Google SketchUp® 7 For Dummies®

Chapter 10. Presenting Your Model Inside SketchUp

In This Chapter

• Walking around inside your model

• Creating scenes to capture particular views

• Making animations with scenes

• Cutting slices through your model with section planes

• Generating plans and sections

After you've made a model, you're probably going to want to show it to someone. How you present your work depends on the idea you're trying to convey. The tricky part about using SketchUp to present a model isn't actually using the tools; it's choosing the right tools to get your idea across without distracting your audience with a bunch of extra information. Most 3D models have so much to look at that the real challenge is to figure out a presentation method that helps you focus on the stuff you want to talk about.

In this chapter I talk about three different ways to show off your models without ever leaving SketchUp. If you've made a building, you can walk around inside it. You can even walk up and down stairs and ramps — just like in a video game. You can create animated slide shows by setting up scenes with different camera views, times of day, and even visual styles. If you want to talk about what's inside your model, you can cut sections through it without taking it apart.

As you're reading this chapter, keep in mind what you want your model to communicate. Think about how you might use each method to make a different kind of point, and think about the order in which you'd like those points to be made. As with everything else in ...