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LayOut in SketchUp Pro has always existed to help you quickly and easily turn SketchUp models into compelling, communicative drawings. When we first released LayOut several years ago, its features put it firmly in the “presentation drawings” category of tools; it was equal parts layout, illustration, and slide software. Our users liked it, but they wanted it to do more—they wanted it to replace their bloated, complicated CAD systems, too. The live link between SketchUp models and LayOut model viewports has always been perfect for developing construction drawings that can evolve along with your designs.

A couple of versions ago, we decided to fully commit to making LayOut into the application that so many of you have been asking for. We added dimensions, vector rendering, and the ability to snap to points in your model viewports. We added DWG and DXF export, and configurable dashed lines. We made LayOut even faster, made it easier to move elements around precisely, and made lines editable—our Line tool may be the most intuitive vector drawing instrument around. Some of our users began to use LayOut to do complete sets of construction drawings.

For SketchUp Pro 2013, the improvements we made fall into three categories: a big, new feature, annotation refinements, and usability upgrades that make LayOut faster, smoother and even more pleasurable to use. Let’s take a look at these in order:

Pattern Fill: Hatching for materials, poché and other applications

Glance at LayOut’s updated Shape Style panel and you’ll notice a major addition: Pattern Fill. In response to our pro users’ (vehement) requests for the ability to add areas of hatching to their plans, sections and elevations, we built a feature that does that—and more. Simply building a Hatch tool with a limited library of symbols would have satisfied the request, but it would have been a single-purpose answer to the problem.

This drawing is 100% LayOut in SketchUp Pro 2013. Notice the dot screen patterns used to indicate the ground cover and to poché the walls.

Patterns in LayOut are simple raster images—usually PNGs—that can be any color, and can include an alpha channel for incorporating transparency. Most of the patterns we’ve included are single-colored lines with transparent backgrounds. This allows you to use any background color; just pick one from the Fill color well in the Shape Style panel. It’s a pretty flexible system that allows for an infinite number of combinations.

Almost all of the patterns we included in LayOut have transparent backgrounds. To add a solid color behind a patterned area, just click the Fill button in the Shape Style panel.

The new Pattern Fill panel acts as a browser, but it also provides two other important pieces of functionality: Rotate and Scale. These are pretty self-explanatory, but they mean you can orient and size any pattern to whatever is appropriate for your drawing.

LayOut in SketchUp Pro 2013 ships with over a hundred example patterns, but adding your own tileable images (or ones you find online) is dead easy. You can create a pattern tile in any other graphics program. We used a combination of LayOut and Photoshop to create ours. Making patterns that tile seamlessly can be a little tricky, but we’ll be posting a tutorial in the next few weeks.

A sampler of patterns in the new LayOut. You can also add patterns you make yourself or find elsewhere.

Patterns are stored in folders on your system, just like materials, components, styles and plugins are in SketchUp. We organized the ones we made for this release into four main categories:

Material Symbols represent common graphic notations for construction materials; they’re what most people mean when they refer to “hatches”. We built two dozen of the most common ones for this version, including old favorites like Steel, Cast-in-place Concrete, and my personal favorite, Earth Compacted Fill.

Geometric Tiles include rectangles, circles, hexagons and other shapes, arranged in common patterns like running bond, herringbone and checkerboard. We imagine that these can be used to represent anything from brick, to paving, to kitchen and bathroom tile, but of course you can also use them more abstractly if you like.

Site Patterns is a category we created to include the kinds of things you might use in a site drawing: Trees arranged into rows, in plan and in elevation. Parking spaces, both at 90 and 60 degree angles. And, as a bit of a joke, something Aidan calls “Mown Lawn,” in four attractive shades of green.

Tonal Patterns are things like dot screens, parallel lines, and sketchy edges. If you’re old enough to remember the beautiful drawings architects and illustrators were able to make with Zip-A-Tone and other, similar products, you can imagine the potential for these. Tonal patterns work alongside linework in drawings in ways that fields of solid color can’t. Your pochéd sections cuts will never look the same.

Better annotations make better drawings

LayOut’s Label tool lets you quickly and easily create a note with a leader line that automatically sticks to whatever it’s pointing to. It’s a simple concept, but there were a few things we did to make ours work a whole lot better:

Curved Leader Lines: It was recently pointed out to me that the reason architects use curved callouts is so that they can be easily differentiated from the straight linework in the rest of their drawings. That makes a ton of sense, so we set about making it easier to create curved leader lines in LayOut. The old way involved no fewer than five clicks. The new way takes only two. If you want the line to curve, just click-drag when you’re creating it.

Creating a callout with curved leader lines is simple. Just remember to click-drag your mouse button when you’re placing an endpoint. Double-clicking an existing leader line with the Select tool lets you edit it at any time.

Improved Arrowheads: Most of the time, your leader lines terminate in an arrowhead. And most of the time, that arrowhead is a solid, black triangle. And in previous versions of LayOut, the only black arrowhead looked like it had eaten too many pastries. By astoundingly popular demand, we’ve added a slimmer, trimmer option, available in classic black and more discrete white. We also improved the alignment of arrowheads to make them look better when their leader lines are angled or curved.

