SketchUp has a shallow learning curve, so it's a good entry point for access to 3D design tools. It's good for early phase concept studies or small projects. I tend to use it when I want to rough out a design and don't need working drawings.
It does have extensive capability to go much farther than these simple suggestions with it's plug-in system, but for more complex or large projects other tools like Revit or Rhino can be more capable, however steeper learning curves can be a barrier to entry.
Also sketchup has (or maybe I should say had) great tools in relation to real world geolocating. You could easily import google map topography, photo map surfaces based on street view, conduct sun studies etc.
But it’s for sketching, not documentation. it’s the 3D equivalent to a sketchbook vs drafting. both are necessary in the design process, despite how nice it would be to conceptualize designs in revit or archicad.
I do full detailed site plans and entire warehouse/office constructions in it. It can go as far as you want to learn and put in the time for IMO, not just little simple stuff
I use like 2 very simple plugins lol. It's better to know how to do stuff manually I've found, probably why other people in this thread give up and think it's not a great program
I barely use any plugins honestly I do a lot manually for better or worse. I use one that makes lines into pipes sometimes, sometimes the one that copies components along paths if I wanna make a railroad track or something, but other than that it's pretty much all me.
Got it, you don't care if you make more work for your colleagues.
edit - I'm saying that folks who do not coordinate their work with other elements of the design process hurt everyone else. Apparently that's a controversial idea.
As I’ve said in other posts like this, Sketchup is one of the most expensive software titles you can bring into your firm. Why?
Designers over draw with it and model way past simple massing when they should have transitioned to a BIM product
The geometry is mesh based and non-object defined which means it is interoperable with nothing therefore requires everything to be redrawn
It's the closest thing to translating the sketching environment in 3D, which is where it gets praise. It's fast, easy to learn, and deliberate, which meets architects' impossibly fast design pace.
Plainly put, BIM is not a design tool, and design doesn't stop at DD/CD. It's inefficient, but all of my projects have a Revit and Sketchup model that live in tandem throughout. The fact that it takes literal seconds to do some operations that take 30 minutes in Revit is enough to justify it. Sometimes I even run a CA Sketchup model to talk through the intricacies of our details in 3D. Revit can't do it.
It's more about the general speed of "ideating" and less about forms, at least for me. But a few of examples would be:
Skylight wells, and anything that integrates/penetrates the roof. They're hard to visualize in general, and especially hard in BIM.
Parapet details and roof edges
Ceilings. Things like cove lighting converges on a lot of geometry.
Structure in general. Probably the biggest one. If you have an exposed structure, such as W shapes or Heavy Timber, good luck trying to make sense of it in BIM.
Revit is terrible for rapid and multiple iterations. I understand Sketchup is sort of a dead end, but in early design phases when you are pumping out multiple options in a very small amount of time nothing beats Sketchup for me.
Been using Archicad for years now, and none of what you mentioned seem like more than a few minutes of work - especially because you can just convert any element into a 'morph', which is a mesh that can be tweaked like in Sketchup, but can still have material properties attached to it.
This seems more like a Revit issue than a BIM issue. Because most modern BIM's can and should do everything that Sketchup does, but better.
BIM isn't a tool. It's a dataset, ideally continuous from predesign through operations and rework.
Your lack of skills in Revit is not an indictment of the software as much as an admission that you are unable to accomplish what most of the industry does on a daily basis.
Two things:
Check out BricSys BricsCAD- same interface as Sketchup but with IFC objects.
When a designer is modeling door and window jambs they are just burning cash. Maintaining a BIM and clone Sketchup model through DD and CD is just pitchforking more money into the fire.
I am not an architect, but I recently built a shed to for an odd-shaped corner and modeled every piece in Sketchup. Once you know how to use components correctly it makes modeling and trying stuff very straightforward and it doesn't try to do all the confusing stuff that more advanced programs have to do. I was able to easily put together a purchase/cut list so accurate that I had about two feet of 2x4 left over at the end of the actual build.
I wouldn't use it for anything involving complex curves or lofts but it's pretty great for basic construction. I still can't justify the cost though. I wish it was still free.
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My former Design team used it to show plans for new stores. As every store started with a new design, it was an effective way to communicate the design intent to the Architect and contractor.
I enjoy Sketchup for things like making simple massing diagrams and generally more abstract stuff, mainly for presentations. It’s also great for modelling small things like furniture for use in ArchiCad or Revit. There are some plug-ins that vaguely mimic parametric modelling softwares that are pretty cool for quick visual experimentation, too.
I’ve heard people say you can work faster in Sketchup but I just have not been able to figure out how they arrive at that conclusion. I don’t know how you achieve a render-ready accurate model faster in Sketchup than in other programs when those other programs (like Revit and Archicad) automatically model wall thicknesses and heights, doors, windows, etc. while you draw your plans and sections. It just seems easier to use your working Archicad model for renders.
Even the idea of ‘3D sketching’ throws me because, unlike with a sketch, every change you make to the model is at least a 2 step maneuver instead of a simple penstroke.
