to the left end of the previous line. You’re at the correct location when you can see a small red square and the dotted red line at the same time. This means that you have an inference to the edge, and you’re horizontal (remember, this is a perspective view) from the previous line. Click and release your left mouse button to start a new line at this point.End the second line.Move your mouse up and to the left. Click your left mouse button when you see a green Endpoint inference dot.FIGURE 2-4: Draw two diagonal lines that will become your peaked roof.
5 Push/pull the triangles away to leave a sloped roof.Use the Push/Pull tool (the same one you use in step 3) to get rid of the triangular parts of your box, leaving you with a sloped roof. Have a look at Figure 2-5 to see this in action and then follow these steps:Start the PushPull tool and then click the right triangular face to start the push/Pull operation.Move your cursor to the right to push the triangle as far as it will go (so that it's even with the end of your box).Click the triangle again to end the push/pull operation and make the triangular face disappear.Still using the Push/Pull tool, double-click the left triangular face to repeat the previous push/pull operation, making that face disappear as well. Did you notice that each tool stayed active until you started using another? After you completed the first line, the Line tool was still active, and after the first push/pull, the Push/Pull tool was still active.FIGURE 2-5: Use the Push/Pull tool to form a peaked roof on your box.
6 Draw a rectangle on your front face.Switch back to the Rectangle tool (which you used in step 2), and draw a rectangle on the front face of your pointy box. Make sure that the bottom of your rectangle is flush with the bottom of your box by watching for the red On Edge inference to appear before you click. Figure 2-6 shows what your model looks like when you’re done. Using the Rectangle tool is a two-step process: You click to place one corner and then click again to place the opposite corner. Avoid drawing lines and shapes by dragging your cursor. In SketchUp, doing so makes modeling more difficult. Practice clicking to start an operation, such as drawing a rectangle, and clicking again to stop.FIGURE 2-6: A rectangle drawn on the front of your pointy box.
7 Draw an arc on top of the rectangle you just drew.Tap the A key on your keyboard to start the 2 Point Arc tool to draw an arc on top of your rectangle, as illustrated in Figure 2-7. Follow these steps to draw an arc:Click the upper-left corner of the rectangle to place one endpoint of your arc. Make sure that you see the green Endpoint inference before you click.Click the upper-right corner of the rectangle to place the other endpoint of your arc.Move your cursor up to bow out the line you're drawing into an arc and then click when you’re happy with how the arc looks. If you want the arc ends to be tangent to the rectangle sides then watch for the “half circle” blue diamond Tangent inference.FIGURE 2-7: Draw an arc on top of your rectangle.
8 Start the Eraser tool and then click the horizontal line between the rectangle and the arc to erase that line.
9 Push/pull the doorway inward.Use the Push/Pull tool (which you’re an old hand with by now) to push in the “doorway” face you created in steps 6 through 8 just a bit. Use the Push/Pull tool by clicking a face to start, moving your cursor to push/pull it in or out, and clicking again to stop.
10 Erase the horizontal line at the bottom of the doorway by clicking it with the Eraser tool.This makes the line (and the whole face above it) disappear. Figure 2-8 shows what your finished doghouse looks like.
FIGURE 2-8: Create the door opening by erasing its bottom edge.
For a more detailed introduction to drawing lines and working with midpoints, angles, and more, flip to Chapter 3.
Okay, it’s time for a coffee break. But first, be sure to save your model.
Slapping On Some Paint
We have an ulterior motive for getting you to paint your doghouse: To color it, you first have to understand how to spin it around. Moving around your model is the most important skill to develop when you’re first figuring out SketchUp.
Run through these steps to apply colors (and textures) to the faces in your model and to find out about moving around while you’re doing it:
1 Click the Paint Bucket (B) tool on the toolbar.This automatically opens the Windows and Mac versions of the Materials panel, as shown in Figure 2-9.FIGURE 2-9: The Materials panel in Windows (left) and on a Mac (right).
2 Click a color or texture you like.When you do, you fill the Paint Bucket (B) tool with your chosen material. If the Materials panel is already open, you can skip step 1. Selecting a material automatically launches and fills the Paint Bucket (B) tool. If you don’t see a color or texture you like, click the down arrow for the drop-down menu (refer to Figure 2-9) to see a list of 16 categories of materials, colors, and patterns.
3 Paint some of the faces in your model by clicking any face with the Paint Bucket (B) tool.
4 Switch materials.Choose another material from the Materials panel by clicking it.
5 Paint the rest of the faces you can see.Loop through steps 2 to 4 for as long as you like. Finding the Materials panel in SketchUp is like getting a brand-new box of crayons when you were little (you know, the big box, with the built-in sharpener).
6 Start the Orbit tool by tapping the O key on your keyboard.
7 Move the cursor to somewhere on the left side of your screen, press and hold your left mouse button, and drag your cursor over to the right (see Figure 2-10).Your model spins, or orbits, around a point in the center of your screen. Orbit some more, just to get the hang of it. You can also Orbit up and down to see the top or bottom of your model. Note: This is one of the few operations in which you press and hold the mouse button to drag it to a new location. If you’re orbiting, you’ve dragged your cursor over as far as it will go, and you haven’t orbited as much as you wanted to, don’t fret. Just release the mouse button, move your cursor to where it was when you started orbiting, and orbit some more by clicking and dragging. To see what you want to see, you usually need a bunch of separate drags (separate orbits, we guess).Even better, the Orbit tool can be used in the middle of using any other tool. Tapping the Escape key returns you to the current tool.FIGURE 2-10: Choose the Orbit tool, and drag your cursor to spin your model.
8 Release your mouse button when you’re done.
9 Zoom in and out if you need to by tapping the Z key to start the Zoom tool and dragging your cursor up and down in your modeling window.Dragging up zooms in, and dragging down zooms out. You can also zoom in and out by rolling the scroll wheel on your mouse. If you have a Mac with a Magic Mouse, the scrolling gestures work like a scroll wheel. Okay, now here’s the magic part: You don’t have to actually start the Zoom tool. You can use the mouse scroll wheel at any time while you’re using any other tool.
10 If needed, move around in two dimensions with the Pan tool by tapping the H key (no, that isn’t a misprint) and then clicking and dragging the Pan cursor (a hand) inside your modeling window.Using the Pan (H) tool, you can slide your view around inside your modeling window without spinning it or making it look bigger or smaller. You can pan sideways, up/down, or diagonally.
11 Use the Orbit, Zoom, Pan (H), and Paint Bucket (B) tools to finish painting your doghouse.Now that you know how to move around your model, try painting the different parts these