Google Sketchup tips & discussion

[WandrinAndy]

I'm wanting to draw plans myself and not sure what to use... Did you do those great detailed drawings using the free version of SketchUp or something else?

[Iwant1]

Yep with free version of SketchUp.

Go through all Google's tutorials for each tool then the getting started vids. This will take an hour or so. Next I found 'sketchupforwoodworkers.com' to be very helpful. The guy their designs some cabinets but talks his way through explaining every tool as he needs it. This was the best and really got me wanting to have a go. These drawing are my first ever SketchUp workings. I never even followed their tutorials, just watched and took everything in. One important tip is to have a mouse with a clicking wheel. The wheel acts as a zoom, when you hold the wheel down, it orbits the screen, and when held down with the shift key it becomes the screen panning tool. Lots of time is spent on centering on and zooming in the piece you are actually working on and using these techniques really makes it fast.

Lost of cnc machine parts are available in the SketchUp marketplace, which you get to from within SketchUp. All the rails, bearings, spindle, motors, ball nuts, etc are available. Have a search

Let us know how you get on.

[jcb121]

Lost of cnc machine parts are available in the SketchUp marketplace, which you get to from within SketchUp. All the rails, bearings, spindle, motors, ball nuts, etc are available. Have a search

Let us know how you get on.

http://en.memgenerator.pl/mem-image/you-re-welcome-en-ffffff/d
rate them up!

[Iwant1]

http://en.memgenerator.pl/mem-image/you-re-welcome-en-ffffff/d
rate them up!

Thanks Barney, rated both you're components I used. You've done a fantastic job which really saves us time when modelling.

[JoeHarris]

Did you do those great detailed drawings using the free version of SketchUp or something else?

SketchUp is seriously undervalued, I use it all the time at work so if you have any queries I would be more than happy to help - I don't feel I can give back much on this forum as yet so anything I can do to help... With the scaling issue - if you want to scale accurately - take a dimension on the model you want to scale (say this is 1423.1mm) you know that this actually needs to be 50mm, divide 50 by 1423.1 = 0.03514. Now grab all of the element you want to scale and click the scale tool, then after you click on one of the green grips that appear, enter 0.03514 - hit Enter and hey presto it is bang on 50mm. Hope that helps...

Also I can't stress enough how useful groups and components are, they allow you to change multiple elements at once and isolate elements you are working on - plus when you enter a group by double clicking, go to View>component edit>hide rest of model to fully isolate the element so you can work on a part that would otherwise be hidden - can be a life saver some times! (hope i'm not teaching you to suck eggs but someone is bound to find that tip useful.)

Iwant1 - looks like a good build log beginning here - watching with interest as not a million miles away from what I'm trying to build; mine I fear may take a long while though (due mainly to funds but also a distinct lack of time!):nightmare:

[Iwant1]

Also I can't stress enough how useful groups and components are

Thanks for the tip regarding scaling, will try it next time I need it.

Making groups in sketchup is vital. As soon as I made a square, it had to be grouped before I move, pull or resize it otherwise it messes up the box. Then use the outliner window to rename every grouped item so I know what I'm working with when hiding/unhiding.

Adil

[WandrinAndy]

P.S. Noticed there's two discussions going on here, the machine and sketchup - I can separate them if you want?

Jonathan, it would be appreciated if you could separate out the SketchUp discussion into some SketchUp thread as there are some great tips here for us novices, and I am bound to continue that discussion. Iwant1 is in agreement via a PM.

TIA,
Andy

[WandrinAndy]

If you want to scale accurately - take a dimension on the model you want to scale (say this is 1423.1mm) you know that this actually needs to be 50mm, divide 50 by 1423.1 = 0.03514. Now grab all of the element you want to scale and click the scale tool, then after you click on one of the green grips that appear, enter 0.03514 - hit Enter and hey presto it is bang on 50mm.

Thanks for this and other tips Joe... will certainly use this one as I'm slowly getting into Sketchup, and finding push/pulling precisely nigh on impossible. Thought I had picked up how to do this from one of the "SketchUp for Woodworkers" tutorials, which are excellent thanks Adil, but I sadly seem to be cocking it up.

