Quick and Dirty Rose Window in SketchUp

[geoff_nunn]

Next, select the 'offset' tool and left-click near the center of the circle. As you move your mouse around, an offset copy of the shape outline should appear creating complex patterns as you drag the mouse around. move the mouse across the circle until you see a pattern you like and then left-click again to complete the shape! BAM! You have the basic shape of a rose window ready to get stuck in the side of a temple dedicated to YOU!

Note: I found that using a single offset sometimes caused shape fidelity issues when I began coloring my windows. I found that as I highlighted different fields created by the offset lines, sometimes the software did not recognize that those lines should be dividing the the circle into multiple faces. Normally when a line is not dividing a face, SketchUp draws the line in bold, but for some reason that did not occur in the case of this technique.

To help correct this issue, I found that using a series of smaller offsets instead of just one big one resulted, not only in greater fidelity when it came to dividing the face of the circle, but also resulted in more complex patterns for the window.

[geoff_nunn]

Once you have your window shape, you can add color to give it a stained-glass appearance. If you find that filling certain areas bleeds into others in a way you did not intend, refer to my note in Step 3.