Dashes in Dimensions: In the new version of LayOut, you have the option to add a dash to your non-metric dimensions. The difference between 8’ 6” and 8’ – 6” on a small printout with tiny type is anything but trivial.

Usability Improvements: Faster, smoother, and more efficient

There’s a lot to be said for making software more usable. This is less about features and more about tweaking, fixing and otherwise improving little things that add up to making LayOut a better application:

Copy Array lets you use keyboard modifiers to easily make multiple copies of entities, all at once, just like you can in SketchUp. Since our developers coded this feature into our test versions a few months ago, I’ve used it almost every day.

Speedier Vector Rendering means significantly less time waiting for LayOut to vector-render the contents of a model viewport. You should consider using vector rendering whenever you’re dealing with crisp linework in a document that will be printed or exported at a large physical size.

Better Zoom is probably the thing you’ll notice first. We increased LayOut’s maximum zoom level by a factor of ten, from 1000% to 10,000%. When you’ve got a lot on your page, and things are small and close together, being able to zoom in farther is a godsend. You’ll see.

We increased LayOut’s maximum zoom by a factor of 10. Now you can zoom in far enough to select and edit the smallest entities on your page.

Numbered Pages in the Pages Panel is a handy tweak that makes it easier to print or export specific pages in your LayOut document. No more counting down from the top of your Pages panel to figure out it’s page 43 that you want to export to PDF.

Faster Screen Redraw should make LayOut feel snappier, especially as your document gets more complex. Every time you zoom, pan or move an entity on the page, the tiny elves in your computer have to re-draw the picture on your screen. For 2013, our engineers optimized the code that controls how fast this happens.

Posted by Sandra Winstead, LayOut Product Manager

We’re super excited about the launch of SketchUp Pro 2013. We listened very carefully to user requests which led to some amazing new changes, such as hatch patterns in LayOut and a new Extension Warehouse. However, there’s another feature that we’re excited to announce today, but it’s one that you won’t find in the toolbar.

Going forward, purchasing major version upgrades for SketchUp Pro will no longer be an unpredictable process. Now, you can get ahead of the game and pre-pay for major versions with our yearly upgrade, maintenance, and support program for $95 ($150 for network licenses). So with your license upgrade (or new license purchase), you’re also purchasing one year of coverage for future upgrades to SketchUp Pro. If you’re on the program and we release a new version of SketchUp Pro in nine months, your license gets upgraded at no additional charge. Pre-paying for upgrades in this way has been a popular feature request from Pro customers who want to have a predictable budget and make it easier for their company to be on the latest version.

But wait, there’s more! With this program, customers are also entitled to one year of friendly email technical support from our crack team of experts and—for the first time in six years—phone support for installing and licensing issues. If you’d like to get the nitty gritty details about our support going forward, check out our new Knowledge Center article for more information.

So, if you’re an existing SketchUp Pro customer and you’d like to upgrade to SketchUp Pro 2013, head over to our online store to keep up-to-date with SketchUp Pro. A few other things you should know about upgrading:

• You can upgrade any active commercial license from SketchUp Pro 8, 7, 6… you get the gist.
• You’ll need your most recent license info: serial number, registered user and company name. If you can’t find that stuff, retrieve it here.
• If you purchased your license through one of our authorized resellers, please contact that reseller directly for their upgrade terms.
• After you upgrade, we’ll email you license info and a link to download SketchUp Pro 2013.
• Non-expired EDU licenses may upgrade to SketchUp Pro 2013 for free; you’ll need to contact your educational reseller to upgrade.
• SketchUp Pro licenses (still) never expire, so if you decide to skip an upgrade one year, you simply keep using your current version of SketchUp Pro.

If you have questions or comments about the upgrade, maintenance, and support program, please check out this handy Q&A. We’ve also started a Help Forum discussion where SketchUppers will be happy to lend a hand.

Posted by Tommy Acierno on behalf of the SketchUp team

If you’ve visited SketchUp.com today, you might notice some big changes: a new release, a new website, new branding, and updated pricing and policies. With all that’s new, we decided to test everything before we officially announce anything. We’re currently pulling the knobs, throwing the switches and generally making sure everything works properly.

If you just can’t wait to get the whole scoop, here’s a teaser: SketchUp 2013 (yes, we skipped a couple of thousand version numbers) is focused on the twin themes of extensibility and 2D documentation. This release is all about plugins in SketchUp, and LayOut in SketchUp Pro. We’ll get into the details soon, but there’s an even more exciting way you can learn more: download the new version and have a look around. It’s available right now on SketchUp.com.

Stay tuned for more news soon, and happy exploring…

Posted by John Bacus, SketchUp Product Management Director

SketchUp Maker Faire checklist:

• SketchUp design
• Engineering toolbox plugin
• Cutlist plugin
• Lumber cutlist
• Miter saw
• 18-bolt cordless drill
• Gorilla glue
• Safety glasses
• Band-aids

Through our years attending Maker Faire Bay Area we’ve realized this: we generally spend less time talking about SketchUp and more time using it. For us, Maker Faire is usually more of a workshop than a trade show.

