Cheers Kaas, appreciate the reply. Profile builder looks amazing! definitely need to check it out. Will make adding crown molding and cabinet profiles much much easier. I too model in a solid based workflow as it makes more sense in my head, and also easier to work with later down the road. Also good tips on using nested components; I find when I make my doors for example I just make the door all one component and do not break it down From the frame, door, knob, etc.

Hey Everyone,

I find that when designing a house it takes me a very long time to even get the basic structure built(floor, walls, doors, etc.). I have been using sketchup for a while and consistently use shortcuts, hotkeys and whatnot, however I still feel like it is taking me way longer than it should. Now part of this could be because I am a perfectionist, and hate having strange dimensions. I for instance cannot just "place" a door frame somewhere on a wall, I always measure to keep things consistent.

I was for example working on laying down a floor plan for a smallish house, took me an hour just to get the floor and walls done. I started by mapping each room out, connecting them into one floor and grouping together. Then added in the walls by doing offsets on each room, deleting the inside lines from adjoining walls. Does that method sound efficient? Hard to explain without images but hopefully you get the idea.

I just tend to get frustrated because I have these great visions of what I want to do, and have the hardest time implementing them.

When doing a slanted roof with two separate angles, say perpendicular to each other, what is the best method for combining those into a single roof? Should they be draw separately, then combined with intersecting objects, and delete the spare lines/geometry?

If anyone has any tips or tricks they use on a regular basis that they want to share it would be appreciated. I love designing in my spare time and would love to start cranking out some neat homes.

Thanks to all who reply.

I think its just how we perceive the picture with no reference objects to go off of. If you try and imagine a person standing next to the counter it seems to help. I think because it is a WIP that without anything in the space it seems to feel cramped in there surprisingly.

What about a half wall with a breakfast bar to separate the kitchen from the living space? still keeps the open feel, while giving separation from the two spaces.

Hey guys just whipped up a couple models tonight. Simple furniture really but good practice nonetheless. I have a render going for one of them and I will post that in the morning when it finishes up. I modeled all of these from photos so if you hate the design, blame the original guy

Any comments, questions or suggestions are always welcome!

Hey Dave,

I really appreciate you taking the time to outline that for me, it makes a lot more sense now. When I get home I will give it a go and see what happens.

Thanks again!

Hey Dave,

Really nice video showing the benefits of the follow me tool. Its a tool I hardly use mainly because I have a hard time visualizing a profile first, and then have the computer finish the drawing for me.

After watching that video I see now how I could easily make the rails that troubled me before quite quickly by just making a series of basic lines and arcs. I will need to pick up that Weld plugin as well, very helpful!

Thanks for the help Dave! I was thinking maybe the Bezier spline tool would work, but it sucks not having sketchup in front of me to try it out.

I really feel like its something super simple that I am missing, either with groupings or just general workflow. I did eventually get it but had a lot of trouble making the stainless rails, as I needed to extrude from the original pieces to make the rails "fit" properly, which then caused an absolute mess of faces.

Hey Guys,

This is going to sound super basic and I almost feel dumb for not finding a faster way on my own, but that's what a community is for. I was trying to model the chair in the link below and I was having a seriously hard time finding a quick and easy way of making all of those curves. My main issue was rounding the corners on the chair seat, and metal frame around the top, and foot rest area.

My first step was to make a square (for the foot rest), offset by my desired amount to make the rails, then use the arc tool to round the corners at the bottom edges. I eventually got it, but I kept running into a plethora of issues.

As for the chair seat itself I made a square followed by a few arcs for the contouring and used loft by spline to make the surface. I joint pushed pulled for thickness afterward. All of this took quite a long time, getting all the measurements correct. I feel like a model like this should not take more than an hour to get the basic shape done. I spent about 4 and ended up with nothing I was happy with.

I would post pictures of my workflow or maybe even a video but I am currently at work. If someone has any tips or plugins that might be helpful, please I am all ears.

http://www.houzz.com/photos/10470534/Lem-Piston-Barstool-Stainless-Steel-modern-bar-stools-and-counter-stools-

Hey everyone,

I am hoping I can get some guidance on how to go ahead an start UV mapping a simple wooden crate. I saw a tutorial on youtube where the individual was using maya and it seemed quite simple, a few clicks and he had an editable UV map in photoshop. I would like to do the same thing going from SU to photoshop, however I am quite lost on how to get there.

I have downloaded several plugins so far, UV Tools and Quadface, but I do not know how I can use such tools to get the result I am looking for.

Below is the box in question. I want to select all faces on top and unwrap them into a UV texture to edit in photoshop, any advise?