Since the pandemic began, nearly all of my client meetings have become Zoom meetings. I have been gradually developing a work flow for these meetings, consisting of sharing my monitor screen with my Sketchup model and my IPad with my Layout sheets in Morpholio Trace. I have done this so that I can take notes and sketch during the meeting, as I would have in the old days with a roll of yellow trace over my drawings. Today I had a meeting in a different manner: completely with the IPad, with my model in Sketchup for IPad, marking up scenes as I went along. I switched from plan to elevation, to the perspective views, all the while scribbling, sketching and adding notes. Since Sketchup for IPad saves the scenes with the markups separately, I didnât just have a big mess at the end, and was able to quickly send the notes to my client with the Markup share feature. Long way to say, I think you are on to something here, something very useful.
Indeed. Well done.
One of my main uses of SketchUp for iPad is exactly that. The iPad is excellent for video calls, and the pencil makes it perfect. The only issue is when I grab it, fingers on camera replace my face when talking.
With easy canvas pro I can even share twinmotion in the iPad.
2 things to update this thread on regarding the update to SketchUp for iPad Beta that went out earlier today:
⢠Weâve made some exciting updates to Markup Mode. Itâs now possible to edit existing markups and itâs also possible to project your markups and merge your hand-drawn sketches with your 3D models.
- Edit Markups: After tapping a scene that contains one or more markups, you can then activate the Markup mode tool. SketchUp will ask what you want to do next. If you choose the option to edit a markup, SketchUp will then ask you to choose which of the markups contained in the active scene you want to edit.
- Project Markups: After tapping a scene that contains one or more markups, youâll then need to pre-select the face or faces in the model that you want to project your markups onto. After making a selection, you can then tap the ⌠icon or swipe on the active markup scene in the Scenes panel. In the slide-over menu, youâll see the markup icon. Tapping the Markup icon will project the markups of a scene onto the preselected geometry (and create unique materials that are the result of the merger between your markups and the materials that were previously applied to that geometry). Orbit to see the results.
⢠Weâve added the option to export SketchUp files in USDz format. Youâll find the option to export USDz from the ⌠overflow menu of model cards that are displayed on the Home Screen in the Recent Models list. Weâre excited about the workflows that this capability will unlock for working across other great iPad apps like Morpholio Trace and Procreate, to name a few â and will be listening for feedback.
Full release notes here.
Niiice!!! This is the update I have been waiting for . Wil test the USDZ export ASAP. Is there an update in TestFlight?
There is a build 1779 in TestFlight now. Here are the fuller notes (funnily, I saw Mikeâs link to the notes afterwards. I got these by sharing the text straight from TestFlight to my Mac):
⢠Weâve made some exciting updates to Markup Mode. Itâs now possible to edit existing markups and itâs also possible to project your markups and merge your hand-drawn sketches with your 3D models.
- Edit Markups: After tapping a scene that contains one or more markups, you can then activate the Markup mode tool. SketchUp will ask what you want to do next. If you choose the option to edit a markup, SketchUp will then ask you to choose which of the markups contained in the active scene you want to edit.
- Project Markups: After tapping a scene that contains one or more markups, youâll then need to pre-select the face or faces in the model that you want to project your markups onto. After making a selection, you can then tap the ⌠icon or swipe on the active markup scene in the Scenes panel. In the slide-over menu, youâll see the markup icon. Tapping the Markup icon will project the markups of a scene onto the preselected geometry (and create unique materials that are the result of the merger between your markups and the materials that were previously applied to that geometry). Orbit to see the results.
⢠Weâve added a dialog for specifying image export preferences when exporting PNG files (via the export icon that is available via the Scenes Panel toolbar). Image export options now include resolution, transparency, and anti-aliasing.
⢠Weâve enhanced keyboard support by offering the ability to toggle optional tool modes on/off by tapping the same keyboard modifier keys that are used in the Mac Desktop version of SketchUp.
⢠When publishing a file to Connect, or when publishing a new revision to a file, the model thumbnail (of the last saved view) will be saved to Connect and persist when viewing recent model lists across SketchUp for Web, SketchUp for iPad, and the SketchUp Viewer app for iPhone.
⢠Weâve added the option to export SketchUp files in USDz format. Youâll find the option to export USDz from the ⌠overflow menu of model cards that are displayed on the Home Screen in the Recent Models list. Weâre excited about the workflows that this capability will unlock for working across other great iPad apps like Morpholio Trace and Procreate, to name a few â and will be listening for feedback.
⢠While creating/editing models using multi-touch, youâll notice that weâve added a multi-touch cursor that displays a ring around the tip of your finger. The ring will change color to help you better understand the type of inference that SketchUp has detected under your finger (Blue = On Face, Red = On Edge, Green = On Endpoint, Cyan = On Midpoint).
⢠Weâve added unit preferences for Length and Angle units to the Model Info panel to make it possible to change display units on the fly.
⢠Weâve updated and added to the self-paced tutorials that are available via the Learn tab on the Home Screen. We now offer specific versions for each of the various input methods (Pencil - click-move-click, Pencil - just draw, Multi-touch, and Mouse/Trackpad).
