Architectural_Design_with_SketchUp

Chapter 3
Using SketchUp
to Inform Your Designs
This chapter goes beyond using SketchUp as a simple 3D modeling tool. While this software
is excellent at that, 3D modeling in SketchUp can and should be about more than just representing
your designs—you can use it very effectively to inform your designs.
The following sections cover using group- and component-based modeling (for detailing,
assembly planning, and other tasks), working with dynamic components, and using geobased
modeling effectively.
Key Terms:
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Component-based modeling
Reporting component attributes
Assembly-based modeling
Trimming and cutting in SketchUp
Using and making Dynamic Components
SketchUp and Building Information Modeling (BIM)
Architectural space programming with SketchUp
Geo-based modeling
Group- and Component-Based Modeling
As you saw in Chapter 2, using groups and components can clean up your SketchUp model,
keep it organized, create 3D geometry efficiently, and permit easy reuse of modeling objects.
You also learned that groups in SketchUp are useful for logically grouping individual
geometry (e.g., assembling six faces into a brick), while components are appropriate if we
want to reuse the exact same component multiple times. In addition, components can attach
(“glue”) themselves automatically to other geometry (any faces, horizontal faces only, etc.), or
they can always face the camera (like the person model in SketchUp’s default template). You
can also reuse components easily through SketchUp’s Components window or SketchUp’s
3D Warehouse online repository (which can be found at http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse).
This section explores groups and components a bit further.
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