[Plugin] SketchUpBIM: Building Modeling made easy!

klawhammer

This is the best free plugin i have used.

unfortunately it is scrambled so I cannot switch the units to metric.

Pixero

Yes, we want a metric version.

thomthom

@d_e_x: If you use the Length class then SU will do the unit conversion from SU's internal inches to the user's current unit setup for you.

Then you use Length.to_s it converts it to a user friendly string.

To convert user input from user format to SU's internal unit, use String.to_l.

See the extension of the core methods that's included in SU:

http://code.google.com/apis/sketchup/docs/ourdoc/length.html
http://code.google.com/apis/sketchup/docs/ourdoc/string.html
http://code.google.com/apis/sketchup/docs/ourdoc/numeric.html

thomthom

@pixero said:

Yes, we want a metric version.

Come on, you mean "We would like". It's a free plugin after all. I know you mean good, but I feel it's done too much around here, just want to make it clearer to everybody.

mitcorb

Hi d_e_x:
This tool looks very promising! I am amazed at your skills.

d_e_x

WoW! Thank you for the response and suggestions. I have a pretty long and well thought-off roadmap for this plug-in. In this initial version, it was important to get the basic process-flows right - so that on-going development is possible.

Units: Yep, Metric is important. and T, thanks for the tips/suggestions on the Length class I have a few ideas on this myself: after all, my 8 years in the CAD industry should come to good use
IFC Import/Export: Another important feature. Allowing seemless import and export is probably the main vision of this plugin. There are some other ideas in our team - like using the apis provided by BIM software (like REVIT, and ARCHICAD) to import parametric geometry. I have seen this method to be more reliable in terms of preserving the element types and element properties. But we'll see; IFC seems to be equally important.

Please feel free to add to the list.

d_e_x

b/w I am doing the final reviews of the "Basic Tutorial" video. It should be uploaded by EOD today.

mitcorb

I just have a couple of questions as a potential user:
Could one start with an initial floor plate on the ground plane and do the same workflow as shown in the video?
Is it best to work in orthographic view?

bigstick

I don't want to risk sounding pushy, because I'm really excited to see someone add this functionality to SketchUp, but as I see it, IFC is the de facto standard for BIM interoperability.

ArchiCAD and Revit are great products, but there are Microstation and Vectorworks as well in the BIM market. IFC ought to be completely independent of any of this, and I think all the apps support it.

My greatest fear with BIM is fragmentation and lack of interoperability, which will mean that the industry could take 2 steps forward, but 3 steps back.

Having said that, it's fantastic that you're doing what you're doing, so please keep it up

[Edit: there is already an app called ifc2skp, and I can put you in contact with them if you want]

thomthom

@d_e_x said:

Units: Yep, Metric is important. and T, thanks for the tips/suggestions on the Length class I have a few ideas on this myself: after all, my 8 years in the CAD industry should come to good use

I've seen quite a few people new to SketchUp Ruby scripting trying to do the unit conversion manually, which just complicates things. The methods are there to let SU do the work. One just need to beware if one handle Float or Length objects. As some SU's methods returns units as regular floats - in which case it's a float representing inches. Just convert that to a Length - Float.to_l.

d_e_x

@mitcorb said:

Could one start with an initial floor plate on the ground plane and do the same workflow as shown in the video?

All SketchUpBIM elements (walls, beams, slabs etc) belong to a particular floor. Also, they are drawn downwards from that particular floor. So in the appended example, 2 walls are drawn on "Elevation 10 ft" (first floor). These wall automatically extend downwards till they hit the level below. In this case, the below level is the ground itself. Hence, there is no need to explicitly draw an additional floor plate.

@mitcorb said:

Is it best to work in orthographic view?

It is recommended: to avoid confusion with the below levels and provide a clean drawing board for each level/floor. However, this is not mandatory, you can rotate the view and keep using the tools. Important thing to keep in mind: the SketchUpBIM tools will always draw on the selected level on the layers dialog. In this case, as "Elevation 10.0 ft" is selected, the tools will snap automatically to draw at this particular level only. I call this a feature, hopefully it will be accepted as one

I will upload a tutorial video by EOD today. This should clear up the process-flows and methodology.

Bob James

I'm definitely interested.
I never heard of Building Information Modeling "BIM" before this thread (and Googling it to find out what BIM meant ).
Certainly for it to be of use it would have to have the capabilities described by pbacot, but as far as I can tell, this is a great start
Directly cutting windows and doors into thick walls

pbacot

Looks exciting. The wall layout looks good. The way you cut the windows in the walls is fantastic.

I imagine this is the basis for many more things.

However I have to ask: Does this video really represent the way Revit would do things? That you "eyeball" cutting holes into your envelope to create windows? I would think that with BIM I could insert windows by giving the size (or selecting a window from list) and it would be placed at the correct (default/designated) height and might even have some horizontal placement parameters that I can define and use. I would expect the door and window types, complete with casing etc., would become automatically a part of the file (from default designation)--not just holes. Is this actually "next steps" in your development or is BIM different than I imagine?