Recognizing that, we wanted to do something a bit different for Maker Faire Bay Area next weekend in San Mateo, CA. For starters, instead of setting up a booth to tell people about SketchUp, we decided it would be more fun to create a space where we could work with people on SketchUp projects. And since we designed it ourselves, we decided to make it ourselves too.

Our Maker Faire ‘designer-space’ concept: excuse our sawdust

We thought designing and building our own furniture was a good approach since we’re participating in Maker Faire’s Model Makerspace (in the Sequoia building). This is a prototype makerspace that pulls together the requisite tools makers need to make ideas real: electronics, laser cutters, CNC routers, 3D printers, science kits, and of course, 3D modeling. The idea is to teach folks how to set up their own makerspaces, and we’re excited to be a part of that effort.

We like to say that nothing great was ever made that didn’t start with a great drawing. We’ll be working on drawings of our own project over the weekend, but we’d rather help you take your idea to the next level. Do you have a SketchUp project or even a rough sketch of something you want to create? Send a model or an image of your project to [email protected], and we’ll hook you up with free admission to Maker Faire Bay Area*, and then help you work on your model.

We’ll be rolling up our sleeves on modeling projects all weekend in the Model Makerspace.

Of course, there are plenty of people who visit us at Maker Faire who have never used SketchUp before. At past Maker Faires, we noticed we were spending a lot of time teaching folks SketchUp one at a time, and A LOT of folks want to learn. So we had another idea: why not to teach everybody at once? So, in addition to our design studio in the Model Makerspace, we’re also hosting a Mass 3D Modeling Teach-in on the Maker Faire Center Stage at 7pm on Saturday. Come one, come all: learn, draw, then build something rad.

Posted by Mark Harrison on behalf of the SketchUp Team

*If you live in the Bay Area, send us a workable project. We’ll send you a discount code to get Maker Faire tickets online (on a first-come, first-serve basis — limited availability).

Several years after publishing his first book, SketchUp expert Daniel Tal has released a new title, Rendering in SketchUp, tackling the rather large topic of, well… rendering in SketchUp.

“Rendering in SketchUp: From Modeling to Presentation for Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Interior Design.” Say that three times fast.

Rendering In SketchUp has a goal of being both a starter guide and a handy reference manual on rendering. At just over 640 pages, the book is accompanied by a website and free, downloadable ‘companion chapters.’ The full package comes in at about eight hundred pages.

Who in their right mind would read so many pages (let alone write that much)? Well, rendering is a big deal to many SketchUp users, so it’s not surprising to find that some daring folks have already read through Daniel’s book in its entirety — you can see the initial reviews on Amazon.

What these readers found was an easy-to-use, beginner manual that also serves as a detailed reference guide for rendering. As one reviewer stated, you can jump in and out of the book as needed. It’s a true reference manual on how to turn SketchUp images into beautiful renderings, so it makes sense that the book is full of beautiful images, 650 of them in fact.

Across textures, lighting methods, post production tips, specific render settings and broad concepts, Daniel’s book covers all aspects of the rendering process. It even has a nifty chapter on simple but advanced detailing (don’t use that texture for the roof shingles, model them!).

Rendering is a bulky topic, so a comprehensive guide like this one could be pretty overwhelming. Daniel, however, does a wonderful job of organizing his book, taking you through each step of the process in a logical fashion. Place textures, add detail, set lighting, apply rendering values to surfaces, render, and then post process the results.

Does the book cover all of the rendering applications for SketchUp floating around the universe? If it did, the book would probably jump from weighing 2.8 pounds to 20. (As it is, you might find it handy to check out the Kindle edition).

Instead, Rendering in SketchUp provides a universal approach that works with most (if not all) rendering programs. The book focuses on integrated rendering programs: rendering software that works within SketchUp. Daniel also provides provides specific chapters, overviews and settings for Shaderlight and Twilight Rendering software with a detailed inclusion of SU Podium. With this approach, you can apply Daniel’s methods across a healthy spread of rendering choices.

So this book has it all, right? Well, rendering is a huge topic. Daniel is one of many experts with his own approach and opinion. But if the task of turning SketchUp models into high quality images has always intimidated you, Rendering In SketchUp is not only a great starting point, but also a smart path to mastery.

Learn more about Daniel’s universal approach to rendering in this in-depth webinar.

Posted by Chris Dizon, SketchUp Sales

We’re never surprised to hear that SketchUp is being used in ways we didn’t expect, but we were particularly impressed when we came across this article about SketchUp’s knack for reconstructing crime scenes. We wanted to learn a bit more about how 3D plays into crime scene reconstruction (and yes, some of us are Dexter fan boys), so we tracked down Detective Albert Schade, the article’s co-author and the mind behind Crime Scene Interactive, a website that details workflows for modeling crime scenes in 3D.

