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    [Plugin] SketchUpBIM: Building Modeling made easy!

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    • jolranJ Offline
      jolran
      last edited by

      @unknownuser said:

      Do you need to_f.to_l ?

      Hmm, yes the way I did it. I got an error "cannot convert to float" at first.
      But now I see you mentionString.to_l. Doh! Totally overlooked that πŸ‘Š . It should do the trick. (The value is coming as a string from webdialog)
      Think there was some problems in values coming from dialog at that time.

      @unknownuser said:

      SU's Ruby API has methods built in so you really do not need to do much work yourself. If you find yourself doing conversion methods, you might be reinventing the wheel.

      That's why I brought the subject up here(again), since some users has requested metrics and I got the impression d_e_x was gonna try invent some new method. I could be wrong of course, but just tried to help πŸ˜„

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      • brewskyB Offline
        brewsky
        last edited by

        @d_e_x said:

        b/w SketchUpBIM uses the BSD license which in my knowledge, is the most lenient license in the industry today!

        Hi Dex,

        I'm no license expert, but BSD sounds ok.

        You might want to check your license file's exact contents, the way I read it it seems to be a bit more restrictive than you meant it to be πŸ˜‰. It says "is not permitted" where I would expect "are permitted provided that..."

        Cheers,
        Jan

        Sketchup BIM-Tools - http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=299107

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        • utilerU Offline
          utiler
          last edited by

          WOW, d_e_x; I'm excited!!!!! This is a very impressive project!

          I'm going to make some notes and post some questions as soon as I can..

          Congratulations on such a fine start!! πŸ‘

          purpose/expression/purpose/....

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          • majidM Offline
            majid
            last edited by

            just to say thank you, that is great. revit is easy to use and so lots of lazy minded (like me ) sometimes migrate there, . I like "smart" of SU ( it is smart and needs smart minds too), ,,,, just thank you again

            My inspiring A, B, Sketches book: https://sketchucation.com/shop/books/intermediate/2612-alphabet-inspired-sketches--inspiring-drills-for-architects--3d-artists-and-designers-

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            • fionmacoolF Offline
              fionmacool
              last edited by

              This is a brilliant start Dex. It will scare the bejaysis out of many BIM... let's call them "enthusiasts" out there. I have wanted to see SU being used this way for ages, and due to not being well versed in programming, I have been only an armchair supporter. Here is a post I created in June 2010 on the SketchUpIreland blog regarding SU and BIM:
              http://sketchupireland.blogspot.com/2010/06/sketchup-natural-bim-platform.html#links

              Keep up the good work! Will be delighted to see a metric version of the plugin and a function for creating objects. I know everyone wants everything perfect and they want it yesterday- but seriously- thanks for doing this!

              πŸ˜„

              Zere are still some architectes zat do not know ow to use ze SketchUp..... Zis is unbelievable....

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              • ElibjrE Offline
                Elibjr
                last edited by

                d_e_x,

                Wow, I just want to say thank you and your crew for starting such an awesome plugin. I have used Revit and this reminds me of those basic principles. I think you should try to figure out a way to do specific opening sizes for windows and doors, curtain walls, and foundations next. Putting together a quick tower was simple. If the slabs were generated as components and not just groups that would be even better ... maybe. That way you could put a railing on a balcony slab and have it replicate to each successive level. This is the first time I could tell my "Autodesk evangelists" friends that Sketchup is so much more capable that any closed source product.... if not for ideas like this. This is why Blender is so great too, It's people like you and Fredo6, TIG, Didier Bur, Thomthom, Chris Fullmer, Jim, Al & Rich Hart, Whaat and so may more that make this the most dangerous site for any high end software company. It's stuff like this that will make (and have made) companies like Next Limit, Chaos Group, Autodesk and others to take note. Keep up the good work... also thank the admin for creating this website. This is why Sketchup will become the most powerful design package in the world... can wait for version 9!

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                • brewskyB Offline
                  brewsky
                  last edited by

                  @elibjr said:

                  If the slabs were generated as components and not just groups that would be even better ... maybe.

                  I've been thinking about the same thing, but I think using groups is the best thing here, otherwise the component-selector gets cluttered with sooo many walls and slabs...
                  Maybe the best approach is to after creating the building-parts to combine the slab-group and railing-components as one big component if you need this repetition?

                  d_e_x, what are your thoughts on this?

