Sketch Up

ScipioAfricanus

I just did a little scoping out of Dragonfly and it seems interesting but I know that there is a lot that you can do with Sketchup if you get the Pro version. The Pro version comes with 'Layout" which gives Sketchup a cool means of making documents.
I found it a little difficult to work with but probably because I am unfamiliar with it. DragonFly I have no idea about.

Chief and Revit are what I use and I don't use Revit too much anymore.

The first is Sketchup Layout, the second from Chief.

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KitchenSync

Okay, that's just purty.

I use Chief and seeing your drawings reminds me I have more to discover, even after 4 years!

However, I spend way too much time tweaking colors for conceptual drawings and wonder if Sketchup might be a quicker solution.

ScipioAfricanus

I doubt it. Chief just has so many ways to get the right kind of cabinets in there and it is so easy.
It has a lot of moldings, door styles, cabinet styles and other things built into it already. With Sketchup I could probably find a lot of stuff from their warehouse and make molding profiles but Chief is easy to plop in a cabinet and make changes quickly.

Like these. All from the same base cab. then tweaked.

Andy.

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KitchenSync

Yeah,those aren't a problem. I just spend way too much time tweaking every piece of furniture, cabs, flooring, tile. 30 years ago, we had 3 choices for materials: now we have everything under the sun.

For every color combination I make in the library, there's always a new color/texture combination for the next client. Oh, well. Back to the, er, computer. (Hmm, doesn't have the same ring as "drawing board" but I don't miss the pencil smudges! )

I'll have to check back into Chief Talk and see if anyone's coming up with cool tile designs...

Static Design

It's simple, orient the drawing the way you wanted pictured, then export as a 2d imagine as a jpeg. Go to photobucket or another free imagine hosting site, upload the 2d jpeg file, copy the direct link, click on the imagine button in the post box, a box will come up, delete the http:/ that it brings up, right click, paste, then hit submit.

All done.

copusbuilder

I'd like to say thanks but I'm not sure I can with a clear conscience

I am going to go to the pro version. I am slowly getting the hang of it and I think it will work for what I want.
I don't want a long learning curve and the you tube videos and dummies book have been a slow but steady help.

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AkA Richard Cranium

Static Design

The pro features are nice but if you're a beginner don't buy it just yet, you can do alot with the free software. When you get your model in sketchup ready for rending export it into a third party software such as kerkythea, then post professional looking drawings so we can awwwwwwwwhhh in amazement.

Ps. If you need any help just me know.

copusbuilder

I appreciate the info and will look into trying that.
I worked all weekend on Sketchup and have made considerable progress.
I even got a few awwhs!

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Static Design

That's good, the awwwhhhhs are always good confidence boosters, post up some drawings so we can critique you.

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copusbuilder

Your asking asking a lot aren't you!

I may give it a shot at some point!!

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jimmys

I think the best advantage of the pro version is using keyboard shortcuts. They speed drawing and editing quite a bit.
SU is great for conceptual drawings, elevations, even floor plans. Once you've done that and sold the job, you can tweak the plans for permit plans, at least on simple buildings. As you build up a collection of section drawings, etc, you'll be able to spit them out without drawing from scratch.
What I like about it is can draw something like the way I think about building. Most drawing programs seem to be about the process of drawing (a geek's concept of drawing) rather than the finished product. The customer really only cares about the product, not how you achieved it.
Other programs may do this easier, but SU is pretty productive once you're used to it.
Jim

copusbuilder

I did get the Pro version and have started figuring out the keyboard shortcuts.

I get to work with it for a while and get pulled off on other projects so learning has slowed. It is impressive with being able to "manufacture" most anything.

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john5mt

is there a way to make sketchup print in a 1/4" scale? Or is that only a pro feature....?

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mics_54

yes...by drawing in 1/4" scale or resizing the drawing at 1/4" scale.

Belay that. I was wrong. You can rescale a drawing however it will read the actual rescaled dims...(4 feet=1inch) perhaps in the pro version you can select a paperspace size....I'm not sure. I can find out.

mics_54

You can print to scale in both SketchUp and in LayOut. In either case you must have the scene set with the camera to Parallel Projection for a 2D view. Getting the scale set is probably a bit easier in LayOut because you can specify the scale in the SketchUp inspector tray.


