SketchUpp

Stewart CaldwellS C

Russell and Yelland Architects

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

– What is SketchUp (basic overview)An introduction to SketchUp basics– An introduction to SketchUp basics

– Some advanced SketchUp tools– SketchUp and presentation– SketchUp plugins and links

– SketchUp and REVIT

SketchUpSketchUpSketchUp

WHAT IS SketchUp

– A deceptively simple and very powerful 3D tool– It uses lines to create planes or ‘faces’ which can be extended and p

manipulated in 3D space– Materials are then applied to faces to give them a ‘realistic’

representation.p– Additional features such as shadows and line types can be

manipulated to reflect your presentation style.– SketchUp essentially lives up to its mane – a sketchy 3D presentation– SketchUp essentially lives up to its mane – a sketchy 3D presentation

tool

SketchUp

WHAT IS SketchUp

SketchUp

AN INTRODUCTION TO SketchUp / SketchUp BASICS

– When in SketchUp you are always in 3D –there is no ‘paper space’ Sk t hU l t d li t– SketchUp uses coplanar connected lines to create a faces, these faces can be extruded to create mass

C• Co planar objects are best created by using SketchUp’s inference’ locking

– Extruded faces rely on SketchUp’s concept of ‘stickiness’ – connected SketchUp elements stick to each other

• To assist in managing ‘stickiness’ keep your models clean, additional lines can mean problems later

SketchUp

AN INTRODUCTION TO SketchUp / SketchUp BASICS

– Elements can be ‘grouped’ into clusters of mass elements or created into ‘components’

– Groups and components are not affected by ‘stickiness’ they are a good way of organizing your model.g g y

– Groups are ‘instance’ based elements while components are more like ‘types’

SketchUp

AN INTRODUCTION TO SketchUp / SketchUp BASICS– A brief explanation of some of SketchUp’s

basic features:• Moving & copying Using the ‘Alt’ key• Moving & copying – Using the Alt key• Value control box – Used for value input• Layers – Help to organise you model• Scaling – Groups and components• ‘Follow Me’ – A cool extrusion tool• Painting – applying materialsPainting applying materials• Sections – Cut any direction

– Tourguide – Using tabs to save views (one of SketchUp’s most powerful tools seeof SketchUp s most powerful tools see advanced for more)

SketchUp

SketchUp – SOME ADVANCED TOOLS

– Sandbox• A dynamic topographical tool for creating

surfaces• Can be used by generating a surface

from contours or contours can be generated from a surface

• Sandbox plugin needs to be downloaded and the ruby script enabled under: Window > System preferences > extensions

– Shadows and fogg• Shadows are controlled by the shadows

dialog box, can control date, time and intensity of shadows – they have a large y y gimpact on computer performance

SketchUp

SketchUp – SOME ADVANCED TOOLS

• Fog is controlled through the fog dialog box, can control depth and colour of fog

gives depth to models and hides many– gives depth to models and hides many evils

– Photo matchAll t t t d l di tl• Allows you to construct a model directly from a photo and apply it as a texture.

• Is a very fast way of creating accurate representations of existing buildings

• A tutorial can be found at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSuDoX8SPtUor there are good help pages at www.sketchup.com

SketchUp

SketchUp – SOME ADVANCED TOOLS

– Tourguide• Tourguide records saved camera points

f d l E thi i dof your model. Everything is saved including hidden objects and section positions.S d t b l d h• Saved tabs are also used when exporting animations and in Layout (part of SketchUp pro)

• Sections can become dynamic using tourguide allowing you to reveal sections of the building

SketchUp

SketchUp AND PRESENTATION

– SketchUp is essentially a presentation tool– SketchUp uses styles to control the visibility p y y

of the model• Styles are saved configurations of line

types, shading, detail level etc.types, shading, detail level etc.• There are endless configurations of

styles, new styles can be created using the pick and mix functionthe pick and mix function

• Styles are also used in Layout when presenting models

Style builder can be downloaded to create– Style builder can be downloaded to create your own styles.

