@shawnh said:

So to make a decent render of a building's facade, on average how many photos (from different angles) are needed? 3? 5? more?

It all depends on the buildings you want to make into 3d models. For a 60-ies modern 'box' with a flat facade, one photo for each facade already could be enough. For a church you might need 50. It also depends on what level of detail you're trying to achieve.

Start modelling with Photomatch and you will soon find out all this information (and much more) yourself.

@shawnh said:

So to create my model (or at least to get started), could it be as simple as downloading these already-created buildings, and plop them down individually into my own "square" in SketchUp?

Yes, it's that easy.

@shawnh said:

Lastly, is the "Building Maker" tool still alive?

No, Google retired it.

Why don't you do some research and look at some videos to see how people model buildings in Sketchup by using photos (Sketchup feature called 'Photo Match'). This video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSuDoX8SPtU, might be a good start.

An architect and designer in the Netherlands designed something from the same point of view: a 'coffin' made of bamboo fibers and a bio-degradable material. Tree-seeds are encapsulated in the 'ropes'. New life would come from the deceased.

See picture and text (Dutch) here: http://www.ro-ad.org/nl/projecten/05.htm

@bryan k said:

I'm going to have some fun now!

It's a wonderful plugin!! For symmetric forms, it works best if you only make one half of the shape and mirror the mesh-result afterwards. By doing so, you have a better view of the total shape (in&outside) and it will prevent some problems with curviloft(twisting shapes etc).

Somebody already started with making your model...

see here: https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model.html?redirect=1%26amp;mid=b3487055a862b7d9876ecc0057b01177

edit: and here: https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/search.html?q=brugge%26amp;backendClass=entity

Nice site design! Very easy on the eyes and looks great. The look and feel almost gives the impression of a more expensive design product and not like its for a building material.

Sipform logo is ok. Maybe just add two black lines in the left and right side of the 'i' to make a slight reference to the sippanel OR make the middle of the 'i' light-grey just like in the panel?

The chair looks a bit lost to me. What is its link to the sip panels? The image looks nice but maybe replace the chair with something else that's 'blobby'?

Initial loading of the site took a while even with my fast internet connection.

My Latin is very bad so I can't comment on the text

Maybe the model is at some 'insane' location, far from the ORIGIN? That seems to cause some problems as well.

Did you try dxf?

@tt_su said:

I'm still confused to why you don't want to use the API methods? Simulating key strokes or mouse clicks seems convoluted. Does the API not produce the same result as the UI operation?

It's not that I don't want to use the native API methods, it's just that I think it's more simple and easy to do it this way, just for an all-purpose on-screen-menu.

I will try to explain:

• The on-screen-menu(OSM) works just the same as clicking on any icon in one of the toolbars but in the OSM the 'icons' are centered at my mouse point at the moment I press the OSM keyboard shortcut. So with one keyboard shortcut, I can start several of my most used methods within a small mouse-movement-area.

I was thinking the most easy way to do this is creating 2 arrays: one for the all the 'names' in the OSM, and one array with the 'launch code' for starting the corresponding methods. Because there's no Sketchup.send_action option for boolean-union (and more), I needed another simple way to just start the method and let me pick some solids.

I hope this makes more sense...

TT, thanks for your reply. I ended up assigning some un-used keyboard shortcuts to boolean-union and some other methods. Now I can start these methods from my on-screen-menu by using WIN32OLE.new("WScript.Shell").SendKeys("+u") for instance. Maybe not the most pretty solution but as long as I don't buy a Mac it seems to works without any problem.

@tt_su said:

Boolean operation methods are part of the API under Group/ComponentInstance classes.

These methods need 2 solid objects. For union I could start a script from the onscreenmenu that starts the union-method after selecting 2 solid objects. But for subtract, how can one control which object will be the subtracting object with a pre-selection of two objects?

There's no way to simulate a normal mouse-press on the toolbar's union-button / subtract-button?

@tt_su said:

The send_action method has always been a hacky way to invoke things. If you can do thing without it that is the recommended way to do so.

