I thought it’s better to create a separate topic for this instead of hijacking the The Best SU+LO Automation for Construction Drawings? threat. Goal here is to organize a recurring exchange of “How do YOU get your stuff done in Sketchup”.
Not sure how to set this up exactly, so if somebody is more qualified, feel free to help.
Ok - idea and proposed rules (BTW - i am German. We can’t live without a proper set of rules…)
Members meet on a semi-regular basis - something like every 3 month, making this a bit of a recurring thing.
Meeting occurs live online, like everybody knows how to do since Covid. If I am to set it up it will be Google Meets, as we use this service in our company. If somebody else prefers a different tool (Zoom, Teams, Whatever) and can set up an invite, that would be fine too. We basically just need something everybody can click on at the same time.
Cameras are ON! I love how anonymous a forum can be but this is next level so we need to see each other and know each other by name. I am Florian.
It might be interesting to post this link here in the forum every time we do this, so we could expand the group a bit - at least in the beginning
We won’t be too elite about this but it would be nice if everybody would show up or at least try.
Every meeting is “hosted” by a different member - not on a technical level (the meeting link) but on a “this time it’s my idea to share” type level.
The host shows their “Sketchup to Real World” process by sharing their screen and talking us through everything. How do you design? How do you document? What plugins do you use? How ■■■■-retentive are you about your outliner? How did you set up your tag system? Do you have a single-file or a multi-file setup? How many other people are involved into this in your organization - how do you share the file, how do you make sure that nobody messes up? How do you go from Sketchup to Layout? How do you give data to contractors, to customers? How does your change-management look like? What other software is involved? Shall I go on?
The host needs to prepare of course, either showing us representative real live projects they are working at at the moment OR by prepping an anonymized version of a real world project (void of actual customer names and such). Everybody is busy I assume so we don’t want to see somebody presenting a half-empty file with three components because their real data is too sensitive…
Members may ask questions. For example they may ask the host to dig deeper into a subject and the host is obliged to answer unless it is really sensitive stuff. If the host doesn’t want to be interrupted during the main presentation, it should be made known upfront, so everybody can behave accordingly.
After the presentation the host may ask questions as well, aimed at improving their process. Members are obliged to help / give their opinion. If a member wants to share their screen to make a point, that is an option.
We then set up some time for open discussion.
We find a new appointment and commit to it.
We go our merry ways, all a bit wiser.
I would suggest: Opening 0,25h, Presentation 1h, Q&A 1h and closing / organizing 0,25h making this a 2,5 h deal.
From what I understood @armin@Cyentruk & @JQL@kyeric would be starting members and we have a heartily “maybe” from @bmaxim (I’d love to have you there!!)
So we are 5, maybe 6 members to start with. I’d love to have somebody from Sketchup there as well, maybe @TheOnlyAaron wants to join as well?
At @bmaxim pointed out that time-zones will be a challenge. I set up a doodle invite (I hope I did this correctly, first time) and just picked three days that would work for me, one even on the weekend and put slot-suggestions in them basically all day. Please pick as many as you can, so that we can find a good match. I don’t mind doing this at night our time, if it progresses my process. (Getting the first round going will be the hardest…)
I’m really curious to know how others work with Sketchup for Permits and Construction Documentation, especially if IFC comes into equation.
I like the idea of sharing my own workflow with others that can evaluate it, criticizing it but who also might be interested in adquiring some of the processes. I have a few projects that I think are worth it and have been exclusively done in Sketchup and Layout. The one I think is most interesting is a house that is under construction at them moment, if you’d all be interested.
Oh, and absolutely inspiring work, JQL. Followed you for years and you amaze me at putting complex thoughts together succinctly for challenges with design and how SketchUp AND LayOut still is the best software for the job. This project obviously embodies that thought-process, passion and drive you have. GREAT JOB!
