sketchUcation

New users of SketchUp are often confused when trying to intersect geometry. The intersection edges "seem" to be created however their faces are not separated by them and they cannot delete excess geometry. In a little bit complex model it is not only frustrating but also confusing as many of the other entities can hide the main "culprit"; in which editing context we are applying the Intersect tool.

In this SketchUp tutorial, we shall examine the different reasons and how the editing context can affect how intersection is created and behaves.

"I'm trying to find a way an easy way to draw a slanted cone based on the known radius of the base, a known height, and a known vertical and horizontal angle at which I'd like the cone to lean."

A forum post for which we definitely do not need a plugin but can be done in a couple of very easy steps. In this tutorial, we shall follow some very basic tips how to enter exact dimensions and how to move vertices snapping to guide lines.

In SketchUp, components can only automatically cut holes on single faces as demonstrated in this tutorial. Even when it comes for openings to cut holes on both outer and inner faces of a thick wall, we need to use workarounds as described in this tutorial.

Now as components cannot even cut holes in round surfaces, we need to truly intersect our openings into these objects. In this tutorial, we'll show two ways (one for users of the Pro version and one for those of the Free version) how to cut a simple window into a curved (cylindrical) wall.

In this tutorial, we are going to explore how to create a Face-me Component in SketchUp. In other applications, these are often called "billboard" components. Their main feature is that they consist of a single face (although they can be more complex, too) but they always face the camera so we can use them as backdrops in our scenes without having to load high-poly 3D models. Usually they are used in the background however as from closer look, they may not look too convincing and it is often hard to take birds-eye-view shots where they reveal their thin appearance.

In SketchUp, a component (or as a matter of fact, a group too) can be "glued" to a face and also cut an opening on it. This feature allows modellers to quickly place windows, doors etc. on the faces of a building and immediately make a virtual opening on it without having to physically "cut" that hole on the face. These components can be moved on this face without their cutting feature lost.

Unfortunately, a component can only have one gluing (cutting) plane so a simple component cannot cut only one face which means we need to apply workarounds for thick walls (described in another tutorial).

In SketchUp, when one does not model with accurate thickness of geometry, it is natural that edges touching faces will be visible "outside", too. But edges may "bleed through" even geometry modelled with proper thickness. Unfortunately, the reason is the underlying OpenGL rendering engine and apart from some workarounds, we cannot do too much about it.

If we understand the whole phenomenon, however, our workarounds can be tailored to our needs and the result can be as pleasing as anything else in ASketchUp.

Now for the fun part! Modeling leaves in SketchUp is a straightforward task but when you add some plugins into the mix it is a very simple and quick process.

In this tutorial you will use transparent .png images to reduce modeling time.

This is the second part to the Modeling a Palm Tree tutorial

If you followed the tutorial published in the latest CatchUp edition, here is part 2: how to model the legs of the Hans Wegner Chair in SketchUp.

Beside the basic SketchUp tools like PushPull, Intersect, Mirror or Paint, you will need Fredo's Joint PushPull plugin for this tutorial to follow. Download it from here and make special care to follow the installation instructions as this plugin consists of several files and subfolders.

In SketchUp, we always have to balance between performance and quality. We try to keep poly-count, image sizes low, use styles that are faster while modelling etc. This is also the case with image transparency. While modelling, try to use a style that is fast enough but when we want to export our final 2D output, of course, we want to have the nicest images possible. In SketchUp, you can notice that sometimes - when images with transparent areas are "stacked" in front of each other - there is a rather "ugly" halo around the images. This is due to some style setting however and can be overcome when we export images.

Making any type of vegetation in SketchUp is a challenge. Here we'll use some common techniques, plugins and tricks to make the process of modeling a Palm tree quick and easy.

This is aimed at any skill level and is the first in a 3 part series. You will learn how to make an irregular element, taper it and bend it to bring it to life.