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What's your beginners tip?

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  • M Offline
    mxabucknell
    last edited by 27 Oct 2008, 21:07

    I don't know if this has been raised before, but my tip would most certainly have to be...

    Intersect with model is under the edit menu.

    If I had known this when I started sketchup, I would have been making cooler models faster

    why 255 characters as a limit? SMF sets 300 by default...

    and there's no counter to tell me how many I have left... :disappointed:

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    • F Offline
      flo
      last edited by 6 Nov 2008, 18:42

      My tip would be:
      "If you are going to use more than one copy of an item in the model make it a component,

      Fine-Nowthat I made a component I'd like it to be available to me in my component list whenever I open a new sketchup. Is this possible?

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      • S Offline
        solo
        last edited by 6 Nov 2008, 18:52

        Yes, right click and save as .... in a folder within your component library.

        http://www.solos-art.com

        If you see a toilet in your dreams do not use it.

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        • D Offline
          d.alexnine
          last edited by 6 Nov 2008, 21:16

          Just in case this has not been brought up more than three or four times;
          take the time out and watch basecamp vids....

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          • K Offline
            Kenny
            last edited by 27 Nov 2008, 21:06

            To deselect you can use ctrl-T as well as clicking in white space. I use this a lot to avoid zooming out to get white space to click in.

            Kenny

            http://www.townscapesolutions.co.uk/

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            • C Offline
              Click Draw
              last edited by 27 Nov 2008, 22:15

              One thing is while learning is to have a definate project to draw. Don't just sit in front of the computer and figure out what you can draw. Say your gonna build a basic house, and start drawing. Learn keyboard shortcuts as much as possible and also learn what holding ctrl,shift,etc will do when you are performing a function like copying. (like may functions, this is ONE way) To copy, select the object,click on a part of the object(prefferrably a corner of major part of the object),then,before you move the mouse, click the ctrl button, then move your new copy. Hope that makes sense...
              Have fun like Solo says....very true.
              Cheers, Jeff

              Have I mentioned how much of a laugh I get out of some of the Signatures on here!

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              • S Offline
                solo
                last edited by 28 Nov 2008, 02:14

                • Do not try and learn too many things at once
                • Learn about ruby's
                • Switch off autosave and get into a routine of saving after major steps (autosave slows down system)
                • Only texture at end as textures bog down model
                • Do not model new components in scene, open new instance to create new objects and then make them components and import into scene
                • Use layers, I repeat use layers as it makes the scene manageable
                • Purge entire model regularly
                • Walk away, after 30 minutes or so leave your work station and return ater five minutes, as this helps with concentration and a great way to find mistakes as the renewed eye will find faults
                • Import amazing models and destroy them in order to learn how they were made, I have learned a lot by other peoples techniques
                • If you cannot figure it out, come here and ask
                • keep your modeling machine lean, limit the amout of background apps to a bare minimum as it helps with speed and stability.
                • Be organized, keep texture and component folders organized as ease of finding stuff means productive workflow.
                • Most importantly as I've said before, have fun, enjoy the Sketchup experiance and keep playing as the skills you learn today will be forgotten next month unless you keep at it.

                Hope this helps as this is the way I do it.

                http://www.solos-art.com

                If you see a toilet in your dreams do not use it.

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                • 2 Offline
                  21D
                  last edited by 28 Nov 2008, 03:16

                  @solo said:

                  • Do not try......
                    - Do not model new components in scene, open new instance to create new objects and then make them components and import into scene

                  ....Hope this helps as this is the way I do it.

                  Hi there SOLO,
                  I ask may a "why"??
                  i also have the same workflow as you, but i do not know the why, for this point...
                  πŸ‘ πŸ˜„

                  "I prefer drawing to talking. Drawing is faster, and leaves less room for lies."
                  Le Corbusier

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                  • S Offline
                    solo
                    last edited by 28 Nov 2008, 03:24

                    Rachid,

                    The reason for this is that opening a new instance of SU enables you to work without interferance, clean and focused on the object you are building, it also helps for smooth workflow as the new instance is free of cumbersome geometry.
                    If you are using any unstable plugins and you should experiance a crash then only that object crashes and not the scene.
                    Ever try orbiting an object within a huge scene? well with a new instance where the object is built at 0,0 orbiting is easy and control over the building process is much better.

                    Hope this helps you undestand my workflow.

                    http://www.solos-art.com

                    If you see a toilet in your dreams do not use it.

