Intro to SketchUp for Schools

5 minutes

Before we get started, let’s go through some of the basics together.

Getting Access
1 Go to https://edu.sketchup.com/app
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Saving Files

Before you build your first Give your folder a name. Whenever you start a new
model, go to your Google Drive model, it’s a good idea to save
or Microsoft OneDrive and your file first. Click on the
create a new folder. folder icon on the top left, then
click ‘Save As.’

Give your model a name, Next, you’ll be asked to save If you’ve done everything
then press ‘OK.’ your model to a folder in your correctly, you’ll see your
Google Drive or Microsoft file name in the top left 1
OneDrive. Click on the folder corner along with a ‘Saved’
you just created, then click message.
‘Select.’
The Scale Figure
Every time you open a new model in SketchUp for Schools,
you will see Temple Grandin's scale figure. Temple’s job is

to give us a sense of the size of the objects we draw in our

model.

For example, Temple is 5’9”. If we draw a 3 foot cube next to

her, the cube will be about half her height.

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Drawing a Cube
Let’s test it: let’s draw a 3 foot cube next to Temple.

Rectangle Click
tool here

3’ 3’

Select the rectangle tool Click once on the ground Without clicking again, move
from the menu on the near Temple’s feet to set your mouse anywhere on the
left. one corner of your cube. screen, then type
“ 3’, 3’ ”, then hit ‘enter’.

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Select the push/pull Click once on the face you Type “ 3’ ”, then hit ‘enter’
tool from the menu on just drew. Without clicking to complete your cube.
the left. again, move your mouse to 2
make your cube 3D.
 Navigation Tools

One of the most important things to

learn in 3D modeling is how to move

around in your model window. Click the

orbit tool from the menu on the left to

expand all the navigation tools.

The Orbit tool allows you to rotate around your model.

Click on the Orbit tool, then left click-hold-drag your mouse from side to side in
the model window.
orbit Mouse shortcut: hold down the scroll wheel to activate the Orbit tool, then move
your mouse in any direction to orbit.

The Pan tool allows you to move your model across your screen.
Click on the Pan tool, then left click-hold-drag your mouse from side to side in
the model window.
Mouse shortcut: hold down the scroll wheel, then hold down the shift key at
pan the same time. Move your mouse in any direction to pan.

The Zoom tool allows you to look closer at the details in your model.
Click on the Zoom tool, then left click-hold-drag your mouse up and down in
the model window.
zoom Mouse shortcut: use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out.

The Zoom Window tool allows you to select an area of your model to view closer.
Click on the Zoom Window tool, then left click-hold-drag your mouse to highlight an
area of your model.
zoom window

The Zoom Extents tool allows you to see all the geometry in your model.
Click on the Zoom Extents tool and everything in your model will come into
view.
zoom extents
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The Instructor Panel

Open the ‘Instructor’ from the SketchUp panels for help with understanding how to use any
of SketchUp’s tools.

The way it works: click on a tool with the instructor panel open and you will see a

description of the tool and a step-by-step guide on how to use it.

Instructor
Line tool

That’s it for the intro.

You’re ready to get started on modeling!

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 step-by-step tutorial:

Set Design for Theater Class

pre-flight checklist
You’re logged in at edu.sketchup.com/app

You’ve gone through the SketchUp for Schools intro and feel
comfortable navigating around in the model window.

You’ve
setup at least one folder in Google Drive or Microsoft
OneDrive for your SketchUp models

Here’s a breakdown of the steps required to complete this lesson plan:

1. Build the stage

2. Add seating from the 3D Warehouse

3. Add curtains from the 3D Warehouse

4. Model the backdrop

5. Set the stage with characters from the 3D Warehouse
6. Toggle between various scenes in your model
7. Simulate the view from the audience 5
 Before you start...
This is an intermediate lesson plan, so
we assume you already know how to
navigate comfortably in your model.

We’ll be much lighter with directions, so

1 Build the Stage try the beginner lesson plans if you are
brand new to SketchUp for Schools..

Rectangle
tool First things first: save your file!

