SketchUp News Archives

School Yourself in SketchUp

Posted on September 07, 2022February 09, 2024 by Lauren Donnebaum

You’re keen to get cracking with one of the world’s best-loved 3d design tools. But how do you learn SketchUp, and are there any handy SketchUp tutorials to play with? Luckily it’s actually really easy to learn SketchUp, and there are masses of excellent tutorials of every imaginable kind, all designed to help you hit the ground running. Many are created by a huge community of happy SketchUp users, providing intuitive and enjoyable ways to discover the magic of the software and everything it can do for you. In fact it’s such an easy tool to use that it’s perfectly possible to teach yourself SketchUp in no time, supported in every way by an abundance of cool online resources. By the end of this guide you’ll know exactly where to go for help, guidance, information, and inspiration. Here’s your expert guide into how to learn SketchUp online, free!

SketchUp Reseller Resources

Let’s start off with SketchUp Reseller Resources, often overlooked and well worth exploring. Did you know your UK Reseller is a treasure trove of essential insight? An authorised reseller is someone who has partnered with SketchUp and its distributors to make buying and using SketchUp as easy as possible. Our SketchUp Pro resellers are local experts who are delighted to provide consulting, training and support in your language and time zone, wherever you happen to be. Go direct to elmtec-sketchup.co.uk to discover more.

How to learn to use SketchUp in more detail? There’s also a top class support hub to tap into, where you’ll find all sorts of useful information about Getting Started on SketchUp. It covers everything from your SketchUp subscription to setting up your first Trimble account, SketchUp Technical Support, how to become a 3D modelling wizard, using Layout for SketchUp designs, extending into SketchUp plugins, and 3D modelling and rendering. The hub also contains a load of guides and articles into specific challenges, things like SketchUp for interiors, joinery and carpentry, students and much more. There are some FAQs about SketchUp Pro on the page as well, plus links to fast help via the SketchUp Community, SketchUp tutorials, and free trials.

SketchUp Campus

Next, let’s take a look at SketchUp Campus. What is SketchUp Campus? SketchUp Campus is an exciting in-depth learning hub packed with SketchUp-approved courses, all created by SketchUp’s team members to make learning convenient and simple. It’s good to know you can translate the SketchUp tutorials in there into more than 100 different languages.

The courses are a series of short videos and quizzes, designed to make learning easy and fun. Go to Campus to find out about rendering with Photoshop, Layout, and SketchUp Fundamentals. It’s all quick and simple. The quiz answers give you instant feedback, letting you see straight away where you need to improve. Take the courses at your own speed, do them again if you like, whenever you like. Track your progress, resume where you left off, stop and start whenever you feel in the mood or the need arises. It’s all there for you, clearly laid out.

All you do is sign in with your SketchUp login or Google account to choose a track and begin learning. Click here to sign up and get going, and sign in either with your SketchUp login or your Google account. The learning library is still growing, with new items coming on board, so you’ll be able to keep developing your skills. There’s something for everyone, whether you’re a newbie or an advanced user.

YouTube

YouTube is one of our most popular resources, packed with exciting SketchUp tutorials content in a visual format that many of us enjoy best of all. Click your way to the SketchUp YouTube Channel, search for detailed, in-depth guidance in the form of topics and tutorials, or grab yourself a handy Quick Win with a bite-sized video less than 90 seconds long, a pleasure to consume. Many of them will save you hours and hours of work in future. It makes sense since SketchUp is a visual tool – visual tutorials and lessons are unusually powerful in this context.

Take a look at our popular YouTube channel and explore a thrilling collection of video tutorials including Set Design from Netflix’s number one show THE SANDMAN Live!, How To Scale in SketchUp for iPad, Modelling a P-51 Mustang live, How to Push/Pull in SketchUp for iPad, and Woodworker DEFENDS Pocket Hole Design. There’s even a really good, clear video explaining Sketchup Layout.

Aaron from the SketchUp team shows you how to set up Scenes, Styles, and Sections and use Outliner to make it quick and easy to generate drawings in LayOut.

Udemy

There are some really cool SketchUp tutorials available from Udemy, like this one that details all the SketchUp tools used to model the extraordinary Barcelona Pavillion, available for £15.99, reduced from £59.99. It teaches you how to model your architecture, landscape, interior design or industrial design project from scratch to the finished design. It reveals the assignment of materials for subsequent rendering, and shows you how to create technical plans, elevations, sections and 3D images. You even learn how to create beautiful animations in video format, to display your work in an exciting interactive way.
You don’t need any prior knowledge about SketchUp. You get a full 5.5 hours of on-demand video, a downloadable resource, full lifetime access, access on mobile and TV, and a Certificate of Completion. And that’s just one of the SketchUp courses available on the platform.

SketchUp Community Forums

Head to the SketchUp Community Forum, a friendly and approachable place where you can ask a question of your own and get a fast answer. You can also search through a multitude of user questions by topic. All you do is sign up, log in, and take advantage of an enormous collection of forum subjects, from Optimising Cutlist Efficiency to Setting the Clipboard, Scan Essentials snap to section, Object Flickering problems, Clipping Bug functionality and more.

