@krism said:

I've emailed him this thread so hopefully he'll chime in sooner of later.

Sorry guys, Monday here in Australia, I was out on site all morning.
Okay after reading through the posts I will try and give the simplest answers.

PlusSpec and BimUP. I can not comment on BimUp other than what I have seen on the website. It appears as though they do a take off from predetermined models that you assemble after you purchase through the store.
What does PlusSpec do?
PlusSpec gives you a set of tools that will draw & add definable & quantifiable walls, add definable & quantifiable windows, add definable & quantifiable structural's, actually just about everything you will ever need to design or build with. PlusSpec will organise your model for you, add layers, add styles, add scenes for layout and do a schedule of works and a bill of materials. PlusSpec comes with a FREE library of about 1000 products and counting that can be downloaded and quantified.
PlusSpec is not just aimed at BIM it is aimed at designers, architects, home owners, engineers and the construction industry. It allows you to easily and freely draw & alter using the tools provided and at the end you can click 1 simple button and it will do a quantity takeoff of all the things you drew.
If you want to get extra specific with the products you specify you can go through a list in the tool which will allow you to choose an exact brick , wall size, timber type, stud spacing, all the way down to the hinge screws, glass type and window colour. There is so much to PlusSpec and there is too much to write in one simple reply so I thought I would just make a quick video especially for you. It will only take me a minute or two to upload, here is the link. http://youtu.be/tcybfTI_Kec

Woohoo, I looked at the calendar and realised I will be flying out in 10 days!
I still have not booked accommodation/ Dohhhh
I just checked the snow report and they still have 74" of snow, that is more than the annual average in Australia so it sounds good to me.

For anyone who is interested I am keen to get a board in on the 11th or 12th & probably the 13th.
I am looking forward to a nice cold beer with you all there.

Hi Aleks, we have released beta in Australia and will be releasing in the US & UK later this year. PlusSpec has so much more going on than just generating 3d graphics for interpretation. I wish we could click our fingers and make everything compatible for the rest of the world. The reality is every country has a different way of doing things and different construction methods.
We have gone past the point where a rectangular prism can be a floor a slab or a roof with material on it. Plusspec actually knows what things are and interacts with them according to their use.
Just so you know we did not post any articles here they have been posted by others and we try and reply with the most relevant information at that time... We do our best to comment where we can although daily key word searching the net would only reduce the speed at which we get the software to all of you guys. There is a lot of information going out on a daily basis for our existing Beta users and I hope to have you as one as soon as we can.
I have been in contact with our friends at Sketchucation and we are sorting out the best way to get the information to you as soon as it is available.
Thanks for the post.
regards Andrew.

I must say that the intial shock of lossing my task bar was annoying but yes youget used to it pretty quickly.
Turning off the security crap just like we probably all did in 7 and vista can also be painful but reasonably easy.

We have not tried it on Mac so if you are one of the 200 that registered to date and you use a Mac please let us know when you get the BETA email.
Using Sketchup with PlusSpec on windows 8 tab is a very easy way to take models to site.

I am looking forward to showing what we have done with it guys as it is super cool. Especially for designers and builders. Being able to design whilst estimating and editing in real time is something not even Revit or Archicad can do. Oh and if you use layout you will be happy.

Anyway enough of my BS gota go back and get some work done.

Hope to have the licenses out soon.

@humpmetwice said:

@mitcorb said:

@Kurt:
You probably already have ProfileBuilder, right? So, if I may ask, are you looking for a tool that automates like a kit? Or am I missing something.

Yes automation would be great. Something on the lines of Tig's house builder tool. Maybe draw a wall and it gives you girt size,spacing and length options. Same on the roof with pitch, purlin size, purlin spacing and length options. Maybe something that uses your own components.Draw wall, use 8" girt, off set girt 4" from start of wall at 8" and 10'-0" elevation at 24'-0" long. Hell I don't know, I can see it all in my head but it may not even be practical and easier to do it by hand like I've been doing.

Image is just a small building to give idea of the components used.

I hear you loud and clear and to be honest it is not a difficult plug in to make. Give us time we will get to it. Making a plug in to do it is simple but making it so your kids can use it is harder. My seven year old can use what we have built to but it took me 4 years to do it.

It is pretty nasty.... Uggggggghhh.

Sorry for the delay guys, we are having troubles with windows 8 and licensing. If i was a smart man I would have tested that before I posted.
At least it gives me time to get the tutorials fine tuned.

Hi guys thanks Andrew for posting. I did actually post the video to test in house but forgot to push private on YouTube and planned on posting it today but Utilier has been so keen to show everybody he posted it for us.

