[Tutorial] Ten Fundamentals About LayOut for Architects

How to make a siteplan from a model.
This is my checklist, hope it can help.

TenFundamentalsAboutLOForArchitects.pdf (777.0 KB)

  1. Prepare the model in SU with scenes for every floorplan and section cuts you need for your project. Change camera to Parallel Projektion. (Maybe you want to ad a scene with grids to trace in LO by dashed lines.)

  2. Prepare LO with pages according to SU scenes. Choose a paper size by → Document Setup-Paper

  3. Insert the model to LO. Use a seperate layer for the viewport so you can lock and unlock as you need.

Doubleclick the model to position it with zoom (mousewheel) and pan (Shift + H). After that do the following settings.

SketchUp Model → View

  • choose the Scene = Section Cuts
  • Standard Views = Elevations
  • choose the Scale
  • change from Raster to Vector (you can come back after dimensioning)

SketchUp Model → Styles

  • reduce Line Weight at 0,2 pts (to snap dimensions by object, turn grid snapping off)
  • choose “Hidden Lines” for syle to have a wired floorplan
  • uncheck “Background”

Note: Prepare Styles for use in LO.
Make three of each of your favorite Styles. One for Section Cuts (ad “S”), one for Section Cut with displayed Section Planes (“ad P”) and one for Elevation (ad “E”). “Ad collection to favorites” to be shown in LO. Take time, it’s hard work. But once it’s done LO will behave nice. At this time the scenes are not updatet properly by showing cuts and elevations.

Copy and Paste viewport with all settings to the next page. Or copy Page with all features and rename Page. Choose next scene.

  1. Ad layers for Text, Mesurement, Colours, Hatches etc. Move Colours and Hatches below Viewport. Move Dashes above Viewport and trace the lines. To hide the model lines send a white line backward the dashed line.

  2. Insert cars, people or trees from your Scrapbook.

  3. To modify the model open it with right mouse button (don’t doubleclick anymore after scale.)

  4. To speed up: Document Setup → Paper → Rendering Resolution
    Edit Quality = Low
    Output Quality = High

  5. Save your settings “As Template” and make it to your startpage → Edit-Preferences-Startup.

  6. Use LO-Toolbar and define keyboard shortcuts to speed up.
    Note: At this time the toolbar and shortcuts fall back to standard after every update or maintenance, so you have to do it again. :frowning:

  7. Fill in the titleblock with “Autotext” and save it as a template for your next project.

11 Likes

great :smile: work

thank you

3 Likes

Thakx … very helpful

1 Like

Update Layout (Trailversion 2016)
Layout made a great step forward. Styles, Scenes an Scales are working much better.
Thanks to the Layout people.
Best wisches
Barbara

Also new for SketchUp Pro 2016+ is an utility extension to automatically generate a LayOut file with a viewport page for each scene in the SketchUp (SKP) model file.

http://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/create-layout-file


So, Barbara, how would you modify your template to use this utility extension ?

Hi Dan, I was just busy creating a testmodel free to use for troublehooting. There are still some problems with the references between scenes an styles in LayOut. You can find the model in 3D Warehouse named “Testobjekt SU 2016”, size ~3 mb in Make-version. It’s a renaissance castle with round towers and stairs, so have fun.

Layers are named in english, Outliner and scenes only in german, but I’m sure you will understand.

There are about 7 scenes + standard views. It’s so fast creating the LayOut file (the floorplans really do look good), but I loose all time by correcting lost references, eg. means sectioncut turn to elevation or groundfloor to topview just by touching zoom or raster to vector… There is no way to correct else making a new viewport an cross fingers that the preferences will stay by copying to the page in file.

Mayby we should open a new thread for that?

:wink:

1 Like

About: “Note: At this time the toolbar and shortcuts fall back to standard after every update or maintenance, so you have to do it again”

Try to do that, following the steps on the bar:

Copy that “shortcuts” file from the “sketchup 2017” old folder and paste to the new “sketchup 2018”

1 Like

Hi, I’m still here. My post was from 2015. Layout made a great progress so many screens don’t fit anymore. But I think the technik is still the same and may help to understand the way it works.

2 Likes