SketchUp Woodworking Tutorial for Beginners Part 2 – Copies, Organization, and Curves
In part 1, we talked about the basics of getting started modeling in SketchUp, including setting up a template, exploring the workspace, the basics of faces, and extruding to 3D. In this video, we’re going to talk about some other shapes we can draw, how to make copies of objects using the move and rotate tools, as well as the importance of creating groups and components.
So in the first video, we talked about creating a rectangular object and extruding it into 3D using the push pull tool using both the line tools and the rectangle tool.
Creating Arcs and Circles
An addition, you can also use the circle and arc tools to draw curved lines. One thing about these is you can set the number of segments in your arcs when you first activate the tool. More segments means a smoother circle, but it also creates more lines that SketchUp has to display, so for larger models, you may want to think about minimizing the number of segments in your arcs.
Merging Faces, Groups, and Components
Now, let’s talk a bit about faces – the way they merge and the way the work.When you work with faces, SketchUp is basically creating a face between 3 or more coplanar lines. When you do this, if you create another object that shares a face with your original object, what’s going to happen is SketchUp is going to merge those faces together. So for example, if I place two objects together, and I try to move one of them, you can see what happens is that the other one moves with it, because these faces merge. This isn’t a big deal if you have a really small model, but if you have a large model, dealing with merged faces because extremely challenging. Because of this, what we’re going to do is we’re going to put our objects in a group.
To group an object, we’re going to select it, right click, and select “Make group.” You can see how when you do this, the lines in the object become blue. Now, if you draw another object up against this face, then move it around, you can see how the faces don’t merge. You can edit the geometry in this group by simply double clicking on it.
Organizing Your Model with the Outliner
Another way to manage the groups in your model is to use the outliner. The outliner is a built-in tool that SketchUp has that shows all your groups and components. If you name your objects and organize your model as you go, it because extremely easy to manage the objects in your model.
Using the Move and Rotate Tools to Create Copies
Now that you know how to keep your model organized, let’s talk about using the move and rotate tools. You can use the move tool to move objects around in your model.
For example, if I select an object, activate the move tool, then click on a corner, I can move objects around in my model. Not only can you click to set a new location, you can also type in a distance to precisely move an object.
In addition to being able to move objects around, you can also use the move tool to create copies of objects in your model. To do this, activate the move tool, then tap the control key in order to activate copy mode. As you can see, this creates a copy of an object. You can now type in a distance and hit the enter key, or just click again to set your copy.
Not only can you use this to make a single copy, you can also use it to create multiple different copies. Once you set your copy spacing, you can type in “*” and the number of copies you’d like to create, then hit the enter key to create a certain number of copies at that spacing. The other nice thing is that as long as you don’t press any buttons, you can adjust the number of copies as many times as you want, just keep typing “*” and the number of copies.
In addition, you can also create a certain number of copies between two points by using the “/” key. You can set your spacing by placing your object using the move tool in copy mode, then type in “/” and a number of copies, then hitting the enter key.
Did you like this video? If so, please consider subscribing to my email list below for more great SketchUp tutorials every week!
About Justin Geis
Hi, I'm Justin Geis, and I'm the founder of The SketchUp Essentials. I started using SketchUp as part of my work as a general contractor in 2008. I quickly realized the power of the software and started using it for personal projects. I started The SketchUp Essentials as a place to share easy to follow SketchUp tutorials and tips to help everyone harness the power of 3D Modeling in their lives. When not working with SketchUp, I enjoy playing soccer and spending time with my wife and our two dogs.
