Thick walls with the Offset tool

Posted by James Therrien, Lead Training Simian

If you're brand new to SketchUp, one of the first thing you'll notice is that your "walls" are paper-thin. Consider what happens when you build the following:


Deleting the top face (step 3) of a form you've push/pulled into existence results in super-thin, single-surface walls. That's fine if you're building Japanese shōji, but for many applications, you'll want to model your walls with a thickness. The easiest way to go about doing this is to use the Offset tool. You can activate it by choosing Tools > Offset from the menu bar or by clicking on its tool icon. If you haven't set up your own keyboard shortcuts yet, you can switch to the Offset tool by pressing F on your keyboard.

Here's how to use Offset to create walls that look thick:

1. Start with any face in your SketchUp model.
2. Activate the Offset tool (choose one of the methods listed above for doing so).
3. Click once on your face (the one in your model).
4. Move your mouse (don't drag) toward the center of your face.
5. Click again when the offset edges you're creating are the right distance from the original perimeter of your face.
6. If you want to be precise, type an offset distance (such as 6in or 15cm) on your keyboard and press Enter (This Help Center article has more information about entering precise dimensions in SketchUp, as does this video).
7. Switch to the Push/Pull tool by pressing P on your keyboard.
8. Click between the two sets of edges on your face to push/pull it into a 3D form.
9. Click again to stop push/pulling.

Want to learn more about Offset? Check out this video.

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There's a class for that

Posted by Shara Greenlee, Training Goddess

Feeling stalled in your quest for SketchUp supremacy? Want to be master of your domain on Google Earth? Take your skills to the next level with a hands-on, classroom style learning experience. Announcing the launch of our Authorized Training Center (ATC) program in the US -- we're rolling out our tried and tested curriculum for Google SketchUp and Google Earth through a network of Google-certified training centers throughout the nation.

SketchUp and Google Earth classes are more accessible than ever. Our training centers offer a range of convenient dates, times, and locations. SketchUp Essentials 1 and 2 and Google Earth Pro Basics classes are available at every ATC, led by well qualified instructors. You don't have to explain how you mastered your 3D universe, but we hope you do.

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Go green for Earth Day

Posted by Chris Cronin, Green Giant

This year, we're celebrating Earth Day with the launch of a new website: SketchUp: Go Green! Our site highlights green projects by design professionals who use SketchUp. One such person is Michelle Kaufmann. Her eponymous architecture firm uses Google SketchUp to create prefabricated single-family and multi-family homes. Check out this video to see her story:
In addition to showcasing green projects, SketchUp: Go Green! features information about:

• how the solar industry uses SketchUp to design solar system installations for buildings
• SketchUp-compatible energy-analysis tools that you can use to better understand the environmental impact of your designs
• other resources that are available for folks who are interested in green design

Speaking of Earth Day, Google's What will you do for Earth Day '08? is definitely worth a visit, too. Aside from the inspirational content, it's a neat implementation of the Google Maps API.

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New and improved!

Posted by Aidan Chopra, Product Evangelist


I'm happy to announce that we've combined our two old websites into one; sketchup.google.com is now your single source for information about all of our products, plugins, training and other resources. We've overhauled everything -- the new site includes:

• New, more robust pages dedicated to SketchUp, SketchUp Pro, LayOut, Style Builder and the 3D Warehouse
• A cleaner, easier-to-navigate design
• A new Community section with links to groups, case studies, gallery, 3rd party resources, and more
• A new Customers section with more information about using SketchUp for different disciplines, including architecture and design, education, contracting, engineering and construction, and digital entertainment
• Better descriptions of some of the plugins that add functionality to SketchUp
• Better information about ruby scripts, including descriptions of sample scripts and links to our new ruby API
• Better, clearer links to our training videos and self-paced tutorials
• Links to our new Google Authorized Training Centers in the US

Please take a look around our new online digs, and use the "comments" link below this post to let us know what you think.

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SketchUp 3D Basecamp 2008: 1 day left

Posted by Aidan Chopra, Product Evangelist

Just a friendly reminder that the sign-up period for requesting invitations to Google SketchUp 3D Basecamp 2008 will end at 11:00 pm PST on Tuesday, April 22nd. 3D Basecamp is an opportunity for SketchUp people from all over the world to get together for some good, clean Push-Pullin' fun. Check out the event website for all the juicy details, and we'll see you at the Googleplex in June.

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And the winning Styles are...

Posted by Bryce Stout, Chief Stylin' Officer

About a month and a half ago, we launched the 2008 SketchUp Sketchy-Edge Style Building Competition, and lots of you entered. The submissions we received were top-notch. Without further ado, the 10 winning Style Authors and the names of their winning Styles are (in no particular order):

Mark Pachke of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Pencil edges with whiteout border

Mark Leasor of Eugene, Oregon
Hand drafted with mask

Mark Galbraith of Linden, Michigan
Tech pen

Matthew Valero of Providence, Rhode Island
Pencil on graph paper

Devin Lavigne of Naperville, Illinois
Loose pencil sketch

Ruben Chock of Aiea, Hawaii
Stain

Alan Adams of Denton, Texas
Rough pencil

QiCong Xia of Toronto, Ontario
Pencil on light brown

Matt Campbell of Kingston, Ontario
Light grey freestyle

Daisuke Matsuura of Toronto, Ontario
Lines with wide marker #2

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to all who entered. You can check out all the winning Styles by downloading this model from the 3D Warehouse. If you want to use these Styles on your own models, you'll have to save them to your hard drive:

1. Have the model you just downloaded up in SketchUp.
2. Open the Styles dialog box, choose the Select tab, and click the "Home" icon to see a list of the Styles which are applied to the model.
3. Press the the Library Options button to open the Library Options flyout menu.
4. Choose "Save library as...", then select a folder where you'd like to save all the Styles. Make sure to check the "Add to favorites" check box so your new Styles Library will always be available in your Styles dialog box.

