Google SketchUp: The Missing Manual

Changing Shadow Angles

If you occasionally abandon your computer screen and explore the world outside of the cubicle, you may have noticed an interesting phenomenon. The shadows created by the sun change their size, shape, and location depending on the time of day and the day of the year. It's remarkably different from that fluorescent lighting in the cubicle. The world inside the SketchUp modeling window is like the great outdoors. Shadows change according to the time, and you, the architect of the 3-D SketchUp universe, get to control time, space, and the way your shadows look. Kidding aside, time of day is a very convenient way to control shadows. Lots of SketchUp models are buildings that already exist or that are in the planning stages, so the angle of light and the path of shadows play a big part in planning and design. For example, you want sun decks and patios to take advantage of sunny summer days. You want certain windows and skylights to let the warming sun through in the winter, but shield you from excess heat in the summer. You can study these effects in your SketchUp model.

For models that aren't anchored to a particular spot, the location, date, and time of day may not be critical. Still, for those models, it's easy to control the angle of shadows using the Time and Date controls and by rotating the model inside SketchUp.

Changing Shadows Using Time Controls

If you haven't already experimented with the Time slider, go ahead and drag it now. Position it all the way to ...