[Extension] new version of 3DBI will let you generate reports - looking for feedback

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Hi there,

A few months ago I published a first version of 3DBI for SketchUp, which allowed you to export your SketchUp model geometry to Microsoft Power BI where you could then link in any kind of data, and use that to create interactive 3D dashboards.

However, what that version was missing, was a way to use the data that is already present in your SketchUp model. Things like: materials, volumes, tags, dc attributes, classification values, … you name it. The typical things you would like to get out of SketchUp to create part lists, quantity takeoffs, … using generate report for example.

Well, I have just uploaded a new version of 3DBI to the SketchUp Extension warehouse, waiting for approval, that does all this. It will allow you to bring your SketchUp model to Power BI and get all your SketchUp model data in Power BI (or Excel if you want). Additionally, it comes with all the goodies Power BI comes with, so you can still link in all kind of external data sources (pricing tables, product information, sensor data, scheduling data, …) and publish your model online (with an Power BI Pro subscription).

Here, for example, in a few clicks I was able to create a quantities takeoff interactive dashboard, using the 3D model and the volume, material an tag assigned to each component instance. Also, I was able to publish it online so that my partners and clients could also consult it:

Now, what I am looking for, is a few (around 5 to 10) people here on the forum that are willing to give it a try and share some feedback in return for free access during an extended (let’s say 4 - 6 months) time.

I strongly believe this has the potential to not only use your sketchup model and data during the design stage, but, with the additional extra data you can link to your SketchUp model, leverage the model for the entire period a building or machine exists.

For example, a hotel manager already has data about which rooms are rented what day. With this tool, you could sell him a SketchUp model and let him highlight all rooms that are currently occupied in a 3d dashboard. Or, with sensor data, show all rooms that are currently too hot/too cold/have too high co2 levels, …

There are a few demo’s showing a link with external data already on my webpage: 3DBI for SketchUp | KG-dev

But first, let’s make this the best report generator you have had in SketchUp, with your feedback.

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@Dunno.458 @Bryceosaurus @FredsTinyHouses @crlrd

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Here is the report from the movie in my first post here above, made publicly available on the web: Microsoft Power BI

Not the best modelling skills I agree, with just some blocks. But it should show you the potential of having your SketchUp data + geometry available in Power BI, ready for you to craft any dashboard you desire. Not satisfied with the bar chart I have chosen? No problem, you can freely add other graphs and link in other data.

Also, this new version has been approved by the SketchUp team just minutes ago, so these new functionalities are available for everyone: Extension | SketchUp Extension Warehouse

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Hello Kenny,

I am truly impressed with the functionality of your tool. I work for an engineering firm and work extensively in Power BI, using dashboards forrisk assessments and recommendations of water and wastewater municipalities assets. I have searched for ways to integrate a 3D component into PowerBI, and have found nothing that has worked, until your extension. I would be happy to test this out and provide feedback if you are still looking for volunteers. I used to worked at Gensler (Architecture firm) and have years of experience with Sketchup as well. We have mutliple projects with extensive data that would really benefit with adding a 3D component to them, as they all are real life buildings and locations. Looking forward to helping out any way I can.

Thanks!

-Tom

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How would I use this with a fully framed model of a house using my plugins? This looks very interesting.

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Hi @Tomchee , please feel free to give the extension a try. It is available on the extension warehouse: Extension | SketchUp Extension Warehouse

You can activate a trial by using the following key: 3DBI-SKETCHUP-TRIAL-14DAYS

If you have external data regarding your assets already in Power BI and you are just interested in getting the geometry from SketchUp into BI, then the most important part is to define how your assets are identified and assign the same ID to your SketchUp objects.

There are a few options to define what data is used to assign an ID to the exported model. By default it is the entity’s persistent id that SketchUp gives each entity. You can also specify that you prefer a DC attribute, or the name of each instance, or even the material. Finally, you can specify if id’s should be concatenated.

For example, if you have a group named GROUP_A, which contains component instances INSTANCE_1 and INSTANCE_2 and you specify to concatenate IDs, then your resulting model will have 2 objects, one with ID GROUP_A.INSTANCE_1 and the other with ID GROUP_A.INSTANCE_2. Without concatenation, it would just be INSTANCE_1 and INSTANCE_2

I am working on a wiki and tutorials, so please have a look at our website: https://kg-dev.be/project/3dbi-for-sketchup/ every now and then, or if you have LinkedIn, I am fairly active over there: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kg-dev

@medeek , if you have a model that you would like me to give a go, please feel free to share it with me and I will be happy to give it a try and share my findings about it here. Does your extension also assign meta data to objects? 3DBI is not only capable of exporting the geometry, but I have also added functionality to export data, such as the obvious ComponentDefintionName, Volume, Tag, … but also all DC attributes as well as all classifications and classification values. (IFC for example)

Finally, maybe this movie says a little more about the potential:

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Meanwhile, 3DBI for SketchUp is being used for all kinds of usecases, such as for property management, warehouse management, port management, building information management, facility management, …

Crazy to see what you can achieve by bringing SketchUp models into Power BI and then combine it with all sorts of data.

Tutorials for all these use cases can be found here: https://kg-dev.be/project/3dbi-for-sketchup/

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Continuing the discussion from [Extension] new version of 3DBI will let you generate reports - looking for feedback:

Greetings,

I hope this email finds you well,

I am sending this email regarding an issue with 3dbi. I have been using 3dbi with SketchUp for about 5 months now. I started to face an issue with power bi whenever I upload the 3d file into power bi where the size of the file becomes very heavy and keeps crashing. a message will pop up that there is an issue with webview2. I’m not sure if there is any way to minimize this issue and fix it as soon as possible.

looking forward to here from you.

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Whatever happened with this?

Shouldn’t this be in the “Extensions” category?

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Thank you for your message.

Power BI visuals have a hard RAM consumption limit of 4gb. The amount of memory consumed is based on the number of unique so-called vertices in your 3D model. Complex shapes have more vertices than abstract ones. For example, 1 cube has 8 vertices. A cylinder on the other hand could be made of 100’s of vertices. If your model contains lots of complex (or rounded) geometry, you will at some point hit a RAM memory limit. From internal testing we found out that the limit translates to roughly 80mb .3dbi files. But this is not a fixed figure.
There are a few solutions:

  1. Limit the number of elements. For example, only export the elements that are needed for your dashboard. In Revit, only the elements visible in the 3D view that you use for exporting will be exported. In SketchUp you could hide all elements and then check the option to only export visible elements. For IFC you would first need to generate (or edit) an IFC model with only the elements that you require.
  2. Limit their complexity. For example, in Revit, the view quality settings also control the geometry complexity of the 3D elements. If you change your view settings from Fine to Medium or Coarse that might drastically reduce the resulting .3dbi file size and therefore improve the performance of the 3DBI visual for Power BI. In SketchUp, 3D models downloaded from 3D warehouse can be bloated with geometry. It is worth cleaning up that geometry by making less complex and abstracted models prior to exporting. For IFC it is the program used to create the IFC that is responsible for its geometrical complexity.