The actual link to the site for Beta testing is here.
http://www.rubysketch.com/software
The YouTube link above is correct for a short time as I noticed a spelling mistake ( I am just a builder )

The video is here when I change the other http://www.rubysketch.com/plusspec/

I would like about 30 testers of all different back grounds.

The Beta version is stable and very powerful. It is not the be all and end all to Sketchup but it does add functionality that always pushed a lot of people away from Sketchup (personally I think we have a plug-in that will bring more builders, ArchiCAD users, newbies and Revit users over to Sketchup and that is good for all of us). When using the software I suggest using it with a template that I created. I am yet to post online as we are still working on completing the PlusSpec site.

The video was sped up by 5 times when drawing the slab as we typed in the measures manually so we got symmetry. If you like drawing on a grid you can easily do it at this speed.

The biggest benefit of the software is everything you draw is calculated and dropped into a bill of quantities. It is visual and fast.
The first time you open the dialogue box you will notice a 2 second lag. This will only happen the first time you open the tool.

One thing really important to remember is the wall tool draws from the structural wall. EG a cavity brick veneer wall will be drawn from the frame. I will take advice from the BETA testers on how they like to work but to me being a builder it just seems logical as this I how I build houses.

The plug-in creates 10 different types of wall structure and will estimate all of the material as it draws and it will reduce quantities as you add windows. If you choose you can do structural specification but you will need to run them via an engineer before you build. Everything depends on the load above. (we are working on it but it will not be in the next 2 or 4 releases).
The BETA version has been designed for single and two storey construction with concrete floors. The lower roof plug in is in ALPHA so unfortunately you will not get in this release but you will get it.

We built this plug-in out of necessity for my business. It will work in imperial and metric but very little testing has been done. I need to add the Stud material and American sizes for products. In Australia a piece of 24 is actually 9045 (4*2) so I can see why it would create confusion. Stage 1 of BETA will be frustrating for imperial users so only register if you have time.

The days of taking 40 hours to do a cost estimate will soon be over and I will share some great ways to get paid for a quotation with the BETA testers on a private forum.

Good luck with it guys and I hope to have the licenses ready by the end of today but I have to test it all works so be as patient as you can. You will definitely have it by the end of the week.

There will be 2 or 3 versions of BETA and the initial stage will be 30 guys picked by me. I encourage you all to register on both RubySketch and PlusSpec as the newsletter will come from RubySketch to minimise our cost.

I was contemplating doing the BETA through a private link which could happen here at Sketchucation or at Google plus. I will wait and see what Mike and Rich think.

Please forgive me for my lack of knowledge with BETA testing. I am a virgin. One thing I am confident of is you will love the program and I cannot wait for your feedback.

Regards Andrew

Stay tuned I have an answer to all of your questions and more.

Sorry Hans thanks for reply, I ended up sorting it out.

Here is my independent review.
For anyone that is using this plug in: if you want the model to be visible in the PDF you need to use perspective under camera menu. Parallel projection will take you out into space and make models difficult to find. Scenes do not work in parallel projection so forget about showing a 2D parallel plan as the program does not implement zoom extents in parallel projection.
Also another note that I find frustrating is that the program will hang and ultimately relate in a bug splat if you minimise the screen and then reinstate at time of export. "I had it hang 8 times and restarted the model 8 times" loosing minor changes so if you intend on using this program save before you export. In saying that the most frustrating thing about buying the product is how long it takes to get a license after you pay your money.
All in all the product is not bad, it renders well and is efficient but it is not perfect if you are in a hurry (like I usually am ). I hope Simlab takes this as constructive feedback and rectify the problems without charging for an update. I will let you know how I go.

@hpw said:

Hello,

It s not my plugin, I only evaluated it.
Contact simlab support with your problem.

Regards

Hans-Peter

Hi Hans, I think your plug in is fantastic I do have a question that I hope you can help me with. When I export the model and open the PDF the image is off in the distance. I tried enlarging the image out of scale but it still have to zoom in. That is okay for me but clients open the house and see nothing except a speck in the distance. I also saved scene camera views and they are also in the distance.
Can youlet me know how to work around this so I get a zoom extents image first up?
andrew at aadbuild com

