- Getting Started
- Pulling Objects into 3D
- Pushing Objects into 3D
- Using Measured Push/Pull
- Inferring Push/Pull
- Cutting Openings
- Erasing Edges with the Eraser Tool
- Selecting Edges and Surfaces with the Select Tool
- Copying Objects
- Moving Edges and Surfaces with the Move Tool
- Drawing 3D by Subtracting Elements
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Pulling Objects into 3D
You need to start with a basic shape or surface. For this task we'll keep things simple and use a rectangle. (Refer to Lesson 3, "Drawing Shapes: Lines, Rectangles, Polygons, and Circles" for more.)
Use the Rectangle tool to create a rectangle similar to what you see in Figure 5.1.
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Figure 5.1 A rectangle.
Now, what you really want is a cube, so to transform the rectangle, we'll use the Push/Pull tool, as shown in Figure 5.2.
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Figure 5.2 The Push/Pull tool and the resulting cube.
When you use the Push/Pull tool (shown in Figure 5.2), you literally pull the rectangle into a 3D shape. This tool is at the center of what SketchUp does for you, so it's an important one to learn.
Here's how to go 3D with SketchUp and the Push/Pull tool:
- Click the Start Using SketchUp button and click the human figure that appears in the Engineering–Feet template to select it; press the Del key to delete it.
- Draw a shape.
- Click the Push/Pull tool in the toolbar (shown in Figure 5.2).
- Move the mouse cursor to the surface you want to pull or push into 3D. Note that the surface must be flat.
Press the mouse button on the surface and drag the surface in the direction you want to extend it into 3D.
As you drag the mouse, the surface pulls into 3D. The sides of the new 3D shape are defined by the edges of the 2D shape.
- Release the mouse button. The object becomes 3D, as you can see in Figure 5.2. As you can see, pulling shapes into 3D is one the coolest features in SketchUp.