Taking Measurements of Your Model

Note: As of 07/08/2024, SketchUp will no longer offer or support SketchUp Viewer for HoloLens as part of any SketchUp subscription plan. To continue viewing your SketchUp models in VR, use the SketchUp Viewer for Quest, our free viewer for use on the Meta Quest 2, 3 and Pro devices, or the Trimble Connect Visualizer, a workflow extension available through Extension Warehouse. For more information, see SketchUp and the Trimble Connect Visualizer.

When you come across the need to better understand the size of things in your model, the Tape Measure tool is there to help measure distances between the points, edges, and faces of your SketchUp model.

You can access the Tape Measure Tool from the tools panel. To open the Tools panel, raise either your right hand or left hand with your palm facing the HoloLens. The SketchUp Viewer app Summon menu will appear, as seen in Fig. 1 below. Tap the Tools button () to open the Tools screen.

Fig 1. The SketchUp Viewer app Summon menu appears when you raise your right or left hand with your palm facing the HoloLens.

When you launch the Tools screen for the first time, you’ll automatically land in the Transform tab (). From there, tap the Tape Measure tool tab () and… start taking measurements.

The Tape Measure tool works with both near and far interactions.

In near mode, you have the option to simply reach out and poke a face, edge or endpoint to start a measurement. Then simply poke a different point, face, or edge in the model to see the distance between those 2 things.

Far mode works in essentially the same way. When you are far enough away from your model that it is no longer within arms reach, you will see a dashed ray extend from your hand and an inference to a point, edge or face at the end of that ray. Once you’ve placed the ray over the point where you want to start the measurement, air tap, and then repeat the process for the second point of your measurement.

The units that are displayed within the measurement string will match the last saved unit settings for the SketchUp model. If needed, you can choose from a set of other common unit formats. In the Tape Measure tool tab, you’ll see a button labeled Unit Preferences. Tap that button, then tap the preferred units, and then tap the X to close the Unit Preferences panel.

The Tape Measure tool tab () also offers the option to toggle the visibility of any individual measurement on () or off (), delete () a measurement, control the visibility of the entire list, or delete all.

Note: By Default, measurements that are created while in tabletop mode, will not be visible while in immersive mode, and vice versa. You still have the option, however, to control the visibility of any measurement, at any time, using the visibility toggle ().
Note: SketchUp Viewer for HoloLens does not offer the option to save changes to a model. Any measurements that you take while viewing a model will disappear after you close and reopen the model.
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