It’s likely that you find the Move tool to be very intuitive and easy to use. But have you ever thought about the two things SketchUp is looking for whenever you move an entity? Once you identify those two things, you can unlock even more flexibility in how you move things in SketchUp. Direction and Distance Ultimately, SketchUp looks for …
Easy Stairs in SketchUp
As a carpenter, one of the most challenging things to plan out is stairs. Tricky math, figuring out the rise and run of each step and accounting for thicknesses of treads, risers and finished floor height are all opportunities for mistakes. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use SketchUp to plan out deck stairs. Watch the video or continue …
How to create a Facebook 3D Photo
Facebook has a really cool feature that lets you create a 3D photo. It was previously limited to iPhone users user portrait mode, in which the phone creates a depth map channel embedded in the image. But now, Facebook has improved the feature to allow anyone to upload a depth map and an image. This opens up all sorts of …
SketchUp Match Photo Tutorial (Easy Method)
Most tutorials I see about Match Photo are sort of willy nilly, having you jump right in which most times creates a big mess that makes your eyes hurt. In this tutorial I’m going to share the method I use for Match Photo that produces reliable results every time, whether it’s for an interior, exterior, existing model, or new model. …
Speeding up imported geometry
If you experience lag in SketchUp after importing geometry from another program, the tips I’m going to share in this post will help you speed up your model. From simple things like choosing a fast style and assigning geometry to layers in order to limit what is visible, to advanced tips like writing a custom Ruby script to process the …
SketchUp 2019, Subscribe!
UPDATED 6/3/2020: SketchUp is getting rid of the option to purchase a perpetual license. After an unusually long wait, SketchUp finally announces the next version of SketchUp. In a nutshell, they have added another way to pay for SketchUp through subscription via different bundles, and the (now called “Classic”) perpetual license is not going to be available anymore. Also, aside from numerous bug …
4 Tips for Moving in 3D in SketchUp
Imagine a 3D printer for a moment. The extruder can move along three axes; (X,Y, and Z). Now, imagine that you are a programmer, and you need to write code that will allow you to control the position of the extruder in 3D space, using only the X & Y position of a mouse cursor (No buttons or scroll wheel, …
3D printing a replacement handle – PART 1
In this video, I’ll show you how I designed a replacement handle for a trailer jack wrench using SketchUp. I use the Follow Me tool to extrude a profile around a circle to create the final model. You’ll learn some workflow tips as well to preserve the various stages of your design, and how to extract parts of it for …
SketchUp modeling from plans and elevations
In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to set up your SketchUp model so you can reference existing floor plans and elevations for reference. You’ll learn how to use layers and scenes to organize your model to help you reference your imported files throughout the modeling process. Let me start out by saying I’m a Harry Potter fan. …
14 tips for designing prototypes for 3D printing
3D printing is an excellent technology for creating prototypes. In this article, I’ll share my tips for creating a 3D printed clip for my audio recorder. These tips will help you design your own objects that interact with your phone, remote, camera, or any other object you’d like to design an accessory for.
When you own a 3D printer, you start thinking about all the awesome things you can design for the various gadgets you own. In my most recent project, I wanted to design a clip that would allow me to mount my audio recorder to my belt, or to a tripod.
As I finished up the model, I thought it would be helpful to share a list of tips I use in my workflow that you can apply to your own 3D printing project. Most of these tips can be used with any 3D modeling software, not just SketchUp. They will help you save time, model more accurately, create a stronger model, and reduce warping. Let me know if you have any additional tips in the comments below.
