Demonstrating and Exporting Models | Google Power Tools Bible

After working hard to learn the program and build a model, be sure to take advantage of the demonstration and presentation options SketchUp offers. You can set different views and then save the appearance as a page, which can be used for an animated tour of your model.

Here are some different presentation methods to consider:

Add information such as dimensions and labels, which is described in the section “Understanding entities.”
Show the interior of an object using a section cut effect, which is described in the sidebar “Showing a Cross-Section.”
Create a walkthrough showing the details of your model from varying perspectives at eye level.
Design a TourGuide tour that shows an animated tour of the model.

Showing a Cross-Section
Splitting open a model can be an effective way to demonstrate some aspect of its appearance or function, such as showing the inside of a building or cross-sections of a piece of equipment.

You use the section cut effect to both display the interior of an object and to allow you to work inside an object: A model of an avocado is more realistic if its pit shows when it is split open.

The highlighted edges that display on the model after intersecting the geometry using a section plane are called section slices. Section slices are dynamic objects in that as you move the section plane through the model you can capture a number of slices.
Print the model.
Export the model as images.
Using the model with Google Earth.

Conducting a walkthrough

A walkthrough is a process you design using some of the Camera tools. While it isn’t necessarily an export or demonstration option, it serves much the same purpose. That is, it shows you the contents of your model in some way. A walkthrough is intended to simulate walking through the model as if it were in the real world. To accomplish the proper perspective, SketchUp lets you adjust your point of view to use a specific height and angle to the model.

Use the Walkthrough toolbar as a convenient way to define your view. Choose View Toolbars Walkthrough to open the toolbar. There are three tools, including:

Position Camera: Use the Position Camera tool to set the camera at eye level to simulate looking and moving through a model at life size.
Walk: Use the Walk tool to simulate walking around and through your model.
Look Around: Use the Look Around tool to pivot the camera around a specific point, as you would if you were standing inside a room and turning around.

To create a walkthrough, follow these steps:

Click the Position Camera tool and click a point on your model. In Figure 33.13 the tool is placed on the patio close to the water feature at the default height of 5 feet, 6 inches.

Figure 33.13: The location for the camera’s viewing level is based on where the tool is applied; in this case, close to the water feature.
To change the level of the point of view, type a different height in the VCB. The camera zooms into the specified location, and the tool changes to the Look Around tool automatically.
Click and drag the Look Around tool to rotate the view around you. In Figure 33.14, the view shows the table and chairs on the patio through the tree branches from a location just in front of the water fountain.

Figure 33.14: The Look Around tool shows the view of the garden from the height of an average person.
When you are ready to move on, click the Walk tool and click a location where you Want to travel next. Drag the tool to walk through the model. In Figure 33.15, the walk has returned to the patio fountain.

Figure 33.15: Drag the Walk tool, shown as the pair of shoes to the right of the fountain, to move the model.

Note

There are multiple ways to control the walkthrough process. Read the Help files, or experiment by pressing Shift, Alt, or Ctrl while moving the cursor closer or farther away from the crosshairs.

Presenting a TourGuide tour

You can produce a TourGuide tour that works much like a slide show presentation in SketchUp. The tour is made up of different pages of your model showing different perspectives, details, section cuts, and so on.

Follow these steps to produce a TourGuide tour:

Choose View TourGuide Settings to open the Model Info dialog box displaying the TourGuide tab, as shown in Figure 33.16. Click Enable page transitions to include a transition between slides. Click the up or down arrows to change the time in seconds.

Figure 33.16: Specify whether to use page delays and transitions in your TourGuide tour.
Type a value for the Page Delay or click the up or down arrows to change the time in seconds. Close the dialog box.
Choose Window Pages to open the Pages dialog box, as shown in Figure 33.17. The model includes one default view called Home that is shown at the upper left of the model, below the toolbars.

Figure 33.17: Add and configure pages in the dialog box to include in your slide show.
Move the view of the model to display what you want to see in a page. You can make any sorts of modifications such as changing shadow, rendering mode, time of day, and so on.
Type a name for the page in the Name field, and add some detail in the Description field if you want. The new page is added to the list at the top of the dialog box.
Select the Properties to save to include in the model’s page from the check boxes at the bottom of the dialog box.
Continue adding pages as desired. When you finish, check the sequence of the pages at the top of the Pages dialog box, and click the up or down arrows to move a selected page in the order.
Deselect the Include in slideshow check box for any slides you want to omit from the slide show.
Close the dialog box.

You can check through the pages you have defined from the program window. Each new page is tabbed at the top of the model’s view, as shown in Figure 33.18. Click a tab to display the view in the program window.

Figure 33.18: Each new page added to the model is tabbed on the program window.

When you want to play your slide show, choose View TourGuide Play Slideshow. The Slideshow controls open, as shown in Figure 33.19. Your slide show plays according to the settings you specify. Click Stop to stop the show.

image from book
Figure 33.19: Use the controls to play your TourGuide slide show.

Note

You can’t export the slide show from the free version of SketchUp, but you can configure and export the slide show in a number of ways in SketchUp Professional.

Exporting and printing your model

The free version of SketchUp includes a number of different export options. One is the ability to export shots of the model in different image formats. Your model could become a cover for a CD containing drawings and other elements from the model, either prepared in SketchUp or exported from SketchUp and manipulated in other programs.

Exporting model views

You can export many different views from your model as images in several formats. To export images from your model, follow these steps:

Position the model in the program window as you desire. The exported image includes only what is shown in the program window.
Choose File Export 2D Graphics to open the Export 2D Graphics dialog box. The file uses the model’s name and the PNG image format as defaults.
Name the image file as desired. Click the Export type down arrow and choose another image format from the drop-down list if you want. You can export as JPG, TIF, or BMP, as well as PNG.
Click Export to process the image and save it.

Printing a model

In the free version of SketchUp, you print your model as it exists. If you are using SketchUp Professional, you can specify Print to Scale and span across pages options to let you print a large drawing from a standard printer. You can also specify other settings such as the quality of the image output.

To print a model, follow these steps:

Choose File Print Setup to choose your printer’s paper size.
Choose File Print to open your printer’s dialog box. Change settings as desired.
Click Print to close the dialog box and send the model to your printer.