100 | Chapter 4: Advanced Intersect and Follow Me Techniques Copy one of the side faces of the box to the end of 3. the arc. On this face, draw a cross-section for steps (Figure 4-65). Figure 4-65 Using all three segments of the arc as the Follow Me 4. path, and the step section as the Follow Me face, create the steps (Figure 4-66). Figure 4-66 On the back of the box, make a face like the one 5. indicated in Figure 4-67, using tangent arcs. Figure 4-67 The Follow Me path for this face is another extend-6. ed path, going past the back of the tub steps, so the curved walls will be easy to trim behind the steps. Select all of the top edges of the box as the Follow Me path (not including the edge along the back face) and run Follow Me on this face. This creates the curvy walls of the hot tub. If you have extra ver- tical faces around the tub, erase them (Figure 4-68). Figure 4-68 Run Intersect with Model on the entire model, and 7. trim the walls and steps that extend past each other (Figure 4-69). Because the paths for these objects were extended, trimming is easy. Figure 4-69 Extending Follow Me Paths | 101 The last step is to fill the tub with water. The easiest 8. way to make a face to represent the water level is to make a simple box next to the hot tub, at the height you want for the water. Remove all but the top face of this box, and move edges until they intersect the tub (Figure 4-70). Figure 4-70 Intersect and trim. You can paint this face with a 9. translucent water material from the Water category (Figure 4-71). Figure 4-71 Other Uses The extended path technique can be applied to window frames. This section shows two examples of such win- dows: a stained-glass window that you might see in an old church and a more modern three-paned window. Stained-glass window Figure 4-72 shows windows whose frames have two parts, created using two separate Follow Me faces. The Follow Me paths are extended past one another, and each Follow Me face is a group. After both Follow Me face groups are extruded along their paths, they are exploded, intersected, and trimmed. After the window is made into a component that cuts walls, it can be inserted into walls. To see how it’s done, download my Stained Glass Win- dow model from the 3D Warehouse. Three-paned window Figure 4-73 shows a window with three panes. The window frame is created using Follow Me on the frame face. The muntins separating the panes are created with a simple Push/Pull, starting and ending past the window frame. Intersect and trim, make the window a component, and insert. To see how it’s done, download my Three Paned Win- dow model from the 3D Warehouse. Figure 4-72 Figure 4-73 102 | Chapter 4: Advanced Intersect and Follow Me Techniques Using Intersect to Create a 3D Follow Me Path4.7 Problem You want to use Follow Me along a 3D path, but it is difficult to draw the path. Solution Use the Intersect tool to create the path. Discussion Recipe 2.7 demonstrated how to use grouped reference geometry to create a 3D Follow Me path. This recipe presents another technique for creating a 3D path, in which intersection edges between two objects create the Follow Me path. This technique is helpful in cases where refer- ence geometry is not easy to draw, but you do know the basic 3D parameters of the path. In this recipe, you will model a pair of glasses. The frame around each lens proceeds along a 3D path, which is the intersection of a partial sphere and the frame shape. In the “Other Uses” sec- tion, the same technique is used to create a window frame around a curved window. Create the Lens This section demonstrates how to intersect two objects to produce the 3D Follow Me path. You’ll create one lens for the glasses, whose border edges form the 3D path. In Top view, use Arc and Line to make a face (Fig-1. ure 4-74). Make a vertical circle centered at the line’s midpoint 2. (Figure 4-75). Figure 4-74 Figure 4-75 Use the large circle as the Follow Me path for the 3. lens face. After you run Follow Me on the lens face, you will have a partial sphere. Erase the circle. What remains is the curved glass from which the lens will be cut (Figure 4-76). Figure 4-76 Using Intersect to Create a 3D Follow Me Path | 103 To give the lens glass some thickness, make a copy 4. of it slightly in front or behind (Figure 4-77). Paint the lens glass with a translucent material.5. Figure 4-77 In Front view, in some blank space next to the lens, 6. draw a shape for the lens frame (Figure 4-78). My frame is a simple oval (created by using the Scale tool on a circle), but you could use a rectangle with rounded corners, a star, or whatever shape you want. Figure 4-78 Pull out the lens shape and move it into the lens 7. glass (Figure 4-79). Figure 4-79 Intersect and trim (Figure 4-80).8. Figure 4-80 104 | Chapter 4: Advanced Intersect and Follow Me Techniques Make the Lens Frame The border around the front of the lens will be used as the 3D path, and this path will be used to create the frame. On one side of the lens, draw a shape to use as the 1. Follow Me face for the frame (Figure 4-81). My Follow Me face is a rectangle, but you could try a curved shape. To prevent the Follow Me frame from breaking the 2. lens, make the Follow Me face a group. You know that when a face