New from Omaha, Nebraska - AutoCAD/Sketch-Up questions
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[floatr:jta1pzuf]Hello
We are a Civil Engineering firm and I've been asked to do some research on low-cost 3D software that is compatible with the AutoCAD software we are using. One of our users said the company he previously worked for used skech-up for some 2-point perspective streetscapes they were designing for developer and commented on how nice the end product looked. But he couldn't tell me much more about the compatibility/ease of use with AutoCAD. I have downloaded the freeware version and have imported a AutoCAD drawing and that went well. Can anyone give me a headstart on how to use my Cad drawings effectively and efficiently to produce perspective views of our project's site features. I have seen the beautiful drawings that some of you have already created and would like to come close to that.
Thanks[/floatr:jta1pzuf]
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It really depends on what stuff your bringing in from autocad and the particular project.
I havent done a huge amount of it myself, but i believe one quite common workflow is to import elevations from autocad then use that linework in SU to build your projects.
You can also import topographical information and use the sandbox tools to get a 3d site.
Again, it really depends on the project and what youve got in autocad.
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Many times, AutoCad drawing will need some sort of attention in SketchUp before you can use them.
First, you get lines, and need faces so you can extrude. There's a Ruby script for that called MakeFaces. You can get it on Smustard.com. It's free.
Also, sometimes there are issues and not all faces can be created. For this, you can clean up manually or employ other scripts to do the mundane work for you.
Todd
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Another thing. . .SU works best on a simpler drawing. Clean up the acad Drawing, taking out all but the essential Geometry write-block that out as a separate file and import that new file into SU. Hopefully Your Acad Geometry was well drawn __ lines connect and are all on proper axes so that when things extrude in SU, faces are created. That will save you a LOT of frustration. I know cuz I have been there!
And get to know some of the great Plugins Scripts as well. Bonne Chance!
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Thanks for the suggestions and help. I'll probably be bugging you kind folks more as time goes on.
-Bob
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