Quicker architectural modeling + construction documentation

juju

@juju said:

I've decided I want to move on, in the near future, to using SketchUp (Pro 2014) for creating construction documents in addition to being a visualization tool. I recently got the following three books and am busy working my way though them, free time is limited so it could take a while: "SketchUp to Layout" (Matt Donley), "The Sketchup Workflow for Architecture" (Michael Brightman) and "SketchUp 2014 for Architectural Visualization" (Robin de Jongh + Thomas Bleicher). I will probably get "Rendering in Sketchup" (Daniel Tal) as well, there are a few others I am considering, but free time isn't something I have a lot of lately. Hopefully I'll get enough tips and what-not from the first three.

I'm looking into getting a plugin (or multiple plugins, as the case may be) to help speed up architectural modeling and construction document creation. I've looked around a little, it seems as though there is the odd few individual plugins that may handle what I'm mainly interested in, and then there are plugins (let's call this collective plugins for now) that do a couple of things at a time.

Immediate needs:

model walls (solid / cavity / drywalls),

model foundations (options obviously important),

model doors (flexibility in creation is important),

model windows (flexibility in creation is important),

model roof structures (trusses / rafters / lattice girders, purlins),

model roofs quicker (if additional functionality is available, great)

model stairs with handrails,

something to facilitate workflow in Layout, have not used it since it's second iteration I must admit,

I will probably discover other things I need as time passes, but can cover these as they come along.

Modeling:

1001 bit pro v2 (US $48): no new updates for a while, a little worrying

Buildedge PLAN v3.2 (US $29): an update seems to be coming soon, would love to know what the updates would be

Dibac (49 euro): seems like there is a language barrier and support problem, and did I mention expensive?

any other suggestions?

Construction Documentation:

Condoc Tools ($150) - seems very helpful, I hate the annual renewal license though, seems like it will cut you off if you don't renew at the full price after a year (yikes!)

any other suggestions?

Obviously if I can get the functionality that one would require in a free plugin it would be super as funds are primarily being diverted to raising my son (recent addition, very humbled and extremely excited) at the moment.

Licensing should be straight forward, if I pay for the plugin the license must preferably not be on an annual / monthly / whatever renewal basis (I call it ransomware). If I pay for it I'd like to keep on using it until such time as I choose to upgrade or quit using it.

I'd like to know what the community experience and recommendations would be.

Take a look a Skalp for SketchUp it's the missing part for making real construction drawings with SketchUp and Layout. Michael Brightman and Matt Donley describe a full workflow on how you can create 2D drawings from your models. They wrote a big part in there books about it because there isn't a standard way for doing this in SketchUp... until we developed Skalp.

@unknownuser said:

Skalp is easy to use out of the box, as well as giving it the power and flexibility to do more advanced tricks as people get used to it.

Skalp Creates fully hatched live sections which can be used in Layout for making construction documents. Every section can have multiply representation in different scenes.
We started creating Skalp about 5 years ago for our own architectural firm. Because we liked working with SketchUp and I didn't like to do double work in my cad package. Later when Layout was introduced we started to use Layout instead of our cad program to make our drawings.

@unknownuser said:

skalp is a hugely useful plugin and is worth every cent you pay for it.

Skalp is not free and it's not really cheap, but we spend a lot of time in this product and we have still lot of good ideas to make Skalp even better in the near future. Skalp saves you a lot of time (= money) on creating construction documents compared to the workflows described by Michael and Matt (These workflows they are very clever work arounds for missing features of SketchUp and Layout)

The Skalp Team

Thanks for the input, as mentioned earlier, I've already acquired a Skalp license (just over 3 months ago). I've been bogged down with work, regular CAD stuff so have not really had a chance to take it for a spin (I have the latest build though, beta 8 I believe). I'll have to figure out and see if there will be problems when using it with something like Michael's ConDoc Tools.

I am really wanting to make the shift to using SU+LO for everything from conceptual to construction, but I'm not rushing it as I need to finish reading at least Matt and Michael's books. After that it's figuring out model organisation, then only the move across I think. Up until now I've mostly used SU for conceptual and visualization, model organisation has played a role, but not much so since the process did not depend on it so much, will have to get it right (or as close as possible) or I'll just be wasting my own time.

Edson

hi juju,

below I post a list of "must have" plugins; they happen to be the ones I use most. yes, 1001bit Tools is immensely useful. two other plugins I strongly recommend are Skalp and Layers Panel.