SketchUp

SketchUp AND PRESENTATION

SketchUp

SketchUp AND PRESENTATION

– Layout is an additional feature which comes with the ‘Pro’ version of SketchUp

• Layout is a ‘paperspace’ for your model and lets you arrange and print it to scale.

• Layout comes with a range of detailing tools which can be drawn over your model.

• You can engage the model and select views / styles to present it the way you want.

• Layout is still a little ‘clunky’

SketchUp

SketchUp AND PRESENTATION

– REVIT projects can be exported as 3D dwg’s and brought into SketchUp for

ipresentation• This is very useful for quick

presentations and for removing the ‘CAD’ look

• Consider setting up your layer export settings so the visibility of the REVIT model can be controlled in SketchUp LAYER EXPORT SETTINGS

IN REVIT

SketchUp

SketchUp AND PRESENTATION

– We find in the initial stages of a project SketchUp is the most useful way or

ti d i id h bpresenting design ideas as changes can be made quickly and you can produce very effective images which can be clearly read by the clientthe client.

– Creating images for use in Photoshop• There are many online help tutorials and

plugins which can help you produce different effects combining SketchUp and Photoshop

• Most involve exporting multiple version of the same image with different styles then blending them in Photoshop

SketchUp

SketchUp PLUGINS AND LINKS

– http://www.sketchup.com/Download SketchUp for free – or SketchUp 6 pro with Layout

– http://sketchup.google.com.supportOn line training and support – some free some pay

– http://3dchallenge.sketchup.comFor those into SketchUp – online competition

– http://formfonts.comA great on line library for SketchUp components – pay site

– http://www.smustard.comA whole heap of plugins available here – most cost but are cheap

– http://www.antics3d.comhttp://www.antics3d.comA animation package which interacts with SketchUp models

SketchUp

SketchUp AND REVIT

– SketchUp files can be imported into REVIT just like any other CAD file

Sk t hU fil i t d M• SketchUp files are imported as Mass –ensure visibility and graphics is set correctly

• As they are mass elements they have the same limitations when being cut in section

• Also as they are mass they can be used to apply walls and roves etc.

• Note that any ‘fudging’ done during SketchUp will show up in REVIT

SketchUp

SketchUp AND REVIT

– Important things to consider when importing SketchUp:

• Two useful resources are in the REVIT help files:

suitability of imported geometryImport SketchUp files

– Briefly cover some of the points from these documents:

• Different file formats maybe imported with different qualities of geometry, this means that export settings and the quality of your model is just as important as how it is imported import settings.

SketchUp

SketchUp AND REVIT

• SketchUp files are imported into mass instances – certain types of geometry are

t it bl f thi li ti Ynot suitable for this application. You should generally avoid complex geometry when importing into Mass instances, REVIT has difficulty computing some ofREVIT has difficulty computing some of the surfaces which can be generate by SketchUp (e.g extruding along complex curves using ‘follow me’)curves using follow me ).

• Instead of mass instances SketchUp files can also be imported into generic model families which is less particular about thefamilies which is less particular about the geometry being used. The ‘wall by face’ command can still be used from a generic modelmodel.

SketchUp

SketchUp AND REVIT

• Wall/floor by face may not work effectively on complex faces, use simple

t d h ld llgeometry and you should generally explode your Sketch Up models before importing as scaling of groups and components will not transfer into REVITcomponents will not transfer into REVIT.

– Layering helps to resolve many of these issues

LAYER EXPORTS IN REVIT

• Good layer control during modelling helps isolate geometry using visibility and graphics settings

SketchUp

SketchUp AND REVIT

– The speed of SketchUp and the availability of components makes modeling some detailed f ili ffi i tfamilies very efficient

• Importing detailed SketchUp components into families is a good way of populating a SketchUp DWGmodel with detailed information which can them be scheduled

• SketchUp models can be either brought

SketchUp DWG

FAMILY

into in-place mass families or exported as 3D dwg’s and imported into external families. The latter method is often better

d li bland more reliable.

SketchUp

Thank you

Questions ?

y

Stewart Caldwell