Okay y'all, I see lots of people using the "cheap" sketchup and they say it's confusing to make panels, cut circles, etc. So I am going to show y'all how I use SketchUp as it was taught to me by saywhat? Anyway, here goes.
I'll be "recreating" an old design just for informative purposes. This box was made for member dru, and it was his second design for a RE SX IIRC. Here's the finished view:
http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/7711/dru2view3.jpg
First off, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A DESIGN ALREADY. Sketchup is not for making designs freehanded unless you're experimenting, changing something, etc. It doesn't have anything to do with audio WHATSOEVER. Get a design first, then you can model it. The 3D part is not only the least important part, but it is wholly unnecessary. With that said, let's continue.
Now, the first thing you need to know is how to use the line tool. It is here:
Next, get into three dimensional view. It is the button with the 3/4 view of the house as seen in the previous picture. Also available via clicking camera>standard>iso.
Now, draw a line from the axis point (where all three colored lines meet) down the green axis towards you. Without clicking out, type in the width of the top/bottom panel in the number pad (automatically in inches). In my case, the line was 25". It should be thick black. This means that the line is not connected. You'll notice that the line tool is still stuck to it. To get out, just click exit. You should be left with:
(Note that I do not show axes in my pictures, you can just imagine them there.)
Okay, now that you've done that, click on the open end of the line, and make a line and type in the length of the top/bottom. In this case, it was 34". Make sure that it lights up the color of the RED axis. This makes it parallel. When finished, hit escape again to lose the "sticky" line. Looks like:
Now, all you have to do is take the open end of the length and draw it back towards the red axis. The line will light up green and it will automatically lock onto the red axis when it gets close enough. If it doesn't, don't worry, just type in the width again. You should have three lines:
Finally, connect the rectangle by drawing along the red axis. The points will light up black or dark grey, then become yellow and green depending on how you did it. The rectangle should fill in purple and you'll have this:
Now, this looks like a panel, but it is flat and cannot be used properly. How we make it into a panel is through this sweet little tool caled the Push-Pull tool. Next to the line tool, it'll be used the most. It's located 3 below the line tool, and looks like a red arrow coming out of a block. Select it, highlight the rectangle by rolling over it, and press down. Pull up to the desired height (look at the white box in the bottom right corner), or just type in .75, .5, 1, etc, whatever your wood thickness is. You'll now have:
The next step is optional. Some people like seeing numbers different ways, and this is how I like to see mine. Once we get to the dimension tool, you'll see that the widths and lenghs are maked like 1' 6". For some, or for those at home depot who don't know what math is, this can be confusing. Click window>model info>units>fractional. Now when you look at it, you'll see 18" instead of 1' 6".
Okay, time to draw in sides. After this, the rest is basically the same, as all panels are made the same way. Get your line tool again, and click on one of the top corners (for this use the top, front right corner). Click the corner, and draw along the line (will be highlighted red) .75" or whatever your panel thickness is. Click once you get the thickness, and if all went well, the selection will disappear. However, when you run the line tool across the line, it'll stick at .75". Choose that point, and draw a line along the green axis to the back edge of the panel. It should look like such:
Do the same for the other side of the panel, and you should have identical .75" strips on both ends. WOOT! You just drew in the sides. Now, grab your push pull tool and highlight one of the strips. Drag it up to your internal panel height. Mine in this case is 10.5". Once you dragged it up, just click again and it'll unselect it. You have this now:
Repeat for the other side. You'll now notice that you have no defined panels and just a big "U". Take your line tool, and draw in parallel lines to simulate panel independence all the way around the box. The simplest way is to click on the inside corner of the "u" and draw along the red axis .75" until you hit the outside edge. Then, draw along the right side of the box with a green line. You get the picture, draw all around the box and get:
By the way, to orbit around to draw in the back, either click down on your mouse scroll wheel and move around, or, click the orbit button (left column, third from the bottom).
Draw in the back of the box by orbiting around to the back, clicking on the inside edge, and "drawing" a. 75" line towards the front like you did to mark where the sides go. Once you do that, stick the line tool on that point, and draw up along the blue axis to the top of the side. Take your push-pull tool and pull the strip until it connects with the inside of the other side. Draw in all lines like before, and you'll have:
Wait for the next post as I've run out of pictures.
