sketchUcation

Ever need to add foreground trees to your rendered SketchUp scene? This quick tip is all you need.

Creating realistic foreground trees in SketchUp is difficult to achieve but using an image editor like PhotoShop makes the process much quicker and easier.

Here we will use simple cloning and erasing to transform your scene.

In this tutorial you will add a dirt maps to your rendered SketchUp scene.

Adding dirt maps in an image editor is relatively simple. It also allows you to save on render time and texturing.

Here we will use masks and gradients to transform your scene.

In this tutorial you will add a quick wet grass type effect to your rendered SketchUp scene.

Creating realistic grass in SketchUp is difficult to achieve but using an image editor like PhotoShop makes the process much quicker and easier.

Here we will use simple cloning and erasing to transform your scene.

Here is a quick and effective method of creating an artistic image from your SketchUp model. It was originally posted way back in 2005 on the original SketchUp forum.

In short, you will export 2 images from your SketchUp Scene: a) Hidden Line Black/White image and b) textured one with shadows. Bring them together in Photoshop and then erase a hole in the Hidden Line layer with the colored textures showing through.
The whole procedure can take as little as 5 minutes.

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.

The Follow me tool is one of the most powerful, native tools in SketchUp. There are some little tricks that can make life much easier. Making an inner bevel on a cabinet door's face may seem to be problematic first. Where to place the profile? How to avoid problems, like having to temporarily hide faces?

This tutorial shows an easy "trick" we can use and, despite the warning of possible errors, everything works out just perfect!

We can certainly read a lot about what the basic difference between texturing a component or group "from outside" (its editing context) or by editing it and applying the materials directly to the faces. Here is a basic intro about the differences in the SketchUp Help Center.

This tutorial is not about these trivia but about a common mistake when sometimes even experienced users are stumped (especially with models made by others). The "symptom" usually is that people are trying to pull their hair because they simply cannot position the material and do not know why.

For new users, it is often extremely frustrating that they cannot seem to align the Rotate or Protractor tools in any, arbitrary direction / angle. Below are some basic tips on how to do this easily. Some of what is written here can be applied for the Circle, Polygon or Rectangle tools as well.

To practice any of the methods below, best is to create a simple model which has some edges/faces that are not aligned to any of the world axes and major planes defined by them. Group your geometry first and pre-select it before starting the Rotate (or in other cases the Move) operation. Of course, for the Protractor tool, you need not pre-select anything.

It is a very often overlooked fact that in SketchUp, the program makes dif­fer­ence between internal components (that you create "on the fly" while making a model) and external components (that you import either from the 3D Warehouse or your hard drive or internal components that you reload with any other component on your hard drive).

True that during a "normal" (or rather "average") workflow, most users do not realize these differences but sometimes they can either cause surpris­es and serious issues or - if you are aware of them - you can turn these differences to your advantage.