book

Google SketchUp® 7 For Dummies®

Name: Google SketchUp® 7 For Dummies®
Author: Aidan Chopra
ISBN: 9780470277393

by Aidan Chopra

March 2009

Beginner

472 pages

10h 52m

English

For Dummies

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Copyright
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Publisher's Acknowledgments
Introduction
About This BookFoolish AssumptionsHow This Book Is OrganizedPart I: Getting Started with SketchUpPart II: Modeling in SketchUpPart III: Viewing Your Model in Different WaysPart IV: Sharing What You've MadePart V: The Part of TensOn the Web siteIcons Used in This Book
I. Getting Started with SketchUp
1. Meeting Google SketchUp
1.1. Things You Ought to Know Right Away1.2. Where SketchUp Fits in Google's World1.3. Comparing SketchUp to Other 3D Modeling Programs1.3.1. Jumping right in1.3.2. Understanding the difference between paper and clay1.4. What You Should (and Shouldn't) Expect SketchUp to Do1.5. Taking the Ten-Minute SketchUp Tour1.5.1. Hanging out at the menu bar1.5.2. Checking the status bar1.5.3. Taking a peek at the dialog boxes
2. Establishing the Modeling Mind-Set
2.1. It's All about Edges and Faces2.1.1. Living on (with, actually) the edge2.1.2. Facing the facts about faces2.1.3. Understanding the relationship between edges and faces2.2. Drawing in 3D on a 2D Screen2.2.1. Giving instructions with the drawing axes2.2.2. Keeping an eye out for inferences2.2.2.1. Point inferences2.2.2.2. Linear inferences2.2.3. Using inferences to help you model2.2.3.1. Locking inferences2.2.3.2. Encouraging inferences2.3. Warming Up Your SketchUp Muscles2.3.1. Getting the best view of what you're doing2.3.1.1. Going into orbit2.3.1.2. Zooming in and out2.3.1.3. Just panning around2.3.2. Drawing edges with ease2.3.3. Injecting accuracy into your model2.3.4. Selecting what you mean to select2.3.5. Moving and copying like a champ2.3.5.1. Moving things around2.3.5.2. Modeling with the Move tool2.3.5.3. To preselect or not to preselect2.3.5.4. Making copies with the Move tool2.3.6. Making and using guides2.3.6.1. Creating guides with the Tape Measure tool2.3.6.2. Using guides to make your life easier2.3.7. Painting your faces with color and texture2.3.7.1. The Materials dialog box2.3.7.2. The Paint Bucket tool
3. Getting Off to a Running Start
3.1. Setting Things Up3.2. Making a Quick Model3.3. Slapping on Some Paint3.4. Giving Your Model Some Style3.5. Switching on the Sun3.6. Sharing Your Masterpiece
II. Modeling in SketchUp