A SketchUp model used as the basis for crime scene reconstruction

How long have you worked with 3D modeling software?
I’ve been 3D modeling since the mid 90’s; I got my feet wet with Animation Master and Milkshape: those really broadened my use of computer generated animation and modeling. Since then I’ve toyed with 3D Studio Max, Maya, Blender and SketchUp.

So what is “Crime Scene Interactive?” Who is it for?
Crime Scene Interactive has gotten a lot of attention since the publication of our article in the Association of Crime Scene Reconstruction Journal. Crime Scene Interactive is a workflow that allows you to make interactive courtroom exhibits through the use of SketchUp, Blender, Gimp or Photoshop, Ultimate Unwrap3d and the Unity 3D game engine.

SketchUp, in particular, is a huge part of that workflow thanks to its ease of use and the ability to quickly model in real world measurements. SketchUp also happens to be very expandable with the ability to add features via Ruby and its nice assortment of import/export options.

What role does 3D modeling play in your detective work?
I’m a Detective in the Forensic Services Unit for the Berks County District Attorney’s Office. I investigate homicides, serious bodily injury cases and fatal crashes. I also instruct police officers in fingerprint comparison, blood spatter, evidence processing, and 3D crime scene creation. 3D modeling is a great way to make exhibits for all of these disciplines.

In law enforcement, we face several hurdles when bringing cases to court. During evidence collection and processing we obtain a large amount of information. When we testify in trial, we need to relate that information to juries — groups of people with very diverse educational backgrounds — in a very short period of time. Demonstrative exhibits help visually display that information. So 3D models and walkthroughs are incredibly useful for taking the vast data we’ve collected at a crime scene and relaying it in court so that a jury panel can make an informed decision.

Depending on the victim condition or amount of blood in a scene, judges will sometimes not allow actual crime scene photos in a courtroom. SketchUp models afford a neat and clean depiction that still articulates the positioning of the victim.

3D is also important for investigations. Most people don’t realize that police departments spend a lot of resources not only proving what did happen, but what didn’t happen. In pursuit of the truth, rapid availability of reconstruction information helps us decipher witness or suspect statements. We can focus on the right people and not waste time on bad leads.

How did you first come across SketchUp?
I first used SketchUp for personal projects. I like woodworking, so I used SketchUp with the Cutlist plugin to help organize my project and develop a shopping list. Learning how engineers and various other artists and professionals around the world were using SketchUp is what led me to start using it for crime scene work.

Now, SketchUp fits perfectly in my workflow. With a large caseload, I need to keep investigations moving. With SketchUp, I can mock crime scenes very quickly, and then communicate the spatial relationship of items in the scene to other investigators in a clean, concise fashion. From there, we can start the process of testing theories and corroborating witness accounts to physical evidence.

Small apartments often make photography and camera views difficult to share. SketchUp’s X-Ray mode provides a good overview of a room and makes it easier to navigate the 3D space.

Are there specific tools in SketchUp that are particularly helpful for your work?
LayOut is a great tool for turning sections of scenes into illustrated visuals for a presentation slide. SketchUp Pro’s reporting function is also very useful, because I often have to provide defense attorneys with data that shows my scene model is accurate. The report option lays out this data in a spreadsheet, saving me a lot of time.

The ability to export models to .FBX format is also important because I currently use the Unity game engine to animate interactive walkthroughs of a scene. The DXF import option also helps because some of our measuring equipment saves to DXF; that import ability makes it easy to load control points directly into SketchUp Pro.

It sounds like you use several 3D tools in cooperation with SketchUp; what else is in the quiver?
I use Blender to make human models animate and any organic models that would otherwise be difficult to create in SketchUp. HemoSpat is a blood spatter analysis suite that allows me to create a 3D model of a bloodletting event’s area of origin. It can then be imported into SketchUp for placement in the crime scene model.

A SketchUp model (running in Unity 3D) with the blood spatter model accurately position. The lines show the trajectory of the blood, and where they intersect shows the area of origin in 3D space.

I also use Unity, a game engine that brings crime scenes to life in an interactive animation. This lets you walk through the crime scene in a courtroom just like a video game. You can interact with items of evidence, and display images from the crime scene in relation to the model.

Posted by Mark Harrison, SketchUp team

Environmental Air Systems (EAS) is a full service mechanical contractor based in North Carolina specializing in mechanical systems for health care, pharmaceutical, and data centers. EAS also has unique capabilities for Off-Site Construction (OSC), which allows for the manufacture of a wide range of products from mechanical skids and air handling units, to full central utility plants and large scale modular data centers.

With SketchUp Pro, Environmental Air Systems has been able to improve communication with their clients as well as increase their Off-Site Construction productivity. Carroll Shephard is the Production Design Coordinator for EAS, and also one of their SketchUp champions. He spoke with us about how EAS uses SketchUp.

SketchUp at EAS
Back in 2007, EAS was working on two data center projects. In an effort to create a more accurate and visual as-built of the product, we switched to SketchUp. We provided our client with an AutoCAD version along with the SketchUp as-built model. The client really liked that we gave them something more visually rich through SketchUp. Since then, we have transitioned all of our production drawings to SketchUp. Now, we are adding SketchUp to more processes than ever.

