SKETCHUP COURSE & Learn Sketchup in a different way

The program interface consists of the following elements:

- Main Toolbar (called Big Set of Tools)

- Groups of specific tools, placed at the top (customizable)

- Default trays

- Main Menu bar, at the top

- Exact measurements bar, at the bottom right

- Model information menu

- Language menu

- For good navigation you have to orbit(middle button), zoom (mouse wheel) and pan(middle button+shift or h key)

- If the zoom does not work, I have to put the cursor on some geometry of the drawing and zoom again

- To open an area of ​​the scene I must place the mouse in the opposite place and zoom out. Once I see where I want to go, I place the cursor there and zoom in.

- To import a jpg file, we must go to file-import and mark the type of jpg file, in the extensions tab or mark all compatible images

- Same with dwg files. These will bring all their layers to our sketchup file, which we will have to order

- The measure tool has four functions: measure, auxiliary line, auxiliary point and scale (the entire drawing)

- The extrusion tool is the main tool to make volumes

- To make an additional extrusion keeping the original surface, press the letter ctrl (win) or alt (mac)

- We can make positive and negative extrusions depending on whether we add volume or subtract it

- Within the Menu_Camera bar, we can switch between a perspective or parallel projection view

- With the right button on a selected surface we can frame the view by means of: align view

- The group of Views tools, helps us to place ourselves in the scene from different points

strategic as in plan, elevation, profile or axonometric

- It is very important to draw using auxiliary lines previously

- Witness lines are drawn from some point on a real edge, other than a vertex

- Auxiliary points are drawn from the vertices of real edges

- Face styles are part of the default style tray

- Among the options that offer us the most interesting options when working are: the option of solid with textures, to see our elements with their applied textures, solid, to see the surfaces with the base color and without the texture and In this way reduce the weight to load on the graphics card, and X-rays, so that when we are modeling we can detect edges and vertices that are behind different surfaces and work with more agility

- The use of X-rays is fundamental to drawing skillfully in Sketchup

- The edges when they are closed forming a perimeter in the same coplanar plane, form a surface. These surfaces are the ones we are going to use to model through extrusions on their normals.

- Groups in Sketchup make geometry inside them not stick with other objects

- When we don't have groups, the elements stick together (welding principle), both edges with surfaces, and edges with edges. We must use this in our favor to draw intelligently within Sketchup

-The preferences menu found in Window_Preferences. We can create keyboard shortcuts.

- Also in Preferences_General we can adjust our security preferences.

- Sketchup security files are saved in another file with a Skb extension. To use it if necessary, you have to change the extension to Skp and open it normally with Sketchup

- In Preferences_General we can adjust the time that elapses until the next backup

- We can select a geometry by making a box: left to right or right to left. The first selects only the complete elements inside the box. The second selects all the elements that are inside the box, even if it is incomplete

- We can also select a surface or edge by clicking the mouse, two clicks to select a surface and its contour edges and three clicks for a volume

- To move an element you have to mark a start point and an end point in a given direction

- If we want to copy an element, we must press ctrl (win) or alt (mac) after selecting the starting point of the movement

- To make a multiple copy we must make a first copy, and then, without deselecting the element, insert * or / , depending on the type of copy we need

- It is convenient to use the default scheme tray to sort our model or understand an imported model

- There may be many groups within each other. To understand it, it is convenient to imagine that they work exactly like Windows folders. A folder is like a group and the individual files would be the free geometry.

- To move an element you have to mark a start point and an end point in a given direction

- If we want to copy an element, we must press ctrl (win) or alt (mac) after selecting the starting point of the movement

- To make a multiple copy we must make a first copy, and then, without deselecting the element, insert * or / , depending on the type of copy we need

- To build an arch that is not too polygonized, we must change the number of sides when marking the tool

- The two-point arc is used a lot in Sketchup for drawing curved elements

- To draw a curve with continuity, we must pay attention to the colors that the arc tool marks, to draw tangents to the last curve

We can scale with the scale tool or with the measure tool

- To scale proportionally we must pull a control point located at a vertex

- If we press the letter ctrl(win) or alt(mac) while scaling, we fix the anchor point in the center of the geometry

- The measure tool scales all geometry in the scene proportionally (except external components)

- Components are like groups but as a fundamental characteristic, they allow any change in any of them to be reproduced in all their copies

- The components are going to be very useful when we work with modular elements that are going to be repeated many times in the drawing, such as pillars, windows, porches, etc...

- If we carry out material or scale change operations from outside the component, the changes will not be applied to the rest of the copies

- The layers or labels serve to order the drawing and hide geometry that we are not interested in seeing at certain times

- Being able to hide geometry will allow us to work more comfortably and will make the computer's graphics card better able to move the drawing when we need it

- We can not delete the default layer and we can not delete the layer in which we are active

- Objects in Sketchup are formed through surfaces. They are not solid although they seem so. They can be imagined as origami elements.

- To get them to behave as solids we will use the Boolean operations tools

- Surfaces have a front color and a back color. You have to orient the front color towards the camera so as not to produce errors in subsequent renderings

- To rotate an element we first need to mark the plane on which the rotation is going to be performed. For that when we press the left mouse button, we must keep it pressed and move the mouse to be able to choose between the different planes

- To copy while rotating, the process is the same as when we make a copy with the move tool

- We can use materials from the Sketchup library, from libraries that we have on our computer or from internet pages

- The use of materials from the pages: poliigon.com, textures.com or arrowaytextures.com is recommended

- From the file-import-image menu we can also bring images, which we can transform into materials if we exploit them

- We can use materials from the Sketchup library, from libraries that we have on our computer or from internet pages

- The use of materials from the pages: poliigon.com, textures.com or arrowaytextures.com is recommended

- From the file-import-image menu we can also bring images, which we can transform into materials if we exploit them

- We can use materials from the Sketchup library, from libraries that we have on our computer or from internet pages

- The use of materials from the pages: poliigon.com, textures.com or arrowaytextures.com is recommended

- From the file-import-image menu we can also bring images, which we can transform into materials if we exploit them

- Within Model Information_Units, we can change the scale of our drawing at any time

- It is convenient to work on scales with two decimal places of precision

- If we are going to work in small scales like mm or cm, it is better to work in meters until the drawing is finished to avoid program errors, and finally change to a smaller scale like mm, if that is what we are looking for

Remember to use axis constraints to draw better. To do this, use the arrow keys on the keyboard. Right= X axis; Left= Y axis ; Up and down = Z axis

- Dynamic components are components with different extra functions such as: scale changes, parametric control, position changes, size changes, color changes, animations, etc...

- Within the component library, those that have a green triangle mean that they are dynamic components

- To work parametrically with our geometry, dynamic components are the best option

- Dynamic components are components with different extra functions such as: scale changes, parametric control, position changes, size changes, color changes, animations, etc...

- Within the component library, those that have a green triangle mean that they are dynamic components

- To work parametrically with our geometry, dynamic components are the best option

In order to import a Sketchup model into our model, we need to have both files open at the same time. Select the desired model. Edit_copy. Go to our model and say Edit_paste or Edit_paste in place

- When looking for something in the wharehouse library, it is convenient to use the search criterion: by popularity. This criterion will order the models by number of downloads

- We can search for models in the search bar in different languages ​​to have more options

- When we download a model, it is convenient to download it in a separate file to organize its layers and correct its errors before transferring it to our file. In this way we will also generate a library of models on our computer

Plugins

Rouncorner

RoundCorner performs the rounding of the edges and corners of 3D shapes along a 2D profile, in 3 modes: Round corners, Sharp corners and Bevel. RoundCorner also supports concave corners (always rendered as Round) and non-orthogonal edge faces. Corners can have 2, 3, or more edges.

https://sketchucation.com/plugin/1173-roundcorner

Fredo Scale

With FredoScale you can orientate the selection box around a set of objects and interactively apply a number of geometric transformations, such as Scaling, Tapering, Stretching, Planar Shear, Twisting, Bending and Rotation. By extension, some transformations can be performed without a selection box.

https://sketchucation.com/plugin/1169-fredoscale

Solar north

Provides tools for you to set and display the solar north an

https://extensions.sketchup.com/extension/393f5153-ba5f-4f5f-849f-46b32cf64bd4/solar-north

Solid inspector

Inspect and repair solids in SketchUp

https://extensions.sketchup.com/extension/aad4e5d9-7115-4cac-9b75-750ed0902732/solid-inspector

Select n isolate

This plugin allow you to isolate selected items by hiding them

https://extensions.sketchup.com/extension/1d195a14-8354-4665-9179-e602e88834a6/select-n-isolate

Clf Shape Bender

Bend a group or component to match an existing curve

https://extensions.sketchup.com/extension/8a4d10ff-40f3-4885-b8ba-1dac2b941885/clf-shape-bender

Curviloft

Curviloft is a script dedicated to Loft and Skinning, that is, generation of surfaces from contours.

Loft by Spline joins separate contours, open or closed, by smooth splines

Loft along Path joins contours, along a given rail curve.

Skinning creates surfaces bounded by 4 or 3 contiguous contours

https://sketchucation.com/plugin/1175-curviloft

Bezier Spline

Draws a variety of Polylines, Bezier and Spline curves, all in 3D

http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=100509#p100509

Joint Push Pull

JointPushPull is a suite of extrusion tools operating on faces.

https://sketchucation.com/plugin/715-jointpushpull

JHS Power Bar

https://sketchucation.com/plugin/2154-jhs_powerbar_2019

Dowloads plugins:

- Extension Warehouse

- Sketchucation Plugin Forums

- Ruby Library

- Solar north is by default placed in the direction of the Y axis

- It is advisable not to activate the shadows while we work to prevent the graphics card from slowing down

- Within the default shadow tray we can find more options to configure our sunlight

- The section tool will draw a plane that will extend the full length of the model, from one end of the drawn geometry to the other

- To contain the section to a certain space, we must use the tool within a group

- Clicking with the right button on the same section plane already drawn, we can find more options

- The styles are used to configure how we are going to see all the elements of the drawing

- We can use styles edited by ourselves and adapted to our tastes, in order to work more comfortably

- Sketchup has a library with different preconfigured styles

- The scenes are used to save a specific view that we can return to whenever we want

- This scene saves information about: camera location, visible layers, shadows, styles and fog, active sections, hidden geometry, and the position of the axes

- Through the movements of the camera between scenes, we will make our animations

- Animations are created by joining the camera path from the first to the last scene

- To control the speed of the camera we must go to window-model information-animation

- To export our animation in mp4, we must go to file-export-animation

- The dimensions tool is found in the main toolbar

- The dimensions menu to edit them can be found in the model information panel

- For a better dimensioning of our models it is recommended to use the Layout program

- The text tool offers three types of texts: screen text, face text and guide text

- With the 3D text tool, Sketchup has another specific tool to make text in three dimensions

- The protractor tool is used to measure angles through an auxiliary line drawn with the given angle

- The change of axes tool allows us to place the coordinate axes of the model in the position that we want temporarily

- To return the axes to their place of origin we must press the right button on any axis in a place with geometry behind it, and choose the restart option

- When we geo-locate a territory from sketchup, we will do it through Google-Earth and as a result it will load two layers in our model: location terrain and location snapshot

- The location snapshot is the aerial photo of the chosen territory. The locatin terrain is a terrain generated by sketchup, which represents that territory and has the aerial photo applied as a texture on its surface.

- To work these lands we must do it with the sandbox tool

We will find the correction of errors at the computer level in Information of the model_statistics.

To export our images in JPG, we must go to File_export_graphic 2D