Sketchup Work Flow

[Jonathan Spool]

I'm a real Nube at SU. When you are drawing a project, do you draw each component away from the whole project, and then put them together when you are finished with all the components. Whats the best way to get a component to "snap" to the location you want it?
Is there a way to rotate a component other than by the mouse? If I want to type in the degrees of rotation, how do I desiganate the axis? I couldn't find the answers to these probably very elementary questions on the Google help site.
Thanks
Jonathan

[Matt Zettl]

Jonathon,

Everyone who uses Sketchup seems to have their own techniques and methods. Generally, I find it easier to draw components in place rather than isolating them, and then moving them.

I would suggest that you first go through all of the video tutorials that are available on the Sketchup website. You can also find them on YouTube as well. I think that you will find the answers to many of your questions on these tutorials.

Secondly, you may want to consider investing in a new book by Tom Killen, Sketchup Guide for Woodworkers. Tom, along with Dave Richards, writes a blog on Sketchup that is on the FWW website. This blog is also an excellent resource for woodworkers who use Sketchup, and I highly recommend it.

I have been using Sketchup for about 7 years, back before it was owned by Google. I use it for all of my design work, produce shop drawings, etc. I find it invaluable for my woodworking. If you spend some time early on learning the best techniques and methods, I think you will find it a very useful tool.

Hope this helps,

Matt

[Rick Prosser]

What Matt said.

The tutorials are great. I ran thru them a couple of times before I "got" some of the details. Then needed refreshers now and then...

As far as setting your components and "snapping" to a location - I have the best results when I can see a corner where the component goes, and can grab the related corner of the component with the move tool. Then I can move the component corner right into place and it will snap where it needs to be. You can grab the components on faces, corners, edges - and they snap differently depending on where you grab. It also helps to zoom in real tight to be sure you are attaching to the right location.

[Bob Lang]

I think it's far more efficient to model parts in place. For example if I'm making a bookcase (or other cabinet) I establish the sides first, making them components and placing them the appropriate distance apart. From that point on, all of the horizontal pieces can be quickly put in position and turned into components, without measuring or moving.

To rotate things, you first need to establish a base line, then you can start the direction of the rotation with the mouse. If you know the degree of rotation to begin with, you can type it in either during or right after the command. Fiddling with the mouse takes a lot of time and isn't very accurate, unless you're able to snap to something existing in the model.

Developing an efficient work flow is the key to using SketchUp effectively so you can get to the shop and start building for real. Most of the free tutorials available show methods that work, but aren't efficient. I've spent a lot of time developing ways of modeling that make it fast, painless and accurate.

Bob Lang

[Matt Zettl]

Bob is right about the tutorials not really teaching effective work flow. They do, however, give a good overview of all of the basic tools and features. With that foundation, you can then improve upon your modeling skills.

The "Design, Click, Build" blog of Tim Killen and Dave Richards really demonstrates many skills that experts use to make their modeling efficient. Since it written specifically for woodworkers, I have found it to be an excellent source.

Matt

[Jonathan Spool]

Thanks everyone. I will check out the book recommended as well as the DVDs that are available as well.

[Thomas Bank]

To expand on what Bob suggests, I also agree that modeling in place and using groups and components is the way to go. But in addition to that, once you have a component created in place you can pull a second copy of that component out separate from the drawing to work on it in more detail.

For example, with Bob's bookcase you can draw the side, make it a component, copy it to make the second side piece, draw the base, make it a component, and then copy that base component out away from the bookshelf and edit that component so that you can add trim to it or carvings or whatever. As you edit that component, everything you do will also be added to the component in the model.

As an architect, I go a step further with this and save the component off to another file to work on it and then reload the component back into my original file. In this way, I can do an apartment building (for example) where each different apartment layout is a component. My building model has all of these components loaded into it, but each component is also its own file so that I can just open up the single bedroom loft layout and work on that, then when it is reloaded into the building file all of the single bedroom loft layout apartments are automatically updated.

Granted, much more complex than what most of us face with woodworking projects. But I have done similar things for kitchen cabinetry and such where I have similar components used in different ways.

[Jonathan Spool]

The problem I am having is that when I draw a piece with all parts together, I can't get access to select all the surfaces I need to make a component. Sometimes I end up with a component missing a face. For instance, if you draw a shelf that sits in a dado, how do you select the inside face in order to include it in the component?

[Matt Zettl]

One way to do it is to switch to X-ray view (View-Face style-X-ray), draw a selection box around the shelf, then using the select tool, deselect anything that you don't want to include in the component by holding the Shift key and clicking on the line or face that you want to deselect. By viewing in x-ray mode, you can see lines and faces that you would otherwise overlook.

Similarly, you can select an entity that you wish to include the same way. In other words, holding the Shift key while clicking with the select tool can either select or deselect (note the +/- next to the pointer when the Shift key is pressed.

There, now isn't that clear as mud? ;)

Matt

[Bob Lang]

There are several ways to select things like this. One of the keys is to make sure the other parts are components, so new objects you draw don't stick to them. In the bookcase example, you can select all of the shelf by moving the selection arrow from left to right. This creates a bounding selection box, only objects completely in the box are selected. You can also triple click on a face and select everything connected to it, except for groups or components.

I want to respect the TOS of this site, but there is a lot more of this kind of information in my book, or on the editor's blog at Popular Woodworking. As I said before there is a lot of free information out there, but most of it geared to architecture, not small scale stuff like furniture and cabinets. I've spent a lot of time looking at what woodworkers struggle with, and the most efficient ways to use SketchUp. People tell me I'm pretty good at teaching it.

Bob Lang

[Jonathan Spool]

Thanks Guys,
Very helpful. Bob your book or DVD is on my list. Never saw that triple click technique anywhere. Thanks.