With SketchUp, we don’t spend a lot of time learning the software, and because it’s so intuitive, we’ve reached a point where we can rapidly turn detailed models into coordinated production drawings for our manufacturing facilities. Then, we generate material lists with an extension plugin.

The use of 3rd party plugins, like Space Design by RenderPlus, allows  for custom report generation directly out of SketchUp

SketchUp has changed the way we design as it enables us to transition from 2D to 3D. The advantage of working in 3D is that our product is “virtually built” before materials are ever ordered. Previously, we coordinated parts by calculating the clearances needed using a calculator or spreadsheet. Now, all the drawings (previously made using AutoCAD) are produced in SketchUp. From there, we have been able to coordinate our products using Navisworks (and we’re now experimenting with Tekla BIMSight).

SketchUp Pro & Client Communication
While communicating with clients, SketchUp most often plays the role of a visual aid. For example, we recently worked on the preliminary design of a pipe rack system to be installed in a pharmaceutical facility. With SketchUp, we were able to model the pipe rack exactly as it would be installed (a retrofit situation). The SketchUp model helped the marketing group clearly communicate the scope of work and make sure that our design was meeting or exceeding client expectations.

Rendered models help clients visualize how projects will look after completion

We also generate concept renderings for potential clients. These allow our clients to see what their project will look like once completed. So to a real extent, we also use SketchUp as both a sales and design-build tool: it enables us to show potential clients our solution for their specific application and then it helps us produce accurate, detailed drawings quickly. Both of these advantages enable us to be more successful and it has been a driving force on many projects.

Guest authored by Carroll Shephard, Environmental Air Systems, LLC

MakerBot CEO Bre Prettis is a pretty cool customer, so I took it as a good sign when he yelped with excitement at SketchUp’s 3D Basecamp 2012 after the announcement of SketchUp’s STL plugin.

Reading and writing STL files from SketchUp is something that users have been able to do for a while with the help of two separate ruby plugins. But as 3D printing has continued to boom, we’ve been thinking of ways to make this file exchange easier. So we emailed the original plugin developers, Jim Foltz, Nathan Bromham, and Konrad Shroeder, and asked if they would be interested in letting us combine their tools into a single open source plugin. All three responded with a resounding “yes!”

But, what’s the big deal with STL, anyway? There are many who believe, and so do I, that we’re on the verge of a new age in fabrication and prototyping. You can now take designs and make them a reality in the comfort of your own creative space. We’re just scratching the surface with this technology that brings digital back to analog, and for the moment, the STL file format is a lynchpin between 3D models and print-ready objects.

Our very own do-nothing machine; you’d be surprised how addictive this is

At the SketchUp office, we’ve been experimenting with MakerBot Replicators for a while now. Our experiences range from high-five successes to epic failures. One tale that sticks out in my mind, however, is when we helped our friend Omar save $120. Omar owns a vacuum cleaner that had a small, uniquely shaped plastic piece that broke. To repair the piece, he had to replace a whole section of the vacuum (hence, the $120 price tag). He sent me an email and asked if we could try replacing the piece with our 3d printer. I told him to stop by my desk with the broken piece and pair of digital calipers. After about an hour of SketchUp modeling, we had what looked like a perfect replacement. I exported the model to STL, opened the file with Replicator G, exported the file to Alpha (we’ve named our three Replicators Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie) and let the MakerBot do the rest. To my pleasant surprise, the piece worked perfectly.

When it comes to vacuum cleaner maintenance, it turns out that cheap plastic is great for replacing cheap plastic.

While you can bring your custom SketchUp designs to life with the STL plugin and a 3D printer, you can also import pre-made content to modify prior to print. For example, my oldest son wanted to play with an R2D2 last weekend. I found one on MakerBot’s Thingiverse database and imported all of the STL files into SketchUp to rearrange the pieces to fit on a single build platform (you can download the model here). I exported to STL and about 7 hours later, I had a complete R2D2. Pro Tip: Run ThomThom’s Cleanup script to reduce triangulated geometry into single coplanar faces.

So how does the plugin work?

With the latest version of SketchUp 8, it’s easier than ever to install plugins:

1. Visit STL the project page at https://github.com/SketchUp/sketchup-stl.
2. Click on the link at the top of the page and download the RBZ file to your computer.

3. Open SketchUp. Click Window (Windows) or SketchUp (Mac) > Preferences > Extensions > Install Extension…
4. Browse to the folder that has the RBZ file, select it and click “Open.” You will see a warning message that asks if you’re *sure* you want to install the plugin. Click “Yes.”

So now you’re all set with the STL plugin: you can now export entire SKP files to STL or just specified groups. What about the 3D printer? It turns out that Make magazine released a great issue comparing a broad range of 3D printers so you can find the right one that fits your needs and your budget.

