Layout & Sketchup - Sad Goodbye

Yes. Stacked viewports. I am aware of that workflow. A little frustrating and a work around.

Although line weights should have some control in sketchup I think. and it would not seem that hard to implement in to the architecture via tags? Although as a non-software developer, this might not be the case. As a programmer you might have more insight in to this?

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Much of what is expressed here and in similar threads is the disappointment of expectation. I will concede my mature years provide a different perspective and indeed knowledge of drawing processes, but those of younger years have an expectation driven by automation and instant results. You are welcome to it. I have seen the crippling complexity that comes from the likes of Archicad and the diminishing productivity and control as the user becomes entangled in software workflows that must be followed. No, SU & LO are not the Holy Grail of design tools, but at least they donā€™t steal your imagination or creativity to the same extent, and if you are prepared to listen to some of the long time users here and think outside the Autocad box you may just realise you already have the best solution to your design needs. Everyone is free to choose their preferred solution, for me I am relieved to be freed of the shackles of Archicad.

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Iā€™ve tried not to comment here, but ā€¦ please call me young again! :grin:

The only expectation i have for a (payed) program, it should work as advertised. But nowdays it doesnā€™t, and that (badword) lollipops!

Have a great evening folks! :wink:

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I grew up designing with pencils and ink and a proper drafting table. To me SketchUp is an extension of that - it is a smart pencil with a bunch of additional tools you can call on to get your specific thing designed - and incredible things have been done with pencilsā€¦

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I totally agree with that analogue. I use it myself.

but with pencilā€™s, there are 2H and 2B. and you can control the line weights. A major part of drawing is learning to do that. forget blueprints. just drawings requires that control. And 2d drawings read based on line weights.

Therein is some of the frustration?

I love how flexible scketchup is. I enjoy figuring out how to make it look a certain way. and you can do some wonders with it and make beautiful things.

Butā€¦you canā€™t control line weights as flexibly as you can model shapes or use textures or do all the other good stuff.

My misunderstanding ā€“ I thought you were musing on the possibility of applying more than one style per SketchUp scene.

Each to their own I guess ā€“ I donā€™t find it frustrating or consider it a workaround.

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i also dislike Archicad and Revit. They are like flying an aircraft with dials and cogs. You are like a programmer rather than a designer. Which is why I love sketchup.

Sketchup is only a couple of moves away from providing just what it needs to make 2D documentation relatively straightforward, along with the great plug-in tools that already exist (5D+, CondoDocs Spec+ etc).

Which is what iā€™m frustrated about. To allow us to use it in the wonderful messy way it is, but also to easily make 2D documents that donā€™t require hacks that take time and still have limitations in spite of them. I will continue to use my hack, which is to redraft everything in CADā€¦

@andy_muzz - your first post in the forum was made in May 2018. Your second post was around November 2018. Then you posted just a day ago about tag the tag overridesā€¦

Where have you been for 7 years?

What changed in the last week that has you posting this sad teenage romance breakup story with SketchUp?

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Thanks for checking in as to my whereabouts this last 7 years. I have been using sketchup in itā€™s wonderful ways. to visualise. and make renderings. and to show clients. then using CAD to do the 2D documentation. I had a moment this last few weeks to look at my workflow again, and see if I can use sketchup the whole way trough.

To my sadness, i find that Sketchup has not moved on in this respect the last 7 years.

I trust, then, that this reaction doesnā€™t seem odd. Neither is it odd to see if anyone else in the community feels similarly. It appears that some at least do.

But thanks again for checking on me. Unless your comment is somehow suggesting Iā€™m somehow less of a sketchup user for having raised this.

It remains a reasonable dissatisfaction with the software. (and yes, i use it a lot).

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No, no implied ā€˜lesserā€™ or not. I always look at the forum history of people I reply to - helps cut down wasting time with bots and spammers and people who just want to complain.

Yes, itā€™s not perfect. Iā€™ve re-thought what drawings for building can beā€¦ and I havenā€™t looked back.

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I wish It could be that way for GCs and permit reviewers and consultants. But they are even more stuck in their ways than us.

I work with GCs, custom fab shops, PEs, panel manufacturers, and permit drawings.

No one has ever said ā€˜ā– ā– ā– ā– , I really wish you used different line widths for the wall section detailsā€¦ā€™ - they usually say ā€˜these are the nicest drawings Iā€™ve seen in a long timeā€¦ā€™

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Exactly!

Use colors and legends. There is life beyond the hatchesā€¦

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My 2 cents:

Forget about many stacked viewports except for visuals if you must.

Export DWG files from Sketchup scenes using Curicā€™s toCAD plugin and PDF from Layout.

Youā€™ll need nothing more for consultants even ones that are picky. The most picky of them will still annoy you.

Keep working in Sketchup and relax!

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Fair play all. :grin:. I do also say that it isnā€™t unreasonable for trimble to look at making some of the little additions suggested. After 10 yearsā€¦ But fair play.

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Not unreasonable at all.
Make a feature request or two.
No need to write a sad tale that you are throwing in the towel and leaving and ā€¦

Sure. There was some melodrama.:stuck_out_tongue: Although I am still entertaining the idea. but might try again anew just to spite you allā€¦ :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

Honestly, i used to get lightly teased at architecture school for using it. and squeezing everything i could from it. (Architects are generally very snobby about sketchup). In the offices I worked at, I would use it and be the go to person. and people would marvel and then look down their nose in equal measure.

I think the parametric thing is a red herring. We mostly deal in boxes. unless there are some very expensive and unique things that donā€™t often come our way.

So it is a curious love hate relationship. really i love it.

and yes, those little features would go a very long way in my opinion. So please Trimble (or one of you fabulous plug-in designers).

Anyhow. Enough said. Love you all.