skew was part of basic modification function in old 3D studio,
but I can’t seem to find similar function in Sketchup for some odd reason.
could someone point out for me where this function is hiding.
Select part (like a surface with it’s vertices,) of an object, (leaving the rest unselected,) and use the MoveTool, or the RotateTool.
http://forums.sketchup.com/search?q=skew
Which brings up threads like:
Is it possible to skew a protruded hexagon around its central axis?
skew in old 3D Studio meant making a rectangle into a parallelogram, but in 3D.
I’m trying to skew a complex mesh, not a simple geometry.
You may try grouping your geometry when axes are rotated (or rotate geometry before grouping)
The group’s bounding box will then be rotated.
The ‘Scale’ tool applied on a side grip skewes the geometry inside the box.
See:
The example is 2D but you could do so with 3D geometry in a rotated bounding box.
I guess there is no “skew” in Sketchup then. no “taper” either?
have a look at Fredo Scale at SketchUcation…
john
Yes there is. It is a fundamental part of some of the other editing tools.
Did you look at the post about the rotational skewing. There is an animated GIF there.
A transitional skew works the same, only with the MoveTool. Just Grab a face (of a 3D solid,) hold and drag to skew.
Here is a team member explaining how to taper a cylinder.
Here is a animated GIF in another topic, of tapering using the MoveTool upon cardinal points:
your suggestion only works with simple geometry.
not with complex meshes.
if simple translational move would skew complex mesh, there would not be “skew” function to begin with.
FredoScale suggested by drivenupthewall seem to have skew function I was looking for,
and that plugin extension use the term “Planal Shear” and shows good example of what skew does.
http://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/fredoscale
and remember, you can skew million times, but you can only taper once!
taper twice, and it is no longer a taper.
Excellent! That was good advice.
SketchUp is designed to be an extensible and flexible 3D modeling engine. But not everyone uses it for the same things. So it is distributed with only the basic tools, and users choose the set of extensions they need.
We are all glad you found what you need.
Because I was answering this original statement (stressing emboldened aspects):
and this:
… which SketchUp can easily do with the MoveTool, (by grabbing and dragging an edge,) or using the ScaleTool (as Wo3Dan showed,) or other tools (like the RotateTool,) …
and which also answered the last part of the original question, viz:
and then this general statement is made:
Which is incorrect in a general, basic sense. As others and I said, these basic functions are “hiding” within the functionality of SketchUp’s other basic editing tools.
The statement needed to be disputed for the benefit of other readers (especially those new to SketchUp.) We often answer in a third-person kind of way, as other users come here looking for answers to the same questions.
It was only later, in subsequent posts, that you switched focus from “basic” to “complex mesh”.
SketchUp was not really designed to be a mesh editor. But through it’s extension ability, many plugins are now available that can help with editing meshes.
SketchUp comes “out-of-the-box” with the Sandbox Tools.
A few others are:
Many more specialized, see “mesh” search:
Anyway, … the misunderstanding for new users, of how SketchUp’s tools and workflow differ from that of other applications is quite common. Especially those coming from CAD or other modeling products. Users naturally seem to have a tendency to assume that SketchUp is CAD, and therefor it must work the same way and have all the same tools, which do all the same things, in the same manner, … etc. The same for modelers coming from some other modeling app.
But SketchUp was purposely designed to not be like CAD, and be easier and more intuitive to use, than the other “heavyweight” modeling applications.
So for the benefit of any new users, to avoid much frustration and misunderstanding regarding the use of SketchUp’s tools, please read completely the user guide chapter (“Drawing Lines, Shapes, and 3D Objects”):
It has 23 sections, among them is this section on basic stretching and skewing geometry: