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    Still looking for a good drafting companion for Sketchup...

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    • D Offline
      d12dozr
      last edited by

      @dedmin said:

      Yes, Alibre and SketchUP are awesome combination. Export from Alibre into .skp is excellent

      Is there any way to go from Sketchup to Alibre? I bought Alibre back when the $97 promo first came out, and have yet to use it 😒 if I could import SU into Alibre, I may get my money out of it...

      3D Printing with SketchUp Book
      http://goo.gl/f7ooYh

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      • T Offline
        tfdesign
        last edited by

        I'm going to mention MicroSpot's MacDraft and PCDraft again.

        I've picked MacDraft up once more (after also scouting around for a decent 2D draughting application) and it's working really well with SketchUp too. Works on both Mac and Windows, which is always a good thing. ☀

        My book "Let's SketchUp!" Download from here

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        • X Offline
          xrok1
          last edited by

          i didn't think of this till now but you could also try Edrawings. http://edrawings.geometricglobal.com/Downloads/eDrawings+for+SketchUp/index.aspx
          i've used it with solidworks and its pretty good. it even allows for collaboration between you and your client. (markup etc...)

          “There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.”

          http://www.Twilightrender.com try it!

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          • T Offline
            tfdesign
            last edited by

            @xrok1 said:

            i didn't think of this till now but you could also try Edrawings.

            eDrawings is pretty useless as a drafting tool, as it really is just an advanced viewer for those who don't own Solidworks. It really isn't worth considering at all, imho.

            My book "Let's SketchUp!" Download from here

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            • X Offline
              xrok1
              last edited by

              for solidworks? did you check my link?

              “There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.”

              http://www.Twilightrender.com try it!

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              • GaieusG Offline
                Gaieus
                last edited by

                That's a "publish, share and collaboration" tooland if the same as what I tried earlier, it is not really for drafting but for viewing and talking about ready models.

                Unfortunately Windows only and even though they have a web based viewer, too, you could not see it from other platforms and even in Windows, only Internet Explorer.

                Gai...

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                • L Offline
                  linea
                  last edited by

                  drfabinex

                  I'd be interested to see an example of one of the files that you have worked with as I have had some pretty big projects in Doublecad and have experienced very few problems. The only annoying thing for me is the jerky realtime pan, a real pain when your dealing with a big file. Since leaving an AutoCAD based job 3 years ago, I think I've experimented with just about every free CAD program out there. ProgeCAD Smart (for non commercial use - I now work for a charity so not a problem for me) and DoubleCAD are the best that I've found. I have to say I'm surprised that people have recommended Solid Edge as although I liked the interface, I found it to be quite unstable.

                  I think Doublecad is the only free cad app out there that can open skp.

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                  • T Offline
                    tfdesign
                    last edited by

                    @xrok1 said:

                    for solidworks? did you check my link?

                    Yes, I did check your link.

                    edit, and I wholeheartedly agree with Gaieus too. eDrawings really isn't a draughting application- unfortunately.

                    My book "Let's SketchUp!" Download from here

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                    • sketch3d.deS Offline
                      sketch3d.de
                      last edited by

                      @tfdesign said:

                      I've picked MacDraft up once more (after also scouting around for a decent 2D draughting application) and it's working really well with SketchUp too.

                      • SU import?
                      • 3D/OpenGL?
                      • section cuts for creating shop drawings?
                      • common 3D CAD data exchange formats?
                      • speed of high poly DXF/DWG files?
                      • U$ ~300.-

                      huh
                      Norb.

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                      • T Offline
                        tfdesign
                        last edited by

                        @sketch3d.de said:

                        • SU import?
                        • 3D/OpenGL?
                        • section cuts for creating shop drawings?
                        • common 3D CAD data exchange formats?
                        • speed of high poly DXF/DWG files?
                        • U$ ~300.-

                        huh
                        Norb.

                        🤣

                        Look Norbski, you know, if you want a decent package, you pays your money, and you buy Revit, Vectorworks, Solidworks or whatever. If you are on a serious budget, there is very little out there that will do all these things, and cost you nothing. The problem you have dude, is that you've obviously been bitten too hard by that damn Shark ❗ 😉

                        MacDraft will do me fine, until I can afford PowerCADD 8 that is. 😄 And, if you want to release any more passive aggression, moan at Tim for once- after all, you do sell his big stinking fish collection. 😉 😄 😄

                        My book "Let's SketchUp!" Download from here

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                        • sketch3d.deS Offline
                          sketch3d.de
                          last edited by

                          @tfdesign said:

                          And, if you want to release any more passive aggression, moan at Tim for once- after all, you do sell his big stinking fish collection. 😉 😄 😄

                          your inappropriate speech speeks for yourself... additionally

                          Norb.

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                          • T Offline
                            tfdesign
                            last edited by

                            First of all, sorry SCF for the OT.

                            What do you mean by "inappropriate"? If I buy something that promises to do something on the box, then, I expect it to work, or at least live up to what it promises, otherwise, it is fraud! Correct?

