As part of my lifelong philosophy of finding ways to get things done faster so I can get back to my life, without compromising the quality of the work itself, I’ve put up this post series to help you guys spend less time modeling!
No one wants to spend 10 hours modeling then put up with IDunnoHowManyHours rendering right after; we all need time for other parts of our lives.
So, I put together these tips I used myself that really made a difference in how many hours I spend on modeling and rendering. Starting with part one, there will be two more parts that can make your models lighter + bonus: keep your sanity intact. #win
Use a 3 Button Mouse
I think everyone has a 3 Button Mouse these days; If you do and know how to use it then skip this, but if you don’t then I suggest you go and buy one of them awesome gadgets. It’s the 21st Century for God’s sake.. This will help with navigating you model in just a few clicks, as in:
- Left Button: Select
- Right Button: Drag
- Wheel Click: Pan
- Wheel Scroll: Zoom
And of course you can customize the uses of these buttons in Sketchup’s settings (Preferences). Leave a comment below for detailed instructions.
One Click + Two Clicks + Three Clicks
The difference is when you have a shape:
One click selects the surface.
Two clicks select the surface and its Edges.
Three clicks select the whole shape and whatever is attached to it via Lines.
If your Object is Grouped or a Component the One click selects it. Two clicks open the Group or Component to Edit. Three clicks opens and selects the whole Object.
No need for Right Clicks to open those pesky menus here!
Get a Better View of Things
To have a better view of what’s going on while working there are a few things you need to do first in order to tidy up that work space.
1.Organize and Minimize those Icons:
This is just personal preference; it’s like how you organize your closet, desk, or shelves. But if you’re a newbie or frustrated with how things look then maybe you should try this out:
Go to ‘Toolbars…’ to adjust the layout of the work space
Uncheck everything, then select the following:
And to minimize the Size of all those Icons, Uncheck ‘Large Icons’ in ‘Options’ tab.
After pushing around the toolbars to fit my use, this is how the work space looks compared to the Default one:
As I said, it’s a personal preference; if you’re not attached to your current layout, or still new to Sketchup then give this one a spin and then you can go from there and create your own.
2. Get rid of Thick Lines:
Another thing that helps you see better, make your model lighter, and have your model looking neater is Turning Sketchup’s default Thick Lines to Normal or Thin Lines. This will help you see small details more clearly among a lot of other aesthetic and mental stability reasons.
To do this, go to Edge Style and uncheck everything in the Sub-Menu except Edges:
End result will be from this:
To This:
This is Part One of these tips..
Part Two can be found here
Part Three can be found here
For one on one training for Sketchup + VRay, go here.
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Leave a comment with any questions or suggestions that you have and I’ll get back to you ASAP 🙂
Ravenors Design Academy 
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