is 2D, you can select3. it to define its boundary as the Follow Me path. But when the path is 3D, you need to select the Follow Me edges, and not the face. To select the edges bor- dering this face, double-click the front face of the lens and then Shift-click to unselect the face. This leaves only the edges selected. Run Follow Me on the frame shape group. To 4. remove the little edges throughout the frame, select everything inside the group, right-click, and choose Soften→Smooth Edges. Adjust the sliders until the edges disappear (Figure 4-82). Close the frame group.5. To make the second lens and frame, copy the 6. framed lens next to the original and leave the copy selected. To ensure that the pair of glasses is symmetric, 7. activate Scale, which will be used to turn the copy inside-out. Click the drag handle in the direction you want to scale (Figure 4-83). Figure 4-81 Figure 4-82 Figure 4-83 For the scale value, enter 8. –1. Then move the copy so that the spacing between the lenses looks correct (Figure 4-84). Note Another way to mirror an object is to right-click on it and choose Flip Along with the relevant axis direction. Figure 4-84 Using Intersect to Create a 3D Follow Me Path | 105 To make the nosepiece, add an arc between the 9. frames, plus a small Follow Me face (Figure 4-85). Because the frames are grouped, these new objects don’t stick to them. Figure 4-85 Finish the nosepiece and make the ear pieces 10. the same way: Use Follow Me and then make an inside-out copy. The completed pair of glasses is shown in Figure 4-86. Figure 4-86 Other Uses This technique can be used to add a frame to a curved window. The method to create the window itself is described in Recipe 3.4. In the example in Figure 4-87, the window glass is along the front of the window, not the back or middle. This makes it easier to define the path for the frame. The window itself is a component. Figure 4-87 Edit the window component and add a shape for the frame (shown in Figure 4-88 in yellow). Make the frame shape a group. Figure 4-88 106 | Chapter 4: Advanced Intersect and Follow Me Techniques Extrude the frame around the border of the glass and smooth the edges. Run Intersect with Model on the frame, to get the edges where the frame meets the walls of the building (Figure 4-89). Figure 4-89 Trim the frame, close the frame group, close the win- dow component, and you have a window with a curved frame (Figure 4-90). Figure 4-90 To master SketchUp, understanding constraints is a must. You know the basics: a red preview line means a line will be drawn parallel to the red axis, and so on. You may even be an old hand at Shift-locking, aware that pressing and holding Shift while a preview line is red keeps the line in the red direction. But have you used double constraints or tried using the arrow keys? In this chapter, you’ll learn about these and many more powerful ways constraints can help you work more accurately and effectively. Most of the recipes involve roofs, which can pose vexing problems in building design but benefit from well-applied constraints. Even if you’re not an architect, keep reading. The techniques pre- sented are great for a wide variety of projects, be- cause learning how to use SketchUp’s constraints is simply essential to efficient design. Inferences in SketchUp are those colored dots and dashed lines, and helpful text boxes, that appear while drawing, such as On Red Axis, On Face, Mid- point, and so forth. You can use inferences to ensure that you are drawing lines in the correct direction (red, green, or blue), starting a line at the right place (on an edge, endpoint, or midpoint), or drawing an object on a face. In addition to those basic uses, infer- ences also can be used to constrain objects, either to another object or to a direction. Constraining means you are forcing an object to have a certain geometric characteristic, such as a direction or start point. CHAPTER 5 Roofs: Constraints and Inferences 108 | Chapter 5: Roofs: Constraints and Inferences Creating an Overhanging Roof5.1 Problem You want to create an overhanging roof on a simple, rectangular house. Solution Use Push/Pull to create the overhanging parts of the roof, and use inferences and Shift-locking to fill the resulting gap. Discussion One quick and easy solution for adding an overhanging roof to a simple, rectangular building is to create both the roof thickness and overhang by using Push/Pull. Unfortunately, the method also results in an unwanted gap at the ridgeline. This recipe demonstrates two ways to fix that gap. The first approach is to fill in the gap with constrained lines, forming a new face that can be pulled along the entire ridge. The second option is to move the top edges of the roof while locking constraints. Note For more suggestions on working with overhanging roofs, see Recipe 4.4, which presents a solution for creating a uniform overhanging roof on a building with several sections, or Recipe 5.4, which demonstrates using Autofold and a planar constraint for creating overhangs. Start with a house like the one in Figure 5-1. (Make 1. a simple box with a line between midpoints along the top face. Then use Move to move this line straight up.) Figure 5-1 To give the roof some thickness, use Push/Pull with 2. Ctrl/Option to pull out one roof face. Press Ctrl/ Option again and double-click the other roof face to pull it out the same amount (Figure 5-2). Figure 5-2 Creating an Overhanging Roof | 109 Use Push/Pull again to pull down both bottom faces 3. (Figure 5-3). Notice the gap at the top of the roof. You can fix it in a couple of ways. Figure 5-3 The first method of closing the gap is to add lines. 