SketchUp Basics — The Mouse

The mouse does more things in SketchUp than it does in most computer programs. It’s worth getting the right one and paying attention to where your fingers are.

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.