This is how we've been using sketch up in our company. Matt Donley as been our guy for the past several years and we are on our 14th project with him. We've found that Sketch Up is a great way to do a "hyper plan review", "build it before we build it". As an owner/developer of apartment communities, our design consultant are our biggest problem. This process helps to "punch-out" the design (or lack of it). Great job Aaron. (btw, I've spoken to your dad numerous times. Good guy.)
Excellent! Clear, concise, and relaxed presentation. I appreciate how you reinforce previously covered topics and present the material in a humble real-world style born out of expertise and experience with Sketch-up. Cheers!
Aaron - love your videos. Your style of teaching, your sense of humility, and your wit are very enjoyable qualities, not to mention the amount of cool content. Even if I know the topic, I still catch little nuggets that make me a more efficient modeller. Point of interest on this topic, specifically layers - the absolute best layering system I have seen, and use every single day, is the one designed by Michael Brightman in his Sketchup Workflow For Architecture. This is not hyperbole- it changed my professional life and the way I do things (residential custom home project management). His method of organizing an architectural model is very common sense and very simple. Worth the time to learn if anyone is serious about streamlining their model and leveraging SU to incredible levels. IMO, of course! ;) Thanks for everything you do and don't stop!
I'm prepping to build an addition on my house and have been stressing about how to set up the Sketchup project so that it streamlines things, allows me to separate framing, interior, exterior, etc. so THANK YOU FOR THIS. I hadn't had any exposure to layers, but just seeing your low-level overview of your setup helps immensely. Now just keep them rolling so you can stay ahead of my progress.
Aaron, thanks. Thought I knew all about this but your first item on scaling a plan was revolutionary for me. Didn't realise one could scale the whole model like this. It's always been hit or miss scaling, trying to mach a line, up 'til now. Looking forward to the next model I have to make from a drawing. Brilliant!
Aaron this is great! I have just found out that if you carefully make scans of the folded blueprint or drawing that is too large for a printer to handle then you can import those images individually into a SketchUp page. If you align one image then scale it to an easy ratio to remember (20'x26' or anything satisfying the image width and length dimensions of the original image) and align the next image to the corner of the previous image then scale this image you can get the entire blueprint image scanned into your page via a series of a few images, in my case four 8.5x11 scans. The more care you take aligning these images the easier it is to trace. Thanks for your training.
The tip at 2:29 is pretty important for jpg imports and if you're using this to just look at drawings like I am. Very useful way to look at hard to understand 3D spaces quickly. Thanks again sketchup.
Just what I am needing.....well, 8 months ago!! Therefore I am super keen to see the next 10 videos in this series (electrical and plumbing levels) PLEASE!!! And thanks for all the other videos over the years too!
Aaron Dietzen thanks for such a prompt reply (any reply these days is a bonus).... Learning levels (and not on sketchup pro) has proved to be the hardest intellectually and workflow challenge..... however I now feel slightly famous as “Aaron “ from Sketchup has actually replied to a comment/request!!! Thanks UA-cam for making an old man feel like an impressionable and awestruck teenager again. Now that’s geeky 😬 (and before anyone starts - it wasn’t meant in some weirdo kind of way! 😕 🤨🤔😐🙂😄 Teaching myself this program has meant investing hundreds of hours of practice and often watching UA-cam again and again and again in order for a point to sink in.... and then I go away for a few weeks and forget most of it....sigh. Sadly I don’t get that love of discovery each time. Ha. But the familiar voice thing helps.....
It's a great start. Next step I take is moving a corner (especially a stacking corner) over to the origin for aligning the next floor. After that some quick construction guides for the major walls, and start drawing rectangles.
in terms of accuracy, you're probably better off oversizing the image first and then scaling down, in a small image it's very difficult to accurately select a line with the tape measure and one pixel offset may make several mm of difference
I really like your instructional videos. It would be very helpful if you can provide a link to the image you are using so I can try to duplicate your process! It's great to watch you do this stuff and you make it look so easy but for me, I need to do this myself in order to really learn this stuff. Using the same image would help point out what I could be doing wrong and why I am not getting the same results as you. Thank you!
