Dear all, welcome to this tutorial dedicated to Trimble SketchUp, a
fantastic and professional CAD tool that allows you to create quick and
accurate CAD drawings in a very user-friendly interface.
In just 13 minutes we will cover all the basics on SketchUp Free, the
free and online version of SketchUp for beginners and amateurs. For
professional projects you may upgrade to SketchUp Go, Pro, or Studio
through a subscription plan which also includes access to the desktop
version. The core fundamentals of SketchUp remain the same across all these
versions.
You can access SketchUp Free by logging in with a Trimble Account. Once
done the main Home page will open up with various options. You can either
start from your most recent projects or go to Open to browse for an
existing project in .skp file format. Alternatively, you can choose Create
new or Start modeling to begin a new project. This opens on the main
workspace.
On the left side, you get the toolbar with several editing tools to draw
and edit. On the right several panels with additional options and settings
to support your drawings.
In the center you'll see a preview of your project with a human figure as a
reference, along with three main axes. The red axis indicates width and the
green axis represents depth, together forming the ground plane. The blue
axis measures the height from such ground plane.
To start drawing, simply enable any drawing tool from the toolbar first.
If you enable the Line tool you can click on the preview to drop
consecutive line segments. You can set the length of each segment with your
cursor or by typing a specific value in the bottom right corner, applying
with the Enter key.
If the default measurement unit is not correct, open the Model Info panel
on the right and select the right units for length and angles, as well as
their precision.
To finish drawing simply press the Escape key or close the shape by
connecting the last point to the starting point. In this case the shape
gets filled automatically.
Enable the Freehand tool to draw freehand by clicking and dragging on the
preview. Use your mouse wheel to zoom in and draw with more accuracy.
To drop arcs you have several Arc tools, each drawing in a different
manner.
You can get tips on how to use any drawing tool from the Instructor panel.
You can also drop regular shapes with the Rectangle, the Circle and the
Polygon tools by dropping two points on the preview. By default, these
shapes lay on the ground plane unless you press the left or the right arrow
keys to change the plane.
You can undo any drawing in progress with the Escape key. Whereas use CTRL
(or CMD) and Z to undo actions made.
To drop 2D or 3D text enable the 3D Text tool and type the desired content
in the field on top. Set font family, style, and size as Height. You can
also add fill and set extrusion depth and then go to OK to place the piece
of text. To drop 2D text without any extrusion simply uncheck its option.
SketchUp includes several visual aids to enhance your drawing experience.
For example while drawing segments, these get colored according to the axis
they are parallel to. Similarly, shapes get the same color of the axis they
are perpendicular to.
In addition snappings can assist you in positioning your cursor. Colored
circles represent endpoints, centers, and vertices of objects, while
squares indicate points along paths and sides. Rhombuses appear on faces
and fill areas.
Besides these points, dotted guidelines appear to draw along perpendicular
directions, intersections or side extensions. Make sure to open the
Display panel to hide or show axes, objects or even enable or disable
visual effects like shadows and fog. From the Model Info section, you can
manage the snapping options as you need most.
Now let's see how to draw in 3D! The Push/Pull tool builds a 3D object by
adding extrusion to a 2D object with fill. Just select the object and drag
it as you need. This tool also works on 3D faces as long as they are not
curved.
You can also build 3D conductors with the Follow Me tool. Select a 2D
section and then a 2D path perpendicular to it, following its direction as
you need.
For more complex 3D objects, you can use the Line and the other tools by
drawing each face one by one.
You can also open the 3D Warehouse panel to browse for pre-made 3D models
from the SketchUp Lab. Simply download the 3D object and click on the
preview to import it. 3D models and text get listed in the Components
panel.
To manage the preview you can enable the Pan tool to pan around the
workspace and the Orbit tool to rotate your model in 3D freely. You can
also open the Scenes panel to get a perspective view.
SketchUp provides further tools to measure length and area precisely.
Enable Tape Measure to measure distances or get point coordinates if you
hold over these, with respect to the project origin. Use the Dimensions
tool to leave quick annotations on length and the Text tool to calculate
area from fill and faces.
Now let's see how to edit 2D and 3D objects. Enable the Select tool and
click on any object to select it, whether it is a segment or a model
subcomponent such as any side or face. You can deselect by clicking
elsewhere.
Once the object is selected you can edit it as you need. Use the Move tool
to move objects or model subcomponents. In this case you also edit the
entire model shape.
To move an entire model without distorting it you may select it entirely by
clicking and dragging from right to left and including the model within the
selection area. The same rectangular selection can be used to select
multiple objects and edit them together.
You can also right-click on these subcomponents and go to Make Group so
that you select all of these with one click without continuous selections.
You can always ungroup these with Explode.
Text and pre-made 3D models usually come grouped, so that you can move and
edit these as entities. As custom groups, you can explode them to edit
their individual components or letters.
Besides the Move tool you can enable the Rotate tool and fix an anchor
point and then the angle of rotation. By default, this rotates the object
on the ground plane, shown by a blue goniometer. You can change the axis of
reference with the arrow keys.
With the Scale tool you resize objects by clicking and dragging on the
cubes along the X, Y, or Z axis. Whereas with the Offset tool you can add a
2D contour at a fixed distance from the original object perimeter.
You can cut, copy and paste selected objects with CTRL (or CMD) and X, C
and V. You can cut any object to remove it quickly from your project.
You can also apply materials to make your 2D fillings and 3D models even
more realistic. Just open the Entity Info panel on the right and click
under Material to browse through a diverse range of these including metal,
grass, brick, asphalt, and many more. You can also choose another as Back
Material which will be applied to the backside of the object, usually on a
darker grey color by default. When objects are grouped, materials are
applied on them entirely!
If you're looking for additional materials, you can visit the 3D Warehouse
website from your browser. When selecting any model, you can browse for any
of its materials to download. Then import the .skm material file by
dragging and dropping it onto SketchUp and expand your material library.
To save your project click on the Save button in the top left corner. This
is an .skp file that you can reopen any time from your Trimble account. With
the free plan you will have up to 10GB of cloud storage.
SketchUp Free also allows you to make great visual presentations of your
models. Open the Styles panel to change the preview type by selecting the
best style for your needs.
Switch to the Scenes panel to create animations with your model. Set the
desired point of view and save it with the plus button. By repeating this
process with different viewpoints, you can create a smooth transition from
one scene to another with as many scenes as you need.
Thank you very much for watching this video! Do not forget to visit our
YouTube channel and our official website to learn more about CAD design and
free solutions for your business!