What's your beginners tip?

Ross Macintosh · 17 Sept 2008, 08:05

Tip: Orbit, Pan & Zoom using the middle mouse button / scroll wheel.

middle mouse button to orbit
middle mouse button + shift to pan
and the scroll wheel to zoom

The tool buttons for orbiting, panning and zooming almost never need to be used.

Gaieus · 17 Sept 2008, 08:07

Yeah, deinitely. I even change the Orbit shortcut key (O) to Offset (while the original offset (F) is now Follow me. I think it is more logican and the orbit tool (a a button) is totally redundant.

pilou · 17 Sept 2008, 09:53

Enable "Hidden geometry" can help for curved forms and explain why some surfaces can't be selected
Works also fine with the Joint Push Pull (the plug to add first!

Edson · 17 Sept 2008, 10:03

the three pillars of modelling well (IMHO, of course):

work ALWAYS on layer 0;
GROUP whatever geometry you are creating (in case there should be more than one copy of it, make it a COMPONENT);
place it on another LAYER whose name makes sense (essential for controlling the model's visualization).

HFM · 17 Sept 2008, 17:45

@edson said:

the three pillars of modelling well (IMHO, of course):

work ALWAYS on layer 0;

GROUP whatever geometry you are creating (in case there should be more than one copy of it, make it a COMPONENT);

place it on another LAYER whose name makes sense (essential for controlling the model's visualization).

A big Amen to that, I always work this way

My tip:

While selecting different kind of materials for your model to try out looks, don't forget to delete them afterward since SketchUp will remember every single material you've selected, clogging op your model's file size in the process.

Jean Lemire · 18 Sept 2008, 14:46

Hi Folks.

My first tip: READ THE HELP.

Just ideas.

boofredlay · 18 Sept 2008, 15:34

But that is just one idea Jean

Use construction lines (with the tape measure tool) as much as is necessary.
And I also agree with Alan, watch all the training videos... many times over.

Anssi · 18 Sept 2008, 16:15

Don't curse the SU inferencing, learn its quirks so it start working for you. One of the keys is to use Shift (locking) creatively with the inferences.

Anssi

Hazza · 19 Sept 2008, 04:19

@anssi said:

Don't curse the SU inferencing, learn its quirks so it start working for you. One of the keys is to use Shift (locking) creatively with the inferences.

I never fought it, I just needed practice to get it to do what I wanted. I knew the Shift key locked tools like the protractor but didn't know it locked inferencing too, thanks.

@unknownuser said:

And I also agree with Alan, watch all the training videos... many times over.

That's one of the things I didn't do, I was too keen to just jump right in, I downloaded all of the SU5 videos, watched one or 2 and got bored. I enjoyed the doing and learning by mistakes more than just sitting passively watching someone else do it.

Alan Fraser · 19 Sept 2008, 06:05

No, no. You don't sit and watch...getting bored. You watch part way through, then say to yourself "Let's see if I understood that bit right." pause the video and try for yourself. Watch a bit more....pause it again....especially with the much longer V6 videos. Otherwise, by the time you reach the end, you've forgotten the stuff at the beginning.
You know what they say about showing somebody something is better than telling them about it...but doing it for yourself is best of all.

I'll bet a lot of people here learnt much of their expertise by reading questions from people that they didn't know the answer to right away. So they jumped right in...maybe refreshed their own memory by watching a video or reading the Help...and figured out the answer themselves.

Ross Macintosh · 19 Sept 2008, 09:21

Have Fun! Play!
It is human nature to jump right in, be ambitious, and attempt a "real project" when you are just getting your feet wet. That's what most of us did and its great so long as you can avoid frustrating yourself. Frustrations can zap your spirit. SketchUp should be a joy - and it can be.

Mix it up with some playing. Just fooling around and exploring tools and ideas is a fast-track to becoming more comfortable in SketchUp. It can be a remarkably intuitive program but you need to understand the flexibility it offers. You find that understanding through play and just trying different things.

Regards, Ross

Gidon Yuval · 25 Sept 2008, 05:51

Don't try out tools and techniques that are new to you on a model that you are working on. Rather, open a new file and try out the tool or technique there. Once you feel comortable with it then, and only then, should you begin using the tool/technique on your models.
Nothing is more frustrating or agonising than messing up a model you need with unfammiliar tools to the extent that you have to start the whole thing over again.

before using "follow me" on something like this:

try it on some thing like this:

Before wraping textures on something like this:

try different textures on something like this:

And like everybody said already: Have fun with it.

Hazza · 29 Sept 2008, 03:48

Another tip:

If you are repeating the same action over and over again, someone has probably already created a Ruby plugin to do it automatically for you.

Alan Fraser · 29 Sept 2008, 08:31

What!...someone's written a Ruby that says "No, you stupid B####rd, move along the OTHER axis."

Hazza · 29 Sept 2008, 21:00

@alan fraser said:

What!...someone's written a Ruby that says "No, you stupid B####rd, move along the OTHER axis."

I said ACTION, not mistake

In a related beginners hint:
If you are having diffuculty getting SU to draw in the axis you want, change the camera angle. (eg, it's impossible to get SU to draw in the blue axis if you are looking from above.)

Related to the above:
It is easier to click, release, move the mouse and click again, than to click, drag and release. This is because you can middle click with ease using the first method but you will struggle holding down both using the second when you want to change the camera angle.

JuanV.Soler · 29 Sept 2008, 21:39

Click every now and then the Zoom Extents buttom.
you may get a surprise of something existing on the drawing board that you are not aware of.

Hazza · 29 Sept 2008, 23:46

Another beginners tip:

The behaviour of most tools can be altered by using different keys. SU will tell you what those keys are in the status bar along the bottom of the window, read them.

For example, when you select the "Tape measure" tool you can toggle guide points on and off using the "Ctrl" key.

GreenToaster · 3 Oct 2008, 06:33

I create a small box so I can quickly reorient the screen cursor onto either of the three default planes - put the cursor on one of the faces of the box, hold down shift to lock the orientation - this works but I'm sure there's a shortcut but I've never discovered what it is.

Happy Sketching,

Brad

Edson · 3 Oct 2008, 09:32

@greentoaster said:

I create a small box so I can quickly reorient the screen cursor onto either of the three default planes - put the cursor on one of the faces of the box, hold down shift to lock the orientation - this works but I'm sure there's a shortcut but I've never discovered what it is.

this is a very good tip. i have seen people on videos do that on the axes but i can hardly reproduce that. doing what you suggest works 100% of the time.

Roguer1 · 5 Oct 2008, 04:45

If you struggle with placing things or moving lines etc, use the direction keys on your keyboard to lock to either: blue (up or down), red (right), green (left) and to use end points or lines in your model to move to. Take a look at: Window> Preferences> Shortcuts to get a better idea of these things.