Thanks for the posting and the hard work!

Signed, Not a BIM user--so far.

Are we ready for a BIM subforum? I See d-e-x has bumped other posts to generate interest

jolran

D_e_x.

It's very nice thing to see your enthusiasm and willing to share your plugin. Thanks
Haven't tried it yet. Little time, no play. But sure looks tasty.

Something like pbacot wrote, one would expect parametric blocks as a result.
But that's a different subject. Dynamic Comps are little sketchy to code. Possible to do, but buggy with units if I recall.

Keep up the good work!
PS. I wish I could see the code man.. On the other hand I understand why scrambling code.
It might be the trend to follow.

Bob James

@pbacot said:

Are we ready for a BIM subforum? I See d-e-x has bumped other posts to generate interest

I'd say, yes.

Personally, I'm not interested in full BIM, but the modeling part that d-e-x has presented is potentially very useful: sort of like Visio in 3D .

charly2008

Hi Dex,

cutting windows and doors directly into walls is really amazing! I do not want to seem impertinent. But would it be possible to make this tool as a separate plugin available? That would be very helpful to the amateur users who does not require the BIM functions.

Charly

d_e_x

@pbacot said:

However I have to ask: Does this video really represent the way Revit would do things? That you "eyeball" cutting holes into your envelope to create windows? I would think that with BIM I could insert windows by giving the size (or selecting a window from list) and it would be placed at the correct (default/designated) height and might even have some horizontal placement parameters that I can define and use. I would expect the door and window types, complete with casing etc., would become automatically a part of the file (from default designation)--not just holes. Is this actually "next steps" in your development or is BIM different than I imagine?

@jolran said:

Something like pbacot wrote, one would expect parametric blocks as a result.
But that's a different subject. Dynamic Comps are little sketchy to code. Possible to do, but buggy with units if I recall.

Hi Peter, Joel

The opening tool in SketchUpBIM supports both "free-hand drawing" and "accurate positioning" of openings. For accurate positioning, the user can use his keyboard to enter the start and end points of the opening on the wall. This means that the user can place his opening for the window/door at the exact height and horizontal distance as is required. Take a look at the appended screen-shot: I entered (3',3') to start this opening at 3 feet height, and 3 feet horizontal distance. Now, I want to end it at 8' height and 8' horizontal distance. So, I enter (8',8'). As soon as I press Enter, the opening will be placed accurately at this location.

Revit follows a very similar process-flow. Openings can be drawn on walls and/or slabs, similar to SketchUpBIM. However, as noted by both of you, these openings are parametric elements that are stored intelligently; once again this is the same in SketchUpBIM.

Detailed doors and windows (with casing etc) are components that can/should be inserted into these opening holes after they have been created. For example, in SketchUp you would probably import a door/window model from the 3D warehouse (or create your own) and place it at the location of your opening. Similarly, Revit provides this ability of importing components using something that they call "families".

d_e_x

@bob james said:

I'm definitely interested.
I never heard of Building Information Modeling "BIM" before this thread (and Googling it to find out what BIM meant ).
Certainly for it to be of use it would have to have the capabilities described by pbacot, but as far as I can tell, this is a great start
Directly cutting windows and doors into thick walls

Bob,

BIM is a "concept" - the more the community thinks about it, the more clear it's definition is going to be. I have been associated with it since 2005, and trust me, every time I have been to a BIM conference, I have heard a new and innovative definition!

One of the most important aspects of BIM however, is 'intelligent modeling'. Meaning, that if you draw a column, then it knows that I am a column; or a wall knows that I have a thickness associated with myself, etc. In this first version of this tool, I have tried to focus on this aspect and get the basic "framework" right.

If the framework is set up correctly, then it will become relatively easy for me to add BIM specific properties to these architectural primitives. Say tomorrow, I want to add material properties to the walls, or offset to concrete beams etc. Also, this will provide a "unified" interface to import/export such BIM elements to/from SketchUp. So, a long roadmap is ahead - at this time, it is turning out to be very helpful to get your opinions, and hopefully this forum will help me in making this tool popular

brewsky

Hi Dex!

Nice set of features!
I'm working on a similar project(less complete but it does IFC export). I'm currently in the process of a complete re-write(improving design/structure/readability).
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=34007&p=299107(just updated with a small revision).

Maybee we could join forces?

The most important thing for me is to make all my work open source... reading your license... I hope you can be persuaded to change that, would be great if defining BIM could really be a community thing
Also check out: http://osbim.org/, a collection of free BIM projects...

Cheers, and keep up the good work!
Jan

bigstick

I wonder if there is room for harmonisation of this plugin, and this one:- http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=35798

This is such a huge task that I do wonder whether it is too much for one person. The point I made some time ago for creation of a 'framework' which could be used by lots of Ruby coders might still be a relevant one.

We have lots of plugins, for windows, doors, stairs, roofs, joists, slabs, foundations, columns, beams etc. Wouldn't it be cool if they were all compliant with this BIM principle!

I accept that ensuring consistency with the standard might be tricky, but it might be worth looking into.