20 Reasons for SketchUp artists to consider Blender

pbacot · 24 Jul 2018, 18:08

What are the blender output options? As limited as it is, LayOut has helped me use SU in everyday practice, as solid output portal. I can make pdfs, dwg, or png as needed. From SU or LayOut I can also just take screen shots to mail to associates on the fly for discussion (whereas so far Blender doesn't look very good to me on screen for this sort of thing). LO output is easily translatable to the working drawing format. Does Blender get there somehow? The movement toward real-time rendering is exciting. So are all outputs via raster images? If I can get a scale image out I can do the rest of the "paper space" work in CAD... If vector linework can be exported as well, all the better. Thanks for this discussion!

alpro · 25 Jul 2018, 01:58

As someone who works with other Trimble software and hardware everyday I feel pretty confident that you will not see the pro version of Sketchup heading online anytime soon, that doesn't fit with any of their other professional tools. They have integrated SU quite a bit with their other tools, from import/export with Trimble Business Center, to Field Points, being able to use machine control with SU, to modeling from photos taken with the V10 rover and/or the S Series robotic total stations. However being that SU is part of the Trimble Buildings division I also doubt you will see advanced modeling options similar to Blender or 3DMax added anytime soon. I expect most of the future updates to focus a lot on Layout. Architecture, site and landscape design is where SU fits in the Trimble eco system and it already does that pretty well. Now that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to learn Blender, I have tried in the past and will again in the future, probably with the release of 2.8. However since 90 % of my SU work is architecture, SU will remain my software of choice for that for the foreseeable future. Thanks for the videos.

chippwalters · 25 Jul 2018, 22:07

@pbacot said:

What are the blender output options? As limited as it is, LayOut has helped me use SU in everyday practice, as solid output portal. I can make pdfs, dwg, or png as needed. From SU or LayOut I can also just take screen shots to mail to associates on the fly for discussion (whereas so far Blender doesn't look very good to me on screen for this sort of thing). LO output is easily translatable to the working drawing format. Does Blender get there somehow? The movement toward real-time rendering is exciting. So are all outputs via raster images? If I can get a scale image out I can do the rest of the "paper space" work in CAD... If vector linework can be exported as well, all the better. Thanks for this discussion!

As said in the video, Blender has no Layout option. There is no 2D equivalent to Layout in Blender.

w/regard to creating a SU style rendering, I believe it's possible, but I haven't done it. I did do a similar style in KeyShot as evidenced in this video explaining it, so I believe it's possible in Blender-- I just haven't figured it out yet.

As I show in my second video on installing and configuring Blender, you can set unit size to metric or imperial. Certainly that's not as good as SU, but it should be good for import and export (though I haven't spent much time going back and forth from Blender to SU).

You can use the FreeStyle SVG Export to export Blender to vector.

chippwalters · 25 Jul 2018, 22:14

@alpro said:

As someone who works with other Trimble software and hardware everyday I feel pretty confident that you will not see the pro version of Sketchup heading online anytime soon, that doesn't fit with any of their other professional tools.

So, perhaps you have an idea why they are spending a significant amount of their development time creating a free cloud version and not improving SU Pro? And you think Trimble is in the business of maintaining two code bases? If they had no intention of eventually going to the cloud, it would be much simpler keeping Make free-- or even crippling it. Makes zero sense to spend so much time creating a hobbled free version for browsers.

Furthermore, do you really think they are going to expect developers to maintain two different versions of their plugins: 1 for the cloud and another for the desktop version? They have already stated they want to eventually enable plugin support for the cloud version, and that there will need to be changes to the current plugins codebase.

@alpro said:

Thanks for the videos.

You're welcome. I plan on creating more.

As I mentioned in the video, switching isn't for everyone, and point 5 states you may not want to consider switching if you are an architect. I doubt Blender can compete with SU and/or Revit or other architecture specific software.

rv1974 · 26 Jul 2018, 05:49

After watching this vid back in 2009 we all (following your logic) should hurry up to switch from PS to Frankenstein Gimp-like soft

Bob James · 26 Jul 2018, 09:42

@rv1974 said:

After watching this vid back in 2009 we all (following your logic) should hurry up to switch from PS to Frankenstein Gimp-like soft

Better yet: low-cost Affinity Photo

srx · 26 Jul 2018, 09:54

@rv1974 said:

After watching this vid back in 2009 we all (following your logic) should hurry up to switch from PS to Frankenstein Gimp-like soft

Well, pretty much.
Krita, Affinity Photo, and now GIMP with 32bit workflow...

chippwalters · 26 Jul 2018, 09:57

A new tutorial on how Blender's navigation is almost identical to SketchUp's.