4. Building Buildings
4.1. Drawing Floors and Walls4.1.1. Starting out in 2D4.1.1.1. Switching to a 2D view4.1.1.2. Dusting off SketchUp's drafting tools4.1.2. Coming up with a simple plan4.1.2.1. Drawing an interior outline4.1.2.2. Offsetting an exterior wall4.1.2.3. Putting in the interior walls4.1.3. Going from 2D to 3D4.1.3.1. Getting a good view4.1.3.2. Pushing/pulling your way to happiness4.1.4. Adding doors and windows4.1.4.1. Using SketchUp's handy-dandy components4.1.4.2. Making your own openings4.2. Staring Down Stairs4.2.1. The Subdivided Rectangles method4.2.2. The Copied Profile method4.3. Raising the Roof4.3.1. Building flat roofs with parapets4.3.2. Creating eaves for buildings with pitched roofs4.3.3. Constructing gabled roofs4.3.4. Making hip roofs4.3.5. Sticking your roof together4.3.5.1. Getting to know Intersect with Model4.3.5.2. Using Intersect with Model to make roofs
5. Falling in Love with Components
5.1. Grouping Things Together5.2. Working with Components5.2.1. What makes components so great?5.2.2. Exploring the Components dialog box5.2.2.1. Info and buttons5.2.2.2. The Select pane5.2.2.3. The Edit pane5.2.2.4. The Statistics pane5.2.3. Creating your own components5.2.3.1. Making a new component5.2.3.2. Editing, exploding, and locking component instances5.3. Taking Advantage of Components to Build Better Models5.3.1. Modeling symmetrically: Good news for lazy people5.3.1.1. Working smarter by only building half5.3.1.2. The coolest things since radially sliced bread5.3.2. Modeling with repeated elements5.4. Discovering Dynamic Components5.4.1. Getting acquainted with DCs5.4.2. Using Dynamic Components5.4.2.1. Smart Scaling5.4.2.2. Component Options5.4.2.3. The Interact tool5.4.2.4. Poking around to see what happens5.4.3. Building your own Dynamic Components5.4.3.1. Coping with Component Attributes5.4.3.2. Damn the torpedoes: Smart Scaling5.4.3.3. Moving right along: Smart Replication5.4.3.4. Just for good measure: Rotation and Animation
6. Going Beyond Buildings
6.1. Extruding with Purpose: Follow Me6.1.1. Using Follow Me6.1.2. Making lathed forms like spheres and bottles6.1.3. Creating extruded shapes like gutters and handrails6.1.3.1. Drawing your profile in place6.1.3.2. Drawing your profile somewhere else6.1.4. Subtracting from a model with Follow Me6.2. Modeling with the Scale tool6.2.1. Getting the hang of Scale6.2.2. Scaling profiles to make organic forms6.2.2.1. Combining Scale and Push/Pull6.2.2.2. Combining Scale and Follow Me6.3. Digging Around in the Sandbox6.3.1. Taking inventory of the Sandbox tools6.3.1.1. From Contours6.3.1.2. Flip Edge6.3.1.3. From Scratch6.3.1.4. Smoove6.3.1.5. Stamp6.3.1.6. Drape6.3.1.7. Add Detail6.3.2. Roughing out a site
7. Keeping Your Model Organized
7.1. Taking Stock of Your Organization Options7.2. Seeing the Big Picture: The Outliner7.2.1. Taking a good look at the Outliner7.2.2. Making good use of the Outliner7.3. Discovering the Ins and Outs of Layers7.3.1. What layers are — and what they're not7.3.2. Using layers in SketchUp7.3.2.1. Adding a new layer7.3.2.2. Moving entities to a different layer7.3.3. Staying out of trouble7.4. Putting It All Together
8. Modeling with Photographs
8.1. Painting Faces with Photos8.1.1. Adding photos to faces8.1.2. Editing your textures8.1.2.1. Moving, scaling, rotating, shearing, and distorting your texture8.1.2.2. Stretching a photo over a face8.1.2.3. Scaling your model until the photo looks right8.1.3. Modeling on top of photo textures8.1.3.1. The thing you have to know8.1.3.2. Modeling with projected textures: A basic workflow8.1.3.3. The tricky case: Mapping photo textures to curved surfaces8.2. Modeling Directly from a Photo: Introducing Photo-Matching8.2.1. Looking at all the pretty colors8.2.2. Getting set up for photo-matching8.2.3. Modeling by photo-matching
III. Viewing Your Model in Different Ways
9. Working with Styles and Shadows
9.1. Changing Your Model's Appearance with Styles9.1.1. Choosing how and where to apply styles9.1.2. Applying styles to your models9.1.3. Editing and saving your styles9.1.3.1. Tweaking edge settings9.1.3.2. Changing the way faces look9.1.3.2.1. Front color/Back color9.1.3.2.2. Style9.1.3.2.3. Transparency9.1.3.3. Setting up the background9.1.3.4. Working with watermarks9.1.3.5. Eyeing the watermark controls9.1.3.6. Adding a watermark9.1.3.7. Editing a watermark9.1.3.8. Tweaking modeling settings9.1.3.9. Mixing styles to create new ones9.1.3.10. Saving and sharing styles you make9.1.3.10.1. Saving the styles you've made9.1.3.11. Updating an existing style9.1.3.12. Creating a new style9.1.3.12.1. Using your styles in other models9.2. Working with Shadows9.2.1. Discovering SketchUp's Shadow Settings9.2.1.1. Turning on the sun9.2.1.2. Setting a shadow's time and date9.2.1.3. Choosing where shadows are displayed9.2.2. Using shadows to add depth and realism9.2.2.1. Lighting indoor spaces9.2.2.2. Making 3D objects pop9.2.3. Creating accurate shadow studies9.2.3.1. Telling SketchUp where you are9.2.3.2. Displaying accurate shadows for a given time and place
10. Presenting Your Model Inside SketchUp
10.1. Exploring Your Creation on Foot10.1.1. These tools were made for walking10.1.1.1. Standing in the right spot: The Position Camera tool10.1.1.2. Stepping out with the Walk tool10.1.2. Stopping to look around10.1.3. Setting your field of view10.2. Taking the Scenic Route10.2.1. Creating scenes10.2.2. Moving from scene to scene10.2.3. Modifying scenes after you've made 'em10.2.3.1. Reordering, renaming, and removing scenes10.2.3.2. Working with scene properties10.2.3.3. Updating scenes10.2.3.3.1. Updating all the scene properties at once10.2.3.3.2. Updating scene properties selectively10.3. Mastering the Sectional Approach10.3.1. Cutting plans and sections10.3.1.1. Controlling individual section planes10.3.1.2. Setting section-plane visibility10.3.1.3. Getting different sectional views10.3.1.3.1. Making a section perspective10.3.1.3.2. Generating an orthographic section10.3.2. Creating section animations with scenes
