PRO This is a Pro only feature. A repetitive dynamic component is a component containing a sub-component that repeat, such as the pickets of a fence component, or the steps of a stair component.

PRO Ready to dive into serious dynamic component development? Check out the following articles, which walk you through the steps for developing specific dynamic components: Repeating a sub-component within a dynamic component (1 Dimension) Repeating a sub-component within a dynamic component (2 Dimensions) Making components that animate Making components that copy

To create a dynamic component, you add attributes to a basic component and then create values for those attributes. For simple dynamic components, the process is easier than you might think, especially if you start with SketchUp’s predefined attributes and are familiar with SketchUp’s basic drawing tools and spreadsheet programs’ common functions. You don’t need to be a computer programmer, a math genius, or a benevolent wizard.

When you transform geometry into a component, your 3D model has all the behaviors and capabilities of a component:

When you create a component, you turn SketchUp geometry into something special. A basic component becomes reusable and separate from other geometry. PRO If you’re a SketchUp Pro user, you can add attributes to create dynamic components. Users can then configure certain aspects of the component, or the component can add steps to staircases or pickets to fences as you scale the dynamic component.

Tags help you organize the objects in your SketchUp model and control their visibility. SketchUp allows you to hide tagged objects in one click rather than select each object individually. Hiding large chunks of your model using tags helps to find things faster and even speed up SketchUp a bit too. You can use tag visibility to not only set up scenes in SketchUp, but also to set up your model for efficient operation.

2020 Attention: SketchUp 2020 has changed some words, whenever you see us refer to “objects” that can be either Groups or Components, they still work the same but it’s easier to talk about the two things with clarity now. In SketchUp, the Outliner enables you to view a model's objects (groups, components, and section planes) as a hierarchical tree. With the Outliner, you can:

In SketchUp, there are two types of Objects; Groups and Components. Objects are there to help you organize your model because:

To appreciate SketchUp's organization tools, you don't need to be the type who has a separate compartment for every spoon, bottle stopper, and spatula in your kitchen drawers. If you spend a little time learning how SketchUp's organization tools work, you can organize geometry as you go with little effort. Here's a quick overview of the techniques for organizing your model:

SketchUp components enable you to reuse objects. For example, pretty much every building has at least one door and window. Instead of modeling these common objects, you can insert a component that someone else has already made. Like all geometry in SketchUp, a component is still made of edges and faces. The edges and faces are simply part of a special component group. (You can also create components to reuse your own geometry, but that's covered in Developing Components and Dynamic Components.)