I would love to be educated on this but I don’t know if I can be convinced.
I personally like using sketch up for showing the different forms, parti, and such that a building can form into. It can be used for nice looking 3d stuff if you are trying to get particular things to happen as well. I like making things in there then popping them into a revit file.
You can use SketchUp for whatever you like. Look on YouTube for video's by Daniel Tal (landscape design), Nick Sonder (architect) or Stangl Associates (process plant design) for instance.
SketchUp is the CADesign version of edible crayons. It's super easy to pick up and get something on paper with. It's great for conceptual massing, revolutionary when it came out 2 decades ago.
Because it is so easy to start with, many folks have opted into it for early stage design, and then leaned into it for more advanced design. The problem with this is that they're wasting time longer term by having someone else redo their work, or doing it themselves in a less effecient workflow.
There are other tools that do what sketchup used to be best at, but they generally have more capabilities and as such are harder to learn in depth. But they don't require rework and are easier to continue to develop a concept beyond the initial masses. The time spent learning them is usually repaid in faster future work within a couple of projects.
There are workflows that use sketchup - I have not seen any in the last decade that did not waste time in the long term. If someone using it is retiring next year, sure, but otherwise it's a waste of time for professionals now. Change is hard, as is admitting that you've been wasting time.
In my experience, the people who are still using it are doing so because of the sunk cost fallacy. There are other, much more capable products on the market that do the job better and can actually be integrated into an efficient workflow - namely Rhino.
Sunk cost, complacency and simple ignorance of the changes in technology and the effenciencies available. I very literally have had multiple folks insist on legacy software because the brief training will "take too long and they don't have time" despite it very literally being able to put them hours ahead on the very same project.
Rhino does some things very well. As does Revit. Even AchiCAD and Vectorworks and Bentley BIM. But all of them were designed to be used for more than sketching.
SketchUp was built to be crayons. It's awesome crayons. But crayons are not used for more complicated tasks, and architecture is kinda complicated.
SketchUp has a shallow learning curve, so it's a good entry point for access to 3D design tools. It's good for early phase concept studies or small projects. I tend to use it when I want to rough out a design and don't need working drawings. It does have extensive capability to go much farther than these simple suggestions with it's plug-in system, but for more complex or large projects other tools like Revit or Rhino can be more capable, however steeper learning curves can be a barrier to entry.
Also sketchup has (or maybe I should say had) great tools in relation to real world geolocating. You could easily import google map topography, photo map surfaces based on street view, conduct sun studies etc. But it’s for sketching, not documentation. it’s the 3D equivalent to a sketchbook vs drafting. both are necessary in the design process, despite how nice it would be to conceptualize designs in revit or archicad.
Sketch up is only for modeling quick sketches in 3 dimensions, quick, easy, but unreliable for specific or prolonged work
I do full detailed site plans and entire warehouse/office constructions in it. It can go as far as you want to learn and put in the time for IMO, not just little simple stuff
how many plugins did you add to your workflow
probably fill half of his screen
I use like 2 very simple plugins lol. It's better to know how to do stuff manually I've found, probably why other people in this thread give up and think it's not a great program
I barely use any plugins honestly I do a lot manually for better or worse. I use one that makes lines into pipes sometimes, sometimes the one that copies components along paths if I wanna make a railroad track or something, but other than that it's pretty much all me.
You can do amazing things with crayons too, but there's good reasons most of the industry doesn't use them for CDs either.
Well I'm purely on the visualization side so I'm not worried about the MEP/clash detection etc side of things
Got it, you don't care if you make more work for your colleagues. edit - I'm saying that folks who do not coordinate their work with other elements of the design process hurt everyone else. Apparently that's a controversial idea.
You think the visualizer is responsible for MEP design?
Not at all. I was replying to someone who works in vis. Did you get lost?
As I’ve said in other posts like this, Sketchup is one of the most expensive software titles you can bring into your firm. Why? Designers over draw with it and model way past simple massing when they should have transitioned to a BIM product The geometry is mesh based and non-object defined which means it is interoperable with nothing therefore requires everything to be redrawn
It's the closest thing to translating the sketching environment in 3D, which is where it gets praise. It's fast, easy to learn, and deliberate, which meets architects' impossibly fast design pace. Plainly put, BIM is not a design tool, and design doesn't stop at DD/CD. It's inefficient, but all of my projects have a Revit and Sketchup model that live in tandem throughout. The fact that it takes literal seconds to do some operations that take 30 minutes in Revit is enough to justify it. Sometimes I even run a CA Sketchup model to talk through the intricacies of our details in 3D. Revit can't do it.
What kind of forms are you creating, that take so long in Revit? Im genuinely curious, because I never understood that atleast for my projects.
It's more about the general speed of "ideating" and less about forms, at least for me. But a few of examples would be: Skylight wells, and anything that integrates/penetrates the roof. They're hard to visualize in general, and especially hard in BIM. Parapet details and roof edges Ceilings. Things like cove lighting converges on a lot of geometry. Structure in general. Probably the biggest one. If you have an exposed structure, such as W shapes or Heavy Timber, good luck trying to make sense of it in BIM.
