Anyone near to colchester? essex uk help with attached plans

andyj007

Wow what a great site.. lots of impressive skilled people on here!! im impressed on what you have achieved with SU
Firstly guys, im a builder developer, architectural consultant.. i have just designed a new house for my family on a little plot next door to where i currently live.. I need to model it up for various reasons..
Well I can use autocad comprehensively in 2d and use this for my designs I have just picked up google for dummies & sketch up..
I have played with the software and worked up some models of a house I have designed whilst learning.. from my autoad plans
Im starting the model again from scratch to included more detail to achieve something half presentable when i have finished i seem to be getting swamped with the little details as i do not know how much is really required for a good model at the end & how much time i should be spending on each item.. I would like to say detail this house in two days.. is this feesible??
is there anyone nearby that would like to help us out for couple of hours one evening for some guidance? im not after basic lessons just the little shortcuts you guys use in your workflows.... and to make sure im heading the best workflo direction, my main brain fades happen because we detail so much in autocad i need to step back and think like an artist... something i am not!
Im happy to pay, trade some of my skills, or what ever

some of my planning cad pdfs attcahed

kind regards

Andy

Pad 01 Elevations Rev A.pdf

Gaieus

Hi Andy and welcome!

I am not an architect (and do not even live any close to you) so I cannot help with those things.

Your design based on the pdf looks fine however and that amount of details can be nicely produced in SU (although I know it myself that it is hard to stop and draw a line after which you do not add any).

Certainly you need to forget vector based details here and use image textures - often they are good to substitute smaller details actually.

andyj007

Ok great.. here is what i did after 2 hours of playing with software, to get a feel for the basic commands.. so im now starting again fresh with more accuracy
It is more important to me that i replicate the features/design of the house rather than producing rendered illustrations..
roof overhangs, guuters, oakwork fascias soffits, orangery, oak porch, plinths & site layout etc etc..
this model will be external only. i will do internal rooms seperately later if i need..
for intsance last night i spent 2 hours just on the bay window drawing up the frame, casements, glazing, glazing bar profiles etc etc.. was getting frustrated near the end.. so put it down..
I did a few years back play with autocad 3d commands and here you make objects and extrude them.. so should i start with lines draw them to make walls, or draw lines on the floor plans and then pull them up.. making a solid??
just need to head in the right direction from the start.. at least this way im at least giving me my best start..
what would be helpfull if some one could advise on the folowing is sort of right to start out.. heres what im thinking

import cad file 2d trace round outer skin, off set of walll thickness say 300mm..
now i have 2 sets of edges that i can draw vertically and close at top make side faces (ext walls) or i can pull the middle face in between the edges up to the floor level to mak ethe same.. what is the best and why??

I then draw window apperatures and pull or delete face.
draw floor
pull or extend lines to make first floor walls.
draw ceiling, offset for fascia detail.
draw pitch gables, pull face across roof..

not as simple as this but you get the idea..

Pandora initial sketch up play.pdf

Gaieus

When you have the floor plan, I would definitely keep the real wall thickness (even together with the inner walls) and pull the walls up instead of only the outer faces.

It is much quicker (you need not draw all the vertical lines separately)
It is way more realistic even from outside views. Single face walls always give themselves away.
You say you may want to add the interiors later. That would mean a lot of additional work when you could do it much simpler in one action.
Some additional suggestions: always separate your geometry by grouping it. Say you draw the outline of a house and pull it up to a bit of height to give it some foundation (and thickness for your floor). Make this a group. Copy its top face outside the group and now offset and draw your walls on this face; pull them up and then immediately group all your walls. Go on modelling in the same fahion. This will allow for much better control of the whole model both while modelling and later when presenting.

Use components for anything that is more than once in your model (say the same window three times). Groups and components are very similar in nature but components have some additional advantages (maybe later in detail)

Do not forget that layering - as opposed to CAD - will NOT separate your geometry. It is merely to control visibility in SketchUp. Also, do not EVER put ungrouped geometry onto any other layer than Layer 0. In fact, do not even change the active layer and always draw on Layer 0. Otherwise you mess up your model like this:
[flash=640,500:34r2tjg3]http://www.youtube.com/v/fBdP499iw0Y[/flash:34r2tjg3]