Comments on: Nesting Components in SketchUp, It Works Both Ways

By: dreamcatcher

dreamcatcher — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:17:07 +0000

To each his own, but my method is to group more often than make component. Then I will nest groups as described above. Once I have created a complex object of multiple nested groups then I make that a entire assembly into a component. Alternatively if I have an object that I know will be duplicated and possibly modified the same later then I will make a simple object into a component.

I have found that things can go bad if you make component too often or too soon. By this I mean it will eventually happen that you will make some time consuming modifications to a component that you forgot you copied (and subsequently forget to make that component unique) only to find that all your copies that were supposed to remain as they were are now modified. This isn’t a huge deal if you can catch it in time but can play havoc on a large and extremely complex model.

Since I work in the architectural field, a quick example would be when creating a wall stud. If the wall is a basic rectangle of singular height with no windows then no problem making that first one into a component before copying. But then if I decide to add a window and thus modifying studs lengths to fit the opening, I might find that all my studs are changing without my knowledge. Again, not a big deal if I just had one wall or even four – I would notice quite quickly. But if I were designing an entire house or apartment complex… You get the point.

Just a heads up.

By: 43yearsateacher

43yearsateacher — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:47:43 +0000

You’ll be able to show the cursor (or pencil tool…whatever)if you use ScreenHunter 5.0 Free (a free download). I use this when creating my own SketchUp tutorials for my students.

I would drop a screen shot here but I can’t paste into this comment window. Thanks for the tutorials.

Robert Bell

By: aschaffter

aschaffter — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:53:32 +0000

How is that different from three components in a group?

By: Robert W. Lang

Robert W. Lang — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 13:37:04 +0000

I think it’s my quirk to make a left and a right, rather than to make a front and two sides, one of which is flipped. If I had to justify my thinking, it would be to help me remember when I get to the real thing that the miter cuts are on opposite ends.

By: luddite

luddite — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 11:55:26 +0000

Mr. Lang,

What’s the risk in replacing the selection with the component?

I’m using an older computer. When I learned SketchUp components, I was told that one of their advantages is that they simplify the model because it only has to compute the assembly once: when faced with symetrical components, I developed the habit of reversing a copy of the component rather than defining two components. So I’m interested that you simply created two. Is my habit just an artifact from using a more limited computer, or is it worth keeping?

VERY respectfully,
Larry