Now we can start drawing the stage. Click

the rectangle tool from the menu on the left.

Click (remember: click=click-and-release) on

the ground near Temple’s feet to set one corner
of your stage. Move your mouse across your
screen, and before clicking again, type “ 40’,
25’ “ then hit ‘enter’. You’ve just created the
base of your stage.

Select the push/pull tool from the

menu on the left.
Push/Pull tool

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 Click anywhere on the rectangle to
extrude it in 3D. Move your mouse up on
the screen, and before clicking again,
type “ 3’ ”, then hit enter.

Next, click the select tool from the

menu on the left, then triple click on
the stage you just created to select all
of its surfaces and edges (you know a
shape is selected when its surfaces
and edges are blue).

With the stage still selected, find the

Paint tool paint tool from the menu on the left.

The materials panel will automatically

open on the right side and a few default
1 colors will appear. Click the magnifying
glass to browse the material library (1),
4 and look for the category ‘Wood’ (2).
2 Select a material for your stage (3) then
click on the stage to apply the material
3 (4).
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 With the stage still selected, right-click,
then click ‘Make Group’.

Next, let’s define the space for the

center aisle using the tape measure
tool from the menu on the left.

Click once on the bottom edge on the

side of your stage. Then, drag your
Then click here mouse along the bottom edge of the
front of the stage until you find the
First click here midpoint at 20’ and click again. You
just created your first guideline.

Click on the newly created guideline

and move your mouse to the left along
the red axis. Type in “ 4’ “, then hit
enter.

Click on the original guideline again,

and this time move your mouse to the
right and type in “ 4’ “. Now you have
space for an 8’ wide aisle.
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2 Add seating from the 3D Warehouse

Next, we’re going to add seating for the

audience. Instead of spending time to
model the chairs, we’ll use a model
that’s already been created from the
3D Warehouse!

Click the components panel from the

menu on the right, then type in
“#SUforSchoolsOZ”

Find “Folding Chair” and click on it to

download the chair. Click again in your
model window to place the chair.

Hover your mouse over the top of the chair

until you see the red plus marks and a blue
protractor. Click once on any one of the red
plus marks and rotate the chair 180
degrees until it is facing the opposite
direction. Click again to complete the
rotation.

With the chair still selected, find the

Move tool
move tool in the menu on the left.

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 Click and release on the ground near
the chair and move your mouse
around. You chair should move across
the screen along with your mouse.
Click again to set your chair near one
side of the stage.
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ouse

Original chair
With the move tool still selected, click near
your chair again. If you tap the option (Mac/
Chromebook) or ctrl (PC) key, you will
create a copy of your chair. The original
chair will remain in the starting position.

tap option/ctrl to activate +

copy mode

Tap the right (→) arrow key to lock the copy

along the red axis. Move your copied chair
as close as you can to the center aisle
guideline, then click again to set the chair
down.

Before clicking on anything else, type

“ /3 “, then hit enter. This will make a
few copies of the chair in between the
original chair and the chair that you
just set down.

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 If the chairs are too spaced out, try other
values to divide by. You can continue to type
“/4”, then enter, “/5”, then enter, etc. You can
continue doing this so long as you haven’t
clicked anywhere else or started another
command.
In the image on the left, “/7” produced the
perfect spacing for the seating.

Click
Click on the select tool, and click and
drag a window around your chairs to
select them all at once.

Select the move tool again, and click on the

ground near your row of chairs. Tap option
(Mac/Chromebook) or ctrl (PC) to activate
copy mode once more.

Tap the left (←) arrow key this time to

lock to the green axis, then move the
copied row of chairs so that they are
behind the original row. Type “ 4’ “ and
hit enter to place the second row of
chairs.

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 Before clicking on anything else, type
“*5” to create five more rows of
seating. Just like the divide command,
you can continue to type additional
values to add rows of seating so long
as you haven’t clicked anywhere else
or started another command.

