What's the best way to learn SketchUp Shortcut Keys?
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Hi All,
I've been asked by a newbie about the best way to learn SketchUp shortcut keys. I thought I would pass it on here to see if you guys can throw some light on the subject or offer tips / hints.
It seems that an action takes 5000 repetitionsfor it to stick with 'muscle memory'. Here is a YouTube that explains the process for a musician, How Muscle Memory Works
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUsK0sQKnDcAny thoughts appreciated
Mike
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I am usually assigning shortcuts which are somehow related with the names of the plugins or tools(as the original shortcuts). But at times I must assign some keys that are near the functionality keys.
Shift+T tube/pipe along a path
Shift+C Clean plugin etcI would not create a shortcut for a tool/plugin that is not used too often. If you use it regularly you will learn the shortcut in a blink.
Practice at least a couple of hours a day and I bet that in a week you will remember all the shortcuts. -
Pretty simple. If you want to get to Carnegie Hall you need to practice.
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My shortcuts are pretty weird actually. But they work. for example. . ."W" for the pan, cuz it looks like a little Hand. "Q" for orbit, cuz it reminds me of the icon. "y" for the 'eye" The other thing is I put the most common tools that are easiest to do with i key stroke on the left hand so I can keep my hand on the mouse.
That kinda thing. I guess it doesn't really matter once you get used to them it becomes second nature. been that way for years.
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@roland joseph said:
Pretty simple. If you want to get to Carnegie Hall you need to practice.
Or just use your Google maps, duh.
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Same here...
I use two mouse buttons (with F3 and F8 assigned) with different combinations of Shift, Strg, Alt.
Select = F3
Line = Alt+F3
Push/Pull = Shift+F3
Tape Measure = Shift+Strg+F3
Move = F8
Rectangle = Alt+F8
Offset = Shift+Strg+Alt+F8
...but only for the main commands (12-14) - the rest is still keyboard only, but mostly grouped around the left hand (°,q,y,w,s,x,...)
It took some time to get used to it but now it's working very fast for me
@david_h
why do you need a shortcut for "Orbit" and "Pan"? For a laptop with touchpad? -
I think by the short sample of users we have here (me included) that there's no point in memorizing shortcuts!
One should assign them as we are using commands and simply let go from standard.
Repetition is key for shortcut keys.
NEVER assign a shortcut for unrepetitive work. That's what the toolbars are there for and even if you can have all the modifier keys... there's a limit to how much line methods you can add on the L key...
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I found the easiest way to remember shortcuts was the NOT have toolbar buttons for the native modelling tools...
to work at any speed I HAD to remember the shortcuts, because the menu is tedious...
once I knew the standard tool shortcuts adding extra ones to my memory bank was much easier...
when I set a shortcut, I tend to remove the toolbar button...
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@numerobis said:
@david_h
why do you need a shortcut for "Orbit" and "Pan"? For a laptop with touchpad?because I can.
maybe those are longcuts. -
Most important: Don't try to learn them all at once!
My method (for any bit of software) is something like...
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Recce the software, play with it for a few days, to get a feel for which things I most want quick access to. For example, with Sketchup, it quickly became clear that the navigation shortcuts and axis locking were going to be indispensable.
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Are there any of those commands that I already have a 'muscle memory' for? If so, assign accordingly. For example, I use the single quote for turning guides on and off because I use other graphics software where that key shows/hides the snapping grid - so I just found my fingers going there without even thinking about it, because the function is analogous. Don't fight the reflexes you already have, work with them!
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Each session, pick a particular operation that this project is going to need a lot of, and try to learn just one or two new keys. For me, that's the key (pun intended!) - I learn the shortcuts on an actual job that needs doing - having a "dummy" session purely to learn new shortcuts rarely work well for me.
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Make sure the shortcuts are backed up somewhere! Stick that file on a memory stick that I always carry, so that I can make the software work how I like with just a quick file load, or restore settings if something goes wrong with a new install.
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Thanks for the feedback and great tips guys.
One thing that throws a spanner in the works when it come to muscle memory and shortcut keys is that its either a left or right hand operation depending on whether one is right or left-handed. My two handed typing skills get me by. Its a mixture of eight finger typing and a little one finger typing. It works for me and muscle memory comes into play.
Maybe all the shortcut keys for a left-hander should be on the right side of the keyboard and in that case of a right-hander the light side of the keyboard? Could this be a follow through building on normal typing with muscle memory?
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It's not just muscle memory at play here. It's also logic, intuitiveness and above all confort when working with the mouse simultaneously. I work with the right hand on the mouse, so I tend to have all my shortcuts on the left side of the keyboard, within confortable distance from the CTRL+ALT+SHIFT modifier keys. One key shortcuts like line, can be farther away from the modifiers...
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I myself leave native SU tools to the keys assigned. No much reason to change them as they are well chosen: "l" for Line, "e" for Erase etc...
Then I see if there are some free keys left for other commands I use a lot. Of course there are some so I make them shortcuts: "n" - Top View, "x" - X-ray, "g" - Group, "k" - Component...
I do this even when the commands have already more complex shortcuts such are "Ctrl+c". Simply, single key is more convinient for use than combination of keys.Then when all are occupied I use combinations with "Ctrl" (more often) and "Alt" (very rarelly).
I don't bother to make shortcuts for commands used just occasionaly.
I let the process of work decide what I need.
What I always had on all versions of SU is:"Ctrl+e" - Explode (funny thing - this is so used command but with no shortcut originally assigned)
"Ctrl+h" - Hide/Unhide the rest of the model (a very useful command - I recommend this to everyone)
"Ctrl+g" - Hidden Geometry
"Ctrl+i" - Paste in PlaceEventually if I use some plugin a lot then I just see what key combination is "free" for it.
So, if you ask me about shortcuts I can tell you two things:
1) Let the process of work decide what you need, and
2) Stick to some hierarchy. -
@aureus said:
"Ctrl+h" - Hide/Unhide the rest of the model (a very useful command - I recommend this to everyone)
So useful, in fact, that "H" without CTRL is much faster to use. Who cares for "H" as pan? That's why you have your mouse for!
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I think the only "muscle memory" that's involved is the brain ! If I want to draw a circle, my finger goes to "C" not because my hand automatically goes there, (in a typing / Typist sort of way), but because my brain has learned the shortcut. I guess you could say I automatically then select C without looking down at the keyboard, but that's missing the point.
I'm not sure I've made my point clearly but I think typing is true muscle memory in that you don't even consciously think about where the letters are on the keyboard - you just type ! Shortcuts are different in that you DO think about it, (for a split second granted), and then you type the letter.
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Funny you should ask... about a week ago I finally (after 2-3 years with SU) decided to start using keystrokes. I found a list of the basics... & already I've almost forgotten using the icons. I guess it was just time!
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Just to make it all the more confusing, because I work in several languages I have a blind keyboard. Meaning there are no markings, so I simply know the relevant key depending on which language I am in. The keys I most often screw up are Z and y as they are the most often used but reversed in so many layouts.
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@box said:
Just to make it all the more confusing, because I work in several languages I have a blind keyboard. Meaning there are no markings, so I simply know the relevant key depending on which language I am in. The keys I most often screw up are Z and y as they are the most often used but reversed in so many layouts.
Bah, seems like you're a genius!
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along with his blind keyboard he has three blind mice.
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