Well dang. the last one stuck, so I wonder what happened? Well, in that case, its a good thing I wrote it in notepad and saved it...except for a few last minute changes maybe. Ok, well, I'm going to RE POST it sans the changes. If something doesn't make sense, just point it out to me. I'm too tired to read it again and change things right now. Hell, it took 2 hours to write it and do the Sketchup thing.
Ok, here it is again..
...or you could just put the computer in the adjacent room and get a long set of keyboard, mouse and video cables.
DUH!, like if I had one I would have gone to this trouble.
btw, just out of curiosity,what would you say is the longest cables you can use without effecting anything? I'm no computer guru, and I've often wondered about that. I've seen some devices that use CAT 5 for long cable runs, but they were quite expensive at the time.
Currently trying to beat SketchUp into submission.
Good luck. Submission is one thing...total command is another
However, here are a few clues to help you make it "cooperate"
Unfortunately, it is IMPOSSIBLE to give you a thourogh understanding of the basics within the scope of a short Forum reply, but here are a few insights.
First, Sketchup is a very intellegent drawing program.
It automatically senses LOTS of things. You might read a BASIC tutorial at the Sketchup Forums first to undrstand the basic commands. However, heres a few tips.
First, go to WINDOW in the Command Bar. A prompt will appear with a list of items to select. At the bottom is "TEMPLATE". Select it and a field will appear on the right with a list of standard TEMPLATES. Scroll down till you see PRODUCT DESIGN AND WOODWORKING-
INCHES. This is unless you are working in Metric units.
Now open a "new" file. You will now have a Template with "inches" as a "unit" to apply to a line or other entities. HOWEVER, now you need an EASY way to use FRACTIONS of an inch. This is where my background as a CAD detailer comes in. The easiest way to establish fractions, is with DECIMALS. However, this has a lot to do with the "PRECISION" preset as well.
For me, I draw as close to reality as I feel this precision is required. Which as a journeyman woodworker..is 1/32"..as a standard. To apply this "precision", go to WINDOW. At the top, select MODEL INFO. Scroll down to UNITS. A prompt will appear and at the to right is a field labled FORMAT. It should read "Fractional". Below is a field labled "Precision". Select 1/32".
The reason is simple. Sketchup will automatically assign a "pick point" according to your "precision" selection. What this means is, no matter where you pick a starting point for a line, it will automatically pick a point relative to your selection....ie...if 1/2" was your precision, it may actually pick a point in space DIFFERENT than where you want it to be.
Believe me, you don't want that happening all over the place in a complex model. However, the more precice, the more memory it takes as Sketchup uses 14 decimal points to establish PRECISION in space.
Now, once you have a "precision" selected, now you have to USE this precision in a format that is easy. This is where DECIMALS as a command comes in...ie...dividing up 1", into 1/32" increments via a decimal. Here they are.
1/32 = .0937
1/16= .0625
1/8= .125
3/16 .1875
1/4= .125
5/16= .3125
3/8= .375
7/16= .4375
1/2= .5
9/16= .5625
5/8= .625
11/16= .6875
3/4= .75
13/16= .8725
7/8"= .875
15/16= .9375
You would have to add .03725 to any increment in 1/16ths, to get the value in decimals for those between the 1/16" increments. Frankly, I commited the list above to memory LONG AGO, and very rarily have to think in 1/32". It is the Precision applied that matters. I would suggest..IF, you plan on using Sketchup LONGTERM, and for lots of projects...commit the list to memory. Its much easier than looking them up every time.
Ok, once you have this concept in hand, now you can TELL the program what you want for lengths, widths, and heights. Unfortunately, applying decimals to ALL THREE COORDINATES for 3d drawing is a damn pain in the ass.
This is why Sketchup is so intuitive as a 3d drawing tool. ie...you don't have to.
What is important though, is understanding the COORDINATE system, their axis's and where in virtual space you want to draw. In reality, I very seldom have to pick a point in space verbatim, with no relationship to an entity. You will understand this soon enough.
To help understand this concept though, select the line tool. Hover the cursor over the "axis" orgin(0,0,0...or x,y,z) and it will "recognize" this point in space, as the three axis's meet at this point...ie..anytime two lines meet, Sketchup recognizes these points, as well as any point along a line. Select the "origin" as a "start point", and pull a line in any direction. Look down at the "length field" as you pull a line and it will display the LENGTH of the line.
Now, you can select any point in space to terminate the line, and it will display this lenth.
However, to TELL it the direction(or vector)of the line, and the distance, the easiest way is to understand Sketchup will AUTOMATICALLY show you a line PARALLEL with any of the three axis's, by moving the line around untill it becomes the same "color" as any of the three axis's "vectors"...ie..direction.
