Hi all.
The below screenshots illustrate my semi-failed attempts to complete architectural 2D documentation “in situ” in Sketchup, on top of a section of the (group of the entire) 3D model.
Has anyone else got experience with this?
I tried to replicate the workflow of Revit - a program where all 2D drafting is done superimposed on top of a slice of the 3D model. With one click, Revit can halftone or hide the 3D section backdrop. Very handy!
Architects alternate their focus from 3D and 2D. At times, the 2D detailing will govern decision making, at other times, I might want to achieve a particular alignment in 3D space. 3D and 2D planning HAS to go had-in-hand! In order to fully maximise the potential of the 3D digital space, Architect need a workflow that fluidly combines 2D and 3D spaces!.
With the SU+LO package, a fluent and constant ‘hopping over’ into the alternate mode of planning is not easily achievable, I found. Let me explain: Unfortunately only the 3D space can easily be brought over to Layout`s 2D space (with the annoying need for constant synchronising, the process is not as “live” as i wish it to be, but that is another topic…).
The ability for the reverse seems to be lacking in Sketchup: I am missing the ability to superimpose the 2D space as a live backdrop in my 3D model sections!
Summarising, I can tell you that my test-workflow is faaaar too cumbersome. And on top of that, I was still not able to fully control line weights and hatching on the final LO sheet.
Some detailed comments:
- I set up tags for “elevation geometry” and “cut geometry” in order to be able to generate at least two line weight distinctions in LO (the screenshots show blue and red visual differentiation that I set up not to lose the overview) Controlling line weights with this method is a nightmare! For example, if a rectangle on the ‘elevation’ tag and another adjacent rectangle on the ‘cut’ tag coincide along one edge, SU does not give consistent priority. In fact, you get a random draw order in LO.
- Extra setup needed: 3D model needs to be placed in a container to be separately cut-away. I drew the 2D elements on top of the section cut - You might be able to see that on the 3rd pix?. Inferencing and snapping luckily works on intersection points of 3D model with the section plane! Kind of cool.
- I tried to harness the power of SU components and added metadata to the 2D components, with the aim to retrieve the embedded data with labels later in LO. My hopes were high to automate the annotation in the documentation stage… but my skills were not up to scratch yet…
- last-but-one screenshot: documentation of 1:20 scale (and coarser) is 100% from SU (with only dim, text and symbol annotation added in LO of course)
- Last screenshot: 1:5 details are 95% from SU, with coloured dashed lines added in LO to make membranes stand out more, which is important in PassivHaus projects. (dito - symbols, text and dims annotations done in LO)
- I think hatching patterns could be achieved easily with textures in SU, displayed as raster in LO. I however struggled with keeping the hatch patterns consistent, as I use the scale command a lot which also scales the texture. I presume there is a smart solution to this (I am still learning)?