Using the selection tool again, drag a

window around all the chairs.

Follow the same technique as the previous

steps: select the move tool, click on the
floor, tap option (Mac/Chromebook) or ctrl
(PC), and place the copied chairs on the
other side of the central aisle.

You now have all the seats laid out for your
+ audience!

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3 Add curtains from the 3D Warehouse

Once again, click the components

panel from the menu on the right, then
type in “#SUforSchoolsOZ”

Find the ‘Curtain’ component and click

on it to download the curtain. Click
again near a corner of the stage to
place the curtain.

Using the move tool, adjust the location of the

+ curtain to your liking. Once the curtain is in a
good spot, tap option (Mac/Chromebook) or ctrl
(PC) and make a couple copies of your curtain
around the stage.

Tip: like in step 2c, use the red plus marks and
blue protractor to rotate curtains so that they are
on the sides of your stage.

Next, let’s make the curtains fit the

stage by using the scale tool from the
menu on the left.

Scale tool

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 Click on the green grips to resize the
curtain. You’ll notice that clicking on a
corner grip will scale the whole model
uniformly in all three directions and clicking
on an edge grip will scale in two directions.
Since you want to scale only the width of
the curtain, find and click on the center grip
on one of the short sides of the curtain.

Repeat step E for all the curtains in

your model so that your stage is
enclosed on all sides except for the
back.

Keep going! This lesson continues

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4 Model the backdrop

Select the rectangle tool and make a

thin rectangle that spans the back of
the stage between the side curtains.

Use the push/pull and “pull” the

rectangle up as high as the curtains.

You are going to use a custom image

to create the backdrop for your scene.
Use any image you’d like, but In this
lesson plan, we will use the image on
the left.

Tip: it’s best to use an image that is

taken straight on rather than from an
angle.

At the top left in your modeling

window, find and click the folder icon,
then click ‘Insert’. You will be asked to
select the file that you’d like to insert.
SketchUp supports a number of file
formats, but in this case, we are
looking for a .png or .jpg image file.

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Once you’ve selected your image, click
the ‘Material’ button. This will
automatically activate your paint bucket
tool and allow you to apply your image
as a material to an object.

Click once on the backdrop to apply

your image material. Click again to set
the image. It doesn’t matter if the
image is not the same size as your
backdrop -- we will address that in the
next few steps.

Right-click on the newly placed image,

then select ‘Texture’, then ‘Position’.

You will see pins at each corner of the

image. We won’t be using these pins
just yet, but click and drag each pin to
try out what they are capable of. The
move pin (bottom left) will move the
image around. The pin on the bottom
right will scale or rotate your image.

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With the pins still visible, right-click
again on the image, and this time click
‘Fixed Pins’.

Click and drag on each of the four pins

and match them to the four corners of
your backdrop. Once your image is
stretched to match your backdrop,
right-click and select ‘Done’.

For a little housekeeping, triple click on

your backdrop to select it, then right
click and select ‘Make Group’.

Next, we are going to repeat the same

process outlined in steps 4A-4K to
create a different backdrop for another
scene.

First, using the rectangle and push/pull

tool, create another backdrop directly
in front of the grassy field backdrop.
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 Find another image to use as the
backdrop for the second scene. In this
lesson plan, we’ll use the image on the
left for the “stormy sky” scene.

Insert the image and match its corners

to the backdrop once again. For the
final step in this section, triple click and
make your second backdrop a group.

Keep going! This lesson continues

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5 Set the stage with characters from the 3D Warehouse

Go back to the components panel

again, then once more, type in
“#SUforSchoolsOZ”

Start placing all the main characters

on the set: the Tin Man, the
Scarecrow, the Lion, and of course,
Dorothy.

Next, grab the Yellow Brick Road

model and place it near the backdrop
along with a couple trees.

Using the move tool, move all your

components around on the set until
they are placed where you like.

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6 Toggle between various scenes in your model

Now you are going to learn how to use

layers to set up various scenes within
the same model. Click on both the
‘Entity Info’ and ‘Layers’ panels on the
right. When nothing is selected, the
Entity Info panel will be blank.

