Sounds as though you don’t need Layout - so don’t use it.
Personally I think its a fantastic little program, and I am very grateful for it.
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Please share one of these drawings. Im sure we all could learn something.
…the tools for those things are in Layout, so the answer to “I wish someone could explain to me why I need Layout” would be to utilize those tools.
All of the more powerful tools for a better look and feel of your drawings are currently in Layout - it’s designed to provide all of that.
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it’s weird how some people feel limited by the fact you have two icons and two apps running side by side, and are adamant that they should be reunited in one big app like autocad or archicad.
I hope you eat using sporks. it’s better than a spoon and a fork, it’s both.
Done.
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¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Share some of your fully detailed and professional plans that you only use SketchUp to produce. I’m really curious to see how they compare to my workflow.
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So, why can’t those “more powerful tools” be brought into PRO? And if they were, why would you need Layout.
This is a very simple example of what I did for a relative who was given some material off a job. He needed to know all the dimensions, and I presented it to him in a way that he could easily understand, as opposed to standard parallel projection/plan and elevation views.
Gate.skb (90.7 KB)
To my mind, Layout is first and foremost (big surprise given the name) a page layout program, not a real drawing program. It is a program for producing multipage, paper or PDF documents with tools to place a variety of content across multiple pages with title blocks, page numbers and so on like any other page layout program. In the Adobe universe, InDesign is their page layout program, while Illustrator is their drawing program, and in the Affinity universe, Affinity Designer is their page layout program and Affinity Designer is their drawing program. That’s not unlike Layout and SketchUp. It’s possible that Layout could develop more drawing tools and become more hybrid, which is what a lot of users are asking for, and we will see if any of that happens.
There are three things that Layout does that other page layout and drawing programs can’t do:
- Import and place linked and updatable viewports from a SketchUp model and position them on the page
- Apply auto dimensions to the drawings that update with changes (well, Ok, when it’s working right)
- Place text notes based on metadata embedded with objects in the SketchUp model.
The more you make use of those features, the happier you are going to be, but the more you expect it to be a drafting program, the more disappointed you will be.
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Yes, Sketchup is great at the example you show, but that’s really a simple use of the tools.
What about a professional permit set of construction documents that you have to submit to local authorities? Perhaps with title block, schedules, details?
Edit:
@JamesClark you posted the backup file, and you have reversed faces in your screenshot.
No clue - If there was a way for the SketchUp team to do this, and it was faster than the SketchUp/Layout process currently, I’d be all for it, but at the moment, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
If you want access to those tools right now (and they do exist, and you mentioned wanting them), they exist in Layout. That’s why you need it. It’s the solution for 2D documentation from your 3D models.
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Simply put, Layout’s greatest Pro is Sketchup and it’s greatest Con is Sketchup.
Sketchup is simple and intuitive and at the same time complex and accurate.
This leads people to expect the same simplicity and intuitive style from Layout, the problem is it is a different ‘program’ and you need to learn how to use it well in conjunction with Sketchup. It doesn’t flow naturally, but it does work when you learn and understand it.
Struggling with it for years thinking it should do things this way but it isn’t is not a good way forward.
Take the time to learn about it and understand the workflow and you’ll become a professional.
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The issue for me is my specific line of work, which is small local builders, and individuals who need drawings for projects. Traditional architectural drawings have way too much for a builder to do his job. Builders just need the critical dimensions, and exactly where rough openings need to go. I worked for years building houses from the ground up. I know from experience what’s needed, and what’s too much. But, more to the point, I can view a model in parallel projection, in plan view, or any of the four elevations. There’s your 2D printout. No need for anything else.
Nonsense, sounds more like your local builders are putting up with your ‘excellent’ drawings.
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Planning permissions, Building Regulations approvals, liability…?
No, they’re truly appreciative. Builders have a certain level of resentment towards architects. I have fond memories from the past of just how intense this resentment can be. I have to ask, how much time have you spent on a building crew, actually swinging a hammer?
Having said all that, I fully understand the need of traditional architectural drawings output for large commercial projects. It’s just not what I do.
By the way, if some of those important tools were brought from Layout into PRO, then everyone could be accommodated with just PRO, just like in AutoCAD. Think of how much more efficient the SketchUp operation would be if all of their programming resources were focused on one application. Maybe then they would only have to raise the price every two or three years, and by not as much.
sure, let’s make sketchup a mastodon. that’s a good idea.
fun fact, if it takes a woman 9 month to 3d print a baby, 9 women won’t make it in 1 month. that’s not how it works. also, people working on layout and on sketchup are not the same.
hahahahahaha. as if it’s correlated.
I thought it was a rant thread, but it turned into a “I never learned how to use layout, that’s why I hate it” and now it’s turning into a comedy.
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Well Said!
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Can you show me something you can do in Layout that I can’t do in PRO?
Haven’t you already given us those examples!