Engineer Approval

Been a user since very early days and love SketchUp but have never been on here so apologies if I’m in the wrong place. I need to have a project looked at by an engineer. I just gave Trimble Connect a test drive, and clearly that’s not the answer. I do have DropBox account but I don’t see an obvious solution other than uploading static PDF’s. My engineer is not going to go too far out of his way to accommodate me i.e. install software or test viewers etc., so whatever I ask of him better work the first time. I do see this requirement in the forums from several yrs ago with SK pledging to make this easy. Anything I should know or do I have to get on a plane and do this in person (would really suck).

If your engineer isn’t familiar enough with SketchUp to easily look at your model and navigate around it, you probably don’t want to make him install the SketchUp viewer or send him a SketchUp file. i would think that creating a PDF in LayOut might be the best option. There are some ways to create 3D sorts of files like PDFs that you could send but if he needs to be able to make measurements or otherwise manipulate the model (turning off layers and that sort of thing) those 3D options might not be all that useful.

Where is your engineer? Where are you? Maybe the weather is nicer where he is. :smiley:

Maybe you could export a 3D CAD model that he could import into the software he’s used to using?

Thanks Dave, I really need to be able to spin the model around and discuss. I’ve gutted the file down to 5MB, I wonder if this is too big for sharing my screen on Skype or such . . .

and the export idea is also worth exploring - hmmm

I’m in Toronto and he’s in Ottawa - currently a dismal time of year weatehr wise in both locations :crazy_face:

I haven’t done a lot of screen sharing with Skype but I use GoToMeeting frequently. SketchUp file size has really never come into it even with very huge files.

You need to get a new engineer. One who is in the Bahamas or some place nice. :smiley:

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Best solution yet :wink:

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Why not?
Is it because you are on Mac? (The Trimble connect desktop for Mac is (still) in Beta)
Of the way it is set up?
Besides SketchUp files, There are tons of other formats you can share.

Hey, also in Toronto, and just back from Ottawa lol. 3d PDF’s are viewable in regular adobe reader, you can measure, hide components, navigate/spin etc. It’s what my engineer requests.

If you want simply to inspect the drawing and not make changes, a really good solution is Kubity. (kubity.com) You are able to control the drawing on his computer - and discuss the finer details via phone in real time. Your model is stored on Kubity’s server so you can’t alter it, but you can include measurements etc and utilise scenes to make a cohesive presentation. I fell out of love with them for reasons that aren’t relevant, but that doesn’t stop me from saying this facility is excellent.

Screen sharing a model from your machine works well, model size is irrelevant. I do this via google hangouts and Skype regularly, I find hangouts to be more stable and better quality. This method works well for a simultaneous meeting where you can manipulate the model in real-time while talking to one or many others watching your screen. But not if the other person wants to manipulate the model on their own time. If you can’t meet with the SE digitally I would make some 2d documents that really focus on the area the engineer is to examine and remove superfluous details if possible, that saves them time and you money.

I guess it must be because I’m on a Mac - Shading and edges wonky or missing . . . not imagery I’d ever share with anyone.

When you have finished your presentation via Kubity, the client can take over and navigate. Also reload later if you provide the link.

Ah! Lovely weather we’re having right! Thanks very much, I knew not of 3D and PDF - definitely looking into this!

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Thanks! , Never heard of Kubity, I’ll be sure to check it out

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Thanks Learned One, Thanks All. Looking at all these very helpful replies I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to get a process for this going forward.

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Hi there, I’m on the Simlab site, have downloaded a few of the 3D PDF samples in the gallery and I’m looking at half rendered pages, basically a layout of black boxes. Can I ask, are you on a PC? This may be yet another Mac Catalina upgrade problem. I do have the full Adobe Creative Suite so somewhat familiar with Acrobat . . .

Hey, I am on a Macbook pro 2017, I have resisted Catalina so far though.


So when I open a 3d pdf first time in reader I get this, under options select either trust option. Then all I get is a blank page with a ? in a red box upper left corner. Click on that and the drawing appears. You can set navigation options and select measuring tools etc in the grey bar at the top.
I haven’t used 3D pdfs a ton but have had no issues other than that bit of clunky-ness on opening for the first time.

Right, downloaded the trial, running a little rough as far showing partial hidden layers, edges showing through textures - should have waited longer to let Catalina take over I guess. Still I’ll keep playing - I can see how this along with shared screen meetings will be a workable process. Thanks much!

No problem. Happy New Year and good luck!

Can’t you just upload the file to the 3D warehouse and have him view it from there. You don’t even need to install the viewer if I’m correct, just click on the image and you can view, rotate and zoom into the model.

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