SketchUp Basics Overview SketchUp is a very intuitive program. New users can get the hang of the basic tools very quickly. Almost all the tools can be thoroughly covered in a couple of weeks of classes. On the other hand, learning to produce good design with the tools is the work of a lifetime. @Last has done a great job of creating instructional videos, providing excellent product manual PDFs (although these seem to have disappeared from their website), and most recently using SketchUp itself as the instructional tool. Students who work through the opening SketchUp tutorial documents seem to move up the learning curve especially rapidly. 8 Vital Tips and Tricks for New SketchUp Users - Create keyboard shortcuts ASAP.
- Once selected an object can be moved, rotated, and resized via cursor movements on other objects.
- Rotate frequently to get the best angle for working on a surface and to make sure things are what they appear to be. Perspective can play interesting tricks on the eye. CAD Perspective Tricks
- Zoom in and out frequently to get the best scale for working on a surface.
- Pay attention to screen hints, both within the model and at the bottom of the model window.
- Complex models become much easier to work with if layers are used. (Divide and conquer!)
- Holding the shift key locks movement in the current direction. This allows you to move the cursor to other objects for alignment.
- Closely related to tip #7, but subtlely different, is the ability to lock the rotate tool in a given plane by holding down the shift key, and then moving the tool to the object you want to rotate.
Quickly Introducing A Class of Students to SketchUp
It is possible to introduce a class of students to SketchUp in a typical 45 minute class period. This period can be made more productive by having students download SketchUp and going through the opening tutorials as homework. Because a downloaded trial copy of SketchUp has 8 hours of full use, students can have a working copy of the program on their laptop or home computer for the length of a short project, provided they are careful about quitting the program when not actually using it. So it is entirely feasible for almost any science, history, language, or art class to do a 3-D design project using SketchUp. Examples of Non-CAD Class Use of SketchUp
Teaching SketchUp in a CAD Class Most of SketchUp's tools and features can be taught in 10 or so 45-60 minute classes. The tools and features can be taught all at once, at the beginning of the course, or introduced more slowly through a series of small projects.
Al Doyle uses an approach of very early in the course having students download a DXF model of a famous work of architecture (he has a collection of these from GreatBuildings.com), clean the model up, add textures and colors, and make a walkthough of the model. This approach has the advantage of very quickly getting students experiencing and thinking about architecture, along with giving them a thorough workout with SketchUp's zoom, rotate, move, color and page tools. Test and Quiz Ideas Generally tests and quizzes are replaced by projects when teaching a CAD class. Still it may be necessary to have a few of these nasty things. Some ideas can be found on the Quiz and Test Ideas page.
Project Ideas Most CAD classes consist of having students complete a series of increasingly complex design projects. Many project ideas can be found on the Project Ideas page.
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