Think I'm gonna sweat to define a component of extrusion that is exactly 1000mm and scale it from there.... Am I right in thinking that the red grip does the whole face, effectively push/pulling?

Btw, Thanks for splitting out this thread Jonathan.

Cheers,

[JoeHarris]

finding push/pulling precisely nigh on impossible. Thought I had picked up how to do this from one of the "SketchUp for Woodworkers" tutorials, which are excellent thanks Adil, but I sadly seem to be cocking it up.

OK it's really going to annoy you how easy this is! Select a face you want to push/pull, then use the push/pull tool to extrude or cut in the direction you want to go then type the dim you require and hit the enter key. That's it!:witless:

[WandrinAndy]

OK it's really going to annoy you how easy this is! Select a face you want to push/pull, then use the push/pull tool to extrude or cut in the direction you want to go then type the dim you require and hit the enter key. That's it!:witless:

Yep, that's what I've been doing, but maybe I'm just being lazy or too demanding of a free product. Suppose I should better describe what I'm after, as some different form of the dim that is typed that interprets what is typed as the resulting dim (automatically taking into account the dim that was previously created possibly by another push/pull operation) rather than the dim for this push/pull operation alone. I am trying to avoid having to do calculations myself, lazy sod that I am. Hope this makes sense. I have at times first tried push/pulling down to virtually nothing (just before the whole face disappears into nothingness) which makes the calculation simpler and then push/pulling to the required length.

I like your "Benjamin Chair" very muchly by the way... guessing you CNC'ed the ply cross sections before clamping, gluing, and bolting through?

[Iwant1]

I doubt the measurement box is capable of using operators with the push/pull tool.

I would use the measurement tool to mark out the full dimension you're after, then use that as a guide to push/pull the surface to.

So for example if you got your extrusion at 167mm length and you want it 400mm long. Select the measurement tool, click at one corner of the extrusion, then move the mouse in the direction you want to go in and enter 400 in the measurement box. That gives you a reference to take the push/pull operation to. No complex maths involved, lol, just a few extra clicks.

[JoeHarris]

No complex maths involved, lol, just a few extra clicks.

I just keep a calculator on my desk!

Thanks for the comments re the rocking chair. I designed it for my son and cut all of the pieces by hand with a jigsaw, I was literally sanding it for 6 months! I need a cnc machine!

[WandrinAndy]

Thanks... At last I'm making some rewarding SketchUp progress.

Have invested in a cheap calculator as Joe suggested, which seems better than using Mobile/MS-Calculator/MS-Excel when necessary. Am finding using Scale rather than Push/Pull easier to use accurately.

Was finding it more than a tad painful aligning the components/groups of 45x90 extrusions with the rounded corners, so have instead initially and quickly built the base with components that are simple 45x90 box sections.

Have structured things such that each of my components is created correctly-pre-oriented as a separate model and then imported into the main design model, so I can incorporate changes such as changing the box-sections to extrusions simply by reloading from a different model file... Eureka Adil!

It takes time to sink in... but I am getting there.... one wee step at a time....

[deannos]

Hi, how do you join the face of one component to the face of another in sketchup, i.e ballscrews to a flat surface etc.

[motoxy]

The best way is to group your item so you are dealing with a single part. Select the point to join. Probably the centre of the ballscrew. If you do not have a ready position to pick then draw in extra lines that give you an intersection or end point on your component. These can be removed later. Once you start the move you may have to re-orientate your view.

[deannos]

The best way is to group your item so you are dealing with a single part. Select the point to join. Probably the centre of the ballscrew. If you do not have a ready position to pick then draw in extra lines that give you an intersection or end point on your component. These can be removed later. Once you start the move you may have to re-orientate your view.

I have tried it that way, but it seems a bit hit and miss. I'm sure i saw on the tutorials that you "snap" the faces together, but i can't find that any more.