                  Cheers,
                  Jan

                  Sketchup BIM-Tools - http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=299107

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                  • BepB Offline
                    Bep
                    last edited by

                    Maybe interesting , http://www.ifcwiki.org/index.php/Free_Software

                    Bep

                    "History is written by the winners"

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                    • D Offline
                      d_e_x
                      last edited by

                      @utiler said:

                      WOW, d_e_x; I'm excited!!!!! This is a very impressive project!
                      I'm going to make some notes and post some questions as soon as I can..
                      Congratulations on such a fine start!! πŸ‘

                      Thanks Andrew, I'll look forward to it!
                      dex

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • D Offline
                        d_e_x
                        last edited by

                        @fionmacool said:

                        This is a brilliant start Dex. It will scare the bejaysis out of many BIM... let's call them "enthusiasts" out there. I have wanted to see SU being used this way for ages, and due to not being well versed in programming, I have been only an armchair supporter. Here is a post I created in June 2010 on the SketchUpIreland blog regarding SU and BIM:
                        http://sketchupireland.blogspot.com/2010/06/sketchup-natural-bim-platform.html#links

                        Keep up the good work! Will be delighted to see a metric version of the plugin and a function for creating objects. I know everyone wants everything perfect and they want it yesterday- but seriously- thanks for doing this!

                        πŸ˜„

                        Thanks πŸ˜„ I have started following your blog - very interesting and thought-provoking.

                        Metric units are on top of the development stack. "function for creating objects" - could you explain what you mean't here? No specifics required, I just would like to understand your suggestion; the way you are thinking about it.

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                        • D Offline
                          d_e_x
                          last edited by

                          @elibjr said:

                          d_e_x,
                          Wow, I just want to say thank you and your crew for starting such an awesome plugin. I have used Revit and this reminds me of those basic principles. I think you should try to figure out a way to do specific opening sizes for windows and doors, curtain walls, and foundations next. Putting together a quick tower was simple.

                          specific sizes for windows and door is already possible in this initial version and foundations is on the development list. Curtain walls (wow!), once I get a development team of 10, I'll pounce on the non-structural primitives as well πŸ˜„ Actually, now that I think about it, I know of a simple way to implement curtain walls.

                          @elibjr said:

                          If the slabs were generated as components and not just groups that would be even better ... maybe. That way you could put a railing on a balcony slab and have it replicate to each successive level.

                          my thoughts in the follow-up post.

                          @elibjr said:

                          This is the first time I could tell my "Autodesk evangelists" friends that Sketchup is so much more capable that any closed source product.... if not for ideas like this. This is why Blender is so great too, It's people like you and Fredo6, TIG, Didier Bur, Thomthom, Chris Fullmer, Jim, Al & Rich Hart, Whaat and so may more that make this the most dangerous site for any high end software company. It's stuff like this that will make (and have made) companies like Next Limit, Chaos Group, Autodesk and others to take note. Keep up the good work... also thank the admin for creating this website. This is why Sketchup will become the most powerful design package in the world... can wait for version 9!

                          thanks a ton for the encouragement!

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • D Offline
                            d_e_x
                            last edited by

                            @brewsky said:

                            @elibjr said:

                            If the slabs were generated as components and not just groups that would be even better ... maybe.

                            I've been thinking about the same thing, but I think using groups is the best thing here, otherwise the component-selector gets cluttered with sooo many walls and slabs...Maybe the best approach is to after creating the building-parts to combine the slab-group and railing-components as one big component if you need this repetition? d_e_x, what are your thoughts on this?
                            Cheers,
                            Jan

                            jan,

                            In SketchUpBIM, all elements that CAN be defined and stored with the help of parametric properties ONLY, are categorized as Groups. Generally speaking, these elements are structural engineering primitives like walls, columns, and beams. Other elements that require additional architectural details like fences, door/window casings etc may qualify as components. It becomes very interesting with elements like slabs - in such elements, the architectural world starts to overlap the structural engineering world. I have seen these challenges in my past life πŸ˜„

                            We are looking at a very exciting feature that will become a critical addition to the software in a future version. And for this feature, we might have to switch some of our primitives to components. So, I think the choice between Groups and Components are in part determined by their intention of use. In our case, and in this first version, groups were sufficient.

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                            • D Offline
                              d_e_x
                              last edited by

                              @bep said:

                              Maybe interesting , http://www.ifcwiki.org/index.php/Free_Software
                              Bep

                              excellent resource; would come in very handy when we start working on the IFC Import/Export functionality.

                              Thanks Bep!

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                              • JpacJ Offline
                                Jpac
                                last edited by

                                By any chance would this effort by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory work with your efforts?
                                http://openstudio.nrel.gov/
                                It looks like energy modeling using intelligent SketchUp models. I've not used it, but it looks intriguing.

                                http://sketchup4sitedesign.wordpress.com/

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                                • bigstickB Offline
                                  bigstick
                                  last edited by

                                  OpenStudio does a good job simplifying EnergyPlus for SketchUp users, but its usability was (when I last used it, and I suspect still is) a bit complex and involved compared with what most of us are used to.

