SketchUp beginner

[motownmartin]

This has probably been covered & my searching skills are next to useless but i'm struggling to find a way to copy & paste.

I am attempting to draw some workshop building plans and need to draw in stuff like tongue & groove boards and the carcass frame, roof joists, floor joists plus all the noggins which will be repeated loads of times but to draw them all seperately will take a lifetime, can anyone help please.

 

[Shultzy]

Martin, make each piece into a component. Use the components drop down list (Window- Components) to reuse a piece. Any changes made to a piece will be duplicated on all similar components ie. if you make a component joist longer all of the joists will increase in length.

 

[mailee]

Hi Martin, If you draw the object you wish to duplicate and then make it a component or group then shoose the move tool and pick the object while holding down the CTRL key this will make a copy of the first object which you can move to position it. If you then choose multiple objects while holding down the key you can move copies of them all. HTH. :wink:

 

[motownmartin]

Thanks fella's, i'll give it a go after my shift block next week.

 

[SketchUp Guru]

Martin, if you're using Version 6 (or even later releases of Free Version 5) you don't have to hold Ctrl while moving the component to make a copy. It is a toggle function now so hit it once to turn on the copy function. Hit it again and turn it off. When it is on, you get a little plus sign next to the tool. The same applies to Copy+Rotate.

 

[motownmartin]

Martin, if you're using Version 6 (or even later releases of Free Version 5) you don't have to hold Ctrl while moving the component to make a copy. It is a toggle function now so hit it once to turn on the copy function. Hit it again and turn it off. When it is on, you get a little plus sign next to the tool. The same applies to Copy+Rotate.

Right, it looks as though I have mastered that, its just a matter of positioning them in exactly the right position :? I don't know about anyone else but find it very dificult to learn something like this these days, what i mean is that I never used to be this thick :wink:

 

[SketchUp Guru]

I still love you even if you are thick.

The trick to placing the copy as desired is first to grab it where it makes sense. If the lower left corner of the component is going to be moved to some point identified by a pair of crossing guidelines, for example, grab it at the lower left corner.

I use the analogy of threading a needle. If you want to put the end of the thread in the eye. Don't grab the thread a metre from that end.

 

[motownmartin]

I still love you even if you are thick.

I knew someone out there would :lol:

Okay, so I put in some guidelines first, thanks Dave, i'll be back in a few days

 

[SketchUp Guru]

Hopefully it won't take you that long to put in a couple of guidelines. :lol:

 

[motownmartin]

Hopefully it won't take you that long to put in a couple of guidelines. :lol:

:lol: I meant that i'd be back in a few days for the next installment/tutorial

 

[motownmartin]

I am struggleing to draw a component at an angle, e.g. a roof joist :? can anyone help please

 

[SketchUp Guru]

If I were drawing it, I would draw it horizontally and then make it a component. After that I would rotate it up to the desired angle.

I'm about to leave work but when I get home, I'll make up something for show and tell.

Dave

 

[motownmartin]

Thanks Dave

 

[SketchUp Guru]

Alright. I hope this works. This is shown in 2D but it is really drawn in 3D.

In Step 1 draw your piece of lumber. I started with a recatangle and used Push/Pull to make it. I mitred the ends at 30° for this example. The angle was established with the yellow Protractor tool set at the ends of the piece. I traced the angled guides and used Push/Pull to eliminate the waste. Then I made this into a component.

In Step 2 I selected the component and then the Rotate tool. I set the center of rotation at the corner of the component. clicked along its edge and the rotated the component up 30°. I also made a copy, rotated and placed that copy to make the opposite side.

As an alternative you could trace some guides drawn at the desired angle to create the piece but when you make it a component, its bounding box will be a large rectangular shapewith the geometry positioned diagonally in it. There's no problem with that except if you were planning to make a cutlist using a plugin. the cutlist reports the size of the bounding box and so this method wouldn't accurately reflect the actual size of the timber.

Howzzat?