Hello, welcome to this video dedicated to Trimble Sketchup Free, one of
the best and free solutions for CAD drawings and projects! In a very short
time we will get all the basic features you need to start using it.
Make sure to visit our YouTube channel and our website for more content,
tips and free video tutorials!
SketchUp is a professional CAD software that makes easier architectural and
concept designs through a very intuitive interface and workflow. As a
beginner you can start with Sketchup Free, a free and online version
collecting most of the features to realize basic projects or school work.
For professional jobs you can go for the complete set of features with a
subscription plan on SketchUp Shop, Pro or Studio which also include a
desktop version of the software.
To start using SketchUp Free you only need to create a Trimble Account and
sign in. At this point the main account interface opens, showing the most
recent projects made and two options to start working on top, such as Open
to browse for existing SketchUp projects and Create New to start with a new
one, choosing the correct measurement unit to use.
As you start with any SketchUp project, this gets open on the main
interface, with several drawing and editing tools on the left and useful
panels on the right side, that you can close and reopen when you need.
Every new project is completely empty, showing a 2D human interface as
reference and the main three cartesian axes, such as the red X axis for the
horizontal direction, the green Y axis for the vertical one and the blue Z
axis for any height from the ground plane, where the X and the Y axes lay.
To draw any element you can use the tools on the left side, some grouped
into a single button. Once a tool is enabled, you can define object points
and sides by either clicking on the preview or typing precise values with
your keyboard on the box in the bottom right corner, applying with the
Enter key.
Enable the Line tool to drop straight segments sharing the last node. You
can go on drawing until you use the Escape key or close the shape in
progress, which gets filled automatically. You can also draw freehand with
the Freehand tool, using your mouse wheel to zoom in to make lines and
curves more precisely.
Use any of the Arc tools to drop arcs in different manners, depending on
the kind of tool selected. Remember to open the Instructor panel to get
full information and tips on how to use the current tool.
With the Rectangle, the Circle and the Polygon tools you can create regular
shapes by fixing two points on the preview. Being closed shapes, these get
internal filling by default.
The 3D Text tool is used to drop 2D and 3D independent pieces of text. On
the Create 3D Text dialog box, type inside and specify the font family and
style, including is size under Height, its filling and also its extrusion
length. The extrusion can be enabled or disabled to drop 3D or simple 2D
text.
To undo any drawing in progress use the Escape key. Whereas to undo any
action or modification, use CTRL+Z.
SketchUp provides several visual aids to make your drawings easier. For
example when drawing any segment this assumes the same axis color that
comes parallel to it and when dropping any 2D shape this gets the same axis
color that is perpendicular to its base.
Besides these colors you also get snappings to the most important object
keypoints, such as colored circles for vertices and nodes; squares for
points on sides and rhumbuses for points on faces and filled areas. Also
dotted guidelines may appear, indicating perpendicular directions,
intersections and extensions over objects sides or axes. From the Display
panel you can manage the aids to use and also apply visual effects on the
preview such as Shadow and Fog.
To draw 3D objects in no time SketchUp provides the Push/Pull and the
Follow Me tools. With Push/Pull you can generate a 3D object by clicking
and dragging from its 2D base, defining the extrusion length for it. You
can't use this tool on curved faces.
Follow Me is used to define 3D conductors, selecting a 2D base as section
and a 2D path to follow as direction.
You can also build custom 3D objects with the simple Line tool, drawing
each vertex and side until the whole object is complete and covered. If
this is too long or complex, you can take a look at the Components panel to
search for several ready objects that you can import on the preview
directly.
To check the result of your work you can use the visualization tools
collected on the left side, such as the Pan Tool to move around or the
Orbit tool to rotate in 3D by clicking and dragging. To check from standard
perspective views use the Views panel instead.
You can also preview from a human point of view by using Walk and Look
Around.
Whereas if you need to measure length and area on objects, use the
Measurement tools. You can set their units, annotation style and precision
from the Model Info panel.
You can also open the Styles panel to preview your objects differently.
Now let's see how to edit and reshape the objects on your workspace by
using the tools on the left side.
First of all you have to use the Select tool to select the object to be
edited by clicking on it. By default SketchUp selects the subcomponents of
an object, such as single sides or faces. So when you move or edit any 3D
custom object you have made, this gets deformed as its subcomponents are
moved or edited.
To modify a 3D object entirely you have to select all its subcomponents
together, right-click and go to Make Group. You can easily select all sides
and faces composing the object by clicking and dragging from the right side
to the left with the Select tool.
On the contrary text and ready models come with sides and faces grouped, so
you edit these entirely by default. To reshape these on their subcomponents
you have to right-click on these and go to Explode.
To deselect all, just click elsewhere on the workspace.
Use the Move tool to move selected objects where you like. Whereas
choose the Rotate tool to rotate these by fixing the main anchor point and
then the rotation angle. You will rotate on the ground plane when the
goniometer is shown in blue color.
Enable the Scale tool to scale the object by clicking and dragging couples
of cubes toward different 2D and 3D directions. Whereas use the Offset tool
to add a 2D contour which keeps a fixed distance from the original object
perimeter.
To cut, copy and paste the selected object use CTRL+X, C and V. You can cut
any object to remove it from the workspace.
You can also apply great materials to any 2D or 3D object with filling, in
order to improve their appearance on the preview and make these more
realistic. From the Entity Info panel you can go to Material to apply
several materials such as metal, glass or patterns. On Back Material you
can choose another kind of material for the back side. These materials are
applied on the whole object in case this is grouped.
To save your project in progress as a .skp file use the Save button in the
top left corner. This will be listed within your project list inside your
Trimble account, which can store up to 10 GB of content.
Thanks for watching this video! Make sure to check our YouTube channel to
get free and outstanding tutorials on other professional software!