⢠Fixed a few typos in the printable versions of the Gestures and Autoshape reference guides. (If you didnât know, the âShareâ icon in the header of the interactive Gestures and Autoshape widgets will offer you the option to export/save/print 8.5â x 11â quick reference cards in PDF format.)
⢠Weâve enhanced the look and feel of the initial app launch & Sign-In flows. Please hammer on this if you have time (in both landscape and portrait). We want to know if you find any issues when signing in or out of the app.
⢠A bunch of other misc bug fixes and improvements.
Thatâs Š%°¼á$âĂâ~ great!
I honestly didnât think youâd pull this off that fast. Incredible work!
This is the sort of thing that really makes iPad for SketchUp being a great creative boost and a tool apart from the desktop.
Thanks , thanks, thanks!
Very nice indeed. Taking this version through its paces. The USDz integration with Morpholio Trace is working very nicely. Importing to Procreate is producing crashes, something about there not being any valid meshes in the file.
Procreateâs FAQ states that:
NOTE: Any .USDZ or .OBJ you paint on in Procreate must have a UV map attached to it.
Perhaps that the issue? I tried placing a texture in a simple box to see if that would force UV mapping to be recognized, but no success.
To uv map you have to paint faces directly. Ideally Procreate needs an UV unwrapped mesh. Sketchup isnât able to do that easily, unless you use Wrap-R plugin, or export to an app and unwrap it.
I havenât tried it yet, but I bet that if you paint each face with a different material you will be able to have fun in Procreate.
Just be careful that if you choose not to UV unwrap your model, you will most probably notice that painting a point of your mesh in Procreate will result in that painting to be spread all over the model in other parts where the texture is being repeated. What UV Unwraping means is that a single texture is wrapped around the model in a way that no part of that texture appears twice in the model mesh. Hence, if you paint the the mesh in a single place that will not affect other places.
Just be careful
Sorry @OmarC
I think I was wrong in my advice to you.
I can confirm that, for me, texturing each face directly, getting rid of the figurine and even making an unique texture for each face crashed Procreate. So my advice to you is not enough.
Morpholio worked nicely though I canât get how to navigate the model. Anyway, I donât see the point of working with it, when I can take a picture of a model and send it to concepts much faster. (Iâll never get the hang of Morpholio Trace though itâs area fill is so cool)
Yup. I tried it, before i read your post. Total mess. I didnât know which was up. But, i do like that you can bring in the model into procreate. Donât know how i will use this feature. To morpholio trace workflow does what i need. For procreate I just bring in a screen cap from SketchUp and paste it right into a layer, which is a nice quick way to do it.
@OmarC the great thing about Procreate is that you can now paint models directly. You can get into the faces of objects and paint them with Procreate brushes. It works very well in the sample models, but I wasnât able o import a model from Sketchup yet.
I have been playing a bit with the Markup tool and the export to Trace. My workflow for some time has been making a PDF of, say, a plan or an elevation I am doing in Sketchup and opening it in Trace, where I sketch over it to develop the design. Though Trace does many other things, I have honestly used it mostly as a free hand sketching tool which has a ruler and can therefore be very precise. I then return to Sketchup, design issue progressed.
Now that we are able to Markup a Sketchup model on the IPad andâcriticallyâlink that sketch to a specific model face, the reason for me to go to Trace is greatly diminished. Being able to sketch on the Sketchup model face and then orbit the model around in 3D is very useful. I have done that now on elevations in parallel projection as well as on floor plans and then, boom, they are part of the 3D model itself.
The advantages of Trace, for me at least, are the wonderful pen options and the magic ruler. I can use inherent Sketchup tools, such as guides, to replace the Trace ruler, but at this point I am limited by the IOS standard markup tools. Maybe this is a development that could come one day for Sketchup for IPad. The Markup feature may be heading beyond something for simple markups and closer to a full powered 3D freehand sketching tool, over a 3D model.
This is great. I especially love the resolution control, but Iâm not getting .PNG files despite the fact the name field implies it will be. What I am getting is JPEG, which of course doesnât have transparency even if I ask for it. Is there something Iâm missing?
I see that too. Also, the JPEG has a file extension of .jpeg. Do people prefer .jpg?
I prefer jpg
Thank for the report. Weâll take a look.
It is supposed to be exporting PNG (which, IMO, produces much nicer-looking results, especially for large swaths of simple, flat colors.
Yes, and JPG doesnât support transparency. To me, JPG is an end product file format, while PNG, TIFF, and others are work flow formats.
Edit: And BTW, Iâve been experimenting with Angle of View and aspect ratios for a while. I should start a new thread, but being able to unlink the aspect ratio (the iPad is 4:3) and specify any resolution and other aspect ratios is great.
Ugh, now I get a PNG! This happened when I tried again with transparent background turned on, which I swear I tried before, but maybe I mixed it up? When I do it yet again with transparent background off, itâs back to producing a JPG.
PNG also supports higher bit depths. At least up to 16 while jpg is topped at 8bit