IV. Sharing What You've Made
11. Working with Google Earth and the 3D Warehouse
11.1. Getting the Big (3D) Picture11.2. Taking the Ten-Minute Tour of Google Earth11.2.1. Getting Google Earth11.2.2. Getting your first dose11.2.2.1. Flying around11.2.2.2. Going someplace specific11.2.2.3. Making some placemarks11.3. Building Models for Google Earth11.3.1. Understanding the process11.3.2. Finding a site and bringing it into SketchUp11.3.3. Modeling on a Google Earth snapshot11.3.3.1. Building on top of a snapshot 10111.3.3.2. Letting SketchUp take care of the details11.3.3.3. Thinking big by thinking small11.3.4. Viewing your model in Google Earth11.3.4.1. Exporting from SketchUp to Google Earth11.3.4.2. Saving your model as a Google Earth KMZ file11.4. Becoming a SketchUp All-Star with the 3D Warehouse11.4.1. Getting to the Google 3D Warehouse11.4.2. Uploading your models
12. Printing Your Work
12.1. Printing from a Windows Computer12.1.1. Making a basic print (Windows)12.1.2. Decoding the Windows Print dialog box12.1.2.1. Printer12.1.2.2. Tabbed Scene Print Range12.1.2.3. Copies12.1.2.4. Print Size12.1.2.5. Tiled Sheet Print Range12.1.2.6. Print Quality12.1.2.7. Other settings12.2. Printing from a Mac12.2.1. Making a basic print (Mac)12.2.2. Deciphering the Mac printing dialog boxes12.2.2.1. The Document Setup dialog box12.2.2.2. The Print dialog box12.3. Printing to a Particular Scale12.3.1. Preparing to print to scale12.3.2. Printing to scale (Windows and Mac)
13. Exporting Images and Animations
13.1. Exporting 2D Images of Your Model13.1.1. Exporting a raster image from SketchUp13.1.2. Looking at SketchUp's raster formats13.1.2.1. Tagged Image File (TIFF or TIF)13.1.2.2. JPEG (or JPG)13.1.2.3. Portable Network Graphics (PNG)13.1.2.4. Windows Bitmap (BMP)13.1.3. Making sure that you're exporting enough pixels13.1.3.1. Exporting enough pixels for a digital presentation13.1.3.2. Understanding resolution Exporting images for print13.2. Making Movies with Animation Export13.2.1. Getting ready for prime time13.2.2. Exporting a movie13.2.3. Figuring out the Animation Export options settings13.2.3.1. For sending in an e-mail13.2.3.2. For uploading to YouTube13.2.3.3. For viewing on-screen (computer or projector)13.2.3.4. For exporting to DV (for viewing on a TV with a DVD player)
14. Creating Presentation Documents with LayOut
14.1. Getting Your Bearings14.1.1. Some menu bar minutiae14.1.2. A dialog box discourse14.1.3. Setting up LayOut preferences14.1.3.1. Preferences14.1.3.2. Document Setup14.1.4. Tooling around14.2. Getting Set Up14.2.1. Starting out with templates14.2.2. Creating a new, blank document14.2.3. Adding pages to your document14.2.4. Moving around your document14.3. Simplifying Layout with Layers14.4. Bringing in Everything You Need14.4.1. Inserting images and model views14.4.2. Working with inserted model views14.4.2.1. A bit of general advice14.4.2.2. The SketchUp Model dialog box14.4.3. Inserting text14.5. Presentation-Perfect Images14.5.1. Cropping with clipping masks14.5.2. Drawing something from scratch14.6. Living Life after LayOut14.6.1. Printing your work14.6.2. Exporting a PDF14.6.3. Exporting an image file14.6.4. Going full-screen
V. The Part of Tens
15. Ten SketchUp Traps and Their Workarounds
15.1. SketchUp Won't Create a Face Where I Want It To15.2. My Faces Are Two Different Colors15.3. Edges on a Face Won't Sink In15.4. SketchUp Crashed and I Lost My Model15.5. SketchUp Is Sooooo Slooooooooow15.6. I Can't Get a Good View of the Inside of My Model15.7. A Face Flashes When I Orbit15.8. I Can't Move My Component the Way I Want15.9. Bad Stuff Happens Every Time I Use the Eraser15.10. All My Edges and Faces Are on Different Layers
16. Ten Plugins, Extensions, and Resources Worth Getting
16.1. Components16.1.1. Form Fonts16.1.2. Sketchupmodels.com16.2. Ruby Scripts16.2.1. Smustard.com16.2.2. Ruby Library Depot16.2.3. SketchyPhysics16.3. Renderers16.4. Hardware
17. Ten Ways to Discover Even More
17.1. Put Away Your Wallet17.2. Now Get Out Your Wallet
1. Exporting to CAD, Illustration, and Other Modeling Software
B1.1. Exporting Drawings in 2DB1.1.1. Sizing up the export formatsB1.1.2. Exporting a 2D drawingB1.1.3. Getting to know PDF and EPSB1.1.3.1. Portable Document Format (PDF)B1.1.3.2. Encapsulated Postscript (EPS)B1.1.3.3. Navigating the PDF/EPS Options dialog boxB1.1.3.3.1. Drawing (Image) SizeB1.1.3.3.2. Drawing (Image) ScaleB1.1.3.3.3. Profile Lines (Windows only)B1.1.3.3.4. Section Lines (Windows only)B1.1.3.3.5. Extension Lines (Windows only)B1.1.3.3.6. Line Quality (Mac only)B1.1.3.3.7. Other Windows-only controlsB1.1.4. Coming to terms with DXF and DWG (in 2D)B1.1.4.1. Drawing Scale & SizeB1.1.4.2. Profile LinesB1.1.4.3. Section LinesB1.1.4.4. Extension LinesB1.1.5. Peeking at EPIXB1.2. Exporting 3D Data for Other SoftwareB1.2.1. Gathering your marbles (so that you don't lose them later)B1.2.1.1. Examining your 3D file format optionsB1.2.1.2. Exporting your 3D modelB1.3. Getting a handle on OBJ, FBX, XSI, and DAE (Collada)B1.3.1. Wrapping your head around 3DSB1.3.2. Dealing with VRMLB1.3.3. Handling DWG and DXF (in 3D)

