A Welcome Message to New SketchUcation Members

blake77 · 6 Apr 2011, 16:38

Yes, I am a newbe. My name is Ken. I am trying to learn how to use Sketchup for cabinet construction and drawing home plans. I am going through the tutorials to learn what I can, but the select tool is not working.

I am using a Mac powerbook with OS 10.5.8 leopard.

TIG · 6 Apr 2011, 17:02

Blake77How isn't the Select tool working ?
Not at all ?
Intermittently ?
When you try to do something in particular that you think should work ?
Does the cursor move?

Some more info will help us to help you...

blake77 · 6 Apr 2011, 20:55

The curser does not change into the pointer like the video says. Whatever tool I was using, when I select the select tool (I'm sorry - I guess it's the component maker tool) I still have the previous tool that I was using. I can not get the yellow box that outlines objects or anything.

Gaieus · 6 Apr 2011, 21:38

This is the select tool: and also when you press the Space bar, this tool should become active (although I have heard issues with certain Mac configurations)

blake77 · 6 Apr 2011, 22:12

Thank you for you help, I am slowly getting this figured out as I watch the videos again, but where I am still lost is I cannot get the yellow binding box that surrounds an object that is selected to modify.

Gaieus · 6 Apr 2011, 22:55

Here is the select tool for SU:
http://sketchup.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=94961
Go through the blue tabs on the top. Your selection colour may be blue however (it is simply a styles setting).

If you do not have the yellow or blue bounding box, selection box, dots or any highlight, it probably means some display glitch (which would be rare on a Mac).

What video card do you have?

blake77 · 7 Apr 2011, 21:50

I sketched a cabinet box. Then I sketched the face frame. How do I attach the face frame to the box. I can not get it to line up on the box. When I get to the front edge of the box the frame goes inside of the box or one end of it. Please help. Thank you.

blake77 · 8 Apr 2011, 02:01

Hi,
I sketched up a cabinet box and then the face frame. How do I attach the face frame to the box. I select the face frame, made it a component, and using the move tool. But It just does not want to aline correctly with the box. It either goes into the box or one end of it will not sit flush with the box. Thank you.

StilTeg · 8 Apr 2011, 08:12

You may try to move it axis by axis ... This is what I usually do for engineering build-ups ... Take one edge, move it along one specific axis until it aligns on that direction./ Then repeat for the 2 other axes. Voila ... Hope you can find it useful

mitcorb · 8 Apr 2011, 11:44

I assume your cabinet box and your face frame are either components or groups.
If, when you try to attach the two, only one end is aligned, then it means one or the other is not orthogonal with the global axes.
If it is a group, activate the move tool and hover over the selection. You will see some rotation grips- red crosses and the protractor "icon". Click on one of the crosses and it will rotate about the centroid in one plane.
Or, To align the skewed end you activate the rotate tool first, hover over your desired pivot point on the selection. Click there and drag the cursor out to the skewed end, click and move the cursor over the point of alignment on the box. You will have to preset your angle units to a desired increment, or disable angle units in Window>ModelInfo>Units. Let me recheck this and verify...
Edited the path above to insert ModelInfo. Clicking on units in the list will open a box with linear increments and angular increments with option to disable either or both.
Hope this helps.

Connector Geek · 13 Apr 2011, 16:20

Hi All,

I'm new! My name is Dave, and I'm an old TurboCad user. I'm going to be designing fairly complex accessories for electronic connectors, involving complex curves and threads. Does anyone have any initial tips that might help?

Many thanks

Dave

Gaieus · 14 Apr 2011, 07:01

Hi Dave and welcome!

Maybe two initial tip - one because you are coming from a CAD background:

Unlike in CAD programs generally, layers do not separate geometry in SketchUp.
Always use groups or components to separate raw geometry and only put these groups/components on other layer than the default Layer 0.
SketchUp is rather unwilling to create faces for geometry whose edges are very small (around 1 mm). The general tip is to work in a larger scale and only resize the model at the end. Your field seems to be this "miniature" world so this may help.
Since you are on metric system, you could use a template that uses centimetres or even metres but still "count" in mind in millimetres and scale the whole thing at the end by 10 or 1000 depending on your choice.

Connector Geek · 14 Apr 2011, 08:26

Hi Gaieus,

Thanks for the welcome, and a special thanks for the tips. Both are really interesting, especially the scaling issue. I had been wondering how SU was going to handle small items.

Many thanks once again

Dave

Coimix · 14 Apr 2011, 13:10

@unknownuser said:

Hello there,

Welcome to this little SketchUp Community we have set up here!

Welcome to this forum for all your beginners questions. You may also have more advanced questions and may post them in the appropriate forum.
If you're not sure if your question is beginner or advanced, then don't worry too much. The world is full of worrisome people already and we want you to get that cozy - de-worried feeling here. So in that case just post it here anyway.

Hi there!
Could you tell me what I am supposed to do for downloading ROUND CORNERS plug-in?

Gaieus · 14 Apr 2011, 13:18

@coimix said:

Could you tell me what I am supposed to do for downloading ROUND CORNERS plug-in?

In the first post of this topic , there is a download image:

Below that image, there is the plugin attached in a zipped archive.

Note that it requires another plugin library that you can download the same way here:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=17947#p144178

rscottsc · 15 Apr 2011, 17:42

I'm a new sketchup user and would like to introduce myself here, and humbly ask for some advise.

I have been doing some simple modeling and I've run into a repeated problem with the arch and push pull tool. When I round a corner of a rectangle using the arch and PP tool it leaves a line on the edge plane perpendicular to the faces at the beginning and end of the arch. I've attempted several fixes to no avail.

Is there a way to eliminate these lines?

Thanks,
Richard

Rich O Brien · 15 Apr 2011, 18:06

Hi,

Welcome to SCF!

Using the Eraser tool hold Ctrl to soften these hard edges.

There's more to explain but this should fix it. In fact there are lots of ways to fix it!

Gaieus · 16 Apr 2011, 05:57

Well, Rich beat me (or rather I was not looking too much lower the posts) but whatever - here is mine, too...

That's a natural thing as while the segments of an extruded arc are softened, the ends are not.
Use the Eraser tool and while holding down the Ctrl key, soften those edges as well.

And welcome to SCF!

When you are more familiar with the native SU tools (indeed one has to learn them) and ready for something on steroids, have a look at the Round Corner plugin:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=20485

rscottsc · 16 Apr 2011, 19:26

Thanks guys, the eraser did the trick. I look forward to learning more.

R

JBantha · 22 Apr 2011, 23:55

Hi there, i got a doubt about Match Photo.
I´m working on this model, just playing on SU, and some of the pilars don't fit onto the vertical axis, while the rest of the composition seems to work just fine.
My english is terrible, so here's the pic to see if you understand and/or can help me with this! ^^,
Thanks, greets from the tropics.