I am a registered architect and urban designer. I have worked on projects of all types and scales but during a particularly challenging time around 2007, I had to pivot from architecture into museum and exhibit design. Little did I know that these careers are not well advertised to architectural graduates as market choices, but I became a leader with thought leadership, design process and quick iteration leveraging SketchUp. I was told multiple times that I had a “superpower”, though I really knew that SketchUp was just an extension of the way I thought and executed design. Still amazes me that more folks don’t take the time to really explore its power.
Fast-forward to today, I am now at an architecture firm in Louisville, Kentucky heading up a department for predesign, predevelopment, planning and strategy leveraged for cities, developers, investors, etc… Working with another architect/developer for almost a decade taught me the importance of understanding the implications of city leadership, financial investments, developer deals and the litany of hurdles that must be crossed before an architect is ever brought to the table. So, my vision is to begin to link these worlds more together and hopefully have an effect on better cities, communities and neighborhoods.
Love to participate to learn more about what you all are doing and get a connection of folks that I will have more of an opportunity to be grateful for the decades of sharing they have given as it’s shaped my career.
This topic is very welcome. The other got messy, and I didn’t understand what each person wanted from the other.
I’m not used to video chats, I’ve never spoken English in front of more than 1 person (So it’s quite challenging for me). + I’m in the middle of a project, maybe in a few months, if this idea develops, I’ll join in too.
I hope your initiative will bear fruit, we, architects, urgently need to develop a normal SU ecosystem for executing construction documents
Thanks for the feedback so far. @bmaxim - I was actually thinking about the language barrier thing before you posted. What’s your native language? I assume that this will be a bit of an odd mix in terms of nationalities and I kinda hope this will make it interesting as well. We will need to be respectful to everybody and understand that for many of us this will be the bridge language and that we will not have time to spellcheck what we say during a live conversation. I’ve been in crowds like that before, it’s usually fine and everybody get’s used to it rather quickly.
Let’s wait a few days to see who else will join and then we’ll settle for a date.
Another thought - some of my employees are considering joining the sessions. You might be in a similar situation that you are “the Sketchup-champion” of your company but there are some people working with the software that aren’t active in the forums. They are welcome as well. We just want to learn from each other.
My native language is Romanian.
If I complete the project I’m currently working on with 5D+, it would be an interesting challenge to present the 5D+ in English from the viewpoint of a completed construction document.
I’ll need to do detailed preparations for this presentation, but, there’s still a long time until then.
Interestingly we have been delving in exhibition design and also urban design lately. I’d love for you to share your expertise in that regard too, especially in urban design, as there’s great potential for that in Sketchup.
would love to participate. I think I would observe more than contribute as our workflow is so indeterminate right now. I have fingers crossed that 5D+ would solve a bunch of our issues but would love to hear more @bmaxim about how he’s implementing it
Hi @armin. I appreciate your interest in my 5D workflow.
This is also the first project where I’m using 5D. I am currently in the middle of the project, and there are still some unknowns as the extension evolves quickly.
I think it would be reasonable to do a written 5D review after the construction drawings are finalized. As for the video presentation, I can’t guarantee it because it will take me a long time to prepare.
Good morning everybody. So apparently we have a first appointment. It’s Monday
Feb. 10 2025, 16:00 - 19:00 (Berlin, GMT+1) which is
Feb. 10 2025, 16:00 - 19:00 (Lissabon, GMT+0) which is
Feb. 11 2025, 02:00 - 05:00 (Vietnam, GMT+7) which is
Feb. 10 2025, 10 am - 1 pm (New York, GMT-5) if I figured this out correctly
Hope I calculated this correctly, but the calender-invite should handle the time zones correctly anyway.
Tip of the hat to @Cyentruk for picking this crazy time for himself!
The group is still rather small so if anyone wants to still participate, we’d be thrilled. Everybody who is already in already got an email invite to a Google meets meeting, unless I don’t have your email address in which case you got a private message asking for one. I’ll keep this space updated on further progress.
I’d like to join if you’d let me - I’m a SketchUp trainer and head of support at Design8, the Benelux SketchUp distributor.
I’m very curious to see how people are actually BIM-ing in the field with SketchUp.
