Can I create an animation of a group rotating, in SketchUp Free?

SketchUp
1

I’m drawing a Barn Owl Box based on 2D plans from the Ojai Raptor Center.

I want to make an animation of a fly-around around the box, plus the door opening up. I tried creating a scene with the door closed and a group with the door open, but the scenes don’t seem to store the rotational state of the group.

Which is a bit odd because it does store the visibility of the lid group.

Anyway, I was able to brute-force it by creating a radial array of the door in 12 different states and then showing/hiding one at a time in different scenes, but boy was that clumsy! The result looks decent.

But is there a way to do a true animation of a rotating component/group in SketchUp Free?

2

Unfortunately not. Free doesn’t t “allow” the use of extensions. You could try the desktop version SketchUp2017 Free for non-commercial use but can handle extentions. There may be one ( KeyFrame) or two that helps you out.

3

Your joining date and the ground and sky colors suggest that you’re already using SketchUp Make 2017. That can use extensions, and something like Fredo’s Animator extension may get you further: