SketchTalk CommandsFrom Edges to Rubies—The Complete SketchUp Tutorial
©2010, Martin Rinehart
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Specifying 3d points, precisely. [ red, green, blue ] |
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Command | SketchUp | Sample | Description | Reference Returned |
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all | Select All | all | Selects all entities in visible layers. (Same as pressing Ctrl+A.) | model.selection() |
box | box o, [20,20,0], 15 | Rectangle from origin to 20,20, rg plane, PushPull up 15. | Box | |
c¹ | Circle Tool | c 24, [0,0,0], 20, 'rg' | Circle, 24-sided, around origin, 20 unit radius in rg plane. | Circle |
c 12, [0,0,20], 20, 'gb' | Circle, 12-sided, centered 20 above origin, radius 20, in gb plane. | Circle | ||
c 12, [10,10,10], 20, [1,1,1] | Circle, from [10,10,10], radius 20, facing [ ∞, ∞, ∞ ]. | Circle | ||
col² | col 12, [0,0,0], (15.484/2).m, [3.9,0,55.86], 55.86.m | Column, 12-sides, based on Leaning Tower of Pisa. | Column | |
cz | Edit/Undo | cz | Ctrl+Z. | |
del | Delete | del | Pressing Delete key. | |
donut | Rectangle + oFFset + PushPull | donut [0,0,-96],[240,360,-96],96,8 | (Basement walls.) Rectangle from origin to 20',30', 8' underground; PushPull up 8' and hollow out all but 8 inches. | Doughnut |
draw | (done automatically) | draw | Invalidates the active view, forcing SketchUp to redraw it. | View |
face | face [0,0,0],[20,0,0],[10,10,0],[20,20,0],[0,20,0] | Adds a group then adds a face to the group with any number of points. | Group | |
g | Make Component | stp = g 'step' | Make component named 'step' from selected entities. Retain a reference in stp . |
ComponentInstance |
go | go | Begin executing timed moves. | true | |
i | File/Import | i '/models/biplane' | Imports '/models/biplane.skp' to the origin. | Imported Component |
l | Line Tool | l [0,0,96], [0,180,96*2], [0,360,96] | (Roofline.) Line from 8' over origin to 15', up 16' on red axis, another 15' down to 8' on red axis. | array of Edge objects |
lst | load 'sketch_talk.rb' | lst | Note: you must start with "load '/your/path/sketch_talk.rb'" to load this function. | true (on success) |
m | Move | m stp, [10,10,0] | Moves component or group stp 10 units in red axis direction, 10 units in green axis direction. |
View |
m biplane, [100,100,50], 10 | Move biplane 100 units in red and green axes directions, 50 units up blue over 10 seconds. |
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Experimental: m comp, [100,100,50], 10, 20 | Move comp 100 units in red and green axes directions, 50 units up blue starting 10 seconds after 'go' up to, but not including, second 20. comp must be a component instance. |
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mc | Move/Copy | mc stp, [0,9,7], 14 | Move/Copies component or group stp 9 units on green, 7 units up, 14 times. |
range (1..14) |
mci | Movable Component Instance | mover = mci sel | Given a ComponentInstance, returns a MovableCI5. A MovableCI is much easier to move, rotate and scale than a ComponentInstance. | MovableCI |
n³ | Select All/Delete | n | Easy, inferior substitute for File/New. | |
new | File/New | new | Superior, but all those "Save changes ...?" prompts are a nuisance. | true |
none | Select Tool, click outside selection | none | Clears any selections. | |
o | o | [0,0,0] or, if a component is the first selected object, the component's origin. | Point3d.new( o() ) | |
ogb |   | ogb 100 | Rectangle from origin in gb plane, 100 units square. Group result. | Rectangle. |
orb |   | orb 100 | Rectangle from origin in rb plane, 100 units square. Group result. | Rectangle. |
org |   | org 100 | Rectangle from origin in rg plane, 100 units square. Group result. | Rectangle. |
p |   | p [10,10,0], [-10,-10,0], 15 | Pyramid built on Rectangle from near to far, 15 units tall, grouped and selected.6 | Group. |
q | Qrotate Tool | q sel, [0,0,0], 'rg', 45 | Rotate selected item around origin in 'rg' plane 45 degrees clockwise4. | Rotated item. |
q sel, [0,0,0], 'rg', 1, 45 | Animates rotation above, rotating one degree at a time, 45 times. | |||
r | Rectangle Tool | r [0,0,0], [20,20,0] | Rectangle from origin to 20,20,0. Faces positive end of blue axis. | Rectangle |
r | r [0,0,0],[10,0,10],[10,10,10],[0,10,0] | Model a non-orthogonal rectangle. | Face | |
s | Scale Tool is a subset | s 2 | Set global scaling of selected component to double sizes (from origin). | View |
s [20, 30, 0], 2 | Set global scaling to double sizes (from point). | |||
s 2, 2, 1 | Sets red and green to double sizes, blue to remain the same (from origin). | |||
s [20, 30, 0], 2, 2, 1 | Sets red and green to double sizes, blue to remain the same (from point). | |||
sel | sel | Return a reference to the first selected item. | selection[0] | |
tci | foo = tci sel | Given a ComponentInstance, returns a TransformableCI5. A TransfomableCI is much easier to move, rotate and scale than a ComponentInstance. | ||
tri | tri [0,0,0], [10,20,30], [10,0,0] | Model a triangle. | Group | |
where | where | returns [ xf[12], xf[13], xf[14] ] | ||
xf | xf | Displays a WebDialog showing the currently selected ComponentInstance's transformation matrix. | true | |
xm | Move | xm 20, 0, 0 | Move the currently selected component 20 units in the red axis's positive direction. | View |
xpld | right-click, Explode | t = tri p1, p2, p3 xpld t |
Explode a Group or ComponentInstance. | Array of entities |
ze | Zoom Extents | ze | Camera/Zoom Extents. | true |
SketchTalk conventions:
Orthogonal rectangles are drawn facing the positive end of the perpendicular axis. (SketchUp Rectangles in the rg plane face the negative end of the blue axis.)
Non-orthogonal rectangles are drawn facing the positive end of the blue axis. Non-orthogonal rectangles that are parallel to the blue axis (and therefore cannot face it) are drawn facing the positive end of the green axis.
PushPulls (box, col and donut) are toward the positive end of the perpendicular axis if the distance is positive.
Notes:
1 The last argument is one of 'rg', 'rb', 'gb' or a normal vector.
2 The first four arguments define the base circle.
3 You get a Bug Splat if you have any component open for editing.
4 Sang is looking at clockwise rotation (rotation by a positive angle) in the 'rb' plane. Formally, a positive angle rotates clockwise when observed from a point between the rotating geometry and the negative end of the perpendicular axis.
5 A TransformableCI records its transformations on the undo stack. Ctrl+Z (or SketchTalk's cz
command) will undo the transformation. A MovableCI does not add to the undo stack. It is the right choice for use during animations.
6 Pyramid bases are parallel to the rg plane. The blue axis value of the far corner is set equal to the blue axis value of the near corner.