SketchUp Reddit Community

Reddit is another top resource for learning SketchUp. Almost eight thousand subscribers provide awesome tips, tricks, feedback and inspiring examples of designs to fire up your creativity, and there are 25.9K members at the time of writing. Right now the front page of the SketchUp Reddit community contains posts about how to convert an image to CNC design and convert an image to a 3D model in SketchUp, help creating topo surfaces from contour lines, SKP + Enscape, and GPS relative positioning.

SketchUp on social media

Once you’ve nailed the basics, there are loads of wonderful plug-ins and extensions to play with, designed to up your SketchUp game. Our SketchUp UK Facebook and SketchUp UK Twitter accounts are where you’ll find a collection of excellent video tutorials for SketchUp shortcuts, along with our pick of the best extensions, for example PlaceMaker and Profile Builder. This is where you can also tap into inspiring content about people and businesses using SketchUp to boost their workflow and their creativity. Now you know how to find the best SketchUp tutorials and how to learn SketchUp, what will you create first? Why not test drive SketchUp Pro here?

SketchUp Quick Reference Cards Crib Sheet

Posted on August 26, 2022December 16, 2022 by Lauren Donnebaum

Are you researching SketchUp pro quick reference cards? Not a problem – we have the info you need, and it’s all in this article. We’re going to take a good look at the SketchUp quick reference card 2022, your go-to resource for the latest version and perfect for printing. Read on to find out where to find SketchUp Quick Reference Cards, and exactly how to use the latest SketchUp pro quick reference card. Now’s when your 3D design life gets even easier, so let’s go. By the end of this article you’ll know the score.

What is the SketchUp Quick Reference Card

On-screen help is always useful. But sometimes, isn’t it just easier to reach for something you can pick up? The SketchUp Quick Reference Card, also called the QRC, is an easy-to-print guide for all the SketchUp tools and their modifier keys. We’ve created a range of them to make your SketchUp life better.

Use the SketchUp pro quick reference card collection to update your existing skills. Keep the relevant SketchUp quick reference card 2022 handy when you start using SketchUp and you’ll learn to model even more quickly and efficiently. Even advanced users find the insight they contain seriously useful. It’s clearly laid out and contains all the facts you need to make the most of the latest version of SketchUp.

What is in a SketchUp QRC?

A clear, attractive at-a-glance key to symbols in the Large Tool Set, Standard Views, and Dynamic Components
An easy-to-navigate list of Tools, Operations, and Instructions for a fast, smooth workflow

The information in the SketchUp pro quick reference card saves you time because you don’t need to click away from your design. It’s an instant reference you can literally put your hands on in a second. Keep things digital with bookmarks or print it out. Pin it up so the knowledge you want is in front of you whenever you need it. You can even frame it in a custom wood picture frame designed in SketchUp. Nice!

Keep this SketchUp cheat sheet handy through 2022

There are versions for Windows and Mac
We have reference cards for all SketchUp Pro versions – and for updates

· You can download QRCs for SketchUp Layout, too

Where to Find SketchUp Quick Reference Cards

You can download a PDF of the SketchUp quick reference card 2022 from this page:

· Another useful source for quick reference cards – including the Layout tool

Using SketchUp Quick Reference Cards

This quick-view crib sheet gives you all sorts of useful insight in seconds. The full-colour Toolset icons make identifying everything easier, and having them in front of you means they’ll sink into your consciousness fast. The sandbox terrain symbols, the standard view icons, and every other icon is clearly represented as it appears on your screen.

Most of us like to consume knowledge in more than one way, so it’s good to have a physical resource to refer to. It’s just as effective on-screen. This is great for learning the SketchUp interface.

If you’re staying digital, use the left of your mouse to Scroll, Click-Drag, Shift+Click-Drag, and Double-Click. And use the right of your mouse to Zoom, Obit, Pan and re-centre your view.

An example from the SketchUp quick reference card 2022

Let’s take the Line Tool as an example.

Alt: locks the current inference direction
Arrow keys: lock direction. up=blue, right=red, left=green, down=parallel/perpendicular
Length: specify the line length by typing a number followed by Enter

Can you see how useful this’ll be to your everyday design life? If you’re new to SketchUp, go here to download SketchUp Pro and here to explore our massive collection of tutorials.

Love for LayOut, SketchUp: An Introduction

Posted on August 05, 2022December 16, 2022 by Lauren Donnebaum

LayOut is one of the most underrated features in SketchUp, and we’ve always wondered why. If you’re not using LayOut, you’re missing out on a lot of potential!

2D drawings do get the job done when it comes to presenting work to clients. However, LayOut can make your design come to life by transforming SketchUp models into impressive diagrams, scaled prints, CD sets, and more.

Better yet, LayOut makes the presentation itself less nerve-wracking. This nifty tool even has intuitive presentation features so you can focus on your material, not on the logistics.

We want more people to see the value in LayOut, so we’re showing it some love in this post! Read on to find out what LayOut is, what it can do, and why it deserves a place in your design workflow.

What is LayOut

SketchUp is one of the best tools out there when it comes to creating 3D models. Still, creating an outstanding design is one thing. Having the collateral to show it off is another.

That’s where LayOut comes in – this brilliant tool was developed to help