G'day from a new user

garfield

G'day all my name is Geoff.

I've just starting to use this sketch up program for a couple of days after seeing it on a woodworking forum that I'm a member of. I enjoy making furniture and mucking around with wood and would really like to get the knack of how to use this great program. I'm wanting to build my kids a couple of loft beds and would really love to be able to draw them to scale in sketch up 1: so that I can see what the beds will pretty much look like when it's done (as I have a couple of different ideas) 2: so if I make another down the track I'll still have the plans and dimensions stored on my hard drive.

Is there a video tutorial of someone making something like that on this forum? Sorry to be a pain in the bum but I'm not finding sketch up all that easy to operate.

Thanks for your help
Geoff

Gaieus

Hi Geoff and welcome to the forums.

Fortunately you'll find a whole bunch of woodworkers here who will gladly help you with more specific questions than just generally using SU.

I have started to put together a couple of useful links for beginners (among which there are a couple of video tuts as well). It the "Getting started" topic in this "Newbie Forum".

also, thinking of new users, we even have a "tutorial" section which you have most probably discovered already. There are some Flash video tuts there as well.

Then again; if you have any specific question, just start asking them.

garfield

Thanks guys. I'm hopeless and I'm finding it hard to draw certain things that would be helpful in drawing the beds up.

remus

just give us a shout if you want a hand with modelling anything. plenty of people here who are happy to help.

garfield

@remus said:

just give us a shout if you want a hand with modelling anything. plenty of people here who are happy to help.

Thanks remus. Mate I just wouldn't know where to start drawing a sketch of the beds I want to design. I've been watching a couple of the tutorials and what I have watched hasn't really been any help to me as it is just rectangles and pitched roofs. I'm sure when I actually draw my first sketch it will kick on from there.

Thanks
Geoff.

alan wood

Hi Garfield
As a fellow chippie, one tip i would like to pass on is that if you intend to use the intersect with model tool, or the follow me tool and have small radii (spelling?) on the corner, sketchup sometimes does not like it.

The solution is draw the model 10 or 100 times larger and it generally it will work. l wor
cheers
Alan

Alan Fraser

Hi Geoff,
You'll get a good idea of the general functionality of the program by watching the videos on the Help menu. There are many ways you could go about such a project. Here's a very basic idea...just click on each scene tab in turn.
bunk[2].jpg

bunk.skp

boofredlay

My suggestion would be to get in there and just start drawing. Don't worry about being exact right off the bat, in fact don't even try to do an actual project. Have fun and learn the basic commands before trying to do something "real".
Draw your computer monitor, or your speakers. Or the bookcase in your hall (no I have not been in your house).
Just an idea.

Gaieus

What Eric (Boofredlay) says. Just start "playing". Draw rectangles, pull them up with the push/pull tool and see that they can look like wooden boards. Do the very basics and go along the User Manual (the SU Guide) that you can access from the Help menu also but I like using a separate brower window for it.

The first links in here:
http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=1398

When I started SU, I playsed around a bit, started to understand and enjoy the program and then went through that manual and did everything it said step by step.

Alan; yes, radii.

garfield

Ok thanks, I'll just muck around with it for a bit longer and if I get stuck i'll touch base.

Geoff

Gidon Yuval

Geoff hi,
If you want to know how to start off your model just ask your self: "How would I draw it with a pencil and paper?"
If you want to draw one of the legs you'd draw a rectangle and the lines going up and another rectangle at the top, right?
Well, that's how you draw it in SketchUp. You just have to learn what the icon for the pencil tool is and the icon for the rectangle is etc.
Actualy, its more of a cross between drawing with a pencil and playing with clay. You draw the rectangle and then use the push/pull tool and the drawing becomes a piece of clay that you can stretch to any length you want.
Playing with clay is fun, right?
So is modeling with SketchUp!

Sawduster

Garfield,
Over the many years I've been playing with computers (back to the days of the Commodore VIC20 if anyonbe remembers that) I have tried on several occassions to use a number of different CAD type programs and could just never "get it". Not saying that SU is CAD but it sure seems a lot more useable to me than the other stuff.

You can make your drawings as simple or as detailed as you like. For woodworking, I use it to develope detail plans right down to the M&Ts and dovetails. By doing detail plans, I run into those "issues" on the computer screen instead of after I've cut an expensive piece of timber a quarter inch too short.

I've got a few completed plans on this page on my website: http://www.sawdustersplace.com/Sketchup%20files/SketchupPlans.htm Just click on the "stills" to download the SU files and mess around with them. Take stuff apart, move it around. Maybe that'll help some with learning.

Biggest advice I can give you is to make components of each piece of "wood" in the project.

garfield

Thanks all,

I now have sketchup 5 and I'm finding that when I do a measurement that 1: it's in feet and inches and not the metric system I want and 2: it doesn't show in the bottom right hand corner like it does on the free download sketchup.

Can anyone please tell me how I can change the measurements to metric and how to display it in the bottom right hand corner please.

Thanks
Geoff.

Gaieus

Hi Geoff,

Go to Window > Preferences > Templates and there you can make your choice for any metric template (like mm, cm, m). Start a new SU model so that this takes effect.
The status bar of your SU window may be hidden behind the taskbar. Maximize your window (the "square" button on the top right) and it (the "VCB" = "Value Control Box") should be displayed.

garfield

Thanks Gaieus and James; problem soved so thanks heaps.

Geoff.