I have recently started using SketchUp for designing an entertainment center (based in part on some designs and techniques I found here on SMC). I've found the learning curve to be very steep - partly because I had to unlearn the stuff I used to know for 2-D programs like MacDraw and Canvas, etc. Nevertheless, this is a really powerful tool and now that I've clawed my way some of the way up the learning curve, I'm really very impressed by what it does and what I can do with it. However, one of the things I can't seem to figure out how to do is to resize an assembly (like a cabinet) without using brute force. BTW, I'm using SketchUp Make (2013 version) on a Mac (running OS 10.9).
To be a bit more specific - I have a fairly complete design for an EC that includes a base cabinet that will hold the flat screen TV and the A/V components, etc. and then two side shelf units that attach to the center cabinet, plus a bridge cabinet across the top (the design borrows heavily from two designs in Woodsmith magazine). My wife and I made a 'blue tape' outline of the whole EC on our living room wall and found that the design is really too wide - hence a need to reduce the overall width. The only way I can see to do that is to go back into the side shelf unit and 'pull it apart' (electronically) and then resize each piece of wood that figures in to the overall cabinet width. Since I used SU to mock-up some of the construction details (e.g., dado and rabbet joinery, etc.) - thinking it would let me make a cut list and construction drawings - resizing each piece is a multistep process and a bit of a pain in ... So did I miss something or some feature in SU that would let me do this with one mighty button push or ? I do know about the rescaling feature, but that won't work (as far as I can tell) because it rescales everything proportionally - so things like dados, etc. get messed up.
Having said that resizing each piece is tedious, for those pieces that are essentially rectilinear slabs (e.g., a plywood shelf), reducing the length is pretty easy (using something called the Push/Pull tool). However, if the piece has curved elements - like, say, a stretcher/apron that has an 'S' curve on either end - one cannot simply make the piece shorter/longer by 'pushing/pulling' on one end. In fact, the only way I can see to do it is to literally 'cut' the stretcher in half and resize the middle portion where all the lines are straight/parallel. Soooo - have I missed something or ?
Despite the question, SketchUp is really quite slick - especially because it has allowed me to work up and print out different views (3-D projections) as I was pulling the EC design together for review and approval of the SDC (spousal design committee). We're now on version 4.0...
Sorry for the long post. Any help/insights/commiseration would be appreciated.
- Rich