Simple SU Question

[Mike Goetzke]

I have a model where I made a drawer front a component. I need to move duplicates in place but the corner SU chooses to to perform the move is not where I need it. Can I change this reference point to another corner of the component?

Thanks,

Mike

[Dan Clark]

Mike,

It's not clear what you are trying to do. However, if you mean copying a component and snapping it to another component, you can choose the corner or edge of the source component that you want to snap.

Sketchup has an inference engine that takes hints. I.e., it infers what you want to do from where you grab the source component and where you drop it on the target component.

Try this:

1) Hit spacebar to change to "Select" mode.

2) Click the component that you want to copy.

3) Hit <M> key to change to "Move" mode. Cursor changes to four arrows.

4) Hit <Ctrl> key to change to "Copy" mode. Cursor now has "+" sign.

5) Mouse over the selected component. Notice the little pink box under the mouse cursor tends to snap to an edge or corner.

6) When the pink box is on an appropriate corner or edge of the source component, press and hold the left mouse button to grab that edge or corner.

7) Drag the source component's pink box (and the component) to the appropriate corner or edge of the target component.

8) Release the left mouse button.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Dan.

[Mike Goetzke]

Thanks Dan - I knew it had to be simple. I was selecting, copying. copy in place, moving - this caused the move point to be in a default position.

Is there a list of SU shortcut commands somewhere?

Mike

[John Schreiber]

You can change the shortcuts and make your own, so a standard list isn't very useful. What you can do is go to Window/Preferences/Shortcuts/Export and save "Preferences.dat" to your desktop. Then you can open that and convert it into a shortcut list.

I have shortcuts for almost everything so I seldom click on an icon or pull down a menu.

[Dan Clark]

Mike,

In Sketchup, try "Help --> Quick Reference Card". That should help.

One key tip - A wheelie mouse with clickable wheel massively improves navigating a Sketchup model. My tips below depend on one.

A few general navigation tips that I use all the time:


Hit <space bar> to immediately enter "Select" mode.



Hit <m> key to enter "Move" mode. While in "Move" mode, click "<Ctrl> key to enter "Copy" mode.



The little pink box indicates the hint that is being passed to the inference engine and controls the edge or corner where SU will snap the source object.



Hit <q> to enter "Rotate" mode.



Scroll mouse wheel to zoom.



Press and hold the mouse wheel to immediately enter "Orbit" mode. Release mouse wheel to return to whatever mode you were previously in.



While holding the mouse wheel down for "Orbit" mode, press and hold the <shift> key to immediately enter "Pan" mode. Release <shift> key to return to "Orbit" mode.

For example, here's a typical flow that I might do a hundred times in a heavy work session:

Hit <space bar> to enter "Select" mode. Select component. Press and hold mouse wheel to orbit a little to the top left. Press and hold <Shift> key to pan to the right. Release <Shift> key, and orbit just a smidge down. Release the mouse wheel and then scroll the mouse wheel to zoom in a bit. Click on target object to select. Press <m> then <Ctrl> to enter copy mode. Click on top right corner of source object. Drag copy of source object to top left corner of target object. Total time? Maybe 10-15 seconds.

Once you get used these key strokes, you'll find that your model creation accuracy and speed will increase by a factor of 10. (At least that was my experience.)

Regards,

Dan.