Hi, i love your channel, great work, very helpful. As an idea of topic, i ve been experimenting with "re-using" existing designs (mainly from Thingiverse, for 3D printing), and most of the time, the conclusion is : it's faster to redesign from scratch (which is bad isn't it ?) !! Still recently i didn't want to redesign a thread... it was hell to accomodate the design (that needs to be "watertight" to be printable). If you had the opportunity to give some hints on this particular subject (re-usability), i think this could be a topic that would attract even more audience. Excellent work really.
i personally prefer working with layers, lots of layers and using sections for the purpose of illustration of what the object actually looks like on the inside.
I don't suppose there is a video on how architects develop their floor plans in sketchup; Conventions for order of the development, grouping, grids, aligning floors etc.
I do this all the time Aaron, a good program to convert PDF to DWG.... “Back to Cad” free trial, but then it costs. If you don’t already know about it.
The border between the full lines and the dotted lines is the ground. I build the basement in the dotted area, correct? OK. Can I build the house completely from the basement foundation to the pebbles on the roof (bungalow)? Incl. Stairs to the cellar. Can I later expand the house with the complete property? Front garden, terrace and garden. Maybe the street too. What is the best software to create good 2D floor plans? I only have hand-drawn on paper. And no exact measurements. In the basement windows and doors are sometimes in the wrong place. In the hobby cellar there are three windows in the plan, real only two ;-). But I own a laser meter. I would like to recreate it. With exact dimensions.
I like how you made the line and drawing then scaled it in a flash, is it possible to make a quick video just on that point please I do it the long way more to the point the wrong way Really enjoy your instructional videos
what if one wants to do the complete opposite of this series? IE, not making a model FROM a set of plans, but rather MAKING the plans themselves, such as the floor plan, adding in 2d components of fans, lights, smoke detectors, etc etc etc? Basically start from ground zero and make plans for a small house or office? Then moving it to layout for blueprints and documentation to hand off to construction workers:) thanks
Thanks for the video. So If I have my Mac laptop with Sketchup I can import a pdf straight in, then save the model, and then send it to my PC to work on?
Unfortunately, SketchUp cannot import a PDF on windows (due to a lack of native PDF support in windows). Your best bet is to export the PDF as an image from a PDF editor.
Hey Aaron, Your skill building tutorials are awesome. I am self taught in SignLab (CAD), Adobe Phototshop, and feel a little ahead of the curve ball, now a beginner in your SketchUp Pro and Layout. Did I heard you mention in this tutorial that I can import cad drawings saved as a dxf ? I have several options to choose from which are line, polyline, spline, and poly arc. Any recommendations ?
Very nice Aron! Thank you. Any chance you do a video on how to setup your model for Unreal using the datasmith extension! I am currently working on this and I find my models not perfectly designed for this. Thanks again!
I can't (because I don't think that I saved them)... you could generate them easy enough (they were made from a single section, each floor) from this model, though... 3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/164b2f25-2295-4211-920a-b6e1b1e4c323/House
Thanks Aaron. Always great nuggets of info! In terms of architectural workflow, I like to keep the majority of building design and CDs in SketchUp and layout. But at certain times I have to use AutoCAD. You can import auto cad in to layout using the scale drawing tool, which is great. Is there a way to keep that AutoCAD drawing linked to layout? Even right click and reload would be wonderful. I love layout sheets and want to keep everything in layout if possible.
OK, how does a Windows user import a PDF? I've tried one of the highly-touted conversion programs, but it didn't work. My PDFs are simply scanned images of architectural drawings; they weren't produced by a CAD program.
Alas, until Windows gives us native support for PDFs, it cannot be done... There is an extension from John Brock (Estimator for SketchUp) that allows you to do this on Windows (estimatorforsketchup.com/downloads/pdf-importer/)
Hi. Thanks for a very educational tutorial on SketchUp. Problem I’m having though...I can find anywhere to create layers. I use windows and have the newest version of SketchUp on trail version. Please assist. Thanks
What's your operating system? At 1:40 Aaron says on Mac you can do a direct PDF import, while on Windows you have to convert it to a bitmap (e.g. JPEG, PNG) image.
It's a model-wide scale, meaning everything will get scaled. You would still want to use the scale tool to only scale specific geometry. At least that is how it is in my old 2016 version.
@@eKalb33 I saw that. More accurately, I meant to say "Its a new technique for me." Until recently I've been using the old Goo.. 8 version. :) Aka self taught for hobbies. Never considered the idea of using a line to scale the whole model. :D Thanks.