In SketchUp, go to Print Preview, uncheck the boxes for Fit to Page and Use Model Extents. Then set the scale so 1 in the printout equals 4 in SketchUp. That should do it.


There are work arounds but if you want to make working 2D drawings for construction with free verson SU you may want to consider exporting the SU model to Doublecad XT. It's also free.
http://www.doublecad.com/Products/Do...0/Default.aspx

I use turbocad for what you are doing but will probably download DCXT soon.

UpNorth

Go to Google's 3D Warehouse, but get there using Sketchup. The 3D Whse is a monstrous respository of free 3D models, done by Sketchup users the world over.

In Sketchup, open a new file. Sketchup new files, unless you have changed your template, open up with a picture of a person in the screen. That's OK to leave him there, as he shows you how the model you will download, goes with human scale.

The 3D Whse is accessed using the "Get Model" tool up on the toolbar.

Search for one I put up there called "Hillside House." That search term will bring up about four pages, and keep scrolling until you see the one that matches the picture here. Download it to your own Sketchup and you will have it.

Now you can examine the model, not so much for what it is and how the house is laid out, but for the way it is put together in layers. Up on the menu bar, go Window>Layers and click to open the Layers dialog box. You can then turn one or more layers ON or OFF to see not just how the house is put together, but to see a suggested way of doing a layers setup for a house model.

My first approach in using SU to model a house, is to do it as you see in my Hillside House scheme, that is, the walls are just boxes with holes for windows and doors (either R.O. sizing or unit sizing), the floor platforms are boxes, the roof planes are just that, planes, and the other key parts of the structure then get modeled sort of the same way.

You can take that model of mine, and for example, turn on just the foundation layer, use a section plane in the x-y axis to cut the foundation at a level, say 4 feet up, that wil then show clearly in the x-y plan what it looks like in plan view for making a "drawing."

Since we are all used to 2D drawings in plan view, and that is what it takes to get permits because the building departments just want to keep thinking in 2D, it will take a little practice with SU to get good enough to make 2D drawings using it, but it can be done.

It all depends on your AHJ for issuing permits. In most all the rural districts around me (I'm up in the 23rd congressional district of NY) the towns are very unsophistocated and will take plans scratched out by hand on school notebook paper. Because of that, one could get by with SU output here. But very likely not so where there is professional plans review for code, etc.

Since I don't own a large format printer, a "drawing set" done using SU will consist of a number of 8.5 x 11 sheets, and I first do the SU .jpg prints, then run them through the copier again using a template from a word processing package like Works or Word, that simply puts a border and generic title block on each page. I then hand-number the drawings, hand-title each as to what each is representing, make some more hand notes as may be required, then it is off to the town hall for permits.

Your mileage may vary, but I thought it might help to show you this method.

One other thing. Figure out and use how to change from PERSPECTIVE view to PARALLEL view in CAMERA.

And one final thing. GROUP and COMPONENT everything. No stickys. Once you get into it, you'll see why.

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UpNorth

BTW, I don't use Sketchup any longer to do construction documents, but use Chief Architect instead. The attached is from Chief, just to show its capabilities.

I DO use SU for doing the first-cut roughout of a building, because I can do the "massing" studies quickly, popping together cubes, trying out roof-scapes, seeing how the thing might work with the topo, etc. I can also import anything from Sketchup directly into a Chief Architect plan. The pic attached here shows a Chief view of a set of staircase handrails with turnout volutes I downloaded from the 3D Warehouse into SU, then exported over into Chief. I'm obligated to that London stairmaker who did them in Sketchup and popped them up on to the Whse.

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john5mt

Yeah i just got cheif arct too, Way easier and faster

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mics_54

What besides importation of files created in other design programs does CA offer for customized features? Can you design and intigrate any architectual details?

john5mt

http://www.amazon.com/Chief-Architec.../dp/B002D3AGF6

Watch the video

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