Cold Colors, Warm Colors in Google SketchUp

Cold Colors, Warm Colors in Google SketchUp
I wasn’t quite sure what to call this project - it’s not a color study nor is it an optical illusion. It’s just a very fun
project that I’ve used both with my own kids and during the weekly enrichment class I teach (3rd and 4th graders).
The students loved this so much that I thought it was a must-have for my subscribers!
Basically, it’s a cool way of displaying text. You write a word with the 3D Text tool and use warm and cool colors
to color both the letters themselves and the background.
This project will work in any version of SketchUp, including SketchUp 8.
For this project, it helps to have some basic knowledge of Google SketchUp (though detailed instructions are
provided). In particular, it’s important to know how to zoom and pan the view. If you need more information on
how to get started, and a description of some basic tools, please read 3DVinci’s Getting Started Guide (PDF):
PC users: go to http://www.3dvinci.net/SketchUp_Intro_PC.pdf.
Mac users: go to http://www.3dvinci.net/SketchUp_Intro_MAC.pdf.
Step 1: Create the Grid
1.
Open Google SketchUp. If your file contains a person standing on the ground near the origin, click the Eraser
tool and erase him / her.
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Cold Colors, Warm Colors in Google SketchUp
2.
Switch to Top view (from the main menu, choose Camera / Standard Views / Top). You should see the word
“Top” at the top left corner.
3.
There are many ways to create a grid, but we’ll start this one from a single square. Activate the Rectangle tool
and draw a square (be sure to click only when you see the “Square” popup). The size of the square is not
important.
4.
Now the square will be copied to make the grid. First, activate the Select tool and select the square.
5.
Activate the Move tool, and tap the Ctrl key (PC) or Option key (Mac) so that a copy will be made. Click the
corner point shown below.
6.
Then click the corner point directly to the right. This creates the first copy.
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Cold Colors, Warm Colors in Google SketchUp
7.
Say you want this row to contain seven total squares: you need six copies, plus the original. So type 6x, which
appears in the Length field in the lower right corner of the SketchUp window. (Don’t click in the Length
field, just type and the number appears.) Then press Enter.
Now there are seven squares. (If you want a longer or shorter row, just type a higher or lower number, with
the letter x, and press Enter.)
8.
To make more rows, select all of the squares by pressing Ctrl+A (PC) or Cmd+A (Mac).
9.
Activate Move again, press Ctrl or Option, and click the two endpoints shown below, to create the first copied
row.
10. Type 3x (or 4x or whatever number you want) to make more copies.
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Cold Colors, Warm Colors in Google SketchUp
Step 2: Write the Text
1.
From the main menu, choose Tools / 3D Text. Replace the default “Enter Text” with the word you want (such
as a name). Choose the font you want (thick letters are best), and make sure Filled is not checked (we want
2D letters, not 3D).
2.
Click Place, and place the text at the lower left corner of your grid, slightly inward from the farthest corner.
Yours will probably be too big or too small for your grid.
3.
While the text is still selected (while it has a blue bounding box around it), press S to activate the Scale tool.
Now there are eight green boxes you can use for resizing.
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Cold Colors, Warm Colors in Google SketchUp
4.
Click and drag the top right box to fill the grid width.
5.
Then click and drag the top middle box to make the text the necessary height.
Step 3: Color
1.
The text itself is a component - it is a single object that doesn’t interact with any other objects. But we want
the letters to break up the squares of the grid. So right-click on any edge of any letter and choose Explode.
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Cold Colors, Warm Colors in Google SketchUp
2.
Click the Paint Bucket to open the Materials window (PC) or Colors window (Mac). Open a collection that
contains solid colors.
3.
Warm colors are red, yellow, and orange - the first half of the color spectrum. Use any two of these colors in
a checkerboard pattern within the background squares - not inside the letters themselves. Start with a rough
outline - there are several squares in the picture below that remain to be painted with the warm colors.
4.
Click the house icon in the Materials or Colors window, which shows the colors used so far in the model.
This means you don’t have to search around for the exact color you already used. (If you’re using a Mac, click
the brick icon at the top of the Colors window, then you’ll see the house icon.)
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Cold Colors, Warm Colors in Google SketchUp
5.
Now zoom in and get all of those little faces you missed before. Remember to keep the letters themselves
unapinted.
When you’re finished with the warm colors, you should clearly see the letter outlines.
6.
Now find some cold colors (green, blue, purple) and use two colors to paint the letters in a checkerboard
pattern. I used green to complete the red squares, and blue to complete the yellow squares.
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Cold Colors, Warm Colors in Google SketchUp
7.
To see how your text looks without edges, open the Styles window (Window / Styles from the main menu),
and click the Edit tab. Click the first icon on the Edit tab, which opens the Edge settings, then uncheck
Edges. Pretty cool!
Try This
This project also works nicely with just two colors:
And if you have some time and don’t mind coloring some tiny little faces, use four warm and four cold colors with
a more crowded grid:
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Cold Colors, Warm Colors in Google SketchUp
If you try this project with your children or students, and have some neat text models you’d like to share, please
let me know! I will be happy to blog about it, and maybe feature your models in a future newsletter. Contact me
at [email protected]. Thanks!
If you enjoy experimenting with color and playing tricks on your eyes, you’ll love 3DVinci’s Optical Illusions,
part of our ModelMetricks Advanced series (http://www.3dvinci.net/ccp0-prodshow/MA4_PDF.html). And if
you like the 3D Text tool, check out book Write Now!, part of our ModelMetricks Intermediate series. In addition
to other types of 2D and 3D text, you’ll make striped text and also text along curved surfaces.
http://www.3dvinci.net/ccp0-prodshow/MI1_PDF.html.
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