Here is a bit of feed back from the day.. I had 30 people show up and we went through push pull and off set, inferencing and all the basic tools. It went better than I could expect. I had 3 students that were lets say a little slower than the rest and I did want to ensure that these students learned the basics as well so I went over things and over things and over things. I honestly don't think that these people will get it without individual one on one tutoring.... I found the rest of the class got frustrated with these guys and it really held things up. In hind site I should have just moved on... Anyway by the time I brought these guys up to speed with the rest of the group the rest of the group were getting restless. So I moved on and decided to show everyone how to import a 2d drawing and scale it. Let me just say not a good move. The slow ones interrupted the good ones, some people forgot to bring their chargers and some people did not bring a working 3 button mouse. I would like to swear right now but I withheld .
What else could go wrong... Then when I decided to use xray to show people the lines on the imported plan I had two graphics cards not handle it and they started throwing square over the plan. So in the middle of the lesson I had to stop turn the hardware accelerators off on these computers in the open GL menu and the list goes on. AAARRRRRGGGGG
In the past I have side stepped the teaching of newbies and in the future I will do the same. I must say that 27 of the 30 picked up Sketchup well and all of them have enjoyed the day but I never want to do that again. 30 newbies in one room forget about it.
Thank you all for your tips and please let me know if you have had similar issues. I feel sorry for the people that could have got a whole lot more out of the day..
In the past I have taught 30 intermediate users and it was a blast.
If you are a newbie my tip is : get a 3 button mouse that works well. Not an old one. Get a new one!!!! Sketchup is sooooooooo much easier with a working 3 button mouse.
If you are a newbie, do your selves a favor and become a registered member here. Builders are not teachers, they should stick to building and that is what I will be doing in the future.
Happy Sketchuping.

Basecamp Down under bring that on.
Mate tomorrow is a freeby as well although the company I am doing it for have offered to pay I just love doing it. Being a builder 30 architects could only increase my work load. It was quicker than having 30 people coming to my office and teaching them individually....
Thanks for the advice mate, with another 30 SU users I reckon we could get a basecamp down under going....
I want to see those Irish drink some good Aussie beer.

BTW for anyone reading through here there are some real advantages of becoming a registered member. They do training and you get great service! I hope to have 30 signed up by tomorrow arvo.

@utiler said:

My mantra is:

1. Interface and Environment
2. Inferencing, Inferencing, Inferencing!!!
3. Layer 0, Groups and components....

Its a good base for newbies to go away and be confident to play around and generally all falls into place after that...

Good luck, mate!

Thanks Andrew, I have done a lot of preparation and yes Inferencing, Inferencing, Inferencing!!! is at the top of the list. Feel free to email if you are interested in teaching up there in gods country. Newbies are difficult but intermediate and advanced is a lot easier. I can help you out with some presentation info for Aussies if it helps.
I enjoyed a beer or 3 with Mike, Pete and many others from Sketchucation at basecamp last week. They were telling me they did the same with you last year.... Hopefully we can catchup .
Thanks again for the tips, they are bloody beauties.

@baz said:

I taught a Tafe course last year with a mixed bunch.

When you say newbies do you mean to just SU or 3d drafting in particular, or new to drafting full stop. I had all three in most groups.

With the last category I had to start with perspective drawing 101, they had no understanding of the xyz world on a computer, so they had no chance until they understood that.
With the others, once they had inferencing under their belts, they were away.
I found that they all picked up navigation pretty quickly.

Of course "group, group, group!" was my usual battle cry.

It would be interesting to hear which bits newbies get stuck on in the beginning, I hope you get some good feedback.

Baz

Thanks Baz, from what I know these guys are true newbies. I have taught at Schools but all the kids have a basic understanding and they had not be influenced by CAD. Kids are easy to teach. My seven year old has been using it for 3 years, he started before he could read and write. I have a video of him . I will post it when I am done preparing.

@jean lemire said:

Hi folks.

When I teach SU to newbies that are also newbies at 3D drawing or sketching, I start in teaching them what is a 3D rendering explaining what vanishing points are, asking them to observe their surrounding and how perspective plays a role in what they see.

I then sketch a very simple house to show them how to navigate a model with the Orbit, Panand Zoomtools. While doing that, I tell them to see drawing with SU as sculpting an object in real life. Unless its a statue of gigantic proportion, most sculptors will manipulate an object by adding a detail here, pivoting the object to add another detail there, etc. I even though about using a miniature house to explain the concept of going around a model and modeling from just about any angle and position, even from below or inside the model. This analogy is also usefull for people that are used to CAD softwares that offer a more rigid interface like 3 snadard views and an isometric one in 4 panes on the screen.

Once they comprehend that, they are not confused when they draw a rectangle in an iso view and see that even if it looks like a parallelogram it is indeed a rectangle seen at an angle.

