In my presentation I will be showing examples of original pieces, including some original sites that are worth a visit. I also hope to dis-spell some myths about a period that is extremely popular but not always understood or presented in context. There are also examples of my own work and the methods I use in research, design, construction and finishing.

I’m honored to be asked to do this, and if you have a similar group, click my signature below to email me and get the conversation started.

— Bob Lang

About a week ago I flipped the switch and the new ReadWatchDo is up and running. The previous site had been online for a dozen years so a general cleanup was in order. I posted a lot of content since 2012 and as I moved that over I tried to include all of the useful content. I also tried to remove the things that once were timely but no longer relevant. I simplified where things live and I believe you’ll find this site an improvement.

There are, of course odds & ends that still need to be tidied up. Most of those are blog posts and images that decided they liked where they were and refused to give up their old URLs. This is still a work in progress.

If you had anything bookmarked on the old site, chances are that the content is still there, but not where it used to be. There is a “Search Box” on the home page that works pretty well. But if you can’t find what you’re looking for send me an email and I will try to track it down for you.

I’ll be the first to admit that I still need to track down and fix broken links and missing images. I could use your help in tracking these things down. To make it worth your while, I will send a coupon code (good for a discount on a future order) to anyone who emails me with something specific that needs attention. This offer is for my audience only! If you’re an SEO expert or a web design business, please don’t waste your time or mine. Here is how to help if you care to:

Since I launched my first website (CraftsmanPlans.com) (which was also rebuilt this summer) I have been amazed at the support from my audience, and it is truly appreciated. In closing I have one more favor to ask; this is a shoestring operation with a tiny budget for advertising so if you appreciate my work, please share what I do with your friends. Click my signature below to get in touch with me by email.

–Bob Lang

Modeling in SketchUp is easy if you click the right thing the right way at the right time, but if you don’t understand the various ways the mouse works in SketchUp, it can be incredibly frustrating. With most programs there isn’t much to remember, and there aren’t any serious consequences if you don’t get it exactly right. A three button mouse with a scroll wheel is essential. It is almost impossible to work in SketchUp with the track pad on a laptop, or one of the single button mice on a Mac. You don’t need an expensive mouse, but you do need one. A fancy mouse, with a lot of built in functions and its own software can cause problems. The navigation functions in SketchUp, and the way the mouse works are all based on using a simple mouse. Extra buttons and features can lead to unexpected behavior or an inability to get around the model.

In SketchUp, beginners tend to get nervous and hold the mouse button down, click when they don’t mean to, or add an extra click or two. Any of these things leads to real confusion, because something strange happens, apparently without a cause. As you go through this book, pay attention to the instructions for when, how and where to click the mouse.

Here are the important things to keep in mind about using the mouse in SketchUp.

• For most commands; such as drawing a line, moving or copying something, or extruding with Push/Pull, the command will work two ways.
• You can click and hold down the mouse button, or click and let go.
• Click and let go is almost always the better method. Try it and see.
• Open SketchUp with a new file and select the Pencil tool from the toolbar.
• In a blank space on screen, click once to start a line, take your finger off the mouse button and move the mouse in the direction you want to go.
• Then either type a number for the distance and hit Enter, or click a second time.
• That eliminates the risk of moving off axis as you shift your vision from the screen to the keyboard, and the risk of ending the command too soon by inadvertently letting go of the mouse button or clicking too soon.

What happens when you double-click on something depends on what that something is – loose geometry, or geometry that has been combined into a group or a component. If you have a single line, that isn’t connected to any faces, a double-click isn’t any different than a single click, the line is selected and turns blue to let you know.

If you have a face that is defined by edges, a double-click on the face selects both the face and the edges. If you have a number of faces and edges that define a three dimensional object, a third click will select the face the cursor is over, the edges surrounding it, and all the other loose geometry attached to those edges.

When you have some experience, and you’re adding something in between two existing parts that are components, this is an amazing feature that you will appreciate. As a beginner, it doesn’t make much sense. If you’re a nervous beginner and not aware of how many times you click, it will drive you crazy.

A double-click on a group or a component is different than a double-click on loose geometry. Those two clicks open the group or component for editing. The image at right shows a component in this condition. The component is surrounded by a dashed line and the rest of the model is dimmed out.

Once again, this is a valuable time-saver when you have some experience. Many beginners however, don’t realize what is going on and end up changing a component (as well as all the other components with the same name) when all they wanted to do was move it or make a copy of it.
If all this talk of “loose geometry”, “faces and edge” and “Groups and Components” isn’t making sense, don’t worry. Those terms are all explained in upcoming lessons. Those are all ways that different types objects on your screen are referred to in SketchUp. Objects may appear identical until you click on them, but behave in different ways.

When you right-click over an object a context menu appears. These context menus display different contents when you click on different things in different circumstances. If you’re used to working on a Mac, the concept of a right-click may be new to you, and it is possible to bring up the menus with a “context click”, a click of the single mouse button on a Mac while holding down the Option key.

Learning how and when to right-click will save time, and it’s one more reason to use a three-button, scroll wheel mouse.

The final advantage of the three-button mouse is the navigation functions built-in to SketchUp that are based on using the scroll wheel to zoom by rolling the wheel, orbit by holding down the scroll wheel and pan by holding down the scroll wheel and the Shift key. The previous lesson on Navigation covered those functions and the importance of learning the skills of using the mouse.

As you learn how to model with SketchUp, pay close attention to what your hand is doing and what happens on your screen with each and every click. In short order these motions will become instinctive. Until that happens, it doesn’t hurt to count clicks and lift your fingers off the mouse button entirely when you drag the mouse to move the cursor. That reinforces the concept of “click and let go” and it ensures that an accidental click won’t ruin your day.

