Getting a Running Start

IN THIS CHAPTER
Starting at the right place in SketchUp
Building a simple model
Changing the way the model looks
Exporting a JPEG file that you can e-mail

If you can’t wait to get your hands dirty (so to speak), you’ve come to the right chapter.
Here we help you make a simple modelstep by step, spin it around, paint it, and even
apply styles and shadows. You don’t need to read another word of this book to be able to
follow along, although we do refer you to chapters where you can find out more. Above all,
following along with the basic project in this chapter can help you understand how
SketchUp’s basic features work together and enable you to produce a knockout model in
no time!
So what are you going to build? Perhaps a doghouse. The nice thing about doghouses is
that they’re a lot like peoplehouses in the ways that count: They have doors and roofs,
and just about everybody has seen one.

One last thing:Just about every other piece of this book is written so that you
can jump around to the bits you need; you don’t have to follow a particular order.
This chapter is the exception. If you want to follow along, start on this page and
work your way to the end. Otherwise, the steps just won’t make sense.

Setting Up Your Workspace

We know — setup is boring. Who wants to flip through menus and options dialog boxes
instead of jumping in? We completely agree, so we keep this short and sweet. This
section is just about making sure you start at the right place. That’s it.
Follow these steps to get ready:

1. Launch SketchUp.
The Welcome to SketchUp dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 2-1. The dialog
box looks a little different in SketchUp Make versus SketchUp Pro, but the steps for
setting up your workspace work the same in either version.
2. Open the Template area by clicking the arrow next to its name, select one
of the Architectural Design templates, and click the Start Using
SketchUp button. A new SketchUp file opens.
If the Welcome to SketchUp dialog box doesn’t appear, someone (maybe you) has
told the dialog box not to show up automatically on startup. Choose Help⇒ Welcome
to SketchUp from the menu bar, select an Architectural Design template, and click the
Start Using SketchUp button. Then choose File ⇒ New to open a new file with the
template you selected.
3. Make sure that you can see the Getting Started toolbar.
Figure 2-2 shows the Getting Started toolbar. If it’s not visible in your modeling
window, choose View ⇒ Toolbars ⇒ Getting Started to make it show up. If you’re
on a Mac, choose View ⇒ Show Toolbar.
4. Clear your modeling window.
If your computer has run SketchUp already, you may see dialog boxes all over the
place. If that’s the case, put everything back where it belongs by resetting your
workspace:
a. Choose Window ⇒ Preferences (Microsoft Windows) or SketchUp ⇒
Preferences (Mac OS X).
b. In the Preferences dialog box, select Workspace panel on the left.
c. Click the Reset Workspace button.
FIGURE2-1: The Welcome to SketchUp dialog box.

FIGURE2-2: The Getting Started toolbar lives at the top of your modeling window.

Making a Quick Model

Figure 2-3 shows what your computer screen looks like at this point. You should see a
row of tools across the top of your modeling window, a little person, and three colored
modeling axes — red, green, and blue lines.
FIGURE2-3: This is what your screen should look like in Windows (left) and on a Mac (right).

Follow these steps to build a doghouse:

1. Delete the little person on your screen.

Using the Select tool (the arrow on the far left of your toolbar), click the little person to
select him or her. (The person changes with each version of SketchUp. In SketchUp
2016, the person is Lisanne. In SketchUp 2017, you see Chris.) Then choose Edit ⇒
Delete.
2. Choose Camera⇒ Standard Views ⇒ Iso.
This command switches you to an isometric (3D) view of your model, which allows
you to build something without having to “move around.”

3. Draw a rectangle on the ground.

Use the Rectangle tool (refer to Figure 2-2) to draw a rectangle by doing the
following: a. Click once to place one corner on the left side of your screen.
b. Click again to place the opposite corner on the right side of your screen.
Remember that you’re in a 3D perspective, or view of the world, so your rectangle
looks more like a diamond — 90-degree angles don’t look like 90-degree angles in
perspective. Figure 2-4 shows what you should aim for in this step.

It’s important to draw the right kind of rectangle for this example (or for any model
you’re trying to create in Perspective view), so try it a few times until it looks like the
rectangle in Figure 2-4. To go back a step, choose Edit ⇒ Undo Rectangle (or press
Ctrl+Z). You can use Undo to go back as many steps as you like.
4. Select the Push/Pull tool and extrude your rectangle into a box by
clicking the rectangle and then clicking again somewhere above the
rectangle.
At this point, your modelshould look like Figure 2-5; if it doesn’t, use Push/Pull
again to make your box look about the right height.