@pyroluna Absolutely! I sent you a pm to add you to the calendar event. For the first get together @JQL volunteered to show his work flow. Thanks for that!!!
I will organize the rest of the meeting, and I assume I will do the following presentation. Anybody still interested, we still have a few days to go, so we can add more members the next couple of days! Excited to see where this might lead.
Hi all, I’m late to the party, but would love to join you…
Some of you will have seen me “talk” about Su as a BIM tool on a regular basis on this forum - mostly to chivvy Trimble into actually taking us seriously, which they now are.
So, if I may, I’d love to join the meeting on Monday 10th Feb if someone can send me the link please ?
This is just one example of our projects of a modest scale that we were very happy to work on with our “eco-system” of engineers and contractors by pinging ifc files back & forth…
I’d like to be part of this group although I do not use BIM or IFC. My projects don’t need it. I use SketchUp and LayOut for permit and construction documents. My projects are residential remodels and additions for houses built in the 60s and 70s in the San Francisco Bay Area. No two projects are the same.
I read everything I can about LO on the forum. I am a former PowerCadd (PC - 2d cad software on Mac only) user pushing to do my all work in SU and LO. I am interested in this group because I find LO very cumbersome and frustrating. I miss the simplicity of PC. The only reason I am abandoning PC is the software has not kept up to date with the current Mac operating system. The latest is Mojave 10.14.6. Before abandoning PC I did all the design in SU. I used PC for permit and construction drawings. I saved the SU plans and elevations as a PDF or DWG and imported them into PC as a base for the PC drawings. There is some duplication of work with this method but the ease of use of PC made up for it. I really enjoy SU. It is a powerful program to show the client design ideas. It’s also very helpful in the planning stages to show the building department perspective images along with photographs the extent and scale of additions.
I am looking forward to hearing how other people use SU and LO.
very nice! I’ll send you a pm to catch your email address for the invite. You are very welcome. As said - I am not super sure of where all this will lead but basically I am hoping to achieve exactly that - let people evaluate how others get their stuff OUT of Sketchup into the hand of other parties. From Mr. @Cyentruk with his 5D+ that looks like Sketchup on steroids but offers so much potential to do it yourself workflows that evolved over the years to get the most out of Sketchup+Layout with native tools. My workflow, btw. is not very plugin dependent (thus far) but relies heavily on templates and placing things “the right way”. Curious on what feedback I will get…
This looks fabulous and such excellent work. I am really keen to join if possible as i try and work my way to finally using sketchup for documentation. Hope it would be ok to join as a more of voyeur… at least initially.
I would also love to join. The time commitment may be a challenge depending on the day, but I promise to do my best. Sadly, aside from some bad Spanish, I’m English-speaking only. I’m in Brooklyn NY, so time zone East coast USA. Thanks to JQL for pointing me to this a moment ago. Strange not to know anyone’s real name… My name is Ryan Enschede. My Instagram @ryanenschede has a few things that I have been doing. I am an architect, doing small but detailed projects in NYC. I don’t do standardized projects so flexibility of documentation is more important to me that automation. My brain is not able to stick to a linear progression so I need to go back and forth a lot between design and documentation. I’m not willing to give up on the information conveyed by old-school hatches and 2D drawing. I’m also a sole proprietor so file-sharing across a team is not critical for me. I’m old enough that ‘I grew up’ drafting 2D autocad, learned to model in SU, used to model in SU then export to .dwg and do my drafting there. But I found that keeping double file sets to be too painful so I switched to SU+Layout. I’ve done three or four projects that way now. I’m attaching some images from the second project I did that way - a house project. It has been painful. It continues to be painful, though I’m still committed. LO has been absolutely miserable for me, though I am getting better at it. JQL (Joao?) I would LOVE to learn how you made that drawing. I have no interest in the ordering complexity and rigidity of Brightman’s system. I tried Skalp for this house but holy S#$it that software drove me nuts. But, after using it, and after absorbing how Sonder makes his drawings, led me to drafting 2D section cuts and details inside the SU model. Something of a hybrid. And a work in progress.