Using Google SketchUp
in the Classroom
Full Day
Workshop Agenda
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Welcome, Objectives, Overview
Google 7 & Reference Card
Tutorials & Tools
Four box check-in slip before lunch break
House creation and work time
3-2-1 Exit Slip
What is SketchUp?
 It allows participants to
visualize spaces in
three dimensions
 It enables you to draw
using a familiar pencil
and paper paradigm in
a software context.
 Video Clip
Objectives
 Transform 2 dimensional
geometry in a 3D environment
 Create a model, step-by-step
 Create surfaces from lines
 Utilize the push-pull tool
 Maintain coplanar geometry
 Apply Materials
 Import component models from
3D Warehouse
 View a model in 3D
Tips for Success!
Time, Patience & RAM
Use of Ctrl Z (undo)
Use of Ctrl S often (save)
Extra Tutorial Videos Available
Tutorial 1
Concepts
Axis Coordinate System
Inferences
Tutorial 2
Drawing
Shapes
Select, Line, Rectangle, Circle, Arc
 Select - Space Bar
– This tool isolates all the object you click on. Select an object directly
clicking on it, or by clicking on nearby area and dragging to include
object.
 Line - "L" key
– To create walls, floors, ceilings, and more, you'll need the line tool.
To use the line tool, select point a, release the mouse, and then
click on point b. A straight line is created between both points. It's
not necessary to drag the mouse to create a line.
 Rectangle - "R" key
 Circle - "C" Key
 Arc - "A" Key
Orbit, Pan, Zoom,
Dimensions, Protractor
Orbit - "O" Key, or hold down scroll wheel of your mouse
This tool changes the camera angle.
Pan - "H" Key
This tool moves the camera up and down or side-to-side.
Zoom - "Z" Key
Dimensions - No shortcut key
Protractor - No shortcut key
Take angled measurements of an object.
VCB - Value Control Box
contains dimensions or measurements of lines and faces. It shows you the
measurement of a line as you click from point A to point B. Or you can type
in the exact measurement directly.
ESC key - On your keyboard, select this key whenever you have
completed a line or to quickly exit out of the tape measure and rotate
tools.
Tutorial 3
Push/Pull
Push/Pull, Move, Rotate, Offset
Push/Pull - "P" Key
– pull faces to increase volume…this tool is great when you want to erect
Move - "M" Key
– You can move or copy with this tool. To move, select item (with Select tool),
and change the location by clicking on its current position and its desired
position. No need to drag and hold with the mouse.
Rotate - "Q" Key
– You will need to click once on the item, and then choose a rotation angle.
You can do this easily by hovering the mouse to rotate, or by entering in
the angle in the VCB.
Offset - "F" Key
– make an exact copy of a face, inside or outside of that face…Offset
automatically replicates the exact ratio of your master lines.
Make Component, Eraser, Tape
Measure, Paint Bucket
Make Component - No short cut key
– Combines items to make an element of your design. Useful for creating
windows, doors, pieces of furniture.
Eraser - "E" Key
– This tool deletes undesirable items. To use the eraser tool, simply hold
down the mouse button and move the eraser over part of the item. If it is a
line or a component, the whole item should be deleted.
Tape Measure - "T" Key
– measure lines and faces
– You're also able to create construction lines with the tape measure tool,
allow your lines to be uniform. Use the tape measure tool in conjunction
with the Value Control Box (VCB).
Paint Bucket - "P" Key
– Select a fill color for your walls from a materials pop up box.
Tutorial 4
Create a Chair
Four Square Exit Slip
So far, I learned…
I am still confused about…
I am most excited about…
A question I have is…
Calendar for Doing SketchUp
 Day 1 – introduce, view tutorials 1 & 2, play
 Day 2 – view tutorial 3 & 4, build the chair
 Day 3 – exterior walls (draw, offset, and raise),
draw in interior walls and raise
 Day 4 – finish interior walls, start on cutting out the
standard interior door (30”x 80”), talk about
windows (if time allows)
 Day 5 – finish doors, create windows
 Day 6 -Paint inside and out, Warehouse
(Furniture/landscape) time permitting!