Just to be absolutely sure: there's no way to start native commands with active_model.select_tool ?

To enhance my workflow & minimize my pen/mouse movements in Sketchup, I'm working on a on-screen-menu tool (just like I used to have in my 3dsMax days 10+ years ago).

To launch plugins I use: active_model.select_tool ...
To launch Sketchup commands I use: send_action ...

Several native commands are missing from the API-docs http://www.sketchup.com/intl/en/developer/docs/ourdoc/sketchup#send_action. Commands like boolean-union, subtract etc are missing. Is there a way to still invoke those methods?

Install TT-MakeNamedGroup http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23582 and make a keyboard shortcut for it.

@juju said:

I'm looking into getting a plugin (or multiple plugins, as the case may be) to help speed up architectural modeling and construction document creation. ...

If I may ask, what kind of projects do you work on?

Having another look on your list:

Immediate needs:

• model walls (solid / cavity / drywalls), ->profile builder. For cavity walls I use a workaround (see pic) with a connection at the top that I remove immediately after creation of the cavity wall. Hoping in the new version this won't be necessary anymore.

• model foundations (options obviously important),-> profile builder

• model doors (flexibility in creation is important), -> create a personal library OR have a look at Windowizer OR pay somebody make a ruby-plugin for you, tailored to your needs

• model windows (flexibility in creation is important), -> ditto

• model roof structures (trusses / rafters / lattice girders, purlins), -> profile builder, instant roof?

• model roofs quicker (if additional functionality is available, great) -> instant roof? I have never tried it though.

• model stairs with handrails, -> some plugins are available. depends on the level of detail you want. No suggestions.

• something to facilitate workflow in Layout, have not used it since it's second iteration I must admit, -> I tend to do as much as possible in Sketchup. Even the dimensioning and hatches. Layout to me is just for adding some final texts and doing the layout of the individual views. Why? It doesn't crash on me, you can create Ruby plugins to assist with some stuff and its more fun.

@ipsketchpi said:

...What do i do wrong?
You're not doing anything wrong. When converting from one format (in this case .skp) to another (.dxf), always 'stuff' happens.. information disappears or gets converted. In Sketchup, the curve consists of 12 segments but Sketchup knows its one element. When exporting, this kind of information is lost somehow and it's 12 individual elements.

Maybe there's a convertor out there that reads .skp and writes .dxf that recognizes Sketchup curves and converts them into dxf curves but you will have to try out different convertors yourself. Maybe you're lucky and someone on this forum already has found one...

good luck!

Add <profile builder pro> to your list. Great for making foundations, steel beams etc. There should be a new version coming...

@dadeclan said:

..a little landscape cannot max out this program...can it?
I'm afraid, any program can be maxed out if you add too much detail and don't use smart modelling strategies.

Maybe have a look at some YouTube videos by Daniel Tal, a landscape architect who uses Sketchup for his projects. Also there's an 'old' (2008) Sketchup YouTube video called 'Working with large models'. Some of the strategies may apply.

good luck!

Nowadays I use Inkscape to import a pdf and convert to dxf for import to Sketchup. Works perfectly.

Hi Alexjo, There isn't that much difference in making a 3d model out of an image or imported cad-lines. The benefit of the cad lines is you have something to snap on to with the Sketchup drawing tools.

I wouldn't recommend re-using the cad lines. There will be tiny gaps, tiny lines and other stuff as a result of the export/import into Sketchup. Those might/will haunt you while working on the 3d model.

Best is to <group> all the cad-lines (so they wont stick to anything you draw new in Sketchup), and start drawing new Sketchup entities on top of that.

Maybe have a look at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQsjwDFaBJo

Hello Thomas,

I'm using attributes to store strings and [arrays with integers] in groups and I don't experience any problems in SU2014. Maybe the Vector3d objects are causing the problem? Best way to find out is trying out 1 type of attribute at a time and see if the file goes corrupt or not.

greetings, Max