Content preview from Google SketchUp® 7 For Dummies®

Introduction

A couple years ago, I was teaching a workshop on advanced SketchUp techniques to a group of extremely bright middle and high school (or so I thought) students in Hot Springs, Arkansas. As subject matter went, I wasn't pulling any punches — we were breezing through material I wouldn't think of introducing to most groups of adults. At one point, a boy raised his hand to ask a question, and I noticed he looked younger than most of the others. Squinting, I read a logo on his T-shirt that told me he was in elementary school. "You're in sixth grade?" I asked, a little stunned. These kids were motoring, after all. The boy didn't even look up. He shook his head, double-clicked something, and mumbled, "Third." He was 8 years old.

SketchUp was invented back in 1999 by a couple of 3D industry veterans (or refugees, depending on your perspective) to make it easier for people to see their ideas in three dimensions. That was it, really — they just wanted to make a piece of software that anyone could use to build 3D models. What I saw in Arkansas makes me think they were successful.

Before it was acquired in 2006 by Google, SketchUp cost $495 a copy, and it was already a mainstay of architects' and other designers' software toolkits. No other 3D modeler was as easy to understand as SketchUp, meaning that even senior folks (many of whom thought their CD/DVD trays were cup holders) started picking it up. These days, SketchUp is being used at home, in school, and at work by anyone with ...

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Google SketchUp® 7 For Dummies®

by Aidan Chopra

Introduction

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.