[motoxy]

The snap is when your cursor selects a point such as an intersection, midpoint, centre of a circle, end of line or a vertex. So select a snap point on the moving part and move it to the other snap point. If you want to go to the centre of a square block there is not a snap point. So draw a line from each opposite corner and where they cross will now have an intersection. Use this to snap to and delete the lines when done.
It really easier to do then explain. Keep trying.
Bruce

[Washout]

Something that took me ages to get out of the habit of, is dragging the object you are moving with the mouse button held down - just click once to start moving and click again when (and if) you get the object to where you want it to go. Also holding down the up, left and right cursor keys when moving restricts movement to the blue, green and red axis respectively - I often have to make multiple moves bound to a couple of axis to get an object to where I want it using this method, but at least it's not so random as when the cursor is trying to snap to various geometry as Sketchup makes a best guess at where you are aiming for.

Another little trick I use alot is when rotating a grouped object and I can't get the ptrotractor in the right plane is to draw a quick cube next to the object to be rotated, select the group to be rotated, hover the prtractor over the cube face that corresponds to the plane of rotation then hold shift down and it will stick in that plane whilst you move the protractor back to the point of rotation on the group to be rotated, then do as normal.

Oh if you haven't already found them get the Cleanup Tools addon for Sketchup - its somwhat aimed at games 3d modelling, but is useful for automatically tidying up reversed faces, co-planar faces, orphaned line vectors/edges etc http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=22920

Hope that helps and isn't teaching to suck eggs..


Chris

[deannos]

How do you transfer bolts holes from 1 piece to another so you know they will line up. For example you wish to bolt a section of ali plate to the rail bearings. I could then print that part out to full size if possible and use it for marking out etc.

6565

[Iwant1]

I would group the ali plate then move it to one side. Next, double click into the bearing block group and use the circles already on the bearing block and pull them up say 20mm or whatever thickness ali plate you're using, such as this:
6566

Now get out of that group and get into the ali plate group, select the circle tool, hover around the perimeter of those circles you just pulled up, you can just about see them on the top of the ali plate, then move the cursor into the centre of the circle. The tool will automatically find the centre, click once then move to the rim of that circle again and click again. That's your circle done, now you can use the pull/push too to push it down 20mm. This gives you a matching hole through the ali plate

It still won't look like a hole because of the pull up from the bearing block. So get into that group again and push the circle down by how much you raised it. you should get one hole looking like:

6567

Repeat for all other holes, but make sure the holes on the sketched bearing block actually match the holes in your real bearing block.

Adil

[WandrinAndy]

Just a few general purpose tips that I have found work well for me:

a. I virtually never use the Pan tool because it involves pressing the middle mouse key AND simultaneously pressing the left mouse key or the shift key, and I just don't have the dexterity to do this and find it a PITA. Instead of Panning in the normal way rather Zoom-Out from a particular point on the screen and then Zoom-In from another point, which achieves the same affect as Panning but is loads easier IMO... I only use one hand...

b. When using the Move/Copy tool it can sometimes be very useful to select a particular point... normally an endpoint... within the object to be moved/copied and then type [0,0,0] which repositions that point from wherever it was to the Origin of the axes.

I am using SketchUp so much at the moment that I'm finding it a real PITA that I cannot Orbit around ordinary jpg images. ... Lol

Andy

[irving2008]

I am using SketchUp so much at the moment that I'm finding it a real PITA that I cannot Orbit around ordinary jpg images. ... Lol

Andy
<OT>
Lol, thats like I am so used to using my tablet and touchscreen monitors at home I keep forgetting my work monitors and laptop aren't.... things that just 'work' become second nature so quickly...
</OT>

[wilfy]

guys any idea how i can print an overhead shot of what i have drawn? i've basicly got a flat 2D image that i want to print off, but can only get it to print from a 3d perspective

[WandrinAndy]

Hope this isn't teaching you to suck eggs Wilfy, but I would try:

- click Camera; Standard View; Top
- click Camera; Parallel Projection (instead of Perspective)
- click File; Export; 2D graphic

[wilfy]

yes thats helped a lot thank you very much, theres too many options in that software i find it hard to focus on what i want.. all the tips i've read in here are very helpfull thank you.

ok after trying to print it i now can't get it to print exact size.. i.e i have a circle 203mm that i want 203mm on paper and it's coming out around 150mm, tried landscape ect, just doesnt want to play, it's taking the whole area as the object i want to print and not the acctual thing i've drawn

[WandrinAndy]

i now can't get it to print exact size.. i.e i have a circle 203mm that i want 203mm on paper and it's coming out around 150mm, tried landscape ect, just doesnt want to play, it's taking the whole area as the object i want to print and not the acctual thing i've drawn

As SketchUp's circles are composed of many straight edges, it might just be easier to use an old fashioned compass...