Last but not least, if you’re a developer and interested in contributing the SketchUp STL plugin project, feel free to visit the project page to get started. Happy designing and printing!

Posted by Tommy Acierno, SketchUp Team

SketchUp’s new product icon, now translated in 12 different languages!

We’re closing out the year with one final maintenance release for SketchUp 8. We’ve fixed the usual collection of bugs and fiddly performance whatnots for everyone (see the Release Notes for all the details) but we’ve also rebuilt all our localized versions again as well. If you’re using SketchUp 8 in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese, Korean, Simplified or Traditional Chinese, Russian, Dutch and Brazilian Portuguese… we have a new build for you today.

Happy End-of-Year-Holiday to you all!

Posted by John Bacus, Product Manager

Back in March of 2011, when Wiley (a publisher of many books about SketchUp, including my own) asked me to review Alex Schreyer’s proposal for a new title, I jumped at the chance. Alex’s outline was mouth-wateringly full of promise; aimed squarely at architects and other designers, he promised not to spend hundreds of pages teaching the basics. Instead, he focused on aspects of SketchUp that were a) not well covered by existing books and b) very, very interesting to millions of experienced SketchUp modelers everywhere.

The completed volume does a beautiful job of presenting material that devoted SketchUppers badly want to learn, but which isn’t very easy to explain. Put it this way: I’m pretty good at SketchUp, and in the hour or so I’ve been thumbing through Alex’s book, I’ve learned about 50 things. I can’t wait to read the thing from cover to cover.

Architectural Design with Sketchup is organized into four main sections—these are actually listed in the book’s subtitle: component-based modeling, plugins, rendering and Ruby scripting. I’ll talk about each in turn.

Component-based modeling

This section of Alex’s book is a great primer for using groups and components to build assemblies of objects. The thinking here is that by modeling every element of a complex construction—the example he uses is a foundation/floor detail—you’re effectively “building” your design before you actually build it. You save time and money and therapy sessions by making your mistakes digitally, and you end up with a better design. This isn’t exactly a new concept, but Alex does a terrific job of providing concrete guidance for how to do this kind of modeling; it’s the detailed how that’s missing from most other resources. Other aspects of component-based modeling that Alex fails to shy away from: building dynamic components, applying materials and generating reports that list every part in your design with SketchUp Pro.

Using plugins effectively

One place where even accomplished SketchUp modelers stumble is in identifying the plugins that might help them do their work. There are zillions of plugins out there, but before this book, no one had assembled a comprehensive, alphabetical listing of dozens of the most popular, most useful extensions. Not only does Alex list them; he also provides a good, brief description of what each is for. This is the section of Alex’s book that I’ll study most carefully—it might even be the source of inspiration for a few posts on this blog.

Photo-realistic rendering

Admit it: If you’re not already an avid renderer, you’ve at least thought about how nice it would be to master that particular skill. But where to start? There’s never been more choice in renderers, and everyone knows that rendering is a lot more complicated than just clicking a button and waiting a few hours. The settings, presets, lighting environments and other widgets that go along with making a halfway decent rendering require an indecent amount of background knowledge. It’s half science and half craft. With Alex’s book in hand, I think we all might finally have a shot at learning this stuff.

Another thing I should mention: This book is 100% in color. If you think that makes a big difference when you’re trying to learn about rendering, you’d be 100% correct. I wish my book was in color…

Scripting

Here’s where things get a little wacky. When I saw in Alex’s proposal that he intended to include an entire section on scripting, I thought, “Ruby for designers? Did Alex mix up his medications?” I was pretty dismissive about the whole idea in my feedback to Wiley.

Well, it’s a good thing I was wrong. Twenty months later, it’s a different world, and being able to read and write simple code has never been more important. In teaching the fundamentals of Ruby scripting, Alex intelligently focuses on using scripts to generate forms that are otherwise arduous or impossible to model in SketchUp. He doesn’t assume you want to create entire standalone plugins; this is really just about using the power of algorithms to make stuff when you can’t think of any other way to do it. The material is by no means easy, but Alex deserves a world of credit for making it as easy as possible.

I recommend this book without hesitation to anyone who really wants to be able to make SketchUp do everything it’s capable of doing. It’s clearly written, well-illustrated and comprehensive. And the icing on the cake: There’s a companion website where you’ll find sample files and a direct line of communication with the author. Buy this book and take the first step toward becoming a more useful person.

Posted by Aidan Chopra, SketchUp Evangelist

Almost two months ago, hundreds of the world’s most dedicated SketchUp aficionados descended upon our hometown for 3D Basecamp 2012. On the first day, we packed into the Boulder Theater for presentations from the SketchUp management team, several plugin developers and a keynote by Bre Pettis of MakerBot.

The first day of Basecamp took place at the historic Boulder Theater.

That night, we gathered at a local spot for a party, where the highlight was undoubtedly the SketchUp ShootOut: two heroes competing to make the audience guess a mystery word by modeling on side-side computers. Bulldozer! Cabin! Bubble tea! Melancholy! The winning guesser and the winning modeler both won free drinks, but everyone seemed to be having a blast. Note: I beat John in a best-of-five match with “glove”, “foyer” and “cook”. It may be the proudest I’ve been all year.

