I’m about to give up on this software. Why? So, I’ve studied a myriad of tutorials and re-studied them. and re-studied them again. This has been my experience: I’ll attempt to follow along with a tutorial, step-by-step, click-by-click, mirroring every nuance and move shared by the presenter. I repeat his move exactly. Within minutes, my design has already gone bonkers—every time. Erase and start over, repeat 4,5,6 times as needed. Did I triple-click? Yes, but it often fails to select everything on my target. I might get two sides. Have I grouped geometry? Yes repeatedly. Often, the silly program slips into edit mode for no apparent reason. Sometimes, it won’t allow me to select any geometry. If the presenter taps S (for scale) he gets 9 handles. I only get 6 handles. Oftentimes, the program won’t inference for me. Here lately, I’ve resorted to designing individual parts of the overall design, (off to one side) and once those pieces are constructed, I’ll fit each one in its proper location. Of course, once I’ve identified my mistake, I learn from it and carry on. It’s rare that I find my mistake. I’m using a brand-new Lenovo PC (11th Gen Intel(R) Core™ i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz 2.42 GHz) Windows 11.
All the tutorials I’ve found appear to be first-rate. Unfortunately, most presenters breeze through many of the design steps, glossing-over essential points. I spend a lot of time attempting to reverse-engineer the lesson for insight. Indeed, when I read the comments, (on YouTube tutorials) many posters struggle with the same frustrations as I have. Superimposing the missing content (on-screen text) for clarity certainly helps fill in the lesson gaps. But those tutorials are difficult to locate. Why don’t the presenters get a clue?
Can someone in this forum recommend superior SketchUp tutorials for beginners?
To help achieve your goals, some time spent at the SketchUp Campus and at the SketchUp - YouTube channel will be very worthwhile. Both sites are from the SketchUp team. On the YouTube channel, pay attention to the Square One Series. It covers the basics for each tool.
A point that may not be explained enough by the presenters is that, when you draw something that needs to have values entered in the Dimension Window (DW) shown at the bottom right of the modelling window (MW), is that you do not click in the DW before typing the required values. As soon as you select the tool, the MW opens automatically to accept your input.
As an example for a rectangle, you do these steps:
1 - Select the Rectangle Tool. The cursor shall change to a small rectangle.
2 - Move the mouse where you want to start the rectangle.
3 - Click the Left Mouse Button to start the rectangle (a click is a press then a release of the button). It may seems obvious but many people press the LMB and keep it pressed. This is not correct.
4 - Move the mouse where you want to put the diagonally opposite corner of the rectangle.
5 - Click the LMB to complete the rectangle. A shaded rectangular face shall appear.
While doing all these steps, observe the Status bar at the bottom of the modelling window. SketchUp is always telling you what to do and what are the options for the uses of modifier keys.
This is a paid course, but is taught specifically in the web version of sketchup and geared towards the beginning. Every step and short cut key is called out . Might be worth checking it out
Thank you! I’ll take your advice.
I’ll mind that window. Thank you!
I’ve been hesitant to go there. I figured if mastering the free tutorials was beyond my grasp, would a paid version offer greater clarity? I mean, the tutorials I follow are for beginners. My struggles are making me question my mental faculties. Thank you for your advice.
Work at it slowly, take baby steps. This software requires a learning curve. Also knowing how to leverage the capabilities of the computer helps.