Let's.....
by Tom Fenn
"is is a very exciting book. e children found the task fascinating and enjoyed the flexibility and freedom to create models in SketchUp, as well as add features and take their learning in the direction they wanted." Steve Langford, Headteacher, King David Primary School, Moseley, Birmingham
Contents page
Let's..... Part 1 (Basic) Introduction
Drawing and Extruding. p.13
Contents p.4
Making groups, copying and rotating. p.15
Welcome! p.5
Saving your work. p.17
The SketchUp Toolbox. p.6
Part 2 (Intermediate)
The Google 3D Warehouse. p.7
Using the VCB. p.21
Choosing a Template. p.8
Understanding coordinates; X, Y and Z. p.24
Making a Template. p.9 Instant Gratification. p.10 A matter of Scale. p.11
Basic model rendering within Sketchup. p.30 Understanding Scale and how to manipulate it. p.31
The 'Let's SketchUp!' Project
"Let's make Bricks!" Understanding technical drawings. p.34 Orthographic projection. p.37 Make a brick! p.39 Last Word. p.43
About the Author p.44
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Open a new window, then start here!
1. This is Susan. She is your friend! Use her size to gauge the size of your models.
Press 'Esc' or 'undo' at anytime, to get back to where you were.
Part 1a 2. This window is the Instructor. Use the instructor to learn SketchUp! Note how the instructor changes as you change tool.
5. These are your modelling tools. They are also your friends! Learn to use them, and they will reward you!
3. Read the instructions within the Instructor to understand how your tools work! 4. Using the 'Circle tool' (C), 'sketch' some circles!
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Part 2a
Using the VCB (Value Control Box)
1. Okay let's have some fun with the VCB! Click the Circle (C) tool, notice how straight away the VCB says "Sides 24". This is because in SketchUp, circles are made up of Polygon's that contain many sides. The more 'sides' the more the circle will look like a circle. You are changing the polygon's Resolution, by increasing or decreasing the number of sides. Try it. Enter a different number. Try putting in 3, for a Triangle, or 8 for an Octagon!
Draw here (at the Origin).
Now turn to the next page!
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A matter of
SCALE
One thing you may notice however, is that some models you place into your virtual space are huge, whereas others are tiny. This is because of something called "Scale". Scale can be adjusted at any time so that all models fit perfectly well within your project. We'll get on to the subject of scale later on.
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2. Moving your line around the Origin, note the line reference changes in colour.
1. Draw a new line starting from the ORIGIN, "0,0,0" (x,y,z). '0' means right at the start point.
Red for across (x), Blue for up (y) and Green for back (z).
N.B. Only for this tutorial should you start sketching at the origin. Try other starting points as well! 3. These coloured axis are very important to remember, as they will help you draw lines in the correct directions, making it far easier to use SketchUp, and therefore being able to create models more efficiently.
Part 2c
note the VCB changes value.
Y
NB! If the arrows on this sheet are in black & white, colour them in using felt-tipped pens!
4. Starting from the
Z
origin, draw another line, but this time after clicking the first point, type 1000. The number will be entered into the VCB automatically. Now press enter. Congratulations! You
X
have just drawn a line 1000cm long!
Press 'Esc' or 'undo' at anytime, to get back to where you were.
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Press 'Esc' or 'undo' at anytime, to get back to where you were. 13. Hmm... It doesn't look much like a house, does it? Since when do houses have bricks for the roof?! This is because you have applied a material to the whole of the model! Remember when we created the roof, but we had to edit the box first? (no. 10) We must edit again to apply different materials to different faces! 15. We are going to apply the "Tape Measure" tool. Start by deleting Sang (or Susan). Then on your model corners, simply click on the left corner, then measure up to the right. As soon as you get there, click again.
Part 2d
14. There. That's better! But,I hear you ask, "Why is Sang twice the size of my house"? And "What about doors and windows?". (Turn to the next page of "let's SketchUp" to find out!) 16. Next, without doing anything else, type in a new measurement of 700cm (7 metres). A window will pop-up asking you if you want to resize your model. Press "Yes". Your house is now bigger!
Type '700' and like magic, it will appear in the VCB!
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1. Using the data on the previous pages, make your own orthographic drawing and find a suitable surface that can be used as the basis for your texture rubbing. 3. place your rubbing face-down on you scanner. Using the software provided with the scanner, scan your drawing in to your computer. The software should separate the template into three separate images. Save these files to your PC's 'desktop'.
2. Now using the techniques as described before, sketch a rectangle exactly 21.5cm by 10.25cm. Push/ Pull (P) the face up by 6.5cm. Triple-click on your brick then choose "Make Group", then click outside to unselect.
Make a brick!
Import file! 4. Double click on your grouped brick, click a face, then go to your file open menu and choose "Import". Find the file to import, and then choose
Use "Texture"!
"texture". This last bit is important! Press 'Esc' or 'undo' at anytime, to get back to where you were.
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Understanding technical drawings This is actually what you are looking at from above This measurement is in millimeters. The two arrows on either side point to the very ends of the object. Therefore the object is 215mm (or 21.5cm)
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Part 2c recap; We learnt; • That if we quickly click on an object thrice (3 times), we will select all faces and entities that are connected with that model. • That clicking our right-hand mouse button reveals another menu, where if we choose "group", all parts in our model get 'grouped as one'. Whereas ‘Explode’ does the opposite! • How to re-edit a group by selecting our model and right-clicking with the mouse on that group, to reveal the "edit group" command in the 'drop down' menu. • We learnt a new term know as a "Vertex". A vertex is the technical term for a corner of an object. • That SketchUp's referencing tools that help us draw on x, y and z axis, can also be used when editing actual models- in the case of, for instance, cutting a rectangle's face in half, drawing a new line to then create a roof. • The Move tool can also be used to modify existing models, such as pulling up a divide line to create and new vertex, therefore creating a roof. • That if we also use the move tool, while holding down the shift key, we can lock movement to one direction (x,y,z). • How using the paint bucket tool, we can paint textures onto the faces of our model.
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About the author Tom Fenn is a Birmingham (UK) based designer. Born in London, England during the 1960's Tom started out originally as both a photographer and as a musician. During this time Tom developed a passion for both modernist architecture and product design, later winning a major British award for architectural photography. One day, after cleaning his house and then trying to empty a rather reluctant vacuum cleaner from the morning's suctions, Tom entered in to a struggle with the machine while trying to pull it's lid off. There was a sudden snap, and then the whole thing blew up in his face showering him in dust and morning sweepings. "There must be a better way?!" thought Tom, and he swiftly set off to reinvent the vacuum cleaner! Tom then landed a place at Wolverhampton University to study for a BSc in Product Design Engineering.
After three long years of struggle and strife, as well as a brand new baby daughter, Tom was well on his way to gaining a BSc in Computer Aided Product Design Engineering, eventually graduating with a 2.1 with honours. Since leaving university, Tom has rekindled his love of photography as well as architecture and has since been teaching youngsters how to visualise their ultimate future dwellings using Google's rather excellent SketchUp software, and this is partly how "Let's SketchUp" has come to be! 11
books@sketchucation.com
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