BTW, are these videos of value? I was planning on creating a whole series based on SketchUp's current interface and how it maps to Blenders. If they are offending anyone, then I can just post them on YouTube and not here.

Stinkie · 26 Jul 2018, 10:53

This might be of interest to some. I haven't bought it, so I cannot comment on the quality.

Just a moment...

(www.udemy.com)

db11 · 26 Jul 2018, 23:18

@chippwalters said:

BTW, are these videos of value? I was planning on creating a whole series based on SketchUp's current interface and how it maps to Blenders. If they are offending anyone, then I can just post them on YouTube and not here.

Definitely of value. I had downloaded Blender a couple of versions back and started playing with it, then got busy and dropped it. A big part of the learning curve is knowing what applies from what you already know and what doesn't –– kind of like switching from Windows to MacOS or vice versa.

I'd love to finally learn Blender — not as a replacement for SU (at least, not yet) — but as a complement — and your videos help map a simpler path to proficiency for current SU users. I can't imagine why anyone would be offended by you posting them here, but if they are then I'll follow you to YouTube.

alpro · 27 Jul 2018, 00:50

@chippwalters said:

BTW, are these videos of value? I was planning on creating a whole series based on SketchUp's current interface and how it maps to Blenders. If they are offending anyone, then I can just post them on YouTube and not here.

Keep them coming

chippwalters · 27 Jul 2018, 06:16

Thanks. I'll keep posting. New video on using the Move tool.
I really want to get the basics out of the way so I can start to work on modeling strategies and how they differ from SketchUp to Blender. I'm really fortunate to have a friend who is one of the top modelers in the Blender world: https://www.artstation.com/jerryperkins1447

While it might not be everybody's cup of tea, he does know all the ins and outs of the application. And he's also creator of HardOps and BoxCutter, two amazingly cool tools for modeling.

chippwalters · 27 Jul 2018, 07:56

Rotate tute now up and available:

faust07 · 27 Jul 2018, 08:15

I also think that I am slowly getting to the technical limits of the simulation and animation possibilities in SketchUp and that such ventures could well be continued with Blender, Unity or Unreal. That's why I like to watch how savvy SketchUp users show these ways. Thanks Chipp!

chippwalters · 27 Jul 2018, 09:39

Jerry (aka masterXeon1001) just showed me some truly amazing boolean stuff where they put objects onto/into very curved Blender surfaces and automatically adjusted the normals so that there is zero artifacting. Amazing!

and this one is especially cool because at the end of the video, he deconstructs the object back into a cube!

numerobis · 27 Jul 2018, 11:16

@chippwalters said:

It would be cool to build a "SketchUp" like GUI for Blender. There are already push/pull plugins which work surprisingly well.

Yes, this would be great. But i think one big problem will be the inference engine, so i don't expect it to happen.
(I would also like to see Sketchup or the main features of SU as plugin for 3dsmax - payed plugin would be ok, even if the price would be around the full SU price...)

Mike Amos · 28 Jul 2018, 09:49

Thanks Chip, those video's are much appreciated.

david. · 28 Jul 2018, 16:36

I'm not planning on buying anymore SU Pro updates. Especially after seeing this thread. SU has been languishing for years. Layout has had no significant improvement in performance. It is amazingly slow on my I7 PC, even for relatively simple models. Why??? That's just not acceptable. With all the other alternatives (like Blender) out there, why should I continue to throw money at SU. SU is like an orphan going from foster parent to foster parent. I'll continue to use 2018, but no more updates. I have written and can write my own plugins if needed.

Mike Amos · 29 Jul 2018, 09:23

I get the impression that Trimble are less than committed to Sketchup as a product in its own right. Unless there is a proper rewrite to address some basic and long standing problems I can see Sketchup fading away. A proper shame, perhaps it will become a plugin for other Trimble products.

chippwalters · 30 Jul 2018, 09:12

Another video, this one on the Scale tool. While it's a bit more difficult than SU's, the new Blender 2.8 (coming this fall) has a scale tool just like SketchUp. It also has palettes with buttons like SketchUp as well. Still, learning this version is good as all the shortcut keys are pretty much the same. Most translates.