Sketchup: How to force SU into the desired spacial plane?

[Augusto Orosco]

I am having some trouble with SU. It's probably a very simple thing, but I can't get it to work no matter how hard I try.

I want to draw a circle in the XY plane, centered in the XYZ origin. Then I want to draw a second circle in the YZ plane and of the same diameter, also centered in the XYZ origin. My idea is to later use the follow me tool to create a sphere.

My problem is that I can't position those circles where I want. It seems that no matter what I do, if I want the center to by right in the origin, the first circle gets drawn into whatever plane SU chooses (say, the XY plance). Once that first circle it's drawn, every other circle I try to draw starting in the origin is drawn in the same plane.

How can I control it? In general I am having a hard time "positioning" my starting 2d shapes at the exact plane where I want them to be.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Jason Beam]

Lots of guides and just before you click, check the orientation of the mouse cursor. That'll give you some clue. But really lots of guide lines really helps me get things positioned right. One for the center axes in both dimensions usually gets it. Put your mouse cursour outside of any of the shapes but near the axis you're shooting for and watch the cursor. The circle will shift for the given plane it'll draw on. Soon as you see it rotated onto the plane you want, holding the shift key should "lock" it and you can then move to the center point and start drawing your circle.

[Augusto Orosco]

Excellent. The "lock" tip did the trick. I will start playing more with guides to get a better feeling for it.

Thanks a lot, Jason!