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Old 04-08-2015, 12:02 AM   #1
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Tips for virtual modeling in SketchUp software

Skoolie converters are generally people who like to make things. A lot of us have experience with some kind of manufacturing trade—woodworking, metal fabricating, welding, etc—or just happen to be handy with tools. A smaller subset is people who have experience with virtual modeling or CAD software.

In an effort to assist those of us with limited exposure to this powerful, yet intimidating tool, this thread will discuss tips for using Trimble's (formerly Google's) SketchUp software.

The single best reason to use SketchUp is price: It's free. There is a Pro version that sells for close to $600, but unless you're a professional architect, the basic version (called SketchUp Make) is all you'll ever need. For skoolies, it's perfect.

While SketchUp is relatively simple for CAD software, it does have a learning curve. And so we come to the first tip: Play with the software before you attempt to model your bus. I suggest watching any of the dozens of tutorial videos produced by Trimble on YouTube and, in another window, work with the software, trying the techniques discussed in the videos. There are lots of tricks that will help immensely when it comes to building your own model. Maybe try modeling something you have around the house; something with curves and varied surfaces. Try to get the measurements as close to the real thing as you can.

A three-button mouse, while not a requirement, does make using the software easier. (I don't use one and I've been able to work around it. There are keyboard shortcuts for the tools you'll use regularly and knowing them helps if your mouse has only one or two buttons.)

Second tip: Measure your physical bus as accurately as possible. This will make it so much easier to get good results and prevent having to redo lots of modeling. You'd be surprised how an error as small as an inch will cause problems with placing components in your virtual model. It could be the difference between making beds fit or scrapping plans and starting over. I suggest measuring the inside dimensions so you get an idea of how much room you'll have after you've finished the wall insulation and structure. If you measure the outside, be absolutely sure you subtract the thickness of the walls before you start to add virtual components to your model. (If you're designing a bus build before you find your "perfect bus," accurate measurements are, obviously, unnecessary, but accurate practice is good training for when you get started later.)

Third tip: Take advantage of the 3D Warehouse, an extensive collection of ready-made modeling components that you can download directly into your model. You'll find everything from windows to stoves to refrigerators to chairs. A lot of real-world manufacturers have gone to great length to create models of their products and make them available in the 3D Warehouse. Want to know if that KitchenAid fridge will fit between the IKEA base cabinets? There's probably an accurate virtual model available for both of them. If it hasn't been professionally created, there's a good chance a regular user of the software needed a copy for himself, so he built it and then shared it to the Warehouse for anyone else to use.

I'll try to think of more tips, but I encourage anyone with SketchUp experience to share any helpful tips and tricks they've learned. Also, please share any renders that you're especially proud of. Here's a few of mine (still haven't finished all the details), to show what can be accomplished:

Exterior, with outer skin and roof deck:


Skin and roof deck hidden, showing interior walls and subfloor structure, including chassis frame rails (and I just noticed something I need to fix, LOL):


Interior, driver's side shown using a section plane to cut straight through the entire vehicle and hide everything to one side of the plane:


Elevation view using another section plane to cut through and expose surfaces for a clearer image:


Interior, standing on top of the water tanks and looking to the rear of the bus:

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Old 04-08-2015, 08:14 AM   #2
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Great share PD! All these pics are created with all free software... this is right in my pricerange. I can't wait to play around with it! Thanks!
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Old 04-08-2015, 11:27 AM   #3
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Here's an early plan I did



This is a view of the above plan, using the walk through feature.



Here is a plan which is pretty close to what I am actually ending up with. I haven't messed with it for a while.



This is what the shower looks like



If you want to see more go here and scroll forward.
2012-01-09_195011.jpg Photo by somewhereinusa | Photobucket

If anyone is interested I can possibly share the file and you can take it apart to see how things are done. The files are pretty big and I'm not sure I can send them.

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Old 04-08-2015, 01:07 PM   #4
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This is too cool. I don't have the minimum system requirements to install it yet, but someday...

Just a head's-up from one of my own mistakes. I notice the TV in the corner between the two L shaped bed stands. Make sure your TV is viewable at such steep angles.

Mine suffers tremendously at any angle other than straight-on and at eye-level. It's an older flat screen, and I only bought it to use a computer monitor. The granddarlings watch movies on it and need to get in a tight circle so they can all see the pic. "He's touching me!!" lol
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Old 04-08-2015, 10:05 PM   #5
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The granddarlings watch movies on it and need to get in a tight circle so they can all see the pic. "He's touching me!!" lol
LOL.