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                    • 2 Offline
                      21D
                      last edited by 28 Nov 2008, 03:32

                      @SoLo
                      Yup helped allot, and i did notice that orbiting in large models is quite a nuisance,
                      thanks for explaining to me Solo, am definitely going to add it to my work flow πŸ˜„

                      "I prefer drawing to talking. Drawing is faster, and leaves less room for lies."
                      Le Corbusier

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                      • I Offline
                        idraft
                        last edited by 28 Nov 2008, 03:33

                        Go to styles, wireframe and set your model to colour "by axis",...oh and dont try to read everything on this forum otherwise you will not get any work done. 🀣

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                        • ToboboT Offline
                          Tobobo
                          last edited by 28 Nov 2008, 11:51

                          I learnt from V1 and one of my best tips would be to learn triangulation of surfaces, then you will be able to understand why the sandbox tool is creating that really wired shape.

                          Toby

                          Philippians 4:13

                          I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

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                          • J Offline
                            Jim57
                            last edited by 7 Dec 2008, 22:45

                            Ever wonder why the screen navigates the way it does? Put your cursor where you want the action to happen. If you have one model in the foreground and another in the background, put your cursor over the one you want to spin & then orbit. If you are shrinking/expanding the view, you can travel through your scene by putting the cursor on the side you want to move away from. Shrink, then move to the opposite side to expand the view. Since everything moves around the cursor, you will move from one side of your scene to the other.

                            I work on a Macbook with a scrolling touchpad, so I can always shrink and expand my view easily, no matter what tool is up. This lets me get around without changing to a viewing tool.

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                            • GaieusG Offline
                              Gaieus
                              last edited by 8 Dec 2008, 09:39

                              Yes, definitely ood tips, Jim! πŸ‘

                              One can so easily forget about such "evidences" even after a few months of using SU while it is obvious that simply navigating in/around a model also needs a (however small) learning curve.

                              Gai...

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                              • V Offline
                                vinnie
                                last edited by 11 Dec 2008, 08:06

                                Although I am a beginner myself, my beginner tip would be:
                                First thing before you draw anything, make sure you are drawing in the right unit.
                                Same with importing a drawing. Make sure on the options tab under review icon, check if it selected the same unit style as your drawing, or else the imported drawing would be wrong scaled.

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                                • G Offline
                                  GreenToaster
                                  last edited by 11 Dec 2008, 12:56

                                  In addition to setting your units first, if you're going to draw a small object, like a watch, for example, you may also want to disable length snapping, or set this number to a smaller value.

                                  Window --> Model Info --> Units . . .


                                  disable length snapping for small objects.JPG

                                  If you really want something you won't ever stop pursuing it.

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                                  • GaieusG Offline
                                    Gaieus
                                    last edited by 11 Dec 2008, 12:59

                                    In fact, I keep it off all the time.

                                    BUT for a beginner, it CAN be useful until (s)he gets used to using precise vaues in the VCB/Measurement box and/or exploiting the full power of (other) inferences.

                                    At the same time, when trying to trace something on an image, it can become a pain so turn it off immediately then.

                                    Gai...

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                                    • pbacotP Offline
                                      pbacot
                                      last edited by 20 Dec 2008, 18:07

                                      Required Newbie Watching.

                                      Watch these great videos before getting too far. You may find one to answer your immediate question.

                                      Experieced users will also learn things they never knew or forgot.

                                      301 Moved Permanently

                                      favicon

                                      (www.sketchucation.com)

                                      MacOSX MojaveSketchUp Pro v19 Twilight v2 Thea v3 PowerCADD

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                                      • J Offline
                                        jessejames
                                        last edited by 2 Jan 2009, 08:53

                                        I would have to say the single most important thing you can do with any software is go through every menu item until you understand what they do. I mean EVERYTHING. From the filemenu on... all the way to preferences and the help menu. You may not understand every menu items usage right away, but you will find later on that by familiarizing yourself with these options you will learn the software much quicker.

                                        When i first started in computers--maybe 2 years ago, i am a late bloomer, i know πŸ˜„--i had no idea of usergroups, Usenet, chatrooms, much less how to find information on the net. I did not buy a video or read a book, i just opened the software and learned the damn thing.

                                        Get up close an personal with the user interface and your learning will be so much more fun

                                        </2pesos> 😎

                                        Always sleep with a loaded gun under your pillow!

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                                        • GaieusG Offline
                                          Gaieus
                                          last edited by 2 Jan 2009, 11:13

                                          πŸ‘
                                          Exactly. This is what Jean (Johnny) Lemire also suggests at his 3D BaseCamp session in the "Tips & Tricks" panel (last presenter in this video).

                                          Gai...

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