Thanks for finding the time to reply. I tried layout but there is no eraser and the cut tool is difficult to use. There is not a single tutorial for the layout anywhere..
Hi, Is there a way to import a dwg and inherit the location that might come with that file, such as the Eastings and northings, I know you can import a map but that is with Lat Long, in the UK we use Eastings and northings to set out buildings not lat long, all other cad programs will do this, and when my builder asks for the corner locations its an easy job to just drop a point onto the corner and read the location and copy it to a spreadsheet. British location maps, the ordinance Survey maps that come as a dwg have this info.
Eastings and northings are new to me. Generally, you do not want to import world location, as that info is too big for SketchUp. The real solution is to import the dog to attain building geometry, and the geo locate the model to get specific location info.
Interesting reply, but the industry in the UK relies on Eastings and Northings to locate buildings, see this link getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/guides/beginners-guide-to-grid-references/, most surveyors use this globally, the use of Lat Long is not used simply because the lines of Longitude are not parallel and therefore bent making accurate setting out not that easy I teach the subject at University and rely on most of the Modern CAD programs to import dwg files and geolocate the site, making the location of wall corners and lines of walls easy to establish and send to any surveyor, most use total stations to set out, the import of a simple spreadsheet, will give all the required info. I do not know of one that uses Lat Long. Hence my request for geo location using Eastings and northins Prof Stephen J Scaysbrook
Stephen Scaysbrook I don’t know if this is what you need, I find Google Earth useful when it comes to converting lat long into UTM You can do it through its settings. Otherwise there are plenty of online pages that can do the same
This is how we've been using sketch up in our company. Matt Donley as been our guy for the past several years and we are on our 14th project with him. We've found that Sketch Up is a great way to do a "hyper plan review", "build it before we build it". As an owner/developer of apartment communities, our design consultant are our biggest problem. This process helps to "punch-out" the design (or lack of it). Great job Aaron. (btw, I've spoken to your dad numerous times. Good guy.)
Excellent! Clear, concise, and relaxed presentation. I appreciate how you reinforce previously covered topics and present the material in a humble real-world style born out of expertise and experience with Sketch-up. Cheers!
Nice review
Nice review
I wish if those who disliked this video had left their comments at least. That would help SketchUp team to improve. To me, that was a great video.
madwani Too true! We are always looking for ways to make our videos useful for as many people as possible!
Aaron - love your videos. Your style of teaching, your sense of humility, and your wit are very enjoyable qualities, not to mention the amount of cool content. Even if I know the topic, I still catch little nuggets that make me a more efficient modeller.
Point of interest on this topic, specifically layers - the absolute best layering system I have seen, and use every single day, is the one designed by Michael Brightman in his Sketchup Workflow For Architecture. This is not hyperbole- it changed my professional life and the way I do things (residential custom home project management). His method of organizing an architectural model is very common sense and very simple. Worth the time to learn if anyone is serious about streamlining their model and leveraging SU to incredible levels. IMO, of course! ;)
Thanks for everything you do and don't stop!
bigjgordon Brightman’s workflow is a great option for architectural work!
I'm prepping to build an addition on my house and have been stressing about how to set up the Sketchup project so that it streamlines things, allows me to separate framing, interior, exterior, etc. so THANK YOU FOR THIS. I hadn't had any exposure to layers, but just seeing your low-level overview of your setup helps immensely. Now just keep them rolling so you can stay ahead of my progress.
Aaron, great video series. Thanks! A suggestion would be to provide a link to the pdf file used to follow along.
Aaron, thanks. Thought I knew all about this but your first item on scaling a plan was revolutionary for me. Didn't realise one could scale the whole model like this. It's always been hit or miss scaling, trying to mach a line, up 'til now. Looking forward to the next model I have to make from a drawing. Brilliant!
keep it up Aaron! Love your tutorials and this series will be no exception.
Duncan McKinnon Thanks, Duncan!
Aaron this is great! I have just found out that if you carefully make scans of the folded blueprint or drawing that is too large for a printer to handle then you can import those images individually into a SketchUp page. If you align one image then scale it to an easy ratio to remember (20'x26' or anything satisfying the image width and length dimensions of the original image) and align the next image to the corner of the previous image then scale this image you can get the entire blueprint image scanned into your page via a series of a few images, in my case four 8.5x11 scans. The more care you take aligning these images the easier it is to trace. Thanks for your training.