One of my favorite features is Layers. You can assign different parts to separate layers and turn those layers on or off to see details that may otherwise be obscured. It's also cool to see how your bus is put together, even if you've never seen it "naked."

Chassis porn:


Tip: Don't assign small parts of a component to anything other than the default Layer 0; it can lead to troublesome interactions when you want to turn off a layer, but the app says you can't do that because some part of the active component is on that layer. It's best to just create everything in the default layer and assign new layers later in the build.

If you do find layer assignments are getting out of hand, start deleting layers one by one. SketchUp will ask what you want to do with the items in each layer and you can choose to delete them, send them to the active layer, or send them to the default layer. Once every layer is deleted and all components are on Layer 0, you can start assigning stuff to new layers.

Since each layer has a customizable color, you also have the ability to view your models colors by layer. This makes it easy to see what's on what layer at a glance:
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Old 04-08-2015, 10:06 PM   #6
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This is what the shower looks like

I love the dimensions tool. Makes it really easy to see approximately how much material you'll need to construct a cabinet or shelves.
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Old 04-09-2015, 09:02 PM   #7
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When you have a lot of time on your hands, you tend to spend it in ways that, while not necessarily unproductive, still defy reasonable explanation.

I spent all day building this Dayton wheel for my bus. There is a set of Dayton wheels in the 3D Warehouse, but this is much more accurate and detailed. My head is tired.



Luckily, I can re-use most of this for the dual rear wheel setup.

When I'm done, I'm going to upload the front and rear wheels to the Warehouse so anyone can use them for a project.
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Old 04-09-2015, 10:09 PM   #8
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Holy cow, beautiful work! And thanks for posting all these tips. I've been playing a lot with SketchUp myself and I've been super-frustrated. It has some weird ideas about when faces should spring into existence, and how to move objects around. I have a lot of trouble just getting objects laid out the way I want them (especially the way it auto-cuts things that intersect). Your tips help a lot.
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Old 04-10-2015, 01:28 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by taskswap View Post
Holy cow, beautiful work! And thanks for posting all these tips. I've been playing a lot with SketchUp myself and I've been super-frustrated. It has some weird ideas about when faces should spring into existence, and how to move objects around. I have a lot of trouble just getting objects laid out the way I want them (especially the way it auto-cuts things that intersect). Your tips help a lot.
You're welcome. I agree sometimes SketchUp can be frustrating, but please do watch the YouTube videos that explain how to use the tools. The Follow Me tool is probably the most powerful, yet hardest to master. If your path takes a weird turn, the new structure created by this tool can be ... well, let's call it interesting. I used it a lot to router nearly every hard edge in this model and all the hard work paid off—it looks nice and smooth, even at extreme zoom levels.


On the dual rear wheels, I even modeled the corrugated spacer between the wheel rims.


These are the photos I used for reference, along with a few careful measurements:


For things like spokes, I worked on just one spoke at a time, then copied and rotated that one component around the center of the wheel. Sometimes it's not easy to find the exact center of a model after there are a lot of parts, so I always start a circular model with a box with a corner at the origin. That way, I can always find the exact center at any height, provided the box is at least as tall as my model's highest point.

Another trick is to work on only half of any symmetrical object, making that half into a component as early as possible. You can then copy the component and scale it through to the other half of whatever you're working on. What you're doing is inverting the component so it mirrors the half you're working on. Copies of components will always reflect changes made to any other copy of the same component, so when you make a change to the left half, the right half will show the same change. Watch a video on the Scale tool to see what I'm talking about.

Speaking of components, I suggest making anything you're working into a component as early as possible. (I think I said that last night. It's late again.) Then just open the component and work away, without worrying that you'll accidentally create or cut out anything else. Every cabinet in my bus model is a separate component instead of just faces pulled out of the wall.

