ALEXANDER C. SCHREYER is a Lecturer in the Building and Construction Technology program and the Architecture + Design program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He teaches AEC CAD/BIM modeling and visualization, courses in materials and methods of construction, and structural design of wood. He is currently an active member of the SketchUp beta-testing team, and owns the popular blog alexschreyer.net.

About this Book

3D for All

How Does SketchUp Fit into the Designer’s Toolbox?

Windows or Mac, Free or Pro?

How This Book Works

Let’s Go!

Chapter 2 A SketchUp Refresher

Let’s Get Started!

Interface and Program Setup

Adjusting Preferences

Working with Templates

Setting Units and Fonts

Adding Components

Views

Completed Template

SketchUp’s Tool Set

Navigating the 3D Model

Accurate Modeling

Example 2-1: Starting a Trellis

Temporary References

Example 2-2: Creating Beams for the Trellis

Groups and Components

Example 2-3: Using Components for the trellis

Applying Materials

Example 2-4: Applying Materials to the Trellis

Other Tools

SketchUp Best Practices

Chapter 3 Using SketchUp to Inform Your Designs

Group- and Component-Based Modeling

Effective Use of Groups and Components

Modeling with Manufacture in Mind

Example 1-1: Trimming Groups using Two Methods

Examle 1-2: Assembly Animation in SketchUp

Using Dynamic Components to Your Advantage

Example 1-3: Adding Dynamic Components to Your Model

Where Does SketchUp Fit into the BIM Workflow

Example 1-4: Program Planning with SketchUp’s Dynamic Components

Geo-Based Modeling

Chapter 4 Using Plugins Effectively

What Does A Plugin Do?

Getting Plugins

Installing Plugins

Uninstalling and Organizing Plugins

Plugin Overview

Plugins for General Modeling

BezierSpline

BoolTools

Components onto Faces

Curviloft

Driving Dimensions

Extrusion Tools

FredoScale

Geometry Plugins

Grow

Joint Push Pull

Lines2Tubes

Make Fur

MakeOrthoViews

Mirror

PathCopy

Pen Tool +

Randor

Round Corner

Selection Toys

Shape Bender

Soap Skin & Bubble

SubdivideAndSmooth and Artisan (SDS2)

Tools on Surface

Weld

Example 4-1: Creating Trusses

Example 4-2: Making Shells Different Ways

Plugins for Architectural Modeling

1001bit Tools

BuildingStructureTools

HouseBuilder

Plan Tools

ProfileBuilder

Roof

SketchUp Ivy

Tools for Architects

Windowizer

Example 4-3: Mullion Windows

Plugins for Digital Fabrication

CadSpan Tools

Center of Gravity

Centroid and Area Properties

Cutlist and Layout

DrawMetal

Flatten

Flattery Papercraft Tools

Glue Tab

i.materialise

Manifold

Outer Shell and Solid Tools

Phlatscript

Polyreducer

Slicer

Solid Inspector

TF Rubies

Unfold

Waybe

Wudworx tools

Example 4-4: Slicing Up a Volume

Example 4-5: Making a Terrain Model

Example 4-6: Unfolding a Shape

Plugins for Data Integration and Exchange

Cloud

Import / Export Plugins

KML Tools

Layer Manager

Triangulate Points

Plugins for Animation and Presentation

CubicPanoOut

FlightPath and FlightPath2

Keyframe Animation

Mover

PageUtilities

Proper Animation

SketchyPhysics

Smoothstep Animation

Stereo

SU Animate

VisMap

Zorro2

Example 4-7: Making a 3D Interactive Panorama

Plugins for Analysis

ColorBySlope

ColorByZ

ecoScorecard

OpenStudio

gModeller

Graphing Plugins

IES Virtual Environment

Example 4-8: Creating an Energy Analysis Building Model with OpenStudio

Chapter 5 Rendering in SketchUp

Let’s get started!

What is Already in SketchUp?

The Magic of Styles

Example 5-1: Making a T-Shirt with SketchUp

What if I Want More?

Overview of Rendering Methods

What Is Photorealistic Rendering?

Rendering Techniques

Rendering Software

Set up Kerkythea and Create a Rendering

Setting up Rendering Components

Modeling

Edges and Faces

Front-face and Back-face

Triangulation

Environment

Sky (Physical Sky, Sky Color or Sky/Environment Image)

Night Renderings

360° Environments

Ground

Lighting

Ambient Lighting and Image-Based Lighting

Sun

Omni-Directional Lights

Attenuation

Spotlights

IES Lights

Recessed Lights

Neon and Other Self-Emitting Light Sources

Combining Lighting Scenarios (in a Photo Editing Software)

Materials

Components of a Material

Texture or Color ("Diffuse Texture")

Reflection

Refraction

Bump

Displacement

Emittance

Sub-Surface Scattering

Putting These Features Together

Tweaking Texture Positioning

Example 5-1: A Wooden Table Top

Example 5-2: Texturing Curved Surfaces

Example 5-3: Texturing a Sphere

Objects

Entourage

Urban Context

People

Example 5-4: Adding a Person to an Image in Photoshop

Plants, Trees, Grass, Rocks and Carpet

2D vs. 3D vs. Photoshop

Adding 3D Plants

Adding Grass

Example 5-4: Making a 2D PNG Cutout Face-Me Component

Rendering Tips

Making Renderings Presentable

Combining Sketchup Output and Rendered Output in Photoshop

Other Methods

Chapter 6 Creating Geometry using Ruby Scripting

Why Computational Geometry?

Setting Up Your Computer

Installing the Ruby Code Editor Plugin

Other Options: More Plugins and External Editors

Intro to Ruby and the SketchUp API

How does Ruby work?

Objects, Objects, Objects

Storing Stuff: Variables and Constants

Some String Peculiarities

Re-Using Stuff: Declaring and Using Methods

Controlling Things: IF/THEN/ELSE

Repeating Things: FOR and WHILE and More

Making it work: Some More Ruby Syntax Details

What Else is There?

What’s in SketchUp’s Ruby API?

Object Reference Diagram

Length Units in SketchUp

Links to Further Reading

Creating Geometry with Ruby

Lots of Boxes

Lots of Boxes with Color

Creating a Small City

Randomizing Extrusions

Using Formulas For Patterned Panels

Plotting Data From Text Files

Saving Vertices to a Text File

Transformations Change Things Up

Lots of Boxes Using Components

Building a Curvaceous Wall

Placing Components Onto Faces

Randomizing Everything

Attracted to Attractors

Coloring Faces By Proximity

Scaling Objects By Proximity

Solar-Responsive Design

What Else is Possible with This?

Some Pitfalls and Watch-Outs

Appendices

Appendix A: SketchUp Quick Reference Cards

Appendix B: Ruby Class and Method Reference

Appendix C: SketchUp API Class and Method Reference

Appendix D: Creating Your Own Plugins

RBZ Plugin File Structure

Plugin Template

Appendix E: Dynamic Component Function Reference