10 Unmissable SketchUp Tutorials on Youtube

By Ronlad Lee on March 17, 2016 1 Comment / 25154 views

10 Unmissable SketchUp Tutorials on Youtube

Article by by Elisa A.M.Varetti 10 SketchUp tutorials that will suddenly turn you into a SketchUp pro. Have you always wanted to know how to use SketchUp but never tried to because you thought it was too difficult? Have you always wanted to learn SketchUp’s deep secrets and become a master in this software? If your answers are yes, you need to read this article and discover 10 unmissable tutorials that will teach you, step by step, how to improve your knowledge and make you become a SketchUp Master. Be sure to pay attention to all of them and use them to develop you skills in your spare time as each one of them has something different to offer in terms of practical information. 1. Let’s Start WATCH >>> Just the Basics 1. Import Reference Image – SketchUp Tutorials For Landscape Architects of Digital Archland

You can’t start learning SketchUp without knowing one of its basic principles first. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced user, knowing how to place and scale reference images in your SketchUp models will help you save time while working, not to mention that by following this YouTube tutorial you’ll avoid any problems or wrong practices that would probably slow your work in the future. 2. Simplify Your Work When Using Components WATCH >>> Simplify Design with Components – SketchUp for Landscape Architects

Every time we start learning new software we always waste a lot of time using it in the wrong way. We manage to transform the simplest tasks into the most difficult ones. So that is why this YouTube tutorial is really valuable. In this video, which is for beginners and advanced users, the author teaches you how to deal with repeated elements (lights, benches, doors …). I think that everyone should know this one. It’ll make your life easier without having to modify the same object an infinite number of times. Just use components and you’ll be able to transform all of your identical objects at the same time. 3. The Site’s Topography is Essential for a Good Project WATCH >>> How to Import a Google Map into SketchUp

You may want to know that it is possible, and really useful, to import Google Maps into SketchUp. With a simple click you can then discover the topography of your site. Be careful; it’s not as accurate as a land survey, but at least it’s a start. This tutorial clearly teaches you the right steps that will lead you to choose your location, import it into SketchUp and reveal its topography. It can be very useful at times, especially when you are working on big properties in the hills and you still don’t have any land survey. Your life suddenly becomes much easier! 4. Create Your own Topography With the Sandbox Tool WATCH >>> SketchUp 8 – Sandbox Tools – Building Terrain from Contours

Ok, tutorial 3 was very useful but it just referred to real, existing topography. But what if you changed site’s topography while designing? Well, SketchUp gives you the possibility to create your own site topography, you just need to work with contours (that can either be imported from AutoCad or drawn in SketchUp from a map), follow some easy and simple steps, and voilà! 5. From AutoCad to SketchUp: Topography Lines Step by Step WATCH >>> Modeling Topography w/ DWG Contour Map and Sandbox Tools – SketchUp for Landscape Architects

This is another tutorial about creating your own topography lines from AutoCad for SketchUp models by using contour lines. It can be very useful for those who don’t know how to deal with contours in SketchUp. Don’t forget that landscape architecture works with land and territory and that you need to understand your site perfectly if you want to design correctly. Reproducing your site in the most accurate way will help you save time while drawing your project in SketchUp. See More SketchUp Related Articles:

6. What About Textures? Another thing that SketchUp offers you is the possibility to add textures to the objects inside your model. In this YouTube video the author shows every step you need to know, to deal with them for the first time. Textures can be of help of course, but if not treated correctly they can become terrible and waste all of your work. So please, pay attention and start practicing. WATCH >>> Textures in SketchUp

7. Get to Know How to Deal With Trees and Bushes WATCH >>> SketchUp trees and shrubs

I choose this video tutorial because it shows different kinds of 3D vegetation materials and it teaches how to deal with these kinds of elements in your model. But that is just the first step. Don’t forget that as landscape architects the vegetation material is everything, so you need to make it look as nice and as real as possible. This means that you also need to use some special effects to reach your goal. 8. Get to Match Images with Your 3d Model from a Perspectival Point of View WATCH >>> SketchUp: Photo Match & Compositing (Pt.1)

If you want your model to be as real as possible, you may want to add a little bit of the outside world into your 3D model. That is possible only if you add some details; for example, the context. The only thing you need to do is to insert a photograph into your model. And here comes the problem: how to match the perspective view of your image with the view of your SketchUp model? This is something that advanced users may want to know about or to improve: how to perfectly insert your model into photos while keeping the correct perspective. 9. Being Capable of Drawing Every Kind of Shape Makes You Powerful WATCH >>> Designing with the Follow Me Tool – The SketchUp for Landscape Architects

Landscape architecture and architecture need to be free from pc limits. While hand drawing gives you this freedom, software need to be deeply understood to let you to have the same flexibility. In this YouTube video the author shows you how to create curvilinear and complicated objects with one simple tool called the Follow Me Tool. 10. Difficult shaped can be created in a few steps WATCH >>> How To Create Domes, Spheres & Other Curved Shapes in SketchUp

This is another YouTube video for advanced and expert users who want to improve or learn; how to create the irregular objects that are often found in landscape architecture designs. Pc graphics are really useful and can help you save a lot of time but it cannot control your creativity nor your projects. Every software package has a tool that allows you to illustrate your unique design, you just need to find it and learn how to use it. – It ends here, this article about 10 SketchUp tutorials that will suddenly turn you into a SketchUp pro. These recommended videos aim to explain to both beginners and advanced users just 10 of the most important steps and tools offered by SketchUp. Keep practicing and watching other YouTube videos to learn how to improve your skills and create 3D models and renderings of the highest quality.

Recommended Reading: Rendering in SketchUp: From Modeling to Presentation for Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design. Get it HERE!

What do you think about our list of unmissible SketchUp tutorials which one is your favourite? Tell us in the comments! Go to comments Recommended Reading:

Article by Elisa A.M.Varetti