The next thing I do is to show them how to dimiss the large tool set and to enable all the other tool palette so they have all the tools at their disposal. I also show them how to uncheck the Enable length snappingin the Units so they do not get unwanted inferences.

I also push them to place the cursor on every icon to read the associated pop-up showing a tool name, for example. I show them some the menus and submenus and contextual menus and telle them to explore all of these on their own to discover SU.

But the very first thing I show them is the Help Menu and its second choice, the Help Center. Judging from many of the questions asked here and on other forums dedicated to SU, this is the most underused of the menus.

Just ideas.

Great advice, thanks. Jean... 30 newbies. I did send them all a model and gave instructions on navigation. I will brush over this first.

Wow thanks for all the great replies. It is a big help, i do not want to miss anything.

Ok to be more specific I am teaching 30 Architects & from what I am told, half of these guys still draw by hand. I have demonstrated several 1 hour long presentations in the past and due to the short time I basically have drawn a model from scratch to demonstrate how much quicker Sketchup is. The feed back I got was fantastic, but they call me clicky as i go too fast. I think I really showed how Sketchup can increase work flow when it comes to design. This is the reason why I have been asked to teach. (usually I wont teach to newbies as I prefure to teach people that have a strong interest in getting better not started.
I find it very easy to teach the correct methods from a model that has been done by a newbie as I can show how groups and components not only reduce models size but how they increase performance and alteration times.
I aim to get everyone loving the ease of use while having a fun time which points me to getting them to draw a basic structure with repeated push pull, move, line and navigation commands first.
I need to get these easy operations done first but it concerns me that the common mistake of drawing a none componented model is model size and alteration later on . I di this in Sketchup 4 and if only I had of known it would have saved me hours. I plan on getting them drawing first and then demonstration one of new employees models that drew this way when he came. I will demonstrate how it should be rectified from the start but I don't want to over complicate the first 8 hours ever using Sketchup. I plan on demonstrating and showing components to the people who have go the basics down pat. That is why I plan on splitting the group at lunch time and getting the other two giys to teach this and I will plug away with the ones who do not get it. I hope to be invited back to start getting more refined techniques next month but see how I go. I will let you know. I better get cracking as this is starting tomorrow.
thanks for your help and keep send through tips.

Hi all I am teaching 30 newbies on Friday, I have set out a lot of things to do and I have taught many newbies before but 30.... I do have another 2 experienced Sketchupers helping out but I would like to know what newbies struggle with the most.
I taught a newbie last week and getting his head around navigation was his issue.
I plan on staying away from groups and components in the first lesson that will be for another day.

I would like to get the guys used to just using the main tools and I want them to love using Sketchup as much as I do. Of course I will be directing them here after the lesson.
I look forward to your responses. Thanks.

Large comercial drawing jobs require IFC... I say: Sketchup can handle residential work and all of the BIM information required.

I have just finished a BIM seminar in Australia. To be honest I have not had a lot to do with IFC as I have always used Skethup to do my residential quantifying and scheduling (no need to export). I do see clear advantages in having an IFC exporter from Sketchup for IFC compatible programs and I would like to help with input. As far as parametric models go for BIM I have not heard that they were used in any package. I have exported IFC (parametric models) from Archicad and imported them into Revit with no success. A static model works fine but there is a lot more to consider when it comes to this type of information exchange... especially file size.

Sure most who post on this topic have a handle on how to draw and attribute BIM models on the technical side but none of us know how it should be implemented in a cross platform international standard. It seams to me that this should be the priority.
Sketchup is a simple and cost effective way for everyone to take advantage of what BIM has to offer for the: design, quantifying, building and maintenance industries. BIM should not be designed for people with a university degree to use, BIM should be designed for 95% of the population to use and benefit from.

I agree we do need IFC export for software compatibility but I dont see why Sketchup can not be used as a stand alone, affordable complete BIM package.....? One thing that becamme clear at the seminar for BIM was that the current software that is available is some what expensive but the real costs came in when the contractor had to employ someone to use it.

I am actively committed to BIM for Sketchup yet I post very little. I like to build add ons, try them in real life and then rectify until I think I have it correct (a very slow process as a home can take me weeks to design & 6 months to build and there are hundreds of possible senarios). Once I am done (soon) I look forward to have you all comment on my work.
I don't get a chance to check my PMs often so post comments here for all of us to see. I do have a gmail account that you can contact me on.... aadbuildATgmail.com

I am glad to see that BIM is being considered and talked about for Sketchup and I hope one day it is a viable option for all.
sorry for my spelling and grammar, I left school early .

well done guys, I don"t know how you find the time but I am glad you do. Thanks