Once you select something in your

model, the Entity Info panel displays
information about what you selected,
including what layer it is on.

In the Layers panel, click the “+” button

to add a layer. Change the name of the
layer by clicking directly on its name.
Rename this layer to “Yellow Brick
Road Scene”. Add a third layer and
rename it “Flying Monkey Scene”.

Next let’s move the components in

your model onto the correct layers.
Select multiple components by holding
down the ‘shift’ key as you click. Select
all four main characters, the yellow
brick road, the trees, and the grassy
field backdrop.

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With all components still selected, click
on Current Layer: ‘Layer0’ in the Entity
info panel to move all the components
to the “Yellow Brick Road Scene” layer.

Next, in the layers panel, click the

eyeball next to “Yellow Brick Road
Scene”. If you did Step E correctly, this
will hide all the components you just
placed on that layer.

Using the same technique in Step E,

select the stormy sky backdrop and
move it to the flying monkey layer Once
again, test that you’ve done this
correctly by hiding the layer.

Now let’s work on the components in

the flying monkey layer. Hide the
yellow brick road layer so that all you
see in your model is the stage,
curtains, seating, and the stormy sky
backdrop.

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Go back to the components panel and
type in the same search as before,
#SUforSchoolsOZ.

Find the Flying Monkey component and

place a few copies in your model using the
option (Mac/Chromebook) or ctrl (PC) key.

Right-click on one of the monkeys and

click on ‘Flip Along’ → ‘Component’s
Red’ to change the direction the
monkey is facing.

Use the scale tool to make some of

the monkeys bigger.

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Use the move tool to raise the
monkeys up on the set so that they
appear to be flying.

Go back to your components browser and

download a new copy of Dorothy into your
model from the 3D Warehouse. Grab the
Wicked Witch component as well.

Like in Step E, select the monkeys, the

2nd Dorothy component, and the witch,
and move them all to the “Flying
Monkeys Scene” layer.

As a final check, toggle the layers to

make sure all the components are on
the correct layers.

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7 Simulate the view from the audience

Find the Views panel from the menu on

the right. Click on any of the preset
views on the 3x3 grid to see how this
feature works.

To save a view as a SketchUp scene,

click the “+” button at the bottom left of
the Views panel. Change the name of
the scene by clicking directly on its
name.

Orbit away from the scene you just

created. Now click on the scene again
and your model will go back to the
previous position.

For your next scene, let’s simulate the

Position view of an audience member sitting in
Camera tool the front row. Find the position camera
tool from the menu on the left.

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Click on one of the seats in the front
row. This will give you the view from
that seat.

In the bottom right corner, you will see

a value called “Eye Height”. The
default value is around 7 feet, but the
eye height for a person sitting down is
closer to 4 feet. To adjust the eye
height, type in “ 4’ “, then hit enter.

Notice your cursor is an eyeball -- this

is the Look Around tool. Click and drag
your mouse to simulate a person
looking around the room.

Once you’re happy with the view, click

the “+” button in the Views panel to add
a SketchUp scene “Yellow Brick Road
Front Row”.

Repeat steps D-G to simulate the view

from the back row and add another
SketchUp scene called “Yellow Brick
Road Back Row”.

Now you can easily toggle between

your SketchUp scenes to make sure
all audience members have a good
view of the set.
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 Next, let’s make sure the audience
members also have a good view of the
flying monkey scene from the front and
back rows. With the “Yellow Brick Road
Back Row” scene selected, open your
layers panel. By clicking on the eyeball
icon next to each layer, hide the yellow
brick road and show the flying
monkeys.

Click the “+” button in your Views panel

once again to save the view as another
SketchUp scene “Flying Monkeys Back
Row”.

You now have the SketchUp skills to show

multiple theater sets from multiple
audience perspectives using SketchUp
scenes and layers… congrats!

Congratulations,
you’re done!
Try out more tutorials from
SketchUp

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