One of the best ways to get these things to sink in is to move as slowly and deliberately as you can when you are first learning SketchUp. Learn the proper sequence of things, what different operations should look like and be sure you’re doing what you intend to do. Before you know it you’ll be modeling at a rapid pace, but the best way to become fast is to slow down.

One of the “courses” in my Online SketchUp Class is my 2013 book “Building Blocks of SketchUp.” Like my original interactive PDF book “Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp” this included 50 short videos embedded within the 260 pages of text. In 2020 Adobe eliminated the “Flash” plugin, and that caused the disappearance of the controller that accompanied each video. One might think that a software company that developed the format in the first place might be interested in resolving that issue.

Think again.

What once was a simple task is no longer a viable format, so I had to rethink the best method for presenting a combination of text and video. For now my best solution is to offer the book chapters as they originally appeared as an online Flipbook alongside the videos. An example of each can be seen below.

The main idea of this work is to teach the use of 3D modeling with SketchUp in a non-denominational way. Instead of furniture or kitchens the lessons and examples in this book use simple blocks. After one has mastered “playing with blocks” a 3D model of anything can be created.

Simply click on the image to “open” the book, then click on a page or one of the arrows to move to the next page. At the bottom of the image is a controller. The icon with four arrows will expand the book to fill your screen. Tap the escape key to return to the normal view.

You can gain access to the “Building Blocks of SketchUp” Course with a subscription to Bob Lang’s Online SketchUp Class.

A few caveats:

• This book is no longer available in its original format. It was written in 2013 and there have been changes to both the SketchUp program and the SketchUp 3D Warehouse since then. Most of these changes are for the better and the core functions and terms are still relevant. The videos appear in the Flipbook as static images so you need to open the videos from the course list when you come to them. They are listed with the chapter and page numbers from the book to make them easy to find.
• If you’re not sure if this is for you, you can use the “No Book Subscription” free for 10 days. If you decide to continue the cost is a reasonable $15/month and you can cancel any time. That also provides access to all of the exclusive content.

Here is the original description of the book from 2016:

This unique publication is designed to walk you through the same process professional designers use while teaching you how to use the SketchUp program. If you’re brand new to 3D modeling the first two chapters cover the basics of installing and setting up the software and modeling with the essential tools of SketchUp. Chapter 3 takes those basic skills and applies them to modeling an empty room. Later chapters show you how to fill that room with the cabinets, counters and appliances that match your vision. I show you how to make your own cabinet models and how to make use of the abundance of models available in SketchUp’s 3D Warehouse. If your plan is to purchase manufactured cabinets you’ll learn how to find models on line, import them into your model and painlessly rearrange them. You can also find models of appliances, fixtures and accessories.

Although the examples are all kitchens, the lessons apply for any room and that makes this the ideal way for interior designers to add SketchUp to their bag of tricks.

Flipbooks are a way to view PDF files online and they look like this:

Simply click on the image to “open” the book, then click on a page or one of the arrows to move to the next page. At the bottom of the image is a controller. The icon with four arrows will expand the book to fill your screen. Tap the escape key to return to the normal view.

This is a sample of one of the videos from this chapter:

You can gain access to the “SketchUp for Kitchen Design” Course with a subscription to Bob Lang’s Online SketchUp Class.

A few caveats:

• This book is no longer available in its original format. It was written in 2016 and there have been changes to both the SketchUp program and the SketchUp 3D Warehouse since then. Most of these changes are for the better and the core functions and terms are still relevant. The videos appear in the Flipbook as static images so you need to open the videos from the course list when you come to them. They are listed with the chapter and page numbers from the book to make them easy to find.
• If you’re not sure if this is for you, you can use the “No Book Subscription” free for 10 days. If you decide to continue the cost is a reasonable $15/month and you can cancel any time. That also provides access to all of the exclusive content.

A few years ago my son talked me into playing a video game, one where we had to run around an imaginary world with people shooting at us. I sucked at it, big time. I got blasted before I could figure out which way to run and every time I tried to duck I jumped instead. I should have practiced how to navigate this 3D world before the shooting started. My frustration led me to give up before we got to the fun part.

I remember this episode every time I teach a SketchUp class, because I see the same frustration in my students. Before we begin to try to make anything, we spend some time learning how to get around. If you’re trying to teach yourself how to use SketchUp, navigation is a real problem. The Zoom, Orbit and Pan commands in SketchUp don’t behave the same way in an empty model as they do when there is some stuff in it. It’s a classic “Catch 22”. You can’t make anything until you learn how to navigate, and you can’t learn to navigate until you make something.

You can suffer and struggle, or you can download a model from the 3D Warehouse and practice on that. If you spend as little as 10 or 15 minutes poking around someone else’s model, you will progress much faster when you start to learn how to make things in SketchUp. Here is the model we use in my classes:

Click on the 3D Warehouse logo in the bottom right corner of the image to download the model. You can do that from your browser, or you can do it directly from SketchUp. Start a new SketchUp file, click on the File menu and select 3D Warehouse/Get Models. When you’re in the warehouse, search for “Bob Lang’s Navigation Practice”. You can load the model directly into your SketchUp file. When it arrives, you’ll see several objects surrounded by blue lines. Click on the axis origin (where the red, green and blue lines meet) to let these objects go, then put the cursor over one of the objects, right-click and select “Explode” from the menu. Now you can zoom, orbit and pan to see what these things are made of.

Because of the importance of navigation, my book “Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp” begins with a review of getting around in SketchUp. Included in the book are a couple of pages of notes on navigation. The video embedded below is from the latest version of the book. Watch online and download a 2-page PDF excerpt.

CLICK BELOW TO VIEW & DOWNLOAD NAVIGATION NOTES FOR CURRENT VERSIONS OF SKETCHUP

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