Phreakie's Guide To Sketchup

Discussion in 'Halo and Forge Discussion' started by Phreakie, Nov 27, 2008.

  1. Phreakie

    Phreakie Ancient
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    Sketchup Forge for Hubbers
    by Phreakie
    Download – Google Sketchup
    Download – Halo 3 Forge Foundry Components

    Table of Contents

    - Introduction
    I. Getting your objects
    II. Placing Objects
    III. Allignment
    IV. Rotation
    V. Hotkeys
    VI. Quick Notes
    - Final Words


    Introduction

    Google Sketchup has revolutionized the art of
    designing maps for Halo 3. Especially after Fritzster
    released his groundbreaking sketchup components
    for forge. It provides us with a to-scale model of
    the popular map, Foundry, and all of its main
    immovable objects. The Double boxes, Walls, and
    Bridges have all been textured and pre-made by
    Fritzster and it has helped many people in the
    ForgeHub community.
    This guide should provide you with detailed
    information to improve or learn how to use
    Sketchup's basic features. For example; rotating
    objects, placing boxes, alignment, and many other
    useful guides on how to use them to an extent.

    I. Getting Your Objects

    Getting your components may seem tricky
    to some folks. You may find yourself lost in a
    puzzle of random files and junk, and after
    rummaging through those forsaken files you
    may come across a random picture of a bunny
    holding insane54's "NO U! carrots."
    To get your components in-play or on the
    table, you must simply locate your Google
    Sketchup file and go down a number of drop
    down menus until you arrive at the Components
    folder. From then on, save your download into
    that folder and be done with it.
    To open the Foundry Sketchup Components
    file(FSCF), simply open up the application to
    Google Sketchup and click on "File" then "Open."
    Locate your FSCF and a template of Foundry
    should appear in the middle of your screen.

    Step-by-step on getting the objects onto the template.
    1. Go to the "Window" menu
    2. Drop down the menu until you find "Components"
    3. Click on it and a mini window should appear
    4. Click the architecture file where you saved your FSCF
    5. A list of random household objects should appear then click the little house ot the top of the mini window.
    6. The objects should all begin to load up onto the window
    7. There you go! place the objects freely on the template.

    II. Placing your objects

    Placing your objects is very simple although it can
    turn into a hassle. When Placing your objects you
    will see a point/dot on the object once you bring
    it on the template this point is used for aligning
    your objects (which I will get into soon) and adjusting
    the height of the object. When first placing your
    object you will want to basically get it flat or somewhat
    flat onto the floor of the Foundry template. Its also
    recommended to rotate your objects before placing
    them. To get the object flat make sure to use the
    axis. The axis can help you bring the object straight
    up, down, side to side and any other ways you can
    dream of. The blue axis is used to move up/down.
    The red is to move both backwards or forwards.
    Green is to move right or left. Keep in mind that the
    axis are used to show a 3D perspective.
    Steps to Placing a Double box
    1. Spawn Double box
    2. Use point on the box whether above or below box and place.
    3. Use axis to make any last adjustments.


    III. Alignment


    Placing your objects is one thing, but alignment is a
    whole new neck of the woods. Aligning your objects
    takes a small amount of effort. To align an item, you
    basically need to pay attention to the points of the
    object you are trying to align and the axis which its
    on. It is also important to learn rotation if you are
    creating ramps to higher ground. When you are aligning
    your item it is suggested that you also use the corners
    of your object. By doing this you can make a seamless
    ramp. Alignment doesnt only have to do with connecting
    your items. It also includes moving your object up, down,
    and side to side. If you wanted to move your object higher
    to create some sort of jump or whatever, then you must
    keep in mind to use the blue axis.

    Step by Step on aligning a Double box(A) with another Single box(B)
    1. Place Object B on desired plane
    2. Rotate Object A if neccesary to create a ramp
    3. Click on corner of Object A
    4. Move the point on Object A to the corner of Object B


    IV. Rotation


    Now its time to learn how to rotate your objects. Rotating
    your objects on Google Sketchup is very simple. Much easier
    than it looks actually. To rotate your objects you simply have
    to use common sense. There really is nothing more to it. When
    you spawn a box and manuever your mouse around the sides
    of the box, you can see that a center point appears on its
    face and also 4 little + signs. To rotate, you can use any of
    these + signs on any of the sides. A protractor will appear and
    you will see that all you need to do when rotating is move your
    mouse the direction or angle of your desired rotation.

    Step by Step on Rotating a Box and Wall
    1. Place Box on desired plane
    2. Click any + on the box
    3. When rotation wheel/protractor appears, move mouse to desired angle
    4. Click when done and you should have a nice rotation.


    V. Hotkeys


    The Hotkeys are basically a shortcut to using basic features
    or interface of Sketchup. Using Hotkeys efficiently can really
    help you finish your project quickly. This guide will show you
    just which Keys will help you.