                                  I'm sure it will be a must-have tool in due course, but I can't see how it could be practically linked to SketchUpBIM.

                                  In OpenStudio you have to redefine your spaces in SU using new geometry which OpenStudio understands. There are strict rules about relationships between spaces and whether they touch or not. How spaces are created is (or was last time I used it) critical.

                                  It's very very complicated to turn a complex 3d model into a simplified energy model automatically, and even if you do it, there may be so many anomalies and things that need to be corrected, that it will probably be a lot quicker and easier to remodel your spaces from scratch, snapping to existing surfaces.

                                  So quite apart from the complexity of linking with OpenStudio (there's a lot here for the guys to do in making the basic BIM premise work well), I wonder whether there is much point in doing it at all.

                                  Keep on going as you are d_e_x, we're all pumped and rooting for you πŸ˜„

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                                  • D Offline
                                    driven
                                    last edited by

                                    Error Loading File /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUpBIM no such file to load -- /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUpBIM

                                    hi,
                                    something's not quite right, I get this 'on load message' on mac and
                                    if I have SuSolid.rbs active, I get
                                    Error Loading File /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUpBIM no such file to load -- /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUpBIM/susolid

                                    it functions but the Toolbar always opens on start even when I turn it off before closing so it won't.

                                    john

                                    learn from the mistakes of others, you may not live long enough to make them all yourself...

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                                    • D Offline
                                      d_e_x
                                      last edited by

                                      @driven said:

                                      Error Loading File /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUpBIM no such file to load -- /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUpBIM
                                      hi,
                                      something's not quite right, I get this 'on load message' on mac and
                                      if I have SuSolid.rbs active, I get
                                      Error Loading File /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUpBIM no such file to load -- /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/SketchUpBIM/susolid

                                      John, SuSolid.rbs is not a SketchUpBIM file. So, this should not reside in the SketchUpBIM folder. Is it possible that you have a few files/plugins mixed up on your computer? We have tested the plugin on Mac, and it works fine without any errors.
                                      The SketchUpBIM.zip file contains the SketchUpBIM sub-folder and the SketchUpBIM.rbs file. You need to copy this sub-folder and the file under the /SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins folder. Hope this helps.

                                      @driven said:

                                      it functions but the Toolbar always opens on start even when I turn it off before closing so it won't.
                                      john

                                      Yes. Thanks John. This is a noted limitation on the Mac. In the next version, we will add some explicit code to fix this.

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                                      • D Offline
                                        driven
                                        last edited by

                                        @d_e_x said:

                                        John, SuSolid.rbs is not a SketchUpBIM file. So, this should not reside in the SketchUpBIM folder. Is it possible that you have a few files/plugins mixed up on your computer?

                                        The reason I am pointing it out is that I definitely don't have the files or folders "mixed up", it looks more like you have an 'susolid' method in your scrambled file that's at odds with an 'susolid' method in 'SuSolid.rbz' which is also scrambled.

                                        I can't see into either .rbz files, but I only see the generated error from yours.

                                        john

                                        learn from the mistakes of others, you may not live long enough to make them all yourself...

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                                        • TIGT Offline
                                          TIG Moderator
                                          last edited by

                                          If 'you' [or others] use FILE in compiled scripts you can get weird results - e.g. if another tool has done the same and loads 'adjacent' to yours.
                                          Your base-level loader in the Plugins folder doesn't need to be compiled [what's confidential about a 'loader' ??] - so it can be a .rb file and successfully use FILE - but avoid any FILE references inside .rbs files ! πŸ€“

                                          TIG

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                                          • D Offline
                                            d_e_x
                                            last edited by

                                            @driven said:

                                            The reason I am pointing it out is that I definitely don't have the files or folders "mixed up", it looks more like you have an 'susolid' method in your scrambled file that's at odds with an 'susolid' method in 'SuSolid.rbz' which is also scrambled.

                                            @tig said:

                                            If 'you' [or others] use FILE in compiled scripts you can get weird results - e.g. if another tool has done the same and loads 'adjacent' to yours. Your base-level loader in the Plugins folder doesn't need to be compiled [what's confidential about a 'loader' ??] - so it can be a .rb file and successfully use FILE - but avoid any FILE references inside .rbs files ! πŸ€“

                                            verified the following:

                                            1. "suSolid" is not used in SketchUpBIM as a method name or otherwise.
                                            2. FILE is not used in the 'loader' script or any other script files. The code uses a lot of "require" statements to reference other files. Is this in any way a cause of concern?

                                            In any case, we plan to test this on a clean Mac with a new installation of SketchUp. In the meantime, if any other Mac users have come across this warning/error, please let me know.

                                            Dex

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