Hotshot modelers squared off against each other in the first-ever SketchUp ShootOut.

Tuesday’s proceedings moved to yet another venue for a full day of barely-contained mayhem. The morning’s three blocks of unconference sessions coincided with three hours of beginner Ruby training. After lunch, we squeezed together to watch scheduled presentations by the likes of Daniel Tal, Nick Sonder, Mark Carvalho, and teams from 3skeng, ARmedia and SightSpace 3D. Three more hours of unconference sessions and a repeat of the morning’s Ruby 101 class followed, then everyone went straight to bed. I assume.

We planned a Design Charrette for Day 3; participants split up into teams to tackle a challenge that we created in collaboration with Impact on Education, a local non-profit that acts as a kind of R&D department for the Boulder Valley School District. The design brief involved re-imagining a classroom to take into account the way teaching and learning have evolved with the introduction of mobile technology. At the end of the two-and-a-half hour charrette, a dozen teams presented their designs (in SketchUp and LayOut, of course), after which an illustrious panel of judges from IoE picked their favorite projects. The winning team members then squared off against each other for several rounds of SketchUp trivia. The victorious Michaels (Tadros and Brightman) each won a Replicator 3D printer, generously donated by our friends at MakerBot Industries.

While the designer-types did their thing, about twenty plugin authors spent Day 3 across the street at our first-ever Ruby Developers’ Conference. They huddled and schemed and plotted the future of our API (application programming interface). They even held a competition of their own: Dale Martens, a.k.a. “Whaat” and the creator of the Artisan organic modeling tool set, won the hackathon by coding a working first-person shooter game that runs inside SketchUp—in a couple of hours. Needless to say, Dale got a MakerBot, too.

Participants in Wednesday’s Ruby Developer Conference posing as if they’re a sports team.

All in all, we’re pretty proud of how well our first Basecamp at Trimble went, considering how quickly we planned it and that Dusty (our Event Manager extraordinaire) isn’t on the SketchUp team anymore. The space was at times tight and A/V and internet access are forever thorns in my side, but the vast majority of attendees we surveyed said they enjoyed themselves, learned some things, met cool people and (most tellingly) would happily join us at another 3D Basecamp.

Which brings me to my last point: When’s the next Basecamp? Good question. We don’t know right now, but given that our plan is to move to an annual release cycle starting next year, and that conferences are a great way to celebrate product launches, we’ll do our best to make sure there’s a 3D Basecamp in 2013. If you’d like to be one of the first to know when we announce it, you can add your name to our Next Basecamp Notification List.

Feel like looking at lots of pictures from the event? This album should do the trick.

Posted by Aidan Chopra, SketchUp Evangelist

When we profiled architect Nick Sonders’ amazing use of LayOut to create full sets of construction documents for his houses, we knew we were on to something big. The deluge of “TELL ME IMMEDIATELY HOW HE DID THAT” sentiment that ensued prompted us to f…

This post comes to us from our friends at Sefaira. In this blog, we’ll see how Booth Hansen, a nationally recognized Architecture, Planning, and Interior Design firm, uses Sefaira Concept and the Concept plugin for SketchUp Pro to incorporate green building analyses into the earliest stages of design.

Sefaira Concept + SketchUp Pro for Green Building Design
Traditionally, thermal simulation packages or energy models assess compliance at the end of the design process. Using Sefaira Concept, Booth Hansen can rapidly analyze and evaluate “what-if” scenarios at the earliest stages of design. These scenarios provide clients with the relative energy savings of various design strategies. Using the Concept plugin for SketchUp Pro, Booth Hansen ensures the accurate representation of their models during these early stage sustainability analyses. Simply, it’s important that Sefaira Concept knows that a door is a door, and a window is a window; it turns out that SketchUp Pro’s dynamic components are pretty good at this. Let’s look at two project examples.

Deming Place
The first step in performing early stage sustainability analysis with Sefaira Concept is to import building geometry from a SketchUp file. Sefaira Concept automatically identifies the physical elements of a model – including floors, walls, glazing, and roofs – so that the software can deliver real-time, iterative analyses that may inform design choices.

Deming Place is located mid-block in an urban context and shares party walls with neighbors on either side. Sefaira Concept initially identified the party walls as standard walls. However, modeling these as standard walls would incorrectly simulate thermal transfer to outside air.

Sefaira Concept classifies the geometry within a SketchUp model for energy analysis:  here, the distinction is only made between walls and glazings.

The Concept plugin for SketchUp allows designers to visualize Sefaira Concept’s interpretation of the model within SketchUp, make adjustments to this interpretation, or provide additional information as necessary. In this case, Booth Hansen designers chose to override the initial designations: the side walls of Deming Place were selected and changed to party walls, which more closely represented the actual building conditions.

