3 Newbies Qs Into 1
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Hi,
I've watched over 20 tutorials now and i'm finding SketchUp really really useful.
I have 3 newbie questions which i hope someone can help me with. I thought it would best to post my 3 questions as one post, so thanks in advance if you can answer any of the following questions:
QUESTION 01
Is there a group / component window where by you can see all of your groups and components within your model, so you could choose to hide and unhide each group /component.QUESTION 02
Is it possible to draw objects beside each other and then stack and snap them on top of each other.For example, if i wanted to draw a building that had 3 floors, which were supported but steel columns, would it be possible to draw each floor independently as a group beside each other and then when i am finished drawing everything i'd like to be able to stack the groups on top of each other, where they would snap into place.
Is this possible? I'd much rather be able to build various parts of a model independently and then snap them all together in the end.
QUESTION 03
- is there a setting to choose to make your models less jagedy / rough edges… so that your models look more smooth
Thanks in advance for your help.
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@oo7ml said:
QUESTION 01
Is there a group / component window where by you can see all of your groups and components within your model, so you could choose to hide and unhide each group /component.Look at Window>Outliner
@oo7ml said:
QUESTION 02
Is it possible to draw objects beside each other and then stack and snap them on top of each other.For example, if i wanted to draw a building that had 3 floors, which were supported but steel columns, would it be possible to draw each floor independently as a group beside each other and then when i am finished drawing everything i'd like to be able to stack the groups on top of each other, where they would snap into place.
Is this possible? I'd much rather be able to build various parts of a model independently and then snap them all together in the end.
Yes. There's the Move tool and if used correctly, you can snap one group on top of another. I'd draw the first floor, group it as you indicated and draw the next floor on top of it. That way you acn use existing geometry to guide you in placing new geometry.
@oo7ml said:
QUESTION 03
- is there a setting to choose to make your models less jagedy / rough edges… so that your models look more smooth.
More specifics. Are you referring to curves or just the way your model looks on the screen? For curves, you can change the number of segments if required. If it's just that edges have jaggies when you're viewing on screen, you can play with Anti-Aliasing settings and OpenGL settings under Preferences and you might find improvement. tHis is determined by your GPU.
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Hi, thanks for the detaled reply, it is much appreciated.
Some of my corners and where other lines meet each other look a little blocky. Is it possible to create full on smooth models, or does the word Sketch mean it is not intended for high fidelity (sorry if this is a stupid question)
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It's not really a stupid question. SketchUp represents curves as a collection of short line segments. By default the Arc tool uses 12 and the Circle tool uses 24. You can change the number of line segments used either before drawing an arc or circle or after as long as you haven't done anything to it such as extruding it a cutting it.
So for something like a round table top or a round corner on a building, it could make sense to increase the number of segments and thus the number of sides. On the other hand, if it is a small detail relative to the entire model, it might not be worth it. There's a cost that comes with increasing the number of sides used to create a curve. Entitiy count is increased along with file size and computer performance may be degraded due to the added load on the GPU. You have to figure out when it is worth increasing the value.
When you do need to increase the number of sides, don't just pick a really large number. There isn't any reason to make the number of edges larger than needed. I'll make an example to show you.
In the meantime, look at the Help files on Arcs and Circles. You'll get a lot of info there.
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On the left is a disk made with the default 24 sides. In the middle and on the right are ones where I increased the number of sides. One of them has 180 sides and the other 96. Can you tell which is which?
For some things I'll even reduce the number of sides in small arcs such as for roundovers on the edges of furniture parts.
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Yeah i see what you mean... good example.
I can see the difference but i actually can't tell the difference between the 180 and 96
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@oo7ml said:
Yeah i see what you mean... good example.
I can see the difference but i actually can't tell the difference between the 180 and 96
That was the point.
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Haha, thanks Dave, much appreciated.
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