Medeek Walls in action
Hey Nathaniel, Here is how I've been using the plugin for custom residential home building.

This is a project I'm working on.. it's called the sports barn its an entertainment complex with a golf sim, putting green and basketball court. On this project the architect, engineer and MEP all worked in Revit.

On this one I took the geometry from all the different consultants along with the CAD files for the floor plans and sections to build out the wall framing. I typically start with the 2D files and trace out the outline of the structure with the Medeek wall tool. I've developed my own toolset to treat the different models sort of like GitHub. I don't need all of the redundant geometry from 3 or 4 models so I commit the necessary components from each one to my main model.. Like steel from Struct and HVAC from the Mech.

I use a combination of sections, benchmark elevations and my out math the set all of my plate heights. I then use the center lines for all the ROs in the 2D CAD file and cut in the window and door openings. I usually work in phases and don't worry about perfect ROs on the first pass.

When I have the overall structure framed up, I start to overlay all of the models I need to flush out. I compare the structural vs architectural ( i frame off struct) this usually goes a few rounds to hammer out the discrepancies.

Once all of the issues are flushed out I move to structural connections. Different projects require different levels of detail.. This was all stick framed on site so the blocking, corners and plate connections weren't very important. The main purpose of framing out this model was the lumber order. In this case it was quicker and cheaper to digitally build it and simply count the studs.

This job was a little different.. All the walls were prefabricated and all of the timbers were done in house.. This level of detail means everything needs to be flushed out in the model. The steel needs to be modeled to the fasteners and the need to be perfect down to the blocking for toilet paper holders.

This house was designed in auto cad so there wasn't any outside geometry to start with. I lined up all the sections and details in place and modeled the foundation. The truss company did produce 3d shop drawing for this project that I was able to import and review.

To build the walls I produce a section cut of the walls to show stud orientation and interior partitions( they can be hard to see in an elevation). The shops for the walls can be a bit tedious but for the most part are produced in layout.

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.. I've been using this system for about 7 years now.. I've got what architects call a raised in a barn methodology for the way I do things but it seems to work.

@medeek

I've got a couple great models that are all framed out. I will put together a gallery and post it tonight after work. I used to prefab wall panels and created all the shop drawings using your plugin.. I got too busy with custom residential and sold the equipment. Now I use the plugin to create a build ready digital twin. I will post some images in the gallery and call it something like medeek in action.

@medeek keep up the good work.. I've designed and built miles of walls using the wall plugin!

Thanks, Liam
Im not much of a cinematographer but it's always fun to use UE's sequencer to put together some shots as well.

I've been using blender as a catch all for 3d file formats.. a complicated mesh can get cleaned up in blender or simplified and export as a .dae into SU. I do this with OBJ's all the time

BlenderGIS can get you pretty good images.. you do need an API key to get set up but it's all free and you can even generate 3d geometry based on the elevations in the satellite images.. it tiles in blender so you the more you zoom the better the image quality to a point.

Hey Jessica, I've had luck with both the cad formats dwg and dxf... IFC is probably the best option for SU to Revit though.. you have to create a project and import it in my experience and Revit handles it more like a family than a revit model.

Thanks, sure beats trying to model by hand.. it looks like you are using an image file as a floor plan reference.. how do you get your scale set with images?

For me UE feels almost infinite.. I can do more than static images or videos. With UE being a game engine, I can create a virtual environment and stream it to a client or do virtual walkthroughs. TM has always felt a bit like UE lite but is far easier to pick up and produce quality work than UE. Lumion feel the same way to me they are all tools in the toolbox TM and Lumion are great for quick updates and interior renderings but UE is what I would use to land a big job. Cesium also works great in unreal engine giving me a great backbone for all of my projects.

I usually create a topo with my drone and either drone deploy or reality scan this gives me a 1-1 replica of the local site and Cesium essentially renders the rest of the world.. I try to stage my project in ways that make the whole world feel built out but in reality it's just a localized area. I use PCG volumes to create the trees and forest environments and try to blend in the 2d satellite imagery from Cesium.

Thanks, Mike! It's been a fun job. Alot of unique challenges. All of the walls and floors are all concrete. The site has been one of the biggest challenges. The slope is around 50% the retaining wall in the back is 34' tall with 86 helical piers drill 60'+ into the mountain.

The layout of this project was tough with the slope and organic shape of the house. We used a Trimble RI total station to set points straight from the model. Over nearly two years of forming and poring concrete the building corners finally met within 1/4''.

There is no wood framing on this project aside from the timber work. All of the timbers are white oak the longest one being over 37'.

@jo-ke

It's cool to see the scale of what you have been able to create with Meshi.. I started using it lately when I get thrown a curveball object that I just cannot model. A lighting designer sent me these glass beehives to put in a rendering. I would have spent hours trying to model something like this by hand

I was amazed at how well Meshi replicated these considering the organic shape and semitransparent materials.

So far I haven't been able to produce usable materials from Meshi.. But I wouldn't expect it to be able to handle opacity and emissive materials.

This is a design build project I've been working on for the last two-three years. I created the conceptual model in Sketchup and the plans were drafted in CAD. The Sketchup model was tuned up to match the plans. I then exported the SU model to Unreal Engine 5 via datasmith live link.

The local topography was generated using a drone to create a photogrammetry site mesh. I import the site into SU as a .dae and line up ground control points with reference points in the model.

The background topography was created using cesium and is geolocated with the house. This simulates the views and lets clients see what the views will be.

The SketchUp to Unreal workflow is one of my favorites. Datasmith's live link is great for quick edits to geometry and SU's ability to apply materials on a per-face basis rather than per object allots for great detail like adding end grain materials to timber beams.

This project has been fun it's been about two years of pouring concrete and roughly three year since the design kicked off.

We use a separate model in Sketchup for referencing the timber and steel for fabrication.

I've sort of developed my workflow in isolation and created my own system and tools. I'm curious to see if anyone else is using sketchup and Unreal.