Sketchup & working drawing integration
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Hi. I've been researching to find if anyone has come up with an efficient way to make working drawings from their models. The best I've found is using Doublecad XP to xref in a .skp. Has anyone found anything better?
Thanks for your time. -
For me it's not so much the xref2skp, but the preservation of scenes that is significant. Standard dxf2skp preserves blocks(or xrefs)2components both ways, and that works with many CAD software. Despite that ability, I haven't switched to DoubleCad because of the investment in custom drawing management software I have in my system. I currently maintain the CAD2SU relationship by making all major design revisions in the CAD system before porting as components into SU.
I think that 2D (or 3D) vector cad is still best for schematic plan layouts that are subject to constant revision. While my current preference is to begin the 3D model within my vector CAD system prior to porting it into SU, it may be optimal to port the schematic plan into SU, for modeling. As long as the components2blocks (SU2DXF) are properly managed, and all the additions to the model in SU are maintained as components, they can be easily returned to the vector CAD system as blocks in order to be finalized into working drawings.
Hmm... That gives me an idea. Perhaps I can write a user program that will take a component2Block model that can be used to automatically extract the elevations, and sections as necessary for my vector CAD system. That why I love to read this forum, it is a constant source of inspiration.
If I do this however, it would force me to become more proficent in SU >_< Unlike most of you, I only use SU to facilitate presentation, and currently do not design much with it. I must have exceeded a line limit for the "edit post" window as I can no longer see the line I am writing. Guess the system is telling me that my post is too long:-)
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@garyk7 said:
Hi. I've been researching to find if anyone has come up with an efficient way to make working drawings from their models.
Have you read the http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=15911&st=0&sk=t&sd=a thread and others?
I've been having a decent level of success with LayOut; I'm doing a house right now and just this morning had the first 36"x24" prints done. I'm quite pleased - in fact I'l attach the pdf exported from LO. It's not quite finished, some electrical planning needs more work and I think a few more detail drawings need to be done. All of it comes from the skp model, there's no added 2D drawing of any sort. LO isn't the most reliable app I've ever used but nor is it the worst crasher.
Ashling Rd.pdf -
Tim
the drawings are coming along great,
I was wondering, is there anyone out there that knows how to do a ruby script for creating a linked(to a list / spreadsheet) door and window schedules, and to do page linked(number to page number)?
this would go a long way to making LO closer to being a realistic platform for smaller scale working drawings.
any ideas?
aloha
red -
While I do not program in Ruby, therefore not for SU/LO, I have done the following with other CAD programs. Having used Excel to make a schedule, then printing the table to a tif printer driver. The tif image can be inserted into SU. In SU, a ruby when called (if the API allows it), can look for the original tif by its name, and update the one in SU. Not the same as "Ole" (SU dosn't support "Ole"), or a link, but an improvement over what you have. Not sure if this works for LO, as I do not use it. Any Ruby fellows care to follow up?
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Tim
I have been following your progress with the working drawings, as I intend preparing my next project in this way. I'm impressed with what you have done.
I would like to get some different line thicknesses into my plans and I hope to use the section cuts to achieve this. I'll let you know how I get on.David
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David -
Differing lines thicknesses can be sort of done in (I think) three ways.
a) line weight in the LO 'Sketchup model>styles' palette, but that appears to scale the thickness of all the lines derived from the model
b) obviously SU styles can do their thing with line weight, wobbliness, scratchiness etc. BUT to use them in LO requires using raster or hybrid rendering which can make your LO files and pdf output huuuuuuuuuuuuuge. Since I'm making working drawings to be printed at 24x36" for builders, I didn't bother with artistically scribbled lines.
c) the profile, depth cue and section cut line thicknesses can be set in the styles anywayLO can do more with lines created with its tools but obviously they are not involved directly in the model. I've used them for a few added details in the drawings - I think all of the ones I added happen to be dashed lines in this case.
Oh - one more small variation I just thought of - it you use the 'add section cut face' plugin, the edges of the added faces can be given a thickness.
Red -
You can insert a variety of files into an LO doc (not exactly sure of the list, I've used jpegs, text and pdf so far) and LO will spot updates in the same way as it does for skp files. It's not quote automagic but pretty useful. So use excel or Numbers to make your table and print to pdf (unless LO can handle csvs or excel files?) and insert away.
I'm sure someone that is familiar with ruby and the SU api (not me; I spent 25 years programming Smalltalk and damned if I'm going to descend to mere ordinary languages now) could find components marked in some fashion, derive details and produce a table to be inserted. The cutlist plugin used by many woodworkers (including me) does something related. It's just a question of finding a victim - I mean 'interested programmer' - and beating them with a stick - er, 'motivating them' - correctly. Money often works, or so I'm told.
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