What this book covers
Chapter 1, Beginning with SketchUp Pro, takes a visual tour through the SketchUp Pro user interface, looking at the general structure, toolbars, and dialog boxes. In addition, this chapter will discuss how to use SketchUp tools and examines the rules that apply to all SketchUp geometry.
Chapter 2, Principal Tools, Axes, and Inferences, examines the Principal Tools used in almost every SketchUp workflow. We will also understand the importance of using Axes and Inferences while drawing and editing SketchUp geometry.
Chapter 3, Modeling with Groups and Components, discusses the principles of modeling in SketchUp when it comes to “sticky geometry.” We will also discuss the importance of modeling using groups and/or components.
Chapter 4, Drawing Tools – We Begin Modeling!, begins with modeling! More importantly, we will start to understand how to use the drawing tools to make sure we can effectively create basic geometry.
Chapter 5, Editing Tools – Making Big Changes!, uses the Editing Tools to make changes to basic geometry. We will talk about how we can use the Editing Tools to make changes to our models and how to create new Edges and Faces using existing geometry.
Chapter 6, Camera Options, examines 3D camera options in SketchUp Pro. We will discuss the Perspective, Two-Point Projection, and Parallel Projection views as we look at example geometry. We will also analyze the available Camera Tools to introduce different ways to place the SketchUp camera and navigate the model.
Chapter 7, View Options, examines the various options to change the view in SketchUp Pro. We will explore Styles, including the Edge, Face, Component Styles, Shadows, and Fog, including how this can be set by a Geo-location. We will also discuss Sections that allow for dynamic views of a SketchUp model. Finally, we will review how to save these view options into snapshots, known as Scenes, which can be animated!
Chapter 8, Materials, looks at Materials in SketchUp Pro. We will discuss how to use the Paint Bucket Tool and the Materials Panel to select and apply Materials to Objects. We will look at creating Materials as colors and as image imports, and we will finish the chapter by looking at advanced texture Material editing techniques.
Chapter 9, Entity Info, Outliner, and Tags Dynamically Organize Your Models, examines three Default Tray panels: Entity Info, Outliner, and Tags. We will discuss how the Entity Info panel can be used to view and edit geometry attributes. Then, we will discuss the Outliner panel and start to see our models in a new way. We will also look at the Tags panel (formerly called the Layers panel), which can be used to assign visibility options to sets of geometry.
Chapter 10, Model Info and Preferences, looks at two advanced dialog boxes in SketchUp Pro: Model Info and Preferences. We will discuss how to utilize the Model Info dialog box to update settings for the current file, including Objects, Statistics, and Units. We will also discuss utilizing the Preferences dialog box to change overall SketchUp settings, including Accessibility, Drawing, and General.
Chapter 11, Working with Components, explores Components and what makes them special in SketchUp Pro. Components allow us to keep our files more organized, easily use Objects in multiple files, and automatically align geometry in our models. Component attributes can be set and edited to achieve many different functions in SketchUp Pro. We will wrap up this chapter by briefly discussing Dynamic and Live Components.
Chapter 12, Import and Export, 3D Warehouse, and Extensions, talks about the different types of files that SketchUp Pro can import and the different options for exporting information from our SketchUp models, including images, 2D and 3D files, and animations. We will also talk about the 3D Warehouse for downloading and uploading files and sending our SketchUp files to LayOut. We will finish by looking at Extensions in the Extension Warehouse and Extension Manager.