The Google SketchUp Thread

[marc_reusser]

Carlo,

I have never heard of or seen the other two programs (which to me does say something about their quality and usefulness, as I run 3 other AutoDesk programs for  my drafting, sketching and presentation work).

Without having seen them, I would say that they are likely more toy/play/home user and for basic models for simple 3d printing......I could of course be wrong. Mind you, SketchUp was nce also at that level...and many still opine it is.....but it has become a very mainstream progam, and is now in use at major design, gaming and 3D companies.........so there are inumerable, extensions, plug-ins, files, models, objects, textures, etc. written and available that work with, and or have been designed for, Sketchup. There is a lso a very large user "community" around the program.....for help, discussions, tricks and tips, etc......so for my needs and IMO it is athis point a much more useable/better program.


Sort of related...definitely to this thread.....this fellow, is probably one of my favorite guys working with SU.....though not everyones cup of tea...and not too applicable to my type of work......the guys creativity, approach, process and results are wonderful and inspiring......and there is always something to learn or come away with......and he shares it all SBS on his blog and tutorial pages. 
http://www.alexhogrefe.com/

[finescalerr]

Here is my most ambitious SketchUp attempt so far. Once I had the wheel I decided to "build" a Carter Brothers inspired truck to go around it. The drawing is not an accurate Carter truck and has a couple of awkwardly drawn details.

The hardest part about the chain was positioning the links and I was unable to do that precisely. (It probably should have started out as perpendicular flat planes.) I had similar problems aligning other curved components. Does anybody have a suggestion about how to do that? (For example, how would you accurately attach a ring to a cylinder after you have drawn each?)

If anyone else is interested in learning the program, it is not hard. The hard part is designing the drawing, not executing it.

Russ

[Ray Dunakin]

Looks pretty good to me.

[Frederic Testard]

I like it. Every tip about learning Sketchup interests me too, currently. Ed (etraxx) has already given to me a good lecture about intersections and I'll avidly read more. I plan to become good enough with their scripting language Ruby to draw as many parts as possible without actually drawing them.

[eTraxx]

Frederick .. have you seen Shapeways' .. "ShapeJS"??

http://shapejs.shapeways.com/?li=nav

From the "Overview"

The ShapeJS language provides a powerful system for generating 3D printable objects via a simple Javascript program. ShapeJSs work on a voxel representation. A voxel is similar to a 2D pixel but it represents a volume element in 3 dimensional space. A script provides mechanisms to easily set the desired voxels using a series of data sources and transformations.

[kathymillatt]

Was that English?



Kathy

[finescalerr]

Ed, that sounds like something my doctor told me before he said, "But don't worry about it right now."

Jargon aside, does anyone have a simple, clear, step by step answer to my question?

Russ

[Mobilgas]

Russ,   I'm amazed that I remember where the on button is on my computer and your saying Sketchup is easy to learn

[finescalerr]

It really is, Craig. As Kathy said, basically you draw in two dimensions (as you would with a pencil), then you use a couple of simple tools to extrude the drawings to 3-D. It's no more complicated than writing an e-mail and attaching a photo or a music file. The hard part is designing the drawing. That is exactly the same as scratchbuilding a model by breaking it into sub-assemblies, and knowing how much of each sub-assembly you must complete and paint before adding it to the rest of the model. I'm poor at that at the workbench and also on the computer.

Today I may have answered the questions I asked earlier. And I noticed a major limitation of the free version of SketchUp: You can import lo-res photos or drawings and trace them but you can't import, for example, AutoCad drawings. For modelers, that's a big drawback since some of us design kits and parts in 2-D CAD or illustration programs. The inability to import DXF and other such files, then extrude the components, means you essentially must redraw the entire plan! (It's not a problem if you don't already draw or have a collection of 2-D plans.)

I also discovered the limitations of free rendering plug-ins. It all reminds me of the four word law I once read in the Wall Street Journal: AIN'T NO FREE LUNCH.

Russ

[eTraxx]

There are a ton of plugins that extend the free version of SU.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kei0gmOwZ5Q

http://www.guitar-list.com/download-software/convert-sketchup-skp-files-dxf-or-stl

This works fine for exporting both DXF and STL. This works as long as you remember that SU exports in inches .. no matter what system you choose in the plugin. If you have a cube 1x1x1 inches and select mm and export to STL you get a cube 25.4^3.

I hardly ever use this plugin .. instead I use MeshLab - http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/ .. an open source program it can import Sketchup's .DAE file and export a variety of 3D files including .STL ..