It seems that SketchUp prints whatever is displayed in it's on-screen window, so by trimming it's on-screen window and using the Zoom +/ Pan tools, you can determine the rectangular object to be printed.

Then to print to exact size, under the Print options, unclick the "Fit-to-page" box and set the Scale to be identical for "In-the-printout" and "In-SketchUp".

This worked for me, but if the printed page size is bigger than the stationery size for one's printer, I think it will print on multiple pages... And at 203mm diameter you're very near to the edge of 210x297mm A4.

HTH,
Andy

[wilfy]

hmm it's not acctually the circle i'm interested in, there are other items attached, just this is the maximum which i thought would have been ok considering what you told me to do first time round printed a fully blue page right to the edge of my paper

is there anyway to extract the drawing out to another program in the exact dimensions i.e like an object i can stick in word or something?

[motoxy]

There is a free addon to convert the free sketchup to stl or dxf. Then load up in your cad prog.

Convert Sketchup SKP files to DXF or STL | guitar-list (http://www.guitar-list.com/download-software/convert-sketchup-skp-files-dxf-or-stl)

Hope this helps

[wilfy]

i've sorted it now, it's not perfect but it'll do what i want from it

[wilfy]

ok time to teach me how to suck eggs again...

i've found drawings of say steel box section... but they are the wrong size, is it possible to resize this to how i need? and if so what the frig am i missing?

the file in question is standard steel sections by paulh - 3D Warehouse (http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=b224efd17f264b36c043b048b1c0f8c1) if that helps

[motoxy]

Okay. First go into the edit menu. At the bottom of the list you will see components. select explode to seperate the various sections. Select the section that you want to scale and go into the tools menu and select scale. Using the yellow blocks you can scale in all directions.

Hope that helps.
Bruce

[wilfy]

perfect... this has made things alot easier for me now.. thank you

[Washout]

Assuming you have selected the group that contains all the sections in that model and then right clicked and selected "explode", you should be able to select each individual section group and use the scale tool to resize each one. You can use a bit of math before using the scale tool to work out your desired dimension and after dragging on of the scale axis cubes, tap the ratio you need to use to get the right dimension into the "scale" entry box on the lower left of the Sketchup window. You will likely have to play around with which scaling cube to use dependant on the axis you want to scale within and to be honest for H sections its probably quicker just to draw your own as a 2D shape and then extrude it as some of the scaling will alter the thickness of the plates making up the section as well as the overall height/length (see next sentence).

If its the length you are altering then after exploding the main group and deleting all the unwanted sections, double click the group/section you have left until you can select to end/cross section face and use the push/pull tool to lengthen or shorten the section (again you can enter the length to lengthen or shorten in the entry box).

Oh another handy tip if you want more precision than you get by default is to go to Window - Model Info - Units and in there you can increase the precision. I use 0.001mm normally for component work although I doubt I'll be able to get that on any mchine I make ;-)


Ooops I was too slow ;-)
Hope that helps, but if you're really stuck let me know the dimensions you're after and I'll whip sopmething up and share in 3D warehouse.

Cheers


Chris

[wilfy]

thanks again for the help, starting to make my way around this now. having a bit of trouble snapping 2 pieces of the box section to it's self, but i am finding the by placing measure lines i can snap to them then just delete them.. same goes for scaling.. i'm measuring out the size i want and then snapping the item to the line to get the right size.

i am struggling at the moment to find a source for sbr16 rails and bearings and also a suitable ball screw assembly that i can make to size.

[BikerAfloat]

Hi Wilfy,



i am struggling at the moment to find a source for sbr16 rails and bearings and also a suitable ball screw assembly that i can make to size.

I have SBR## & RM1605 screws and BK/BF12 drawings and data sheets. I've posted the data sheets, if the skp file are needed I'll pm them to you.