If you’re happily pushing/pulling away on your box and everything suddenly

disappears, you pushed/pulled the top of your box all the way to the ground. Just
choose Edit ⇒ Undo and keep going.

5. Select the Line tool and draw two diagonal lines for your roof, as shown
in Figure 2-6.
Here’s a step-by-step explanation of how to draw the lines:
a. Click once at the midpoint of the top of your box’s front face to start your line.
You know you’re at the midpoint when you see a small, light blue dot and the
word Midpoint appears. In SketchUp, these tips are called inferences. Move
slowly to make sure that you see the Midpoint inference.
b. Click again somewhere along one of the side edges of your box’s front face
to end your line.
Wait until you see a red On Edge inference before you click; if you don’t, your
new line won’t end on the edge where it needs to be.
c. Repeat the previous two steps to draw a similar but opposite line
from the midpoint to the edge on the other side of the face.
Don’t worry about making your diagonal lines symmetrical; for the
purposes of this exercise, it’s not important that they are.
6. Push/pull the triangles away to leave a sloped roof.
Use the Push/Pull tool (the same one you use in Step 4) to get rid of the triangular
parts of your box, leaving you with a sloped roof. Have a look at Figure 2-7 to see
this in action and then follow these steps:
a. Choose Edit ⇒ Select None to make sure you don’t have anything selected
in your model. If this menu option is grayed out, you’re good to go.
b. Select the Push/Pull tool and then click the right triangular face once to start
the push/pull operation.
c. Move your cursor to the right to push the triangle as far as it will go (so that it’s
even with the end of your box).
 d. Click again (on the triangle) to end the push/pull operation and to make
the triangular face disappear.
e. Still using the Push/Pull tool, double-click the left triangular face to repeat
the previous push/pull operation, making that face disappear as well.
7. Draw a rectangle on your front face.
Switch back to the Rectangle tool (which you used in Step 3) and draw a rectangle
on the front face of your pointy box. Make sure that the bottom of your rectangle is
flush with the bottom of your box by watching for the red On Edge inference to
appear before you click. Figure 2-8 shows what your model looks like when you’re
done.

Using the Rectangle tool is a two-step process: You click once to place one
corner and again to place the opposite corner. Avoid drawing lines and shapes by
dragging your cursor. In SketchUp, doing so makes modeling more difficult. Practice
clicking once to start an operation, such as drawing a rectangle, and clicking again to
stop.

8. Draw an arc on top of the rectangle you just drew.

Use the 2 Point Arc tool to draw an arc on top of your rectangle, as illustrated in
Figure 2-9. Follow these steps to draw an arc:
a. Click the upper-left corner of the rectangle to place one endpoint of your
arc. Make sure that you see the green Endpoint inference before you click.
b. Click the upper-right corner of the rectangle to place the other endpoint of
your arc.
c. Move your cursor up to bow out the line you’re drawing into an arc and
then click when you’re happy with how the arc looks.

9. Select the Eraser tool and then click the horizontal line between the
rectangle and the arc to erase that line.
10. Push/pull the doorway inward.
Use the Push/Pull tool (which you’re an old hand with by now) to push in the
“doorway” face you created in Steps 7 through 9 just a bit.

Use the Push/Pull tool by clicking a face once to start, moving your cursor to
 push/pull it in or out, and then clicking again to stop.
11. Erase the horizontal line at the bottom of the doorway by clicking it with the Eraser
tool.
This makes the line (and the whole face above it) disappear. Figure 2-10 shows
what your finished doghouse looks like.

FIGURE2-4: Draw a 3D rectangle on the ground.

FIGURE2-5: Use the Push/Pull tool to extrude your rectangle into a box.

FIGURE2-6: Draw two diagonal lines that will become your peaked roof.
FIGURE2-7: Use the Push/Pull tool to form a peaked roof on your box.
FIGURE2-8: A rectangle drawn on the front of your pointy box.
FIGURE2-9: Draw an arc on top of your rectangle.

FIGURE2-10: Create the door opening by erasing its bottom edge.

For a more detailed introduction to drawing lines and working with midpoints, angles, and
more, flip to Chapter 3.