This is a forum for all user levels, beginners to highly advanced.
The idea is to answer the question asked so that the person asking the question gets an answer that is relevant to them.
If the question is, How do I build this? The answer, ‘You don’t want to do that, you should do this.’ Is not a good answer.
The point being that asking how to draw studs at 16" centers shows that the question is really about how to create multiple parts and place them accurately. So teaching someone how to create a Linear Array is the way to go.
If the question was something more along the lines of, ‘How much detail do people use in their workflow?’ The answer would be different.
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Yeah – I hear that. I was trying to be careful at first and then ended up saying too much. I do believe that in general we tend to immerse ourselves in certain tasks and become so engrossed that we sometimes forget to question basic assumptions about what we are doing and why. I feel lucky that I’ve been involved in architecture since before we were using computers at all. If we’re all going to plunge headlong into BIM I will acquire additional convincing that it is really worthwhile. Not very impressed with it thus far.
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OP just said he/she wanted to draw a typical frame wall, not a house.
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I’d show you some of my SketchUp house models if I thought you wouldn’t laugh at them! I’m not sure if I’m a “purist” so much as a minimalist? Sonder said the level of detail should match the intended presentation. Looking at the model at the scale of the whole house or part of a room at a time – I don’t need a realistic depiction of trim profiles, window frames or pulls and knobs, etc. I have SU Podium and sometimes grab furniture, appliances, accessories, etc. from there – mostly they are included to provide a sense of scale. And I’m careful with file sizes – one could easily have more bytes in a potted plant than the rest of the house. As for the ability to move walls, doors and windows around – I’d like to do very little of that. [I do have windows and doors as components.] So the usual routine is to work in 2-D AutoCAD until the client approves the scheme, and then make a SketchUp model. I saw the details of what Sonder is doing on YouTube and at 2018 Basecamp and have been wanting to move in that direction but haven’t yet. AutoCAD user since 1986 and old habits die hard. Most of the people I know in the field who wanted the parametric operability you’re pursuing have moved into Revit. I tried learning Revit for three years, 2013-16 and decided it was driving me crazy and I didn’t like its ginormous files and all of its rules and constraints.
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I’m also a minimalist. I don’t believe in putting anymore detail into a model than is required. Even with all of the framing in a model one does not need to put in every knob, edges or profile. So much can be simplified in a model. You will quickly notice with the wall plugin that all of the window and door casings are modeled without all of the usual high poly features and curves. From about 10-15 ft away you don’t really see all of that detail anyways.
With the electrical plugin, all of the outlets and switches are carefully modeled to be as low poly as possible why still providing a consistent look and feel.
Typically you can model an entire house with the Medeek plugins and keep the model size under 25Mb.
I’ve tried Revit myself and found it to be very clunky and not much of a joy to run. I have yet to find a person who actually enjoys using that program. Like you I am an old time AutoCAD user, in fact I still use AutoCAD when it comes to strictly 2D work.
When people think of BIM they automatically think of Revit, but in my mind BIM is nothing more than a model (hopefully 3D) that somehow contains all of the data or parameters that define that model and allow one to build it (materials, dimensions, quantities, finishes and cost). The 3D or physical model is what provides the relational data between the different components and the underlying database is what provides all of the details given above. All of this can be done just as well or even better in SketchUp as compared to Revit.
I have the wall studs on a seperate layer, just for representation and a better understanding and visual of the framing and utility placement