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3D Collections: Share and share alike

Posted by Rich Feit, 3D Warehouse Engineer


Until now, the 3D Collections feature in the Google 3D Warehouse has allowed individuals to gather together sets of models and share them with the world. We've watched our users organize the 3D Warehouse into bridges, Star Wars models, sports venues, guitars, and boats, just to name a few. But what if you're part of a group of people who want to build a collection -- say, of buildings in your home town? What if you want to take time to create your collection in private, then raise the curtains for a smashing debut? What if you want to create a collection and share it only with specific people instead of publishing it for all to see?

We took a cue from Google Docs and added access control for 3D Collections. This means that you can now add collaborators or restrict viewers for any collection you own. To do so, just click the "share" link on your collection's "details" page. Collaborators can add and remove items in your collection; they can also edit details such as its name and description. And if you make a collection "not-publicly-viewable", only people you choose can see it.

Don't forget: You don't have to "own" a model to add it to a collection. You can add any model in the Warehouse to a collection you -- or members of your group -- create. Give it a try, and as always, let us know what you think.

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Announcing Google SketchUp 3D Basecamp 2008

Posted by Aidan Chopra, Product Evangelist


Sign-up starts today! You've got until April 22nd to sign up for a chance to attend Google SketchUp 3D Basecamp 2008. We're getting several hundred people together at the Google campus, June 11th to the 13th, for three days of SketchUp learning, sharing and fun. Long-time friend-of-SketchUp Chris Fullmer describes 3D Basecamp thusly:

"...a diverse group of planetizens trying to learn from each other and expand the collective human intelligence through SketchUpping."

Beautifully put. The first day will include basic training for beginners, learning sessions for everyone, and a huge party with food and a live band -- right smack dab in the middle of the Google quad. Day Two will feature even more sessions, and Day Three is dedicated to a hands-on design project where everyone can apply what they've learned. Take a look at the preliminary program for more details.

About forty of us members of the SketchUp team will be making the trek to Mountain View for the event, and we'd love to see you there. There's no charge to attend, but space is very limited; check out the 3D Basecamp website before April 22nd to find out how you can join us. See you in California!

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Getting to know Intersect with Model

Posted by Aidan Chopra, Product Evangelist

Back before we had a blog, we'd include Tips & Tricks in the SketchUpdate e-newsletter we sent (and still send) around every so often. Recently, it occurred to me that some folks might find it useful to have them in a more "readily-bookmarkable" form; namely, this blog. The following tips originally ran in the August 2006 edition of the SketchUpdate.

Ever heard of Intersect with Model? If you haven't, don't feel bad; we did a pretty good job of hiding one of the most powerful modeling tools in SketchUp. We sometimes hide things to make SketchUp easier to learn (figuring out software is tricky when eighty buttons are screaming for your attention). Intersect with Model is a tool that automatically adds edges defined by faces that intersect in your model.

Basic:

Let's say you have a cube and a cylinder, and they overlap. If you look carefully, there are no edges (lines) where the surfaces of the two figures meet. If you select them both and then right-click, then choose Intersect with Model in the menu that pops up, edges will be created wherever the cube and the cylinder overlap. You can then erase any edges you don't want. This technique is integral to more advanced modeling in SketchUp, and it's really impressive -- Bryce once used Intersect with Model to get a date with a particularly enthusiastic SketchUp user at an AIA event in Los Angeles. For a much clearer explanation of this feature, check out this SketchUp model in the 3D Warehouse.

Intermediate:

Eventually, you'll need to cut a window in a curved surface. Since Push/Pull doesn't work on faces that aren't flat, Intersect with Model is the tool to use. The key is to create an object that's the size and shape of the opening you want, position it where you want the opening, then use Intersect with Model and the Eraser to create the necessary geometry. The tricky part (for most people) is positioning the opening-sized object in exactly the right spot. Here's a model that demonstrates a method for making the process easier.

Advanced:

In one of the rare architecture history classes through which I didn't sleep (I feel bad about it now, okay?), I learned that four pendentives are what you get when you try to stick a dome on top of a square space. They're the sort-of-triangular sections of a sphere that occur in each of the four corners where the drum supporting the dome sits on top of four arches. I think pendentives are neat, so I began to think about how I might model them easily in SketchUp. Using Intersect with Model, I figured out a method that works pretty well, I think.

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Woodturning with SketchUp 101

Posted by Aidan Chopra, Product Evangelist

I was just alerted to the presence of a really neat blog about using SketchUp for woodturning. It's called Turnedoutright, and it's worth a look -- even if you're not a woodturner yourself. The SketchUp models are outstanding.

There's also an accompanying website and a book called Wood Turning with SketchUp. Last but not least, the website's creator (a gentleman by the name of Don Kleinschitz) also has a YouTube channel with videos about -- you guessed it -- woodturning. Congratulations to Don for so successfully marrying digital and non-digital media; it's not an easy thing to do. Here's one of his videos:

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