    Hotkey List
    New-Ctrl+N
    Save-Ctrl+S
    Open-Ctrl+O
    Select-Spacebar
    Erase-Highlight object then Delete
    Move-M
    Rotate-Q
    Push/Pull-P
    Screen Pan-Shift+Push Mouse Wheel
    Zoom in/out-Scroll Mouse wheel
    Rotate around screen- Push Mousewheel


    VI. Quick Notes


    Some Quick Notes that you should probably keep in mind are
    to always use the axis. Try to get your objects as propotionate
    and parallel to the ones in real Halo 3 Forge. Rotate your
    objects before aligning them if it is necessary. You may need to
    manuever around the screen if you want to use the axis properly.
    If you zoom in or out to far you may get stuck in a wall. To fix
    this, just simply press the 'Zoom Extents' button at the homebar.
    This will bring your view as far as possible from the template.

    The Video Tutorial

    The video tutorial was created by Sdrakulich. You may want to
    skip to the parts you have trouble with.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afb2v-Fas6U


    Final Words


    I hope this guide helps all of Forgehub and anyone interested in making their layouts on Sketchup. This Guide is my first real guide and I hope That it actually helps you all. I believe I have covered most of the important details of Sketchup. If you have any further questions, just post a reply or send me a PM. Also thanks to sdrakulich for doing the screen capture videos for this guide subscribe to his Youtube. He will appreciate it. :D
    Download – Google Sketchup
    Download – Halo 3 Forge Foundry Components
     
  2. drak

    drak Ancient
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    Glad you finally posted this Phreakie. The video would have had better music but stupid youtube had to have Copyright infringment crap, preventing me from having a decent song, instead of this crappy AudioSwap music.

    This tutorial is great for those who dont know how to use sketchup's manipulation of components just yet, and creating this will help out much in the future of forging.

    JUST A NOTE: expect some nice time lapsed builds from me and Phreakie soon :D .....
     
  3. Dthen

    Dthen Ancient
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    Wow that's a very detailed guide, thank you very much.
     
  4. Whisper

    Whisper Ancient
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    Wait, did they say you couldn't use the song I gave you or did it just say like "no copyright infringement!"?
     
  5. Furry

    Furry Guest

    Not only do I think you should just link everything to Fritz' post but I think you just beat around the bush in alot of the paragraphs. Sure, it was slightly entertaining and you showed your passion towards Insane but it didn't get the point across as much as I was planning on it too. Fritz actually made the components and he made kind of guide already. Search bar for the win. If you're just posting a tutorial on how to do it... You should've just said click on the "Help" tab and link the how to get the components part to Fritz post. Informative but has been said, over and over again.
     
  6. Kilamanjara14

    Kilamanjara14 Ancient
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    I have read this thing like 3 times and I still cannot do it....
     
  7. H3C x Nevz

    H3C x Nevz Ancient
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    If you want, you can add this into the post, a quick guide with pics on using guides in map design for SketchUp.

    _____

    Using Guide Items in SketchUp
    With such advanced tools in our disposal in SketchUp, it's hard not to just freeplace items wherever you want, and forget the measurements. You don't have a 45 degree angle tool in SketchUp, so instead, it is helpful to use invisible items. Instead of expecting to remember distances in terms of SketchUp measurements, you can remember them in terms of Halo 3 items. In short, this guide teaches how to use invisible items as guides in SketchUp. Using this will help you when you get around to actually forging.

    [​IMG]

    Here's an example. Let's say that in the final product of your map, that second single box won't be there, but you want to remember how far away the first single box is from the double box.

    First, click the eraser tool and click hide. The single box should disappear, but not permanently. If you ever need to see your guides again, just click View > Hidden Geometry.

    [​IMG]

    There you go. You can alays disable viewing these guides if you want more space, but they come in handy, so you get to think of distance in Halo 3 terms, rather than in SketchUp measurements.

    [​IMG]

    Here is a picture of the final result. I threw in another guide, to remember that the wall is a sign-length off the ground. One thing to be aware of, is that when checking item totals to make sure you didn't use too many, SketchUp counts invisible items, so take those away when doing the math.
     
  8. DeathToll77

    DeathToll77 Gone For Sec
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    when I click components something different comes up. And in the video it looks like you have a different version than me. I have v7 and windows vista. I got the actual foundry floor but not the components.
     
  9. Teaco27

    Teaco27 Ancient
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    Nice Guide, will probably help a lot of people. personally the way i learned is by playing around with it. Three tips i just thought i would throw out there in this post.
    1. Use the Orbit tool often, it helps with moving around a lot
    2. when adjusting were objects were placed it will help you to move along the axis.
    3. when starting out you may want to play around outside of the foundry mock up, i felt that it made learning easier because there was more space.
     
  10. TheDarkKnight05

    TheDarkKnight05 Ancient
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    That was a great guide dude!

    At first I didn't know how to geomerge with the sketchup, now I do.

    Thanks a lot dude and hope to see more from you.
     
  11. Toxic Spade

    Toxic Spade Ancient
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    This was so useful! Thanks for posting this Phreaky I'd probably never get anything done in sketch up without this guide.
     
  12. HLG FlashPoint

    HLG FlashPoint Ancient
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  13. Grandmas House

    Grandmas House Ancient
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    Now how would you go about posting this?

    Video form or screenshot? Or include the file and you would be able to download. Sort of like a forge-through cept you don't have to download lol.
     

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