I'll be "recreating" an old design just for informative purposes. This box was made for member dru, and it was his second design for a RE SX IIRC. Here's the finished view:
http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/7711/dru2view3.jpg
First off, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A DESIGN ALREADY. Sketchup is not for making designs freehanded unless you're experimenting, changing something, etc. It doesn't have anything to do with audio WHATSOEVER. Get a design first, then you can model it. The 3D part is not only the least important part, but it is wholly unnecessary. With that said, let's continue.
Now, the first thing you need to know is how to use the line tool. It is here:
Next, get into three dimensional view. It is the button with the 3/4 view of the house as seen in the previous picture. Also available via clicking camera>standard>iso.
Now, draw a line from the axis point (where all three colored lines meet) down the green axis towards you. Without clicking out, type in the width of the top/bottom panel in the number pad (automatically in inches). In my case, the line was 25". It should be thick black. This means that the line is not connected. You'll notice that the line tool is still stuck to it. To get out, just click exit. You should be left with:
(Note that I do not show axes in my pictures, you can just imagine them there.)
Okay, now that you've done that, click on the open end of the line, and make a line and type in the length of the top/bottom. In this case, it was 34". Make sure that it lights up the color of the RED axis. This makes it parallel. When finished, hit escape again to lose the "sticky" line. Looks like:
Now, all you have to do is take the open end of the length and draw it back towards the red axis. The line will light up green and it will automatically lock onto the red axis when it gets close enough. If it doesn't, don't worry, just type in the width again. You should have three lines:
Finally, connect the rectangle by drawing along the red axis. The points will light up black or dark grey, then become yellow and green depending on how you did it. The rectangle should fill in purple and you'll have this:
Now, this looks like a panel, but it is flat and cannot be used properly. How we make it into a panel is through this sweet little tool caled the Push-Pull tool. Next to the line tool, it'll be used the most. It's located 3 below the line tool, and looks like a red arrow coming out of a block. Select it, highlight the rectangle by rolling over it, and press down. Pull up to the desired height (look at the white box in the bottom right corner), or just type in .75, .5, 1, etc, whatever your wood thickness is. You'll now have:
The next step is optional. Some people like seeing numbers different ways, and this is how I like to see mine. Once we get to the dimension tool, you'll see that the widths and lenghs are maked like 1' 6". For some, or for those at home depot who don't know what math is, this can be confusing. Click window>model info>units>fractional. Now when you look at it, you'll see 18" instead of 1' 6".
Okay, time to draw in sides. After this, the rest is basically the same, as all panels are made the same way. Get your line tool again, and click on one of the top corners (for this use the top, front right corner). Click the corner, and draw along the line (will be highlighted red) .75" or whatever your panel thickness is. Click once you get the thickness, and if all went well, the selection will disappear. However, when you run the line tool across the line, it'll stick at .75". Choose that point, and draw a line along the green axis to the back edge of the panel. It should look like such:
Do the same for the other side of the panel, and you should have identical .75" strips on both ends. WOOT! You just drew in the sides. Now, grab your push pull tool and highlight one of the strips. Drag it up to your internal panel height. Mine in this case is 10.5". Once you dragged it up, just click again and it'll unselect it. You have this now:
Repeat for the other side. You'll now notice that you have no defined panels and just a big "U". Take your line tool, and draw in parallel lines to simulate panel independence all the way around the box. The simplest way is to click on the inside corner of the "u" and draw along the red axis .75" until you hit the outside edge. Then, draw along the right side of the box with a green line. You get the picture, draw all around the box and get:
By the way, to orbit around to draw in the back, either click down on your mouse scroll wheel and move around, or, click the orbit button (left column, third from the bottom).
Draw in the back of the box by orbiting around to the back, clicking on the inside edge, and "drawing" a. 75" line towards the front like you did to mark where the sides go. Once you do that, stick the line tool on that point, and draw up along the blue axis to the top of the side. Take your push-pull tool and pull the strip until it connects with the inside of the other side. Draw in all lines like before, and you'll have:
Wait for the next post as I've run out of pictures.