Great series! I have been waiting for that - it comes at the right time. Thank you so much!
Thanks Aaron. This is definitely going to be a worthy video series.
AdamPReed I certainly hope so!
The tip at 2:29 is pretty important for jpg imports and if you're using this to just look at drawings like I am. Very useful way to look at hard to understand 3D spaces quickly. Thanks again sketchup.
LOL I have been doing just this with my 8th grade architecture class for the past 6 years! They love the project, and the outcomes are awesome!
Glad to hear!
Just what I am needing.....well, 8 months ago!!
Therefore I am super keen to see the next 10 videos in this series (electrical and plumbing levels) PLEASE!!!
And thanks for all the other videos over the years too!
cognitor900 Sorry about that... I was planning to do this 9 months ago, but got distracted by something shiny. Hopefully it helps for next time!
Aaron Dietzen thanks for such a prompt reply (any reply these days is a bonus)....
Learning levels (and not on sketchup pro) has proved to be the hardest intellectually and workflow challenge..... however I now feel slightly famous as “Aaron “ from Sketchup has actually replied to a comment/request!!!
Thanks UA-cam for making an old man feel like an impressionable and awestruck teenager again.
Now that’s geeky 😬 (and before anyone starts - it wasn’t meant in some weirdo kind of way! 😕 🤨🤔😐🙂😄
Teaching myself this program has meant investing hundreds of hours of practice and often watching UA-cam again and again and again in order for a point to sink in.... and then I go away for a few weeks and forget most of it....sigh. Sadly I don’t get that love of discovery each time. Ha.
But the familiar voice thing helps.....
I used to have a friend who would say, “Practice makes permanent!”
Very clear directions. Thank you very much!
Very interesting. I am looking forward to the next video
Nicolai Me too! I can’t wait to see what I do in that one!
It's a great start.
Next step I take is moving a corner (especially a stacking corner) over to the origin for aligning the next floor. After that some quick construction guides for the major walls, and start drawing rectangles.
SketchItReal All excellent ideas! Thanks!
I do this all the time, look forward to watching the whole thing.
Kyle Macht Great! Looking forward to seeing you next week!
Great run through. Looking forward to catching one of your talks at Basecamp!
Kim T Thanks! I’m currently working on my session “Skill Builder Live” for Tuesday morning. Should be a lot of fun!
Can you provide the reference image that you are using so i can easily follow along with this series plz?
What kind of mouse do you use, Aaron? The movement seems so smooth!
Very Helpful, thank you. As I follow along I noticed I could not designate length, the program was coming up with it's own dimensions.
Wow everything works like in the video.
in terms of accuracy, you're probably better off oversizing the image first and then scaling down, in a small image it's very difficult to accurately select a line with the tape measure and one pixel offset may make several mm of difference
I've been watching your videos for a while now as practice. Is there any way i can get that same image to work on?
Thank you man for sharing this stuff
Can you send links to import the same images that you are working on so that we can follow the training tutorial correctly
Thank you for making video on architectur plan
I really like your instructional videos. It would be very helpful if you can provide a link to the image you are using so I can try to duplicate your process! It's great to watch you do this stuff and you make it look so easy but for me, I need to do this myself in order to really learn this stuff. Using the same image would help point out what I could be doing wrong and why I am not getting the same results as you. Thank you!
Thank you for this tutorial.
In Window what format do you bring the image into Sketchup?
Great tips! Love the videos.
Hi, i love your channel, great work, very helpful.
As an idea of topic, i ve been experimenting with "re-using" existing designs (mainly from Thingiverse, for 3D printing), and most of the time, the conclusion is : it's faster to redesign from scratch (which is bad isn't it ?) !! Still recently i didn't want to redesign a thread... it was hell to accomodate the design (that needs to be "watertight" to be printable). If you had the opportunity to give some hints on this particular subject (re-usability), i think this could be a topic that would attract even more audience.
Excellent work really.
i personally prefer working with layers, lots of layers and using sections for the purpose of illustration of what the object actually looks like on the inside.
Resize model by tape measure it's realy cool! Thank you!
