SU as LO substitute – a mockup – Characteristic Requests

It is a easy (so simple as I may make it in a short while) mockup of how, with easy Trimble improvement, we may leverage SU as a LO substitute.

A lot of the options wanted exist already, and the workflow can be potential already with some plugins.

If Trimble would ease the workflow by high quality tuning the instruments they have already got, plugin builders may then discover numerous methods of constructing this HUGE.

If Trimble does nothing, I don’t suppose Plug-in builders can be sufficient to make this straightforward system occur.

• It could want batch export of scenes as 2D Sketchup elements – there are plugins that discover this however not in batch scene export. See plugins by @ene_su @Fredo6 and Curic
• It could want higher administration of xrefed elements – @ene_su already has a plugin for that
• It could want higher dimensioning – there are some plugins that assist lots with dimensioning in SU however they had been largely developed when Structure wasn’t right here. This might create the momentum for revisiting that kind of improvement.
• it could want higher methods of dealing with Sketchup Exports to DWG, PDF, Raster and so forth, however, @Man Curic, and others have additionally handled that and I guess they’d be keen to additional develop this
• It could additionally want higher dealing with of a per object linestyle and linewidth. The profile/part/common edge widths aren’t sufficient

So, Sketchup and Structure groups, why don’t you give this a thought?

Please check out the drawing:

Check out the CONDOC instruments from Brightman Design. It does a batch export of scenes robotically. I’m not presently utilizing the plug-in however subsequent venture that requires building drawings and I’ll re-subscribe. There’s a 7 day free trial and Mike Brightman has some actually nice video tutorials. Plus it really works with different extensions like Flextools and Medeek Engineering.

Batch export of scenes as 2D skp recordsdata?

Fascinating. Thanks in your suggestion.

I’ve investigated condoc however that’s a totally automated answer for lots greater than what I would like. I don’t suppose it could match my wants.

Additionally it exports for Structure and you continue to have to make use of Structure. I’ve numerous issues utilizing Structure and the 2D exports had been solely a part of my mockup.

Sure, I would love bulk export of scenes too! And higher capabilities

I’ve experimented a bit with doing extra drawing duties inside SketchUp and fewer in Structure. For one, SketchUp for Faculties being an online model doesn’t have Structure in any respect, however once I taught with it a number of years in the past, I got here up with a option to produce a basic three view drawing totally throughout the app and posted about it right here:

So, then I performed with that very same thought in SketchUp Professional. The reverse of drawing to scale, I scaled up my paper and normal title block for a 1/4″ scale drawing (1:50 being closest in metric), made a part of the constructing, (which I do anyway for insertion right into a separate website mannequin) and positioned 4 cases of it for every elevation:

This really has synergy with my technique for casting 45° shadows on elevations (posted right here) so all of the elevations get 45° shadows on them no matter geolocation.

in 3D that is what it appears like:

Every occasion is about again in a approach that received’t forged shadows on the others, however you don’t see that in orthographic view. It really works very very similar to Structure, besides as an alternative of saving the file and updating the hyperlink, you save the (home) part and reload it within the different file and all of the views are up to date. It was an attention-grabbing experiment and proof of idea, however I didn’t find yourself making it my normal workflow.

i do one thing related – create a scaled define of a field for the elevations/sections and place the plan supply mannequin into it. i exploit LO to reliably scale it in views. however the mode itself is imported so the edits on the part is then up to date throughout all different “show fashions”. and if i’m doing issues the place i have to export to ACAD format, i exploit a template of the development doc (typically supplied by the architect of file or their workforce) which is scaled as much as correctly place the fashions on the “web page” then export 2D.
and that i typically use the SU “boxed” variations to export (through animation as jpg or png recordsdata) all scenes are rendered (flip off transitions first :-)) sometimes each the 2D and 3D scenes.

Fascinating…

You’d want:

• a reference supervisor for imported photographs/property.
• textual content and paragraph kinds and settings (numbered lists, autotext, and many others).
• paper sizes (using Artboards, eg Adobe Illustrator can be sensible) with line weight recognition and templates.
  -tables and studies

It’s a giant process!

Textual content and artboards floating round in Illustrator is workable…however in 3d house? with the attitude digital camera? I’m undecided that’s even technically viable (sketchup struggles with even fundamental 3d chief textual content).

There’s a discussion board member (forgot the identify) who makes use of SketchUp to create 2nd coaching slides, kind of like Powerpoint…I believe that’s the closest identified implementation of what I’m imagining your thought to be. Microsoft and Prezzie are different instruments (“the limitless whiteboard”) are related.

