8 Tips for 3D Printing with Sketchup

3D Printing, Fabrication, News, Tips & Tricks

I am new to the world of 3D printing. So in this guest article, you’ll hear from expert 3D printer/designer Marcus Ritland from Denali 3D Design. He shares some tips to help you create amazing 3D printed models by designing them in Sketchup.

3D Printing

3D printing is awesome – we can all agree on that. You send a 3D computer model to a machine and out comes a finished part, ready to use as an end product or as a prototype before mass manufacturing. With the rise of personal 3D printers like the Makerbot Replicator 2, and 3D print services like Shapeways and Ponoko, nearly everyone has access to this technology.

But how does one get started making awesome models for 3D printing? Its one thing to make a model look good on the screen, but quite another to make a model that looks good and actually works in real life. The process of modeling for 3D printing is much the same as 3D modeling anything else, but with a few specific requirements. Here are some common problems that I see beginners struggling with and how to address them.

Tips for modeling in Sketchup

  1. Make your model “Solid” in Sketchup to be 3D Printable

    2. Models must be “Solid” to be 3D printable. This is by far the most common problem beginners have when modeling for 3D printing. Here are some examples of Solid Sketchup models.

    Solid, sometimes called “watertight” or “manifold” simply means the model is a complete enclosure. If you were to fill it with water, none would drain out, and the model must not have any extra lines or faces. If you make your object into a group or component, Sketchup will indicate when its solid in the Entity Info dialog box (Window > Entity Info).

    Another way to define solid: Every edge in your model must be bordered by exactly two faces. If an edge has less than two faces bordering it, there is an adjacent hole, and if there are more than two faces touching an edge, there is an extra face that needs to be deleted.

    The most common errors (and the corresponding solutions) are:

    • Stray edges (just delete them)
    • Holes (trace an edge to fill them)
    • Internal faces (delete them)

It’s Youtube for 3D Models

Matt DonleyNews, Sketchup Tutorials

Most of us know about the 3D warehouse, where you can upload your Sketchup models and share them with the world. But what if you wanted to upload you models not so other people could download them, but so they could interact with your model right from their browser?

Showcase your 3D models with Sketchfab

Sketchfab Website
If you noticed in my last post, I had embedded a model of a house I built in Sketchup. The cool thing was that you could actually interact with the model by orbiting and zooming around. And it works REALLY well.

How did I do this? I uploaded my model to my account on Sketchfab. Once you upload, your model will show up on your dashboard, and you can copy and paste the embed code onto any website. The great part is that the end user does not need to download any special plugins. Since Sketchfab is built on WebGL technology, they only need to have a modern browser like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Sketchfab embed example:

Here’s the new Iphone 5, as modeled by Mestaty. Just click and drag the model to orbit. Scroll to zoom, and middle mouse button click to pan.

Sketchfab offers a free account that allows you to upload 10 models. For about $12/mo, you can upgrade to Pro and Sketchfab will host up to 100 models for you. The thing I really like about Sketchfab is how simple it is to use. Everything just works!

How to upload your model to Sketchfab

  1. Create an account on Sketchfab Go to Sketchfab and create your own account. Currently, you can login with your existing Twitter or Google account, making the setup that much easier. (I used my Google Account to login with. It’s nice because as long as you’re logged in under your Google account, you’ll never have to fill out a username and password when you go to Sketchfab.)
  2. Download the Sketchup Exporter/Uploader Sketchfab has an Uploader plugin for Sketchup, thanks to a Sketchfab fan, Alex Schreyer. This makes it very easy to upload your model to your Sketchfab account right from the file menu in Sketchup.

7 tips for Residential Framing in Sketchup (VIDEO)

Matt DonleyNews, Tips & Tricks

Usually, I’ll create step by step videos showing how to do something in Sketchup. This time, I thought it would be cool to just record my screen as I created a small addition using Sketchup. It was entirely unplanned, so you’ll see some things I tripped up on, but in general you’ll learn a little bit about the methods I use when creating residential structures in Sketchup.

How to build a (real) house in Sketchup

When most people start out with Sketchup, they usually begin by building a house. They start with a rectangle, push/pull it up, add a ridge and move it up to make a roof. Then they might add some windows and doors to make it look more realistic. But what if you wanted to build a structure in real life? I hollow box isn’t really going to provide you with any real valuable information. In this case, you can use Sketchup to build a house in the same way you’d build it in real life; one board at a time.

I wanted to create a video that showed you exactly how I would approach a project like this in Sketchup. I hit record, and just started building. I didn’t hit pause when I made a mistake, I just went with it. I wanted to show you where I tripped up. And I hope you can give me some tips on how to improve as well! I’m always interested in hearing about different ways people do things in Sketchup. You can view the video at the bottom of this post.

Now remember, just because you have a scalpel, it doesn’t make you a brain surgeon. The same applies here. Just because you have the tool to build it, doesn’t mean you understand all the building codes required in your area. Always consult with a professional when designing any construction project.

Click the model below to navigate the model in 3D right in your Browser. Create your own account at Sketchfab to upload your own models.

7 tips for drawing Residential Framing

  1. Create the “ground” first

    Before you do anything, (yes, even before you delete Susan), create a rectangle from the origin. Make it about twice as big as your expected working area, and turn it into a group. You don’t need to push/pull it or anything. It’s just there to help you navigate easier. It provides a flat reference point for using the tape measure tool and it keeps you from accidentally zooming in past your model.

    Have you ever been zooming in to a small detail on your model, and accidentally moved your mouse pointer off of the detail and zoomed WAY past it and gotten all screwed up? Having a “floor” in place will prevent some of that from happening. Sketchup zooms progressively based off of what you’re mouse pointer is hovering over. The closer the camera is to the object your mouse is over, the slower the zoom increment. The further away the object is, the faster the zoom rate. So by having a false floor group directly behind where you’re most commonly zooming, it will prevent some of those accidental zoom spikes.

  2. Make a flat floor plan for reference

    If you have some fixed dimensions you’re working with, now is a great time to just create a 2D floor plan (separate from the rectangle we made in tip #1). I like to create a rectangle of the largest dimension I’ll need, then “cut out” the other dimensions from that. Use the tape measure tool to create reference points and intersections. Then use the line tool to draw where the walls are. Save this floor plan as a group. Then, build your floor structure on top of this floor plan, using your lines and dimensions as reference points.