Once you find the "parallel" axis you want, simply allow the curser to stay there while you type in a DISTANCE. Say you wanted a line, 56 5/16" long, starting from any point in the X,Y plane, simply pick a point in space looking at the xy plane, pull the line till you see the color vector you want(ie..green, red, blue)Type 56.5625, hit enter..and voila! you have a line from the orgin, in the direction of the axis chosen, 56 5/16" long.
If you picked green or red, t will DEFAULT the line on the XY plane automatically. If you picked BLUE, it would draw a VERTICAL line in the Z direction.
Ok, I'm sure you've played around with that already, but I have to start somewhere, right?
NEXT...understand the GROUP command and the principle of coordinate axis's vs planes.
Pick the RECTANGLE command, and arbitrarily draw a rectangle in the DEFAULT GREEN/RED PLANE. It will ALWAYS draw a plane on the Green/Red plane..which is the X-Y plane at 0,0. The Blue axis is the Z axis..or height.
Now, RIGHT click on this rectangle and it will become "highlighted". RIGHT click on it again, and a prompt will come up with a list of commands. Pick.."make a GROUP". Do NOT use "make a Component" at this time. More on that later.
Tip...I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS, make a group of a 2d object in a plane.
This keeps it SEPERATE from other line "entities".
Now, once it is a group, you can "EDIT" the entity, to do various things like add lines, Push Pull, Offset etc. Or, you can do various things with the Group AS AN ENTITY, like Rotate, Scale, Move, Copy, or what ever.
The next thing is learning ROTATE. Very improtant to understand how the Sketchup Rotate icon works. First, it needs to know which AXIS PLANE you want it to Rotate in...ie...XY, XZ, or YZ...or any combination thereoff. For simple Three axis Rotations, I've made a "component", that I IMPORT into a model as required. This is made from 3 identical rectangles, placed into the 3 axis on the default plane, and moved to where I need it in the view.
Here is what it looks like. I use this daily in almost every session. Good tool, although once you become familiar with the Rotate tool, you will soon learn to tell it commands by using other entities within the model. Here is how to draw it in 3d.
First, pick the rectangle tool Pick a point on the ORGIN, and pull it in the Green/Red direction. Type 24,24 and hit enter. Voila. A rectangle on the X,Y Plane. Now, choose the "select" tool, and hover it over the rectangle Rght-click on the rectangle, and in the prompt that appears, click on SELECT..anothe list appears...choose ALL BOUNDARYS. Once chosen, the BORDERLINES, AND PLANE of the rectangle become highlighted. Now Right-click again and in the field that appears...select MAKE GROUP. Voila...now you have a 2d OBJECT.
Next, you need to pull a line from the ORGIN, in the BLUE direction, and type 24". Actually, as you pull the line in the Blue direction, Sketchup will remember your previous LENGTH commands, and automatically stop at that length. Just pull it slowly, and you will see. Once it stops there, or you type 24, hit enter. Voila. Now, pick the end of this line(not at the orgin) and pull a line in the GREEN direction. As you pull it, hover the curser(pencil) over the corner of the rectangle along the green axis. It will "recognize" this point as you return to pull the line along the PARALLEL green axis. A dotted "implied" length line will momentarily appear, when the line is the same length as the line in the rectangle...ie 24" long. Now left click, or type 24, either one. Now pick a point on this end of the previous line, and pull a line in the blue direction DOWNWARD to the corner of the rectangle and pick it. Then simply pull it back along the green axis's, towards the orgin, and pick this corner of the rectangle. VOILA! A NEW rectangle PLANE will appear in the GREEN/BLUE axis'. Pick on the plane, and repeat the set of commands to "make it a group". Once completed, you now have two planes.
Now, repeat this same set of commands in the RED direction. Youj will then have a TRI CORNER set of planes. Finally, do this. Select ONE plane. Hold down your CTRL key, and select the other two. Now make these three groups a COMPONENT, by Rightclicking on the highlighted groups, and when the prompt appears...simply select MAKE COMPONENT. Another prompt will appear. Fill in the field for the name...say TRI CORNER or such, hit the finish button, and VOILA! you now have a TRI CORNER ROTATE AXIS SELECTION TOOL!!
Ok, I'm outta time now. My wife is screaming at me
I'll be back for more tips later and how to use the Tri corner for rotating things.
fitZ
Once you have an "entity" in the model with the three basic planes, it becomes easier to rotate things on those axis's when you have very few objects in the model. Plus, it helps me illustrate the Rotate too.