Create and Insert a Component

jhearcht · 30 Jan 2008, 23:00

SketchUp Pro 6.4.112 on Windows XP

I'm not exactly a Newbie, but have used SketchUp only infrequently over the past couple of years. And I'm still having a lot of frustration with the basic task of creating a new component and inserting it into the drawing. So I'll have to swallow my pride and admit that I am a SketchUp dummy.

I am currently trying to create a simplified two-dimensional metal louver to place in the wall of a simple building. I first enter the wall group and draw a 4'x 8' rectangle on the wall, then push the new face into the wall 8". Next I exit the group and draw a new white rectangle over the one in the group, then I draw some black rectangles to represent the shadows between blades. I group the rectangles and right click to select Create Component. After setting the glueing face on the backside of the paper-thin component (which I find to be a tricky process), I name and save it. Then I (A) enter the wall group and attempt to place the new component like a decal on the recessed face of the wall, or (B) attempt to place it outside the wall group. Obviously I have missed an important step or concept, because after struggling to align the two rectangles, the component is halfway shaded as-if it is partly embedded in the wall, or sitting at a slight angle to the wall face. There's got to be an easier way!

I haven't been able to find any detailed, step-by-painstaking-step instructions for creating custom components, online or in the Help files. Apparently, this procedure is considered so easy that only a dummy would have a problem with it. But I am not in the market for the SketchUp for Dummies book just yet. Any useful suggestions will be appreciated.

tomsdesk · 30 Jan 2008, 23:15

Hey J,

The "halfin/halfout" is the typical look of coplanar planes (the wall and the component fighting for space). If you want the component to cut an opening in the wall it needs to be created when it is an opening in a face...just draw and create it on the wall inside the group (with or without the opening "sides") and make sure you check "cut opening" (I use "any" for the glue).

Hope this helps, Tom.

jhearcht · 30 Jan 2008, 23:18

Perhaps I should clarify that I sometimes get error messages saying "can't put that there", or a No-Go symbol. Obviously I am not clear on the protocols for inserting objects into groups.

jhearcht · 30 Jan 2008, 23:20

I tried placing the cut opening component directly on the wall, but when I tried to push it into the wall, it wouldn't go. Again, it seems to be a procedure or protocol misunderstanding on my part.

Alan Fraser · 30 Jan 2008, 23:34

I'm not quite following what you are trying to do. But if I was making such a louvre in a wall group, I'd do it something like the attached.

louver.skp

jhearcht · 31 Jan 2008, 00:01

Alan

that looks very similar to what I have been doing. However, I don't follow when you say, "drag component out of browser".

Alan Fraser · 31 Jan 2008, 00:10

When you create a component, it will be added to the Component browser...In Model tab. Just drag it out of the browser window onto the wall. Open the wall first if its grouped.

At this point, the component is just "internal"...you haven't actually saved it as a separate file. If you do want it as an "external" file to use in other models, don't save it from the File menu, right click its icon in the browser and "Save As".

jhearcht · 31 Jan 2008, 00:25

I see; I was thinking of the wrong browser. Still, I can't see what I am doing wrong.

When I enter a group and place the component on the wall face, it will cut a wall opening, but it won't Push back into the wall---it will only Pull out of the wall. What is that trying to tell me?

jhearcht · 31 Jan 2008, 00:29

Speaking of Groups, it would help me to know when I am editing a specific Group. In VectorWorks, a Group ID pops up and you can't select anything outside of the group while editing inside the group. So it's not such a struggle to avoid selecting the wrong item. I can't find anything like that in SU.

Gaieus · 31 Jan 2008, 03:56

@jhearcht said:

...When I enter a group and place the component on the wall face, it will cut a wall opening, but it won't Push back into the wall---it will only Pull out of the wall. What is that trying to tell me?

You have most probably screwed something up with the component axes and it is gluing somehow inside out. Make sure to create the component in the way Alan described above. Or maybe do this:

enter the group's entity
draw a rectangle with the desired dimensions
selet all the rectangle and make it a component (glue to: any, cut opening: yes) - this should make sure you are setting the right gluing plane
only now pus/pull it to depth and make all the changes.

@unknownuser said:

Speaking of Groups, it would help me to know when I am editing a specific Group. In VectorWorks, a Group ID pops up and you can't select anything outside of the group while editing inside the group. So it's not such a struggle to avoid selecting the wrong item. I can't find anything like that in SU.

When editing a group (or a component), you cannot select anything outside its context in SU either.
Besides, when right clicking an entity, you can choose "Entity info" with a couple of information.
Also, there is the Outliner window (Window menu) where you can easily select entities (even nested ones) as well as check out (and modify) all the structure of your model.

tomsdesk · 31 Jan 2008, 04:43

J...time for a pic of "it will cut a wall opening, but it won't Push back into the wall---it will only Pull out of the wall". Can you post a couple of screen captures?