Greetings all. In this class,
we are going to learn about Group in SketchUp.
As we know, turning objects into groups is a crucial skill for modeling.
We will learn what group is,
when to use it,
and how to manage it. Let's get started.
Group is a special function in SketchUp which we can use to
assemble entities such as lines and faces into a single group.
For example, there is a beach ball including many lines and faces,
and then we assembled them into an object,
then the object becomes a group.
It makes it easier for us to move, delete,
scale and hide many entities at the same time.
Besides, it's helpful to manage entities and avoid errors.
For instance, if now we are going to draw a box,
which includes lots of lines and faces,
we can turn them into a group.
Then we can add the entire box without having to select each entity. What's more?
When we draw a line in a box group,
it will not connect to entities in the group automatically.
In this course, we will turn all the columns into group,
or beams into a group and so on.
How can we use the layer group?
We can just click on an entity,
which belongs to the group and then whole group will be selected.
There will appear bright blue frames under group.
Another way to select is to click to the group name in our liner window.
The group will appear with bright blue frames and be selected.
Now let's go over the characteristics of group quickly.
A group belongs to a model file and it cannot appear out of the file.
It does not have its own coordinate system.
If we copy a group,
the new one is independent from the old.
This means that when we edit the old group,
the new one won't be changed.
The size of the file will increase when we copy a group.
However, this is not the case when we turn objects into components.
We will discuss the differences between the groups and a components in module five.
Now we know about group very well,
it appears often while modeling.
When we import DWG file,
the entity will be turned into group automatically.
It will happen again when we create entities by plug-ins.
When we need to create two symmetric objects,
we can just create one of them,
make a group, and the mirror, and copy it.
Group can also help us to copy and move several entities at the same time.
We can easily select them and edit them as we want.
Turning objects into groups help us manage models.
We can get the information of a group when we select a group of entities,
and the information will appear in entity information window,
including the name of the layer of the group.
What's more? We can alter setting such as hidden,
locks, cast windows, and receive window.
Also, we can edit groups.
To edit a group, we double click on it,
or click right mouse button on it,
and select edit group.
We can change attributes of entities in the group,
such as colors and size.
In a model, groups usually form a nested structure.
It means in a group,
there might be other groups in it and the same happen within them.
For example, there is a part of stairs in the model.
They are the first part and the second part of the handrail.
And in the two groups,
many small groups are there.
Thus, we can organize objects in the model into a structure like this.
We can turn a simple object,
such as a post in a group.
Repeat this step and then make these simple groups into a complex group.
This will be convenient for us to manage the group.
Today we learned about the attributes of group and how to apply it while creating models.
It will be very useful for us in the following videos,
but for now let's stop. Goodbye.
康仕仲原臺灣大學土木工程學系教授 (Professor)
