I want to understand if the downloaded model that appears in my sketchup drawing is also saved as a separate file somewhere else on my computer…? I have looked in my downloads folder and I do not see any .skp files in there. Unless models have a different file extension other than .skp…? I was also wondering if I can create my own library of models on my computer to use in other drawings. Can models be shared from drawing to drawing? Also, is there a way to look at a list of the models I have in my drawing? For instance if I downloaded a door and then erased it, could I grab it from somewhere in the sketchup file to put it in the drawing again or do I have to go back to the 3D warehouse? I am currently an Autocad user and I’m trying to understand if these models work or are saved differently than blocks. Thank you for any insight.
I dont believe so. They are just part of the model you create.
You can create components that are simply models or parts of models and then save them to your components file folder on your hard drive. those components will always be able to be drag and dropped into any model space.
The file is embedded, but you can looks at it in Model Info (or click cmd-shift-i on Mac). You can select the component and export it to your hard drive if you wish.
Sorry I was responding from phone. You can also see Model Info from the menu Window->Model Info. You can also see them via Window->Components, and clicking on the little house icon and selecting “In Model”, which will give you all the models in your model.
I’d also create a collection on your 3dwarehouse account of the models you use. That way, if you you’re in a pinch or need to share them with someone, you have the link.
Lastly, you can create your own local collections by Window->Components, selecting the icon to the right of the search bar, and see the local collection menu items.
Hope that helps.
Thank you Barry and frie for your helpful comments. I am now able to save a model from 3D warehouse into my own collection folder on the hard drive. This is what I did: After placing a model into my drawing, I selected it and right-clicked and picked “save as” and put it into a folder I had created called “my components cjd”. I then went to Window->Components. In this dialog box I picked on the large arrow shaped icon on the right hand side and picked “open or create a local collection” then browsed to the “my components cjd” folder. Now this folder is recognized in the dialog box as a place locate components. Using the this same dialog box I can use the right and left arrows at the bottom of it to switch between component locations. I noticed one of the locations is called “In Model”. This location shows all of the components I have put into this drawing whether or not they are still in the drawing area or not. This is good to know in case I want to go back and add in a component that I previously deleted. Hope this helps someone else and I will look more closely into saving components in the 3D warehouse location too. Haven’t figured that one out yet. If I explained anything incorrectly please feel free to add your comments.
Great summary! To create your collection in 3dwarehouse, you need to sign in at 3dwarehouse.sketchup.com (or inside SketchUp) with any Google account, and then click on your sign in name and select “Create Collection”. You can make it public (everyone sees) or private (only you see it).