Trimble may obtain a LOT extra simply by “high quality tuning” format with higher alignment to SketchUp (menus, instruments included).

One other strategy may be to make the total Sketchup interface work inside format – so in the event you edit a SketchUp view, you get entry to the SketchUp mannequin AND all it’s instruments and extensions inside LayOut.

Not attempting to tug your subject off observe (sorry), however there’s one more another… – and the place I believe the long run lies – is a “direct hyperlink” between the SKP and LO (the identical as Enscape has), so a change made in SKP is robotically streamed to LO. We’d be working with the 2 packages open aspect by aspect, simply with out the annoying have to consistently replace scene, save SKP, replace LO view, re-render, save LO after which export.

Not defending no progress doesn’t this already occur ? if one opens SketchUp through Structure any adjustments made to the mannequin are robotically up to date in Structure.

My very own workflow utilises this – make adjustments in my SketchUp modelling scene ( all different scenes after all replace ), hit F1 ( I’ve F1 remapped to ctrl+s ) and transfer again to Structure and the change is just about prompt.

The 2 main advantages of the mockup can be not having to work with Structure and with the ability to work solely with SU for 2D drafting.

Individuals can keep away from LO in the event that they export DWG recordsdata to CAD.

However I want to use Sketchup as an alternative of CAD as drafting with it is extremely straight ahead. Working with SU is at all times 10x quicker than with LO.

Avoiding LO whereas utilizing Sketchup isn’t too far off and we may do numerous workarounds like exporting DWG recordsdata and open them in Sketchup (I do this in some conditions).

I additionally do this 3D to 2D trick in Sketchup, with window, door and cupboard schedules, however then I exploit LO to set them in a web page.

I do know some improvement would wish to occur, but when you consider it it’s not that a lot. Texts and linestyles are the largest subject.

The most important improvement benefit is that if we might use Sketchup as an alternative of Structure, the quantity of improvement we may have entry to, from plugin builders would permit us to spice up Sketchup for 2D drafting in a blink of a watch, whereas LO is solely being developed by Trimble.

I assume high quality tuning what we’d like from Trimble, with the intention to obtain this 2D Sketchup would convey shorter time period advantages that might be way more seen than Structure and a a lot quicker improvement tempo with plugin builders and their plaethora of instruments.

I like your perseverance however I’ve no confidence that TRIMBLE is ever going to do any main enhancements to Sketchup / Structure…

I believe that ship has sailed already!

the one hope is that they promote it to a extra enthusiastic firm.

Every part you say is right and TRIMBLE had the chance to take motion years (nearly a decade in the past) eg, keep in mind the API for Structure !

For me I an going sit on my 2021 launch and bide my time ready for a extra modern product to seem available in the market from another person!.. eg (AFFINITY… EPIC and many others.) SU / LO is changing into antiqued…

the essential core of SU was developed by a small begin up firm… it could possibly and can occur once more!

Moreover AI will more than likely change the entire paradigm of software program improvement and design processes within the subsequent 5 years anyway!

PS… I might like to be proved mistaken … SU has been my skilled life!

sketchup shouldn’t and I believe it received’t turn into a 2D software program, I don’t discover Structure annoying to make use of, its very intuitive and simple to be taught, the three options I want sketchup add are the choice to have a number of viewports like rhino, the place you’ll be able to divide the display screen in 4 viewports, having completely different views on three of them like prime, left/proper, entrance/again, and the 3D mannequin on one other, and having additionally the likelihood to return to your complete viewport only for the 3D mannequin everytime you need, the second function is to include Structure in sketchup, like AutoCAD that has the mannequin house and format, the UI is completely different between the completely different areas, so you’ll be able to go to format simply by clicking on the tab and the adjustments you make on the mannequin house would replace robotically with out having to avoid wasting, and the final one is a function requested by numerous customers, its the darkish mode, nearly all of the softwares have this selection, I do know you’ll be able to change the colours of the viewport on the kinds tray however you’ll be able to change the colours of your complete UI, possibly the final one isn’t laborious so as to add, or it’s, I’m not a developer, anyway if Trimble doesn’t add this options would make me change of software program, sketchup and format are nice instruments that make simpler my work, these options would simply make sketchup a bit higher in my view however they’re not one thing mandatory yo add.

These options exist already. It’s a matter of high quality tuning and have plugin builders do the remainder. Having Sketchup paper house it’s a complete new software program. Structure does that already.

So both you retain Structure and repair it in addition to port all SU instruments into it, otherwise you permit SU for use as paper house with solely small tweaks.

As a result of all I’m asking is generally there already.

Watch the video the place he creates a set of drawings in an hour. You would possibly get some recommendations on utilizing format