4. Start a line at the point indicated in Figure 5-4. Figure 5-4 With your cursor, hover on the edge indicated in 5. Figure 5-5. You should see the On Edge inference. Figure 5-5 Hover the cursor over the valley point indicated in 6. Figure 5-6; look for the Endpoint inference. Figure 5-6 [...]... hover over the corner indicated in Figure 5 -43 Figure 5 -43 6 Move in the red direction then hold Shift while clicking the roof face (Figure 5 -44 ) This is another way to use a double constraint Figure 5 -44 7 Complete the edges for the hole in the roof and erase the hole face (Figure 5 -45 ) Figure 5 -45 8 Then complete the dormer sides (Figure 5 -46 ) Figure 5 -46 120  |  Chapter 5: Roofs: Constraints and... click the roof face (Figure 5-39) Figure 5 -40 2 You can Shift-lock a constraint even when a line starts out in the opposite direction Start the next line where indicated in Figure 5 -40 , and move the cursor away from the house in the red direction Press and hold Shift 3 Click the roof face, and the line snaps back in the correct direction (Figure 5 -41 ) Figure 5 -41 4 Add two more lines to complete the two... the inner dormer face and end it by clicking the glass below (Figure 5 -48 ) 3 As you should always do when something in your model will repeat, make the entire dormer a c ­ omponent Figure 5 -48 4 Copy the dormer, constraining it to the green direction by using either the left arrow key or the Shiftlocking method (Figure 5 -49 ) Figure 5 -49 5 To copy both dormers to the other side, copy them in the red direction... 5.1, or you can download my Coplanar Dormer model from the 3D Warehouse 1 14 |  Chapter 5: Roofs: Constraints and Inferences Figure 5-23 2 The front face of the dormer will lie in the same plane as the side of the house Activate Line (don’t click yet) and hover over the side face (Figure 5- 24) Press and hold Shift Figure 5- 24 3 Move the cursor up to the roof face The black point at the end of the dashed... the endpoint of the line to face 3 Figure 5-72 Working with Roof Intersections  |  127 11 Add the line indicated in Figure 5-73 Figure 5-73 12 Trim to resolve the corner (Figure 5- 74) , and you’re finished Figure 5- 74 5 .4 Creating Overhangs with Autofold Problem You want to create overhanging faces by using an existing face as a plane constraint Solution Use Push/Pull to make horizontal overhangs and... Trim the faces to get a new, round flap (Figure 5- 84) Figure 5- 84 12 To give the triangular parts of the umbrella roof the same thickness as the round flap, copy the eight triangular faces straight down to meet the bottom of the round flap (Figure 5-85) Figure 5-85 13 Rotate-copy the round flap around seven times and erase extra edges (Figure 5-86) 14 Also erase the edges on the underside of the umbrella... and hold Shift 3 Click the roof face, and the line snaps back in the correct direction (Figure 5 -41 ) Figure 5 -41 4 Add two more lines to complete the two faces on one side of the dormer (Figure 5 -42 ) Figure 5 -42 Creating Dormers  |  119 5 You could use the same method to complete the other side of the dormer, but if the dormer has all its sides, you’d need to hide a face in order to cut the hole in the... you’ll position the dormer and place a copy in relation to other model elements (existing windows) 1 Start with a model like the one in Figure 5- 14 You can create your model from scratch, or download my Simple Dormer model from the 3D Warehouse Figure 5- 14 2 Draw a rectangle in the roof For the side of the dormer, start a line at the lower corner (where indicated in Figure 5-15) Move your cursor (don’t... Inferences Create finishing touches Now you can add a window in the dormer and make copies of it Figure 5 -47 1 The first step is to add a frame to the dormer face, to match the frames of the windows below it Activate Offset and click the dormer face on its right edge (indicated by the red arrow in Figure 5 -47 ) Then complete the offset by clicking on the innerright edge of the window below (yellow arrow) This...7 You have just “reminded” SketchUp of the geometry of that edge and point, so SketchUp can produce inferences from them Move the cursor straight up from the valley point, keeping the dotted blue inference line Stop when you also see a magenta preview line . you want. Figure 4- 78 Pull out the lens shape and move it into the lens 7. glass (Figure 4- 79). Figure 4- 79 Intersect and trim (Figure 4- 80).8. Figure 4- 80 1 04 | Chapter 4: Advanced Intersect. use Arc and Line to make a face (Fig-1. ure 4- 74) . Make a vertical circle centered at the line’s midpoint 2. (Figure 4- 75). Figure 4- 74 Figure 4- 75 Use the large circle as the Follow Me path. scale (Figure 4- 83). Figure 4- 81 Figure 4- 82 Figure 4- 83 For the scale value, enter 8. –1. Then move the copy so that the spacing between the lenses looks correct (Figure 4- 84) . Note Another