I normally import the .dae file .. convert to .stl  .. and then use MeshLab's .... Filters -> Cleaning and Repairing -> Remove Duplicate Faces (almost never find any) and -> Remove Duplicate Vertexes. (Note: to see the results of such operations you need to show the layers dialog. When finished right click the layer and select 'Freeze Matrix' to make it happy) .. MeshLab is a VERY powerful program .. kinda geeky .. but it was written by 3D computer nerds so explains a lot.

For correcting errors in the mesh you can use NetFabb Studio Basic (free) - http://www.netfabb.com/basic.php

umm .. what was your question? How to attach a ring to a cylinder after drawing each? Attach how? Ring piercing the cylinder .. or around it like a link around a pin?
I sketched up this quickly .. yeah .. I know .. a ring through a pin would require a straight hole in the pin and a straight portion of the ring but the example shows a curvy hole .. just for fun.

[finescalerr]

Thank you, Ed. I'll check out the plug-ins.

Re. the ring and cylinder, my question is how do you attach the ring precisely where you want it? (If the answer is long and boring I could contact you offline, either by e-mail or phone.)

Russ

[eTraxx]

Ok. If I show how to align .. there are a dozen other ways .. this is just one

Suppose I had a cylinder and a D-ring


I decide I want to insert the D-ring into the cylinder at an exact point ..
First zoom in on the D-ring


Sketchup menu: View -> Hidden Geometry. Spin the D-ring around so you can see the straight side. There is a dotted line center. Great. Draw two lines vertically from the ends of the dotted line and then a line connecting them. (You can skip to just drawing a horizontal line but this example shows better this way. This gives you a horizontal line dead center of that straight section of D-ring.


Hit "L" for Line. Hover over the center of the line you just drew. A blue dot will appear .. this is the center of the line. Now, draw a line out from that on the red axis (in this case)


I went back and turned off the Hidden Geometry. Now .. we have the D-ring with a line dead center. I grouped the line and D-ring so it's happy. I moved that green c-shape back 5 inches. I simply select the group .. hold down the right arrow key to constrain movement to the red axis .. and moved it .. typed in "5" and hit enter.


zoom in so I can see the pin. Hit "L" for line. Hover over the edge of the circle. You will see a purple 'dot' which means Sketchup knows you are wanting to work with that circle ..


now .. move the cursor to center of the circle and a dot appears dead center. Hovering over the circumference did that.


Now .. you can draw a line out from the center of the pin on the red axis. I didn't show it but you can use the tape measure too and measure the length of the line for later if needed. This line is centered on the pin .. and even with the top of the pin .. places you can measure from or to if needed.


Using the tape measure tool .. I click that line I just made and dropped a measurement line down 2.5 inches. It makes a dotted line for me.


I can now drop a line from where the one on top crosses the circumference of the pin down to that dashed tape measure line


Now I can draw a line out from that last point on the red axis. This gives me a line .. center of the pin and down 2.5 inches exactly.


I used the eraser tool (E on keyboard) and got rid of the excess lines and clutter. Now .. hit "M" for move .. and click the end of the line extending out from the D-ring. You can now drag the D-ring wherever you wish .. connected to that point. (note. You can also use the tape measure tool to measure the length of that line for later use if needed)


In this case I dragged the D-ring by the end of the line and it 'snapes' to the line out from the pin.


From this point .. you have control. Hold the "right arrow key" to constrain movement to the red axis. If you measured the lengths of the line from the pin (to center of pin axis) .. and the length of the line from the D-ring .. you can move from this point to the left .. type in the distance you want it to move .. and hit enter. You just moved it exactly where you needed to. When happy .. delete out those control lines.

[eTraxx]

If you hit "M" .. and then clicked where the line comes out of the D-ring you would be holding the D-ring at that point. If you then hold the 'Right Arrow Key" down to constrain movement to the red axis .. you can drag the D-ring inside the pin .. keep holding the left mouse button down .. (you clicked on the end of the line and moved the mouse (constrained on red axis). You can now move the cursor up .. since the right arrow key is held the D-ring stays constrained to movement on the red axis ..  but you can hover over the center of the pin. The point you are holding aligns vertically now on that center.

Let go of everything. Now .. say .. you want that point on the D-ring back (to the right) .75 inches. Ok. Hold th right arrow key again .. to constrain movement .. move the D-right back a ways .. let go .. ener .75 on keyboard .. and hit enter.

[Chuck Doan]

Those trucks are looking good Russ. I'm glad you are learning this.
Thanks Ed for the explanations. Since 3D printing is growing so fast, it makes sense that both software and scanners will have to become easier to help us get the models into print.

[Bexley]

It still surprises me that Sketchup doesn't yet allow for simple mating/coincident relationships. That is the main thing keeping me from ever going back to that software. (To be fair, I used it extensively before moving up to Solidworks, and it's a great program, especially for the price.)