The "Duh!" thread (aka the Doh! thread)
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I'm sure everyone else already already knows this, but I have just noticed it this week, so I post it here for other newbies like me.
In any orthogonal view (top, left, etc), when you draw a rectangle in empty space, the "Measurements" box shows the horizontal dimension first. And that's how you use the numeric input in this case: horizontal, vertical.
If you draw it on a face, however, the measurements box shows the longest dimension first, no matter if it is the horizontal or the vertical. Thus, the order in which you should input the dimensions depends on how you start to draw it. So, if you want to keep your sanity, you might want to start drawing it with a longer horizontal dimension before using numeric input.
Hope it helps
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I changed the thread title in order to collect more "Duh!" moments here.
A couple of minutes ago, I just realized that the "Move" tool has a rotate function incorporated when you select a component. Just hover your mouse over any of the six faces of the bounding box and you'll see four red crosses. Select any of them to rotate your component around its center.
Another "Duh!" moment brought to you by a SketchUp newbie. I guess it's time to read the 887-page long manual from start to end.
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The little red crosses
This is my primary method of rotating anything.
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Duh, thanks, what manual ?-)
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@honoluludesktop: Here are the official PDF manuals:
http://sketchup.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=36213
The "reference" section seems to contain the same info as the PDF manuals, but it's easier to browse.
http://sketchup.google.com/support/bin/topic.py?topic=13678@Pilou: I think I found about "orient faces" last week, too.
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I started SU with version 4, at the time I used a precision optical mouse that had 4 buttons (no scroll wheel), so only until mid version 5 when I got a laser mouse with a scroll wheel did I realise one could orbit when pressing it....DUH!!!
I now model 10 times faster.
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i think the biggest duh moment of all that everbody (hopfully) goes through is realizing that it matters which way the faces are oriented.
90% of the 3dwarehouse posters still havn't had that duh moment.
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Thanks for the Move tip. Never noticed that before
I learn a program until it suits my immediate needs and then I don't learn anything more until I have to. I've been using AutoCAD for 6 or 7 years but because my needs haven't changed too much, my learning hasn't increased. I'm much faster now, but I'm faster doing things in the same way I've always done them - which may not be the best way.
I've used SketchUp for a number of years to make quick 3D sketches for my shop assistant but what with the Collapse my business is down(and out)so I'm using this time to generate full models of some of my stairs for a website. I've never done that before and I've never rendered anything. So I'm being forced to learn new things. I guess that's the silver lining. Saying duh! is a good thing.
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My Spacebar doesn't deselect - disappointed.
But orient faces is news to me and will be very helpful.
Thanks. -
My first "very duh" was to discover (in the manual, through the example of a cone) that the Follow Me tool can lathe - thus I can build a dome. Until then I'd built it manually - piece by piece - and had been so proud of my hand stitched dome that I even shared it in the Warehouse for the benefit of "the community" (and was kind of expecting applauses that eventually never came)
The middle mouse button was another duh but not as bad as yours, Pete.
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I have duh moments every time I watch videos of people drawing. I am always amazed that there is more than one way to do things, sometimes quicker and easier.
My biggest duh was learning that I could change the axis. I was drawing a railroad depot for GE that was off axis. I fought with it two days hand forcing the off axis shapes thinking there was something wrong with the program... turns out it was me.
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@unknownuser said:
My Spacebar doesn't deselect - disappointed.
You right : I was no precise!
That deselect "tools" !
Deselect selected is of course clicked an empty space
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Discover Triple click (select all connected) and Spacebar (Deselect selected tools) very late!
Another Duhduh
The "orient face" (select one face then right click "orient face" makes all the object's faces orientation similar) -
Some Duh! moments I've had:
Realising the Taper tool could be used to scale a model.
Realising that I could change the radius of a circle that's been extruded.
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Using groups for the first time was a big one for me, i spent ages fiddling about trying to get geometry not to stick before that.
the organiser was another big un as well, so useful for anything where youve got more than a few groups/components.
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Big Duh moment for me was when someone else [not at all familiar with SU] put 5 in 'sides' for the circle tool creating a perfect pentagon
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@thomthom said:
Some Duh! moments I've had:
Realising the Taper tool could be used to scale a model.
...Thanks Thom for my Duh! moment of today.
Didnt know this till now, could have used it a so often, will be so much happier from now on -
Duh!
moment yesterday!
Smoove tool can be used for smoove different shapes than circular...just use your mouse drag selection area over needed vertexes and use smoove tool over them.Play with size of smoove circle to see how it affects selected area. -
Now that you mention that, I have an embarrasing one for you, my kid who was 11 at the time of me teaching him the ins and outs of SU when one day I was teaching him how to map textures to a sphere and I asked him to get an image of the earth to map from our server texture folder, he opened up the folder on the second monitor and dragged it onto the sphere, I exclaimed 'What on earth are you doing" and before I could complete my setence with the all to fimiliar 'you dumbass' the texture was mapped onto the sphere, sure it was not UV mapped correctly but I had not known that was possible. Being a wise-ass he replied "like every karate movie, the studend with enough practice becomes the master"
I had to create another cartoon character that day to show him who's boss. -
@hfm said:
Big Duh moment for me was when someone else [not at all familiar with SU] put 5 in 'sides' for the circle tool creating a perfect pentagon
Ah, that remind me:
Being able to put in "s5" in the VCB to control the number of sides before I create a circle or arc... Big Duh!
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