Lunower You are welcome!
This is great! Love it!
I don't suppose there is a video on how architects develop their floor plans in sketchup; Conventions for order of the development, grouping, grids, aligning floors etc.
Nice & clean!
I do this all the time Aaron, a good program to convert PDF to DWG.... “Back to Cad” free trial, but then it costs. If you don’t already know about it.
Why not just convert the pdf image to a cad dwg. Some great software for doing so.
Im very happy you have this content 😘
hansel aditya And we are very happy that you are very happy!
The border between the full lines and the dotted lines is the ground.
I build the basement in the dotted area, correct?
OK. Can I build the house completely from the basement foundation to the pebbles on the roof (bungalow)?
Incl. Stairs to the cellar.
Can I later expand the house with the complete property?
Front garden, terrace and garden. Maybe the street too.
What is the best software to create good 2D floor plans?
I only have hand-drawn on paper.
And no exact measurements. In the basement windows and doors are sometimes in the wrong place. In the hobby cellar there are three windows in the plan, real only two ;-). But I own a laser meter.
I would like to recreate it. With exact dimensions.
I like this video & I would like to see much more!!
Vince Baker Good to heat, because there is more coming!
Man, thanks. The bot works fine, but where do I get the names of the new tokens?
I like how you made the line and drawing then scaled it in a flash, is it possible to make a quick video just on that point please
I do it the long way more to the point the wrong way
Really enjoy your instructional videos
Thanks! We just so happen to have something like that: ua-cam.com/video/cfoQf_8YYxg/v-deo.html
Thank you ❤
The intro song is really good. Please use it in new 2021 videos
what if one wants to do the complete opposite of this series? IE, not making a model FROM a set of plans, but rather MAKING the plans themselves, such as the floor plan, adding in 2d components of fans, lights, smoke detectors, etc etc etc? Basically start from ground zero and make plans for a small house or office? Then moving it to layout for blueprints and documentation to hand off to construction workers:)
thanks
Would anyone else find these videos more useful if there was a display showing hotkeys and mouse-movements you guys are making
HELLO .... HOW IF I WANT TO DRAW THE 2D IN SketshUp AND I DON'T WANT TO IMPORT HOW CAN I START ?
Thanks for the video. So If I have my Mac laptop with Sketchup I can import a pdf straight in, then save the model, and then send it to my PC to work on?
I never thought of that solution, but, yes! Once imported, the graphic is stored as an image in the SKP.
Very excited to see this series of videos. I'm wondering how to import a pdf using a windows laptop? Thanks!
Unfortunately, SketchUp cannot import a PDF on windows (due to a lack of native PDF support in windows). Your best bet is to export the PDF as an image from a PDF editor.
@@aarondietzen2995 thanks so much!
hello aaron. you make beautiful videos. do you have the PDF file so we can follow, and learn,
tankx
Hey Aaron, Your skill building tutorials are awesome. I am self taught in SignLab (CAD), Adobe Phototshop, and feel a little ahead of the curve ball, now a beginner in your SketchUp Pro and Layout. Did I heard you mention in this tutorial that I can import cad drawings saved as a dxf ? I have several options to choose from which are line, polyline, spline, and poly arc. Any recommendations ?
Bruh
Very nice Aron! Thank you.
Any chance you do a video on how to setup your model for Unreal using the datasmith extension! I am currently working on this and I find my models not perfectly designed for this. Thanks again!
Willem Buiting I would love to spend some time learning more about the Unreal workflow... as of now, I will have to come to you for tips...
Can you provide this actual file to download and use, so I can have my students follow along? Thanks!
I can't (because I don't think that I saved them)... you could generate them easy enough (they were made from a single section, each floor) from this model, though... 3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/164b2f25-2295-4211-920a-b6e1b1e4c323/House
@@AaronMakingStuff Thank you Aaron!
@@allisonmcmath9306 Did you ever make those floor plans!? They would be a big help.
How do I find the Wavey style pattern to represent insulation quilt like loose lay loft insulation.
Thanks Aaron. Always great nuggets of info!
In terms of architectural workflow, I like to keep the majority of building design and CDs in SketchUp and layout. But at certain times I have to use AutoCAD.
You can import auto cad in to layout using the scale drawing tool, which is great. Is there a way to keep that AutoCAD drawing linked to layout? Even right click and reload would be wonderful.
I love layout sheets and want to keep everything in layout if possible.
Right now it looks like DWGs are imported, not referenced. Maybe that will be an improvement we will see in the future.
Aaron Dietzen. Got it!
I’d like to officially put my vote in for that improvement 😁. It’d be soooo helpful and keep everything in Layout
OK, how does a Windows user import a PDF? I've tried one of the highly-touted conversion programs, but it didn't work. My PDFs are simply scanned images of architectural drawings; they weren't produced by a CAD program.
Alas, until Windows gives us native support for PDFs, it cannot be done... There is an extension from John Brock (Estimator for SketchUp) that allows you to do this on Windows (estimatorforsketchup.com/downloads/pdf-importer/)
Aaron, what tool are you using to rotate and zoom the view of your model? Are you using a hardware 3d mouse (SpaceNavigator or similar)?
D Scott I use a SpaceMouse Enterprise from 3Dconnexion. It is a great way to navigate in SketchUp!
Thanks Aaron. I'll put one on my Christmas list.
Hi. Thanks for a very educational tutorial on SketchUp. Problem I’m having though...I can find anywhere to create layers. I use windows and have the newest version of SketchUp on trail version. Please assist. Thanks
In version 2020, Layers were renamed to Tags!
Many thanks for the info
thanks to you !
I can't import the PDF format in 2023 version, do you know why? Thanks
What's your operating system? At 1:40 Aaron says on Mac you can do a direct PDF import, while on Windows you have to convert it to a bitmap (e.g. JPEG, PNG) image.
OK, thanks! @@SketchUp
?Scaling? with a line and tape measure? That's a new one. Will have to give that a try.
It's a model-wide scale, meaning everything will get scaled. You would still want to use the scale tool to only scale specific geometry. At least that is how it is in my old 2016 version.
@@eKalb33 I saw that. More accurately, I meant to say "Its a new technique for me." Until recently I've been using the old Goo.. 8 version. :) Aka self taught for hobbies. Never considered the idea of using a line to scale the whole model. :D Thanks.
what software did you use to make the PDF drawing image? Was it done using cad or else?
The plan was made using SketchUp and LayOut!
Thanks for finding the time to reply. I tried layout but there is no eraser and the cut tool is difficult to use. There is not a single tutorial for the layout anywhere..
It looks like he can pan and rotate without using the mouse, any idea how to do?
That is due to the fact that I use a 3D mouse from 3dconnexion
I didn't know, thx man.
Hi, Is there a way to import a dwg and inherit the location that might come with that file, such as the Eastings and northings, I know you can import a map but that is with Lat Long, in the UK we use Eastings and northings to set out buildings not lat long, all other cad programs will do this, and when my builder asks for the corner locations its an easy job to just drop a point onto the corner and read the location and copy it to a spreadsheet. British location maps, the ordinance Survey maps that come as a dwg have this info.
Eastings and northings are new to me. Generally, you do not want to import world location, as that info is too big for SketchUp. The real solution is to import the dog to attain building geometry, and the geo locate the model to get specific location info.
Interesting reply, but the industry in the UK relies on Eastings and Northings to locate buildings, see this link getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/guides/beginners-guide-to-grid-references/, most surveyors use this globally, the use of Lat Long is not used simply because the lines of Longitude are not parallel and therefore bent making accurate setting out not that easy
I teach the subject at University and rely on most of the Modern CAD programs to import dwg files and geolocate the site, making the location of wall corners and lines of walls easy to establish and send to any surveyor, most use total stations to set out, the import of a simple spreadsheet, will give all the required info. I do not know of one that uses Lat Long. Hence my request for geo location using Eastings and northins
Prof Stephen J Scaysbrook
Stephen Scaysbrook I don’t know if this is what you need, I find Google Earth useful when it comes to converting lat long into UTM
You can do it through its settings. Otherwise there are plenty of online pages that can do the same
always import cad instead of pdf
Perfect....
Dig it!
Like it
Respect. You are great ~!
@@Skurczpoliczka not yet
Don’t sell yourself short!
Русского перевода не хватает🎶
О, русские тоже тут. Вы случаем не знаете как автор перемещается по модели? Не похоже, что мышкой.
im just kidding
booring