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(pause to read) first of all : i'm really sorry, the last videos i did and this one are made quickly and badly, but i didn't really felt like doing anything lately if i get many questions about forgotten things i might redo them later :s
the first time you open sketchup, it ask you what type of model you want. i use architecture millimeters and deactivate profiled lines and extended lines (in display, edges style) but you can change that if you prefer something else
^ here is what i will explain ^ (clic on the line to get to it)
you can zoom in by rolling your scroll wheel forward and zoom out by scrolling backward
and to see around the model, you have to use orbit tool
instead of going in the toolbar every seconds you can press "O" on your keyboard, or keep pressing your scroll wheel
and to move up/down and left/right (pan) there is the hand tool (but it is easier to use orbit and then press shift key)
train you a little with those movements before making anything
(pause to read) note : for most tools, you can start acting, then use orbit, and re-use the tool very handy if, for example, you want to do a line betwen 2 things very far from each other
note 2 : using orbit, you can tilt the view if you keep pressing Ctrl and do circles like that not very usefull for modeling, but you can need it to make a render or screenshot with special views or to do some special selections (just use orbit alone to reset tilt)
note 3 : sometime you could need to do something only in 1 plan to make it easier, go to display, camera, and choose the plan you want
having to clic on most used tools all the time is very annoying so you will have to learn and create shortcuts
you can do that by going in window, preferences, and shortcuts here is a list of shortcuts that are good to have :
tool/selection ("spacebar" by default) draw/line ("L" by default) draw/rectangle ("R" by default)
draw/circle ("C" by default) draw/arc ("A" by default) tools/paint ("B" by default)
tools/move ("M" by default) tools/push/pull ("P" by default) tools/rotate ("Q" by default)
tools/offset ("F" by default) tools/scale ("S" by default) tools/measurement ("T" by default)
edition/create a group (in right clic menu by default) better to set "G" key edition/undo ("Ctrl+Z" by default) better to set "start" key edition/redo ("Alt+backspace" by default) better to set "end" key
and you can make some of those tools follow an axis by pressing : up/down arrow key for blue axis, left for green and right for red
some tool features are "hidden" in sketchup
for example, to copy, you can use move or rotate, and press Ctrl
(you can see those in bottom info bar most of the time)
some other usefull ones : when you use circle or rotate tool you can make it still on a plan when you press shift (like that)
and if you select something by starting the selection from left it will only select the things that are completly in the selection rectangle
and if start from right, it will select anything that is in the rectangle
and after a selection, if you press shift, you can clic on something to add or remove it from the selection
and if you press Ctrl, it will only add it, and Ctrl+shift, only remove
you must always have simple measurement no ~15,68mm but 15,5mm
it is easy to do, because for every tools you can type the measurement with your keyboard
it will show it at the bottom right corner and press enter to apply the measurement
here is what you can type for some tools
line : set the lenght (same for measurement) rectangle : set the lenght ; width circle : set the radius
arc : set the length then the curvature (after you pressed enter a first time) move : set how far to move (and after a copy, you can type "x"number"", and it will do as many copies as you want, work for rotate copies as well)
offset : set how far to offset (same for push/pull) rotate : set how much to rotate (in degrees)
note : you have to use , and not . for decimal digits
always make groups and components, so all the lines and faces aren't connected to each other
to go in a group : double clic on it to get out of a group : clic on something out
(pause to read) and always remove useless lines! (i see that way too often) because they will bother you + make the model heavier than it should be
with components, if you copy it, and change only 1 of them, the other will also be changed (to do a component, first make it a group, so it won't ask you to set a name and all)
to extract something from a group in the group, don't select the thing to extract make a group and then explode the main group
to integrate something in a group make a group of the thing and the group and then explode the inner group
when you first use paint tool, a little windows like that appear
from here you can use some predefined colors and textures by browsering in the list menu
but you will need to do your own textures or at least edit them
to do that, go to the modify thumbnail
(you can use the color wheel, but it isn't very precise, so : use RGB)
if you just want to do a color change the amount of red, green and blue from 0 to 255
you will have to get used to RGB coloring here is some main RGB colors :
without blue : yellow = R255 G255 B0 orange = R255 G128 B0 grass green = R128 G255 B0
without green : hard pink = R255 G0 B255 dark purple = R128 G0 B255 soft pink = R255 G0 B128
without red : cyan = R0 G255 B255 light blue = R0 G128 B255 aqua green = R0 G255 B128
and you can name each textures (better to give a name if you will use rendering tools)
everything else is pretty self explanatory
note : for textures try to find a pic that have it's opposite sides matching with each other
now, little tips :D
in sketchup you can remove a face even if it have lines for it's shape but if you want to re-make that face, nothing tell you how
well i'll tell you :p
you can re-make the face by adding a line in the shape, and removing it or simply do a line over it's shape
there is a very handy tool in sketchup to create text
but if the letters are too small, when saving the model sketchup will simplify some lines, and letters can be screwed up
there is 2 not awesome solutions for that :
explode the group of the text, but then it can mix with things around
or redo the missing lines like here but it is veeeery annoying for a long text :|
to mirror something, you just have to right clic on it and choose to turn it along one of the 3 axis
to cut something with something else (for example, cutting that cylinder with a brick)
you have to brind them one into the other grouped separetly
then explode both groups, and right clic, intersections with faces, with selection and remove which parts you don't want
tell me if some tool or menus names doesn't exist i don't have english names on my sketchup because i have it in french
other SUTPCHs (SketchUp Tutorial for PC Hardware)