USING SKETCHUP to visualize your construction project presented by Amber Westerman

135 Pages·2013·42.2 MB·English

by  Amber Westerman

USING SKETCHUP
to visualize your construction project
presented by Amber Westerman
1
Welcome to my workshop.
My name is Amber Westerman and I have a building
design practice in Dodgeville, in the southwest part
of the state.
How many of you have used Sketchup?
How many are beginners? Intermediates?
Any advanced sketchers out there?
I would consider myself somewhere between a
beginner and intermediate. I learn something new
with every new project I launch in Sketchup.
We'll have some time at the end for questions and to
hear about your experiences.
download the free program @
sketchup.google.com
for Windows XP, Vista, 7
Mac OS X
Essential!!! a scroll mouse
with a center wheel
2
What I like about Sketchup is visualizing in three
dimensions.
It helps me think more like a carpenter.
And it's easier for my clients to understand my design
concepts.
It's super easy to get started. Just go to the website &
download.
You need compatible software, and a mouse with a
scroll wheel so you can pan, zoom & orbit.
parallel bar scale
triangle
templates
vellum
Tracing paper
Lots of wadded up paper
3
If I can learn sketchup, you can too. Four years ago, I
was a computer illiterate. I could send email and
type up a basic document....
but otherwise I was ignorant and more than a little
defensive. I liked to call myself a “late adopter”
When I graduated from tech school with a degree in
drafting, CAD was in it's infancy the course was an
elective. Most people didn't have personal
computers. That was 1985.
I learned how to design and produce construction
drawings the old fashioned way, with a parallel rule
and triangle. I still do most of my work this way, and
almost always scale out a drawing manually before I
begin in Sketchup.
4
I learned most of what I know from the book Sketchup
for Dummies and the Youtubes by the same author.
There's also Google help guide, and dozens of
websites that offer tutorials & classes.
You can also post or read online forums.
But, I think the best way is to sit down with a friend
who knows more than you do.
examples from the world over
5
People all over the world are using Sketchup for all
kinds of modeling. Mechanical, landscape,
architecture, consumer goods, woodworking,
animation......
These are some examples posted online. If you start
using sketchup, you can tap into a vast community of
people with similar interests & problems to solve.
Today, I'm going to walk you through the basic steps of
modeling a small house. Then I'm going to show you
how I've used Sketchup to solve design problems.
6
Oddly enough he spent nine hours organizing the
layout of this room in Sketchup
tape measure
select rectangle
pencil
eraser
paintbucket
push pull
7
Here's the toolbar.
I love the little icons. I don't think I'd find it nearly so satisfying
or intuitive with keyboard moves, although some people use
them and they're probably faster.
You'll see an eraser & a pencil.
When you need to measure something or make guidelines, you
whip out the tape measure.
The paintbucket is your color & texture brush.
The most important tool is the almighty push pull. This is how
you give volume to flat shapes.
8
Here are all the tools.
That's the neat thing about Sketchup.
You can stay simple or go deep.
I've used only about half of them.
select the rectangle tool,
type in 12',16'
9
Let's start with a rectangle. You can give it accurate
dimensions by typing in feet, inches, or metric.
push pull
10
Next, use the push pull tool to lift the rectangle up into
a box