 Day 7 – Animation & Sharing
Getting Started
 Start with a clear idea of what you want to accomplish
 It's best to start with the big picture and then fill in the
details
 Start drawing an outline of your floor plan on paper,
drawing it on paper will provide you with a point of
reference when you start sketching it digitally.
 Each 1/4" inch box can represent 1 square foot.
 Gather & fill in measurements of your house.
 The measurements to consider are
– the outside and inside dimensions, the thickness of outer and inner
walls
– the height of each level. Generally speaking, outer walls are usually
thicker than inner walls
– height of each floor is usually over seven feet.
– doors are 30-32” wide & tall 80”
Floor Plan
 To start, you'll go to
the Menu bar, and
select Camera -->
Standard --> Top. This
will show you an
overhead, or bird's
eye view, of the
ground.
 Next, go back to
Camera, and select
Parallel Projection
from the drop down
menu.
Inner Walls
 First make sure that all the lines are connected
and closed. The lines will transform from a thicker
line to a thinner line once closed.
 Now, select all the lines of the outer walls. Click on
the Offset tool (or F on your keyboard), and create
an identical inner wall inside of your outer wall.
 Type in the exact measurement of your inner wall
offset in the VCB. Outer walls are generally no
thicker than 12 inches.
Individual Rooms
 Create walls with the Line tool (NOT the offset
tool), being careful to snap from the inner wall and
not the outer wall.
 Also, create inner walls for each room. You'll do
this by having parallel lines several inches apart. A
room's walls will be thinner than outside walls, but
no thinner than four inches.
 This is necessary if you want to create a realistic
rendering and if you plan on resurrecting walls. In
order to push/pull, you'll need a face, not a line. A
face is an area between three or more lines.
Doors
 You'll need a door or entry way for all of your
rooms.
 Choose the rectangle tool and diagonally
draw a rectangle starting from the lower left
 Type in the standard dimensions of an
interior door (30”,80”)
 Use the Push/Pull tool and remove the wall
Windows
 Choose the rectangle tool and draw a box diagonally from
the floor.
 Use the push/pull tool and to create the empty window
space
 Create another rectangle on the outside dimension of the
window (fill in the space)
 Use the offset tool to create a frame
 Use the pencil to divide window into 4 or 6 panes
(decorative) and offset each rectangle
 Use the paint bucket tool to put in the translucent fill
 See windows.wmv video
Furniture
 Go to Window --> Components, and start moving
your furniture in.
 You have a large furniture library at your disposal.
Putting furniture in your house is a great idea
because it provides scale (sometimes
measurements can't be visualized) and
interactivity.
 When utilizing components or the warehouse be
sure to do it at the end of the project, because the
files can be large and the graphic card/ internal
RAM may not support the file size of your project.
Raise the Roof
Creating a roof is painless. Create a flat face directly
on top of your exposed house. Use Push/Pull to
increase volume to the face by a slight amount (no
more than 12 inches). Draw a line completely
intersecting the face, from one mid-point to the other.
Select the Move tool ("M"), and hover over the
midpoint of the line you just drew. When you see the
blue midpoint indicator, click and pull up, following
the blue axis. This will only work if your line is
perfectly centered.
Animation & File Exporting
 Creating scenes to animate a tour
– See Sketchup_animation.wmv file
 .skp file
– Exporting files3D –Colladafile (.dae), Google
Earth (.kmz)
– 2D –Windows (.bmp), JPEG Image (.jpg),
Tagged Image File (.tif), Portable Network
Graphics (.png)
Resources
 Creating a Floor Plan Website:
http://www.brighthub.com/internet/google/articles/11175.as
px
 Build a Pioneer Cabin
http://dextr.xanga.com/669552608/sketchup-lesson-planbuild-a-pioneer-cabin/
 Rendering of a house created in Sketchup
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJcMe1OFBRQ&feature
=related
 Google Sketchup Video Tutorial Website
http://sketchup.google.com/training/videos/new_to_gsu.ht
ml
 Official Sketchup Blog http://sketchupdate.blogspot.com/
 All 887 Pages of the Manual in PDF format
http://dl.google.com/sketchup/gsu7/docs/en/SketchUp7Hel
p.pdf
3 – 2 – 1 Exit Slip
3 – What 3 things that
went well in this
workshop.
2 – What 2 things you like
to hear more about.
1 – What 1 question do
you still need
answered.