Google SketchUp: The Missing Manual

Chapter 14. Finding, Creating, and Sharing Components

One of the great things about components is that you don't always have to build your own from scratch. Need a garage door? Need a model of a Mayan temple? Want to put a Porsche in your garage? You can find the models you need at the 3D Warehouse. The first part of this chapter gives you the details for finding components. You'll learn how to do quick searches, and then for help with those hard-to-find components, you learn how to use the advanced search tools. Dynamic components are customizable components that any SketchUp user can modify. In previous chapters you saw examples of windows that you could resize and doors that opened and closed.

You can use dynamic components with any version of SketchUp 7, but you need SketchUp 7 Pro to create a dynamic component. This chapter introduces the basic steps for creating a dynamic component that changes size and color. Once you create a great component, you may want to share it with others in the SketchUp community. You can do that by uploading your best creations to the 3D Warehouse.

Finding Components in the 3D Warehouse

Using SketchUp without using the 3D Warehouse is like using a computer and never going on the Internet. You needn't build everything from scratch, since chances are, whatever you need is already out there. Suppose you spend days creating a model of a house complete with interiors and exteriors. You want to create a walkthrough video, but you'd really like to have the ...