Sketchucation Plugin Store from Sketchucation
Selection Toys from EW
Rotate Rectangle from EW
Path Copy from Smustard
Weld from EW/Smustard
Profile Builder from EW/Smustard
Artisan from EW
Selection Memory from EW
Instant Site Grader Nui from Vali Architects
Instant Roof Nui from Vali Architects
Instant Road Nui from Vali Architects
Instant Grade Nui from Vali Architects
CFL Repeat Copy from EW
Layers Panel from Sketchucation
Extrude Tools from Sketchucation
Round Corner from Sketchucation
Repaint Face from EW
Fredo6 Tools from Sketchucation
CLF Tools from EW/Sketchucation
Tig Tools from Sketchucation
1001bit Tools from EW
Skalp

utiler

NIce list of plugins, Edson.... I'll add one.

PlusSpec.

juju

@edson said:

hi juju,

below I post a list of "must have" plugins; they happen to be the ones I use most. yes, 1001bit Tools is immensely useful. two other plugins I strongly recommend are Skalp and Layers Panel.

Sketchucation Plugin Store from Sketchucation
Selection Toys from EW
Rotate Rectangle from EW
Path Copy from Smustard
Weld from EW/Smustard
Profile Builder from EW/Smustard
Artisan from EW
Selection Memory from EW
Instant Site Grader Nui from Vali Architects
Instant Roof Nui from Vali Architects
Instant Road Nui from Vali Architects
Instant Grade Nui from Vali Architects
CFL Repeat Copy from EW
Layers Panel from Sketchucation
Extrude Tools from Sketchucation
Round Corner from Sketchucation
Repaint Face from EW
Fredo6 Tools from Sketchucation
CLF Tools from EW/Sketchucation
Tig Tools from Sketchucation
1001bit Tools from EW
Skalp

Hi Edson, thanks for the input! Much appreciated. Quite a list there, I'll have to take a look and work my way through.

mwds

Generally: Great tips from all the contributor.

However, The main thing on the list for me was - model walls (solid / cavity / drywalls)

Surely there is a plugin that gives us a multi-element wall system (say brick veneer) with the ability to specify wall height, thickness and element composition (ie outer thickness, cavity and inter thickness, all with assigning various layer to each).

Yes, there are some very cool and trick plugins out there and I would have to agree with many that I do not like yearly renewals.

utiler

Michael, have you heard of PlusSpec?

http://www.plusspec.com and http://www.rubysketch.com

The guys are based in Sydney so closer to you than me!!! Have a look; you'll be blown away....

email andrew@rubysketch.com

They actually have a training session this coming Saturday so not sure at short notice you could get there. I am!!

aadbuild

No one likes yearly renewals, yet at the same time no one likes 10 year old software. The technology industry is changing so quickly that constant development is required. The new PlusSpec 2015 is 10 times better than PlusSpec 2014 and the cost to keep the latest software is less than a case of beer per week and the renewal cost is less than 10% of most of its competitors.
The new version of PlusSpec comes out mid Feb 2015 Michael (MWDS) and you will not find anything even remotely close to what you are looking for other than PlusSpec. Call me after you try the rest.

Krisidious

Personally, I like bought software and pay for yearly or substantial upgrades, fixes to be free within that span as updates. Somewhere along the lines of how SketchUp runs their system. I will say I have not found anything as complete as PlusSpec... It's a ground breaking system.

Tandem

aadbuild,

Can you please clarify the license terms?
I just read through the PlusSpec Terms & Conditions on your website, nothing is mentioned about the plugin will stop working one year after the day of purchase unless I pay a renewal fee.

I can't find anything on your website that says anything about renewal.

@aadbuild said:

No one likes yearly renewals, yet at the same time no one likes 10 year old software. The technology industry is changing so quickly that constant development is required. The new PlusSpec 2015 is 10 times better than PlusSpec 2014 and the cost to keep the latest software is less than a case of beer per week and the renewal cost is less than 10% of most of its competitors.
The new version of PlusSpec comes out mid Feb 2015 Michael (MWDS) and you will not find anything even remotely close to what you are looking for other than PlusSpec. Call me after you try the rest.

Tandem

The recent update to PlusSpec website and this thread clarifies everything.
12 months subscription at AU$990 Per Annum.