Here, the Concept Plugin for SketchUp is used to reclassify walls that are shared with neighboring structures; now Sefaira Concept knows to treat these differently in scenario forecasting

Sefaira Concept then used the party walls to define the enclosed space earmarked for analysis. Ultimately, Booth Hansen determined there was no significant thermal transfer through these walls, under the assumption that the interior of buildings on either side are kept at roughly the same internal temperature as Deming Place.

Children’s Center at the Chicago Botanic Gardens
For the Children’s Center at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, Booth Hansen utilized a series of concentric circles to define the building’s floor plan. This design resulted in a geometrically complex roof structure at the clerestory windows.

The base SketchUp model for the Children’s Center at the Chicago Botanic Gardens

To make sure that the energy analysis was accurate, Booth Hansen’s architects needed to know that Sefaira Concept had correctly identified and categorized the building’s different elements.

Sefaira Concept’s initial analysis of the model: the clerestory roofs have been classified as a hybrid of wall and roof planes

Using the Concept Plugin, Booth Hansen could see that Sefaira Concept had identified the clerestory roofs as a combination of wall and roof planes. Booth Hansen corrected this initial interpretation using the Concept plugin, so that all clerestory roofs would be correctly analyzed as “roof.”

Using the Concept plugin for SketchUp, the roof geometry is correctly reclassified; the model is now ready for analysis.

Once uploaded into Sefaira Concept for analysis, Booth Hansen was able to parametrically manipulate the properties of the roof surfaces (such as R-value and construction type).

Results
In these projects, Booth Hansen was able to use limited information available in conceptual design (such as basic massings, floor plan layouts, and site location) to measure sustainability impact across their design choices. Particularly with Deming Place, Sefaira Concept and the Concept Plugin for SketchUp helped establish a best practice model for sustainable design of similar buildings.

Posted by Sam Somashekar, Sefaira
Interested to demo Sefaira Concept and the Concept plugin? Check in with Sefaira.

Back in May, we announced the winners of the 2012 Model Your Town Competition, Josetxo Perez Fernandez and Pedro Domecq Aguirre, who modeled the beautiful town of Getaria, Gipuzkoa, Spain.

Recently, a team of folks from both SketchUp and Google traveled to Getaria to celebrate Josetxo, Pedro, and Getaria’s citizens. Let’s just say Getaria has pretty much the best fish and friendliest people you’ll find anywhere in the world. The local school, Herri Iturzaeta Eskola, received $25,000 from Google, which was presented during an assembly at the school. Josetxo and Pedro led an inspiring session on how they created their models. Judging by the excitement in the room, we expect there will be some 3D wonder-kids in Getaria’s future.

Pedro and Josetxo presenting SketchUp and Google Earth to the students of Herri Iturzaeta Eskola

Citizens of Getaria also welcomed us at the new Cristóbal Balenciaga Museum, for a reception and tour. The museum’s collection of Spain’s most famous fashion designer is a big point of pride for Getaria, and not to be missed if you’re ever visiting Basque country.

We congratulate Josetxo and Pedro on creating such incredibly beautiful SketchUp models. You can explore Getaria for yourself in Google Earth and then compare the 3D models to the real thing in this photo gallery of our visit.

Posted by Allyson McDuffie & Tyson Kartchner, SketchUp Team

Earlier this year, we shared a snapshot of how architect Nick Sonder uses SketchUp Pro and LayOut to work up construction documents. In comments on this blog and our YouTube channel, we noticed that folks wanted to learn more about the ins and outs of this process, so we tapped Paul Lee, author of “Construction Documents using SketchUp Pro & LayOut“ to walk through the basic process for porting SketchUp scenes to plan views in LayOut:

Creating a plan in LayOut is a snap. In this tutorial we will take a pre-formed model, apply a Section Cut and create a Plan Scene for display in LayOut. Below is a view of a house construction model you can download from here. Once you’ve opened this model (or one of your own), select the Section Plane tool from the Tools menu. Use this tool to align the desired sectioned view of the model. (Remember: Hold down the shift key to maintain alignment while positioning your section cut.)

With your model queued up, you’re ready to slice and dice with the Section Plane tool

Sectioning a SketchUp model

Under the Camera Menu, Set the view to Parallel Projection; notice that you’ve now provided straight-on view for your plan. Next, under Window, select the Scenes console. (Tip: you can hide the Section Plane itself in your LayOut document by opening the Styles window in SketchUp, and editing the default style of your scene to hide the section plane).

Now click on the “+” button and create a scene called “PLAN”. Open LayOut and access your SketchUp model by selecting File > Insert. From here, simply right-click on the SketchUp window and select Scenes: “PLAN”. Then right-click and go to Scale = 1mm:50mm. Your scaled plan is now finished in LayOut, and you’re all set to start dimensioning and annotating the important details.

Setting up your plan as a scene in prep for LayOut

Voila: a SketchUp scene imported to LayOut

Posted by Paul Lee, Viewsion Virtual Environments, SketchUp ATC

This tutorial is based on techniques found in Paul’s new book “Construction Documents using SketchUp Pro & LayOut” available here from SketchUcation and also on the Viewsion Authorized Training Center website.