Im new to Sketchup and having some issues with the orbit tool, It seems when I have a model selected it works fine but if nothing is selected it and i try to orbit my model does not orbit but only axis rotates and model keeps current orientation. Any advise for me?
Share your .skp file with us so we can see exactly what you are working with.
It sounds as if you have a component that is set to always face the camera. Maybe it’s something else, though.
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entertainment.skp (177.9 KB)
Does this work?
You do have the component set up to always face the camera. Looks like you opened the scale figure for editing before creating your model. This is fixed.
Elmer Pemnner entertainment.skp (162.3 KB)
Thanks but I cant even change those setting, they are faded out for me
Select the component in the Select tab first.
How do you plan to use this model? Are you hoping to create shop drawings from it?
Yes I hope to use it to make a cut list
Your model needs a lot of revision before it’s ready for that. This is what a cutlist from your model currently looks like.
You’ve mostly been using components which is good but you seem to be opening components for editing and then copying the geometry within instead of copying the components themselves. Here I’ve pulled out three of the components.
The cutlist reports the boounding box dimensions for the lowest level components in the model. Notice how the cutlist gives the dimensions for the “shelf” component. The same issue applies to the face frame stiles and rails. The case side component is also problematic. The left side is loose geometry inside the nested “large end” component with the “right side” component. Note in the cutlist there is no line item for the left side of the case.
The correct procedure is to create the component and then select it with a single click followed by copying it with Move/Copy.
I would also suggest that you go into Model Info>Units. Set Display Precision higher and turn off Length Snapping. This is what you currently have. Increasing Display Precision will make it easier to see potential errors in dimensions. Having Length Snapping enabled gets in the way of precise modeling.
I expect Length Snapping is responsible for the height of the “toe mold” component.
That’s not very far off of 4 inches but it doesn’t need to be off at all. And that dimension has a carry on effect for the lengths of the stiles and the placement of the bottom shelf.
For this project, if you want to work in fractional inches I would suggest setting up Units like this:
I would also suggest that you don’t build you model inside the scale figure component.
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FWIW, I rebuilt your model. Due to some screwy dimensions in yours I had to guess at what you want for some of the dimensions in my version. Here’s the cutlist from mine.
Solid wood pieces.
Sheet goods pieces:
Here the SketchUp file. Compare mine to yours. Mine is at the origin.
Elmer Pemnner entertainment dr.skp (184.8 KB)
Thanks for the info, I really appreciate the help. Can you clarify on not building inside the scale figure component, what is that or what’s the alternative? I guess I’ve been doing that without realizing it
The scale figure, ThomThom in SketchUP 2025, is the component I’m referring to. He is included to give a sense of scale in the model space. Notice the name of the component and how it has the Always face camera property selected.
Evidently when you started your model you opened the scale figure component for editing (double click on it with Select) and began modeling. At some point you deleted the geometry for ThomThom, too.
The alternative is to leave the scale figure component alone or even delete it. When you start a new SketchUp model, just start modeling without touching ThomThom. At some point you might opt to create your own default template for SketchUp and might omit the scale figure. Also make adjustments to Units and the default style.
In general from what I see in your model, you might want to get a better handle on using the Select tool. It seems like you’re a little over-zealous in your clicking. A single click on an entity (loose geometry, component, or group) selects the entity clicked on. Double click on a face selects the face and its bounding edges. Double click on a component or group opens the component or group for editing. Triple click on loose geometry selects all attach geometry. Triple click on a component or group opens the object for editing and selects all of the attached geometry within.
You might also benefit from spending time with the tutorials at learn.sketchup.com
Hey what did you use to create this cut list?
I used the old Cutlist 4.1 from the Extension Warehouse. It’s old but it’s easy to use and bulletproof.
thanks, I appreciate the input
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I use this all the time, as recommended by @DaveR a couple of years ago. It is easy to use and produces good results even though I work in metric units!