Cheers,
Geoff.

[wilfy]

oh dude your a star.. the skp files would be awesome aswell as i'm drawing up my machine right now

[BikerAfloat]

Hi Wilfy,

Sorry I've had to zip these, the attachment tool dosn't like skp files!

Hope these help,
Geoff.

[wilfy]

i'm amazed it doesnt like a drawing file but does like a file that could contain any number of virus once un-zipped... awesome logic by whoever invented the forums software..

cheers though dude i'll crack on with my drawing now :D

[wilfy]

i'm still really struggling.. i can visualise what i want things to do but i'm on the verge of saying sod drawing it in 3D and just draw loads of 2d drawing on paper at the moment. are the softwares that you use to cnc from as complicated as sketchup?

[WandrinAndy]

i'm still really struggling.. i can visualise what i want things to do but i'm on the verge of saying sod drawing it in 3D and just draw loads of 2d drawing on paper at the moment.

I can't comment on the CAD/CAM software as I haven't used it yet, but I also struggled with SketchUp initially.

Then Adil [Iwant1] pointed me towards the TUTORIALS on the Sketchup site and on www.sketchupforwoodworkers.com (http://www.sketchupforwoodworkers.com)

As I've now changed my CNC design about 8 gazillion times I'm now very comfortable with Sketchup, but it does take some time initially!

Hang in there Wilfy... Tutorials Tutorials Tutorials

[JoeHarris]

In an attempt to raise some money for my build I am wondering about writing an ebook about how to use sketchup effectively. I have been using it for more than seven years so it is one of the few things I am an authority on.

Firstly do you think this would be useful? And does a £5 on eBay sound reasonable?

[martin54]

There seems to be a fair amount of stuff available for using sketchup on the net which is free so my first question Joe would be what would your guide offer that's not already available? Not saying it's a bad idea at all, there are lots of tutorials for photoshop available, some are very good some are rubbish so a lot is down to the author.
Other thing is are there any copyright restrictions that would stop you doing it? Don't want to spend a lot of time & effort producing an ebook only to find you have to pay the software producers lots of money.

[WandrinAndy]

I would totally agree with Martin on this Joe. Personally I've found the free tutorials to be excellent and afraid my Scot's blood would stop me spending any dosh when it's available gratis. Lots of time and practice is needed and is unavoidable IMO.

[JoeHarris]

Fair enough guys thanks for the feedback! I know when I was learning CSS there where lots of free tutorials but parting with a few quid for a well written ebook saved me so much time it was well worth it. Not sure on the copyright front though, I guess screenshots might be the only sticking point ??

[WandrinAndy]

Just remember the feedback so far is nothing more than the initial view of two old farts... well, at least one is an old fart!

If you feel it will work, then go for it Joe! Nothing ventured...

[martin54]

Joe, the reason I mentioned photoshop was because there is an abundance of learning support, some free & some very expensive as I am sure you already know, like you I was happy to pay for some of the help I needed but all the stuff I paid for was recommended to me by people I know & trust.
If you are going to do something like this then I am sure some people will be happy to pay a few quid for a good tutorial but how many you sell will be down to how well you promote no matter how good it is.

Andy, your first comment was correct 2 old farts lol

[wilfy]

i'd pay for it but only because at the minute my brain seems to have died... and i infact cant be arsed to find the information i need. i am really struggling, i know what i want the software to do but it either doesnt do it or i dont know the right way of making it do it

[martin54]

Wilfy, sorry don't use the software or know anything about it so can't really help. Don't know what the tutorials are like but just know that there seem to be quite a few about.
Have you watched the vidoes on the sketchup site?? My advice as with any new software is take things easy & start with the basics, don't even think about the cnc build until you have got yourself familiar with how it works.

[wilfy]

i'm keeping this brief as i cant really get in to words what i'm trying to achieve but basicly i'm finding it hard to find video as i dont know what to search for if that makes sense? i'll report back 2moro once i've thought more about things and try come up with ideas of help that i need

[martin54]

Wilfy, have you watched these?? Sorry don't know if they are any good as haven't watched them myself. Don't use this software.

Trimble SketchUp (http://www.sketchup.com/intl/en/training/videos.html)

[WandrinAndy]

Those Trimble tutorials are great IMO. I would suggest that new SketchUp users :

Download the four part getting-started-series from https://sites.google.com/site/sketchupvideo/Home/sketchup-getting-started-series and watch and practice the basics.

Download the four Combined-Videos for Toolbars from https://sites.google.com/site/sketchupvideo/Home/google-sketchup-toolbar, watch them all initially, and then only watch them as and when needed.

The tutorials here are also a good starting point - www.sketchupforwoodworkers.com (http://www.sketchupforwoodworkers.com)

[wilfy]

the links for the first 4 part series are coming up in french and i cant see the download button :/

[WandrinAndy]

the links for the first 4 part series are coming up in french and i cant see the download button :/

Think that's probably a setting on your PC... Or have you converted to French overnight?

Try these four direct links wilfy...

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1Nw7cpMLUUKMWIwYzQ0ZTEtNGY3YS00ODQwLTkxZjktMWVmM 2MwM2EzOGI4/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1Nw7cpMLUUKZGQ5ZWMxNTktN2U5YS00MjFlLTkxN2ItOTVmY zc2ZDYyYTA5/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1Nw7cpMLUUKOGY0MGFmMDYtYWQwNi00OTExLTgwYzAtNzA1O TRkZjI4NjFm/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1Nw7cpMLUUKYjBlM2Q1MzItZTZiMC00MjU0LTkzNDEtM2I4O GZjYTQ5MzAx/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1

[wilfy]

lol when i click your links the text on the page is still in french.. i think this is the last straw for me now.. time for a reformat.. i'll report back in a hour or 2 and hopefully them links will work as i really need to start moving forward now

[wilfy]

nope strange still showing in french even after a reformat and new install of windows :S i have however just clicked what i thought was the download button and i now have the vids thank you

[WandrinAndy]

Ah... suspect you've been pulling my leg about the French...

Hope your download's not in Greek or Tagalog. Lol

[wilfy]

i can take a screenshot ya know ;)

[wilfy]

made it through the first 3 videos now so thank you for that.. somethings really starting to make sense so hopefully i'll be drawing up my machine some time soon

[STEVEYG]

joe harris
thanks very much for the "View>component edit>hide rest of model to fully isolate the element so you can work on a part that would otherwise be hidden - can be a life saver some times! (hope i'm not teaching you to suck eggs but someone is bound to find that tip useful.)"
It makes life so much easier

[D.C.]

I have a space navigator that I use to navigate round in sketchup and it's great, I paid £20-£25 for one a few years ago but they seem to have shot up in price to £80-£100. Not sure if I would pay that much for one, but if anyone is finding mouse navigation in 3D a pita and also has a chunck of change burning a hole in their pocket...

This is a demo of one being used in eaglecad

Use a 3D mouse with Eagle CAD (http://hackaday.com/2010/10/12/use-a-3d-mouse-with-eagle-cad/)

And if the price is offensive to you you could always make your own with a cnc machine/3d printer

Futuristic 3D mouse originally Arduino powered and 3D printed (http://hackaday.com/2010/11/01/futuristic-3d-mouse-originally-arduino-powered-and-3d-printed/)

[JoeHarris]

joe harris
thanks very much for the "View&gt;component edit&gt;hide rest of model to fully isolate the element so you can work on a part that would otherwise be hidden - can be a life saver some times! (hope i'm not teaching you to suck eggs but someone is bound to find that tip useful.)"
It makes life so much easier

No problem! - using groups and components correctly is the key to sketchup. Get some shortcuts set up for those two and 'hide rest' and you will be flying!

[STEVEYG]

Thanks again joe for another tip "shortcuts"
If any one is interested i found some good videos for sketchup at Home - Harwood Podcast Network (http://www.harwoodpodcast.com). I do find it a fantastic program and it's free. I've found the easiest way of transferring holes from one component to another is to draw a line at 90 degs from the centre of the first hole through the other component and then draw a circle on that components face. I tend to leave things at that because i find it difficult repairing "punched through holes" if it needs to be moved.