Sup squad?
I need a 4x8’ basic workbench made in sketchup. Should i be able to learn to do this in an hour or so? Or will I need to learn the software a bit better before I can do something like that? Total noob and clueless at this stuff.
RLGLLearned One
If you spend some time at The Learning Center, you will learn how to use the tools to get what you want. (interactive tutorials) Also, go to The SketchUp YouTube Channel and pay attention to the Square One series. Both are sponsored by the SketchUp Crew and well worth the time spent there.
Extremely unlikely. It will take at least several hours at the Learning Centre (as @Royce suggests) to grasp the basics of SketchUp, and some more hours to learn how to draw your bench.
However, I don’t know of any other 3D drawing software that’s easier to learn.
Come back to the forum with specific questions as you make progress but need help.
A few quick tips to avoid typical newbie pitfalls.
Get (if you haven’t one already) and use a 3 button mouse with a scroll wheel for the middle button. It’s possible just to use a trackpad, but not easy, nor recommended.
Learn how to move around the view using the mouse middle button to orbit and the scroll wheel to zoom in and out.
Go to Window/Model Info/Units and turn off Length Snapping before you start drawing.
When you have drawn a piece of your bench, make it a component before you draw the next piece. Otherwise the new geometry will stick to the old.
Give your components each a meaningful (and unique) name as you create them. Don’t leave them as the default Component #1, Component #2 etc.
Always leave the default Tag as Untagged. Only assign tags to components or groups, or dimensions, never to edges (lines) or faces.
Start with Rectangle, Line, and Circle tools, then the PushPull tool. You will definitely need to understand those to draw your bench.
Learn other tools later, as/when you need them.
Good luck, and enjoy learning.
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A couple of additions to John’s excellent advice:
Work in SketchUp as you would in real life. That is, make the legs for your bench first, then add the top, vises, and other hardware. Don’t do the top and work down to the floor.
Always work with components. As soon as you’ve created an element that’s the size and shape you want, make it a component before you do anything else. Think of components as virtual boards, assembling them as you would real wood in the shop.
Best of luck,
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