What's your beginners tip?

dylan · 28 May 2010, 07:34

You get the full features of Groups and Components in the free version.
There is very little difference between Pro and Free. The main differences being file export and Layout. There are a few more but all the modelling tools are the same.

TIG · 28 May 2010, 09:01

Note that with Free you can use Dynamic Components, but you can't make them - that needs Pro...

Gaieus · 28 May 2010, 10:20

True but for this job, you do not need Dynamic Components.

In fact, though I have the Pro version, I extremely rarely use any of the Pro functions.

MAXV65 · 31 May 2010, 14:17

Hello group. My name is Craig. I'm fairly new to sketchup, having used a variety of 3d modelers in the past. Really enjoying it. I have one question. I'm looking for a plugin that would provide 'saved' selection sets, or the ability to re-highlight last selection or group. I'm not going to bore everybody with why, and therefore's, but needless to say it would seem a valuable time saver.

thanks for your time, and thanks for a great forum.

craig

TIG · 31 May 2010, 19:46

See http://www.smustard.com/script/SelectionMemory for free, or the inexpensive v2 there too...

MAXV65 · 10 Jun 2010, 20:30

@tig said:

See http://www.smustard.com/script/SelectionMemory for free, or the inexpensive v2 there too...

thanks a bunch. that will work.

Vicspa · 10 Jun 2010, 20:58

I did not read all of the other tips, but I'm sure someone has said this already, and it's worth repeating.
"SAVE OFTEN" ...SketchUP has a tendency to "crash often".

NOLASaintTM · 26 Jun 2010, 23:35

This may have been said before but please SAVE YOUR MODEL FREQUENTLY, Every few minutes, just take the 10 seconds out to push [CTRL] + [S]. you don't want to be in the position where your model bug splats (crashes) and you lose all your work. I learned this the hard way, but i hope you won't.
Another tip: Learn by watching. Look at other users' models, especially their WIP (Work in progress. AKA an unfinished model) models. You might see how they do it. You might learn a new trick or a new way to use a certain tool. Don't be afraid to ask someone how they made a model either.

GoldenFrog · 26 Jun 2010, 23:49

@unknownuser said:

Look at other users' models, especially their WIP (Work in progress. AKA an unfinished model) models. You might see how they do it. You might learn a new trick or a new way to use a certain tool. Don't be afraid to ask someone how they made a model either.
Agreed. But about saving, that's why SU has autosave Though it is always good to be on the safe side.

pilou · 27 Jun 2010, 07:17

Save is cool but when your file becomes some big that is less cool

Gaieus · 27 Jun 2010, 09:47

The problem with autosave is exactly what Pilou says. When your file becomes rather large and it "hits" you the worst time, it can take forever. Imagine you are in an operation with a heavy ruby plugin (which can take a while in itself, too) and then in the meanwhile comes the autosave.

I basically turned it off and got used to saving the model at every possible and "logical" time (mainly after some major steps). However it would be a risky thing to suggest this...

GoldenFrog · 27 Jun 2010, 21:11

Ah, well, being a rather lazy person, I never make models so large tht it takes a long time to save 'em, but I get your point.

liam887 · 13 Aug 2010, 02:10

@gaieus said:

The problem with autosave is exactly what Pilou says. When your file becomes rather large and it "hits" you the worst time, it can take forever. Imagine you are in an operation with a heavy ruby plugin (which can take a while in itself, too) and then in the meanwhile comes the autosave.

I basically turned it off and got used to saving the model at every possible and "logical" time (mainly after some major steps). However it would be a risky thing to suggest this...

ditto

although when you forget to manual save.....................
happens more than i will admit lol

boofredlay · 13 Aug 2010, 02:42

I did the same. And now I am hard wired to hit save before any plugin operation

Gaieus · 13 Aug 2010, 10:08

Yes indeed, I also forget to save sometimes and once it did happen to me that I splatted and lost some hours of work - exactly the worst timing as it was a tight deadline.

That's why I also wrote it would be risky to advise this...

Design1 · 14 Aug 2010, 15:09

Model somthing that is accesable to you, your house, letterbox, a piece of furniture etc model and delete/build until you get it right. Emulating the real world will force you to uncover new aspects of SU you may not otherwise stumble upon.

DreadedOne509 · 20 Aug 2010, 16:07

As a beginner myself (more aptly called a newb) I can say with confidence that the first
thing someone should do is RTFM (read the 'manual'). It's long, boring, etc etc et al ad nauseum but more than worth it.

Just the toolbar and tools sections are worth the time and effort. There are so many context and tool altering keyboard
key combination's for the various tools that it'll really be worth your while.

jgb · 17 Feb 2011, 21:52

It's a mistake I made by the bushel when I started using SU.

I made multiple copies of grouped geometry instead of making them components.
My rule now is if ANYTHING is more than 1 occurrence, it is a component.

So when I did convert one of the group copies to an identical component (select, explode, make comp) I was faced with the task of replacing the same groups with that same component, in the exact same position. When I moved the comp into the groups position, it would snap into position and I was not able to select only the group to delete it.

I tried several things with variable success, until I stumbled on this simple solution.

Before you move the comp onto the group, edit the group and add a single line from any point to outside its existing bounding box, then close it.
Move the comp into place. It will still snap in place.

Now simply click on the extended group line and you can easily select and delete only the group.

There is also a TT tool that replaces identical groups with an identical comp, but it does the whole drawing, which is not what you may want, and if even the slightest difference is present, or the group is nested, it will not replace the group.

Speaker · 18 Mar 2011, 21:18

If you want to completely get rid of Sketchups face shading while keeping the colour, then turn on the shadows and set the light slider to 0 and the dark slider to 80. I found this useful for making the RBG value of the faces to match the one in the material editor.

JosefaHoge · 19 Mar 2011, 19:08

Hey

thanks for your beginning tips. They are really helpful for me to develop my interest and expertise and most importantly understanding the tool.