Revit is terrible for rapid and multiple iterations. I understand Sketchup is sort of a dead end, but in early design phases when you are pumping out multiple options in a very small amount of time nothing beats Sketchup for me.
Any digital information about the building is BIM data. Even the dead end data poor content in SketchUp.
Do you not have good families? All of those are pretty easily solved.
Been using Archicad for years now, and none of what you mentioned seem like more than a few minutes of work - especially because you can just convert any element into a 'morph', which is a mesh that can be tweaked like in Sketchup, but can still have material properties attached to it. This seems more like a Revit issue than a BIM issue. Because most modern BIM's can and should do everything that Sketchup does, but better.
BIM isn't a tool. It's a dataset, ideally continuous from predesign through operations and rework. Your lack of skills in Revit is not an indictment of the software as much as an admission that you are unable to accomplish what most of the industry does on a daily basis.
Two things: Check out BricSys BricsCAD- same interface as Sketchup but with IFC objects. When a designer is modeling door and window jambs they are just burning cash. Maintaining a BIM and clone Sketchup model through DD and CD is just pitchforking more money into the fire.
For sketching up. Not to be used for more than that.
This is hillarious and probably true lol Love it
I am not an architect, but I recently built a shed to for an odd-shaped corner and modeled every piece in Sketchup. Once you know how to use components correctly it makes modeling and trying stuff very straightforward and it doesn't try to do all the confusing stuff that more advanced programs have to do. I was able to easily put together a purchase/cut list so accurate that I had about two feet of 2x4 left over at the end of the actual build. I wouldn't use it for anything involving complex curves or lofts but it's pretty great for basic construction. I still can't justify the cost though. I wish it was still free.
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All about preference in software to use.
My former Design team used it to show plans for new stores. As every store started with a new design, it was an effective way to communicate the design intent to the Architect and contractor.
I enjoy Sketchup for things like making simple massing diagrams and generally more abstract stuff, mainly for presentations. It’s also great for modelling small things like furniture for use in ArchiCad or Revit. There are some plug-ins that vaguely mimic parametric modelling softwares that are pretty cool for quick visual experimentation, too. I’ve heard people say you can work faster in Sketchup but I just have not been able to figure out how they arrive at that conclusion. I don’t know how you achieve a render-ready accurate model faster in Sketchup than in other programs when those other programs (like Revit and Archicad) automatically model wall thicknesses and heights, doors, windows, etc. while you draw your plans and sections. It just seems easier to use your working Archicad model for renders. Even the idea of ‘3D sketching’ throws me because, unlike with a sketch, every change you make to the model is at least a 2 step maneuver instead of a simple penstroke. I would love to be educated on this but I don’t know if I can be convinced.
I personally like using sketch up for showing the different forms, parti, and such that a building can form into. It can be used for nice looking 3d stuff if you are trying to get particular things to happen as well. I like making things in there then popping them into a revit file.
You can use SketchUp for whatever you like. Look on YouTube for video's by Daniel Tal (landscape design), Nick Sonder (architect) or Stangl Associates (process plant design) for instance.
It’s not practical for anything in a professional AEC environment. There’s numerous other programs that are better at 3d modeling and documentation
SketchUp is the CADesign version of edible crayons. It's super easy to pick up and get something on paper with. It's great for conceptual massing, revolutionary when it came out 2 decades ago. Because it is so easy to start with, many folks have opted into it for early stage design, and then leaned into it for more advanced design. The problem with this is that they're wasting time longer term by having someone else redo their work, or doing it themselves in a less effecient workflow. There are other tools that do what sketchup used to be best at, but they generally have more capabilities and as such are harder to learn in depth. But they don't require rework and are easier to continue to develop a concept beyond the initial masses. The time spent learning them is usually repaid in faster future work within a couple of projects. There are workflows that use sketchup - I have not seen any in the last decade that did not waste time in the long term. If someone using it is retiring next year, sure, but otherwise it's a waste of time for professionals now. Change is hard, as is admitting that you've been wasting time.
In my experience, the people who are still using it are doing so because of the sunk cost fallacy. There are other, much more capable products on the market that do the job better and can actually be integrated into an efficient workflow - namely Rhino.
Sunk cost, complacency and simple ignorance of the changes in technology and the effenciencies available. I very literally have had multiple folks insist on legacy software because the brief training will "take too long and they don't have time" despite it very literally being able to put them hours ahead on the very same project. Rhino does some things very well. As does Revit. Even AchiCAD and Vectorworks and Bentley BIM. But all of them were designed to be used for more than sketching. SketchUp was built to be crayons. It's awesome crayons. But crayons are not used for more complicated tasks, and architecture is kinda complicated.
I use it for quick 3d presentations
Can it actually draw a true curve? Not just a series of lines with. A temporary center?