Google SketchUp: The Missing Manual

Initial Landscaping: Front Walk and Driveway

You'll do some more extensive landscaping in the next chapter, but for now you can give your house a plot of earth and a couple of basic paths for cars and people. These basic features are created using the Rectangle and Line tools. You want to draw these elements at the ground level, so it's best to change to the top view before you begin. Once you've drawn the outline of the yard at ground level, the other shapes and paths will align to that surface.

1. Change to the Top view.

   This gives you a bird's eye view of your estate. You may want to zoom out a little so there's room around the house to create a yard. Press Z to change to the Zoom tool, and then drag to change the view.

2. With the Rectangle (R) tool, click-move-click to draw a rectangle around the house to represent the yard.

   Give yourself enough room for the kids and dog to play. And who knows, some day you may want to add a pool.

3. Right-click (or Control-click) the face of the new yard, and choose Reverse Faces from the shortcut menu.

   Because it's a two-dimensional shape, it's more than likely that your rectangular yard is displaying the blue face that indicates an interior. Reversing faces changes its color to white.

4. Select the Line tool, and then draw two lines to create a drive from the garage to the edge of the yard.

   Use Figure 4-28 as a reference for placing the edges of the driveway. It's easiest just to click the point where the garage door frame meets the yard.

5. Use the Line tool to ...