Sketchup Guide Part IV: Presentation of Sketchup work 129

130 4.4. Rendering in Sketchup and outside Sketchup Sketchup does not have a built in render engine, but there are many plugins that allow rendering withing Sketchup. Not all of them give the same quality and not all of them work in the same way, but there are quite a few options to chose from. Probably the most popular ones are Vray and Maxwell Render. They work in a very different way and provide different results, but they both allow to set up and render Sketchup scenes relatively quickly. Vray is perhaps a bit faster, but it all depends on the scene set up and complexity of the model. Latest version of Vray for Sketchup has proxies and some other features that Sketchup was missing until recently. The benefit of rendering within Sketchup is obvious - you model and render within the same software, so it is easy to apply changes and re-render. The downside of rendering within Sketchup is the fact that Sketchup itself is quite limited and does not handle large models very well, especially with large amount of artifficial lighting. The best source to learn Vray for Sketchup is the official Visual Dynamics website, where you will find Vray for Sketchup Manual: Image Vray for Sketchup online manual 130 Sketchup Guide Part IV: Presentation of Sketchup work

131 The manual is written in a way that if you follow it step by step, you will quickly learn how to use the program. On Maxwell Render website there are some useful and easy to follow video tutorials that help with learning the program and understanding how this render engine works: Image Maxwell Render online video tutorials Alternative solution is exporting Sketchup model and rendering it using another 3d rendering software. This is sometimes the best option, especially when you need to create a high quality photorealistic render or animation. In this situation however it helps a lot when the model is set up in a certain way, so the amount of work required after importing your model into another program is minimized. That could mean for example naming the materials clearly and consistently or alternatively setting up entire model with no materials, but only in Colour by Layer mode, where each layer represents different material. Sketchup Guide Part IV: Presentation of Sketchup work 131

132 Below is an example of a Sketchup model set up in colour by material mode, exported and redered in Cinema 4D: Image Sketchup model screenshot Image Sketchup model prepared for Material by layer export method. 132 Sketchup Guide Part IV: Presentation of Sketchup work

133 materials as Sketchup layers Image The same Sketchup model imported to Cinema 4D. Materials are as Sketchup layers. Image Model rendered with Vray for Cinema 4D. Sketchup Guide Part IV: Presentation of Sketchup work 133

134 If you have set up your model in Colour by layer mode and wish to export to a 3ds format preserving layers as materials, then below are the settings you should use: select By layer untick these boxes tick this box if you want to convert your Sketchup scenes to cameras in your chosen rendering program set units for your 3ds file Image Exporting to 3ds from Colour by layer mode. The major disadvantage of exporting Sketchup models to other programs is the difficulty of applying further amendments (unless you are able to model in the other software with the same efficiency and unless your team-mates are also able to use this software and can apply further changes if required). The main benefit from doing that is the opportunity to populate the scene with high-poly 3d objects, lights and higher resolution textures without the fear of making the software crash! 134 Sketchup Guide Part IV: Presentation of Sketchup work

135 Part V: Conclusion 5.1. Good to know... Sketchup is definitely a useful and intuitive modeling tool, that can handle complex models with a bit of help of plugins and other software can produce good quality images and most importantly, can be a great design tool thanks to the easiness to lern and use it. It is good to know however about its limitations in order to make the most of this program and avoid frustration and disappointment when trying to push it too far or trying to use this program beyond what it has been designed for. There are many useful plugins and stand-along programs that can expand Sketchup s abilities, such as Paracloud and other great and powerful tools that work very well with Sketchup and allow to take your Sketchup model a step further. Image Sketchup models developed in Paracloud GEM Sketchup Guide Part V: Conclusion 135