Components in 3D Warehouse

Components in 3D Warehouse

You can search for components in the Components panel or the 3D Warehouse.

In the Components panel, on the Select tab, you can use the following features to browse or search for components:

  • In Model icon: Click the In Model icon (), and you see the In Model collection, which shows all the components currently saved with your model. Note that a component doesn't have to actually appear in your model to be saved with it.

  • In Model drown-down menu: Click the down arrow next to the In Model icon, and from the list that appears, you can select premade collections such as Architecture, Landscape, People, and Transportation. This menu may also show collections you've created, collections you've designated as a favorite, or collections you've visited recently. (Organizing component collections, later in this article, explains how to create and manage collections.)

    Tip: If your model is geolocated, the Components panel enables you to search for nearby models. Search for components in the search box. Then, from the In Model drop-down menu, select Nearby Models, which filters your search results to nearby models.
  • 3D Warehouse search box: Type a search term in the box and press Enter (Microsoft Windows) or Return (Mac OS X), and you see a list of components from the 3D Warehouse. To connect to the 3D Warehouse, your computer needs to an Internet connection. If your search brings up multiple results, you can click the arrows at the bottom of the Components panel to see more results. You may find it easier to search the 3D Warehouse in a full browser window than the Components panel, which is too small to show much detail in the component thumbnails.

To access the 3D Warehouse directly from SketchUp, click the Get Models tool (), which you find in the following parts of SketchUp's interface:

  • Getting Started toolbar
  • Warehouse toolbar

You can also select File > 3D Warehouse > Get Models.

Whichever method you use, the 3D Warehouse opens, as shown in the following figure. From the opening screen, you can browse the featured models, featured manufacturer catalogs, featured collections, and recent models. However, you most likely want to use the Search box at the top. Type a search term and click the Search button.

Tip: Start with the most specific search term. For example, if you're looking for a window that's a dynamic component with a cut plane that makes a hole in your model, type a search term like, dynamic component window cuts face. If you don't find a component you like, make your search term less specific from there.
 

When you find a result that interests you, click it to open its details page. Click the Download button in the upper right to download the component into your model. You then return to SketchUp, where the Move cursor is loaded with the component. Click in the drawing area to place the component in your model.

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