EDIT: I just uploaded these wheels to the 3D Warehouse, so you can download them and add them to your own model, or just to see how they're made. Search for "Dayton truck wheel" and it should come up along with the other, less-detailed wheels that someone else made.
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Old 04-10-2015, 08:38 AM   #10
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I have a lot of trouble making components inside things, like modeling cabinets inside the chassis. It seems to be a huge amount of work to get all the right things selected when making the actual component because things are already cut. The only trick I've found is to do something like copy the chassis to a new location, cut out everything I don't want (so I just have the side wall profile, for example), model the cabinet THERE, then I can more easily select everything and make the component. Any tricks for that, or is that the best way?
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Old 04-10-2015, 10:08 AM   #11
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I have a lot of trouble making components inside things, like modeling cabinets inside the chassis. It seems to be a huge amount of work to get all the right things selected when making the actual component because things are already cut. The only trick I've found is to do something like copy the chassis to a new location, cut out everything I don't want (so I just have the side wall profile, for example), model the cabinet THERE, then I can more easily select everything and make the component. Any tricks for that, or is that the best way?
I had the same problem (if I'm understanding you correctly) and the best way to get things to work right is to make sure everything is a component.

Let's say you've built a wall and want to add some cabinets to it. If the wall is just a set of faces, there is a good chance you'll end up changing one or more of those faces as you build the cabinet. If instead you select the wall and make it a component—let's call it wall—then build your cabinet outside of that wall component, there is little chance you can inadvertently change the wall properties. To avoid accidentally opening the wall component as you work, you can use the View/Component Edit/Hide Rest of Model command to hide everything not inside the component you're working on. You'll still see other components nested inside whatever you're editing, but higher-tier components will be hidden. When you're done modeling the cabinets, make them a component—kitchen cabinet, for example—and then select both the wall and cabinet components and make them a component. Name that component something like wall and cabinets. When you want to add a bathroom cabinet, open the wall and cabinets component and build a new cabinet in the bathroom. Once again, when that cabinet is done, make it a component by itself. Now you'll have one wall and cabinets component with a wall, bathroom cabinet, and kitchen cabinet components inside it. Basically, you want everything to be stored inside a hierarchy of components, from the largest to the smallest.

(With the wheels I have been working on, I have everything inside a component called wheel assembly. That component contains components called tire and rim and wheel hub. The wheel hub component further contains center hub and spokes components, and so on.)

The Hide Rest of Model command is a toggle switch, so that setting stays active until you re-select it from the menu. Since I switch from this view as I work, I set up a keyboard shortcut to toggle back and forth between showing and hiding the rest of my model. I don't know if this is exactly the same for Mac OS X and Windows versions of SketchUp, but you can add keyboard shortcuts in Preferences by selecting Shortcuts and finding the View/Component Edit/Hide Rest of Model
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Old 04-10-2015, 03:22 PM   #12
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Whoops. I guess it was so late that I forgot o finish that sentence.

... you can add keyboard shortcuts in Preferences by selecting Shortcuts and finding the View/Component Edit/Hide Rest of Model item, then add your own key or key combination to create the shortcut.

If you want to add to an existing component, but don't want to risk screwing up the geometry inside that component, you can use this trick: Build the new parts outside the component you want to add to. When you're done and happy with the results, use the Cut command to erase the new parts and copy them to the clipboard, then open the existing component and use the Paste in Place command to drop the copied geometry into the exact location from where it was copied, except now it will be inside your component, right where you want it. Paste in Place is another command without a keyboard shortcut, so use the tip from my previous comment to create one if you find this is something you use a lot.

I want to add also to my remarks about the Hide Rest of Model command. In that same submenu is a command that toggles the ability to Hide Similar Components. If you use the trick of creating a model that is one half of a symmetrical model while the other half (a mirrored copy of that component) is open next to it, Hide Similar Components will allow you to see parts of your model that may not be hidden by the Hide Rest of Model command. Hide Rest of Model only hides everything that isn't your open component, and since you may have one side of your model blocked by its mirror image, you'll need to toggle that other half on or off as you work.
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Old 04-10-2015, 06:29 PM   #13
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This thread is like the best thing I've read on here. I'm fine cutting pipe, wires, and steel, but SketchUp has been SOOOOOO frustrating. Thanks for all the tips!
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Old 04-10-2015, 08:51 PM   #14
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I'm kind of kicking myself... for a long time I've dismissed sketchup as another of Google's projects that are kinda so-so owing to their "everything runs in a web browser" mentality. Either I was entirely wrong, or it has come a long way (probably the former). Wow!