                            So, if you bought a stereo from a hi-fi dealer, and only one channel was working, you would return it to the dealer, wouldn't you? If the dealer refused to reimburse you, but promised that the part that was on order was going to fix it, you would wait a couple of months before you blew the whistle, after you had received (or not received as in the case with Tim) and reported the company to trading standards (and the police- probably).

                            So why is software any different? Especially when it costs way over £1000?? At the moment it seems that there is no way that if a product says its going to do something, and it doesn't, then that is dishonest behaviour. Shark is still riddled with silly little 'barnacles' (if you like?), and although these are (or so I am told) being slowly eradicated, but no one tells you that until you've bought the product. But despite this, new functions, which are bringing newer bugs are being added- which, in my mind, is a crazy (and dare I say it, dishonest) business model. Fine (perhaps?), if you are a big corporate company with lots of money to burn, but as a sole trader with a very limited and tight budget, I cannot even consider buying this package. This is a great shame, because the box says this....and that.....and this.....

                            Norbert, you can continue to bury your head in the sand, but that won't stop the problem from coming back, and back even still, to haunt you.

                            My book "Let's SketchUp!" Download from here

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                            • kenK Offline
                              ken
                              last edited by

                              I use TurboCAD 16. I now see that the upgrade to TurboCAD 17 has some new features. One of which is the following:

                              "IMPROVED .SKP (Google SketchUp) Filter – Import filter now brings in circles and arcs as those entity types."

                              Which in my case will be of great help. The new version is to be out by March 31.

                              Ken

                              Fight like your the third monkey on Noah's Ark gangway.

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                              • W Offline
                                wmanning
                                last edited by

                                Ken, the new TurboCAD 17 (out today) does have .skp file improvements and much better COLLADA export (including instances), but the circles and arcs still aren't where they should be and that language shouldn't have been in the released marketing info. Sorry about that. (Could you send me a PM to let me know where you saw that info and I'll see if I can get rid of it!)

                                But TurboCAD Pro 17 does include a new drawing engine that we've seen provides up to 60x faster wireframe and 2D screen draws (and beyond in some cases).

                                Another thing that slipped into the release is a bit of beta functionality for reading and converting .skp Dynamic Components. Not all DCs are supported, only certain types and functions, but those that do remain parametric in TurboCAD.

                                This shouls also make it into a future version of DoubleCAD, but Linea, you mentioned jerky redraws, and if you go into the DoubleCAD's options and select Flicker Free redraw you'll find it smoother and in most cases faster (I don't know why it isn't the default).

                                -- William

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                                • W Offline
                                  watkins
                                  last edited by

                                  Came across this

                                  Attention Required! | Cloudflare

                                  favicon

                                  (www.stefisko.com)

                                  Regards,
                                  Bob

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                                  • EdsonE Offline
                                    Edson
                                    last edited by

                                    I have seen TurboCad has a mac version. it is a pity there are no videos to inform potential users of what it can do.

                                    edson mahfuz, architect| porto alegre • brasil
                                    http://www.mahfuz.arq.br

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                                    • T Offline
                                      tfdesign
                                      last edited by

                                      I've heard TC for Mac is rubbish.

                                      Shark FX, despite a few hiccups is quite a bargain at the moment.

                                      My book "Let's SketchUp!" Download from here

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                                      • EdsonE Offline
                                        Edson
                                        last edited by

                                        @tfdesign said:

                                        I've heard TC for Mac is rubbish.

                                        Shark FX, despite a few hiccups is quite a bargain at the moment.

                                        tom,

                                        I wouldn't say $1700+ is a bargain. it does seem to be quite full of features but many of them would be redundant for someone who models with Sketchup and renders with a plugin.

                                        what I am looking for – and I am sure many others are too – is a CAD program that would be able to extract 2D drawings from a Sketchup model on top of a reasonable set of 2D drafting features. LayOut seems to be on the way to being that but its drafting capabilities are still lame.

                                        edson mahfuz, architect| porto alegre • brasil
                                        http://www.mahfuz.arq.br

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                                        • D Offline
                                          dtrarch
                                          last edited by

                                          dr

                                          Take a look at Turbocad 17 deluxe.
                                          ($129.00 US)
                                          Imports SU and in/out dxf-dwg to V 2011
                                          You can get a demo at:
                                          http://www.turbocad.com/TurboCAD/TurboCADWindows/TurboCADDeluxe17/tabid/1599/Default.aspx

                                          Very complete and easy to use. 👍
                                          This version has the "Design Director" which includes a very good layer manager too.

                                          dtr

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                                          • T Offline
                                            tfdesign
                                            last edited by

                                            @edson said:

                                            I wouldn't say $1700+ is a bargain.

                                            Edson, you probably got another link, but Shark FX has been on offer for the last 3 months at $395 for the complete package. 😄

                                            Tom

                                            My book "Let's SketchUp!" Download from here

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