Does anybody know a way to work with simple moving parts? I see some youtube videos showing sketchup with the sketchyphysics plugin. It looks great, but from the project's google code page it seems the plugin is pretty dated and I get the idea it might not work with current sketchup.
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Old 04-11-2015, 10:51 AM   #15
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Quote:
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This thread is like the best thing I've read on here. I'm fine cutting pipe, wires, and steel, but SketchUp has been SOOOOOO frustrating. Thanks for all the tips!
I used to hate it. My first attempts at modeling my home were, as you say, frustrating. I tried to create everything without using any components and would frequently have to fix problems that arose because of it. It's only recently that I've been able to fully understand the software's tools thanks to YouTube.

Here's another tip: When building your model, use real-world dimensions to start, but when you start working in very small details, scale the model many times larger than real life, make the necessary changes, then scale it back down to normal size. SketchUp seems to have difficulty working at dimensions smaller than a few hundredths of an inch, and some curves and angles at that scale won't interact as they should, but when you scale everything up, they work fine.

I've had trouble when using the Follow Me tool to router a fine curve onto the edge of a model. With a very tight radius, sometimes the intersections will get muddied up. Another advanced feature is the ability to intersect faces to create new shapes, and at normal scales, this feature can get confused. But at scales one hundred times normal scale, it works better.
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Old 04-11-2015, 10:58 AM   #16
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Does anybody know a way to work with simple moving parts? I see some youtube videos showing sketchup with the sketchyphysics plugin. It looks great, but from the project's google code page it seems the plugin is pretty dated and I get the idea it might not work with current sketchup.
I can't comment on that particular plugin, but I know that a lot of plugins are very powerful, if not inexpensive. For a free app, SketchUp has a lot of very expensive add-ons.

Some of the models available in the 3D Warehouse are "dynamic" components that have different capabilities built in. Some doors, for instance, can be opened and closed by using the Interact tool (instead of having to use the Rotate tool by carefully placing the center of rotation, the Interact tool knows where the hinge is located and how far the door can be opened or closed, and will act accordingly). Unfortunately, dynamic components can be created only with the Pro version of SketchUp—they can still be downloaded and used by the basic version.
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Old 04-11-2015, 11:22 AM   #17
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Here's an early plan I did


Dick
Where did you get that grid pattern background and the slash marks inside your walls? Is that in the app or is it something you found online?
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Old 04-11-2015, 03:08 PM   #18
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Section Planes can be situated along any plane in your model and by using angles other than vertical or horizontal, you can expose some geometry in interesting ways. You can also embed section planes inside components so they affect only those components and other components nested within.

Keep in mind that when I say a component is "inside" or "outside" another component, I don't mean one is physically within the measurements of another, but that one is hierarchically above or below the other. Two nested components can be anywhere in your model's world in relation to each other.

Here I've placed a section plane at an angle within the bus shell component. It cuts through only the outer skin as well as the window, door, and roof components that are inside the shell component. The interior cabinets and other stuff are inside the overall bus component, but are unaffected by the section plane because the outer shell is like a sibling to the cabinets, rather than a mother or father. A section plane placed inside the bus component would affect everything in the bus, but nothing outside of it, like a mailbox or tree placed next to it, for example. Also, a section plane placed outside the bus would slice through everything in the SketchUp model.
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Old 04-11-2015, 04:32 PM   #19
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The difference between the Orbit tool and the Look Around tool: Using the Orbit tool allows you to move around what you're looking at. By clicking and dragging, you are orbiting around wherever you clicked. Using the Look Around tool lets your point of view remain stationary while you inspect the scene from that point. One moves the camera around a point while the other swivels and tilts the camera from a fixed point. Each one is useful, but they behave very differently.

There are a lot of keyboard shortcuts for the various tools. In some cases, you can just hover your cursor over something in the tool palette and it will display the name of the tool followed by the shortcut key, but a lot of the tools don't show a shortcut. This doesn't mean they don't exist, however. I've accidentally found shortcuts by typing an incorrect key and switching to a new tool that I wasn't expecting. I use a Mac, but a lot of them are probably the same on Windows and a lot of them are easy. "O" summons the Orbit tool. "R" is for Rectangle. Some of them aren't so obvious, like "Q" bringing up the Rotate tool.
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Old 04-11-2015, 04:57 PM   #20
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Quote:
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Where did you get that grid pattern background and the slash marks inside your walls? Is that in the app or is it something you found online?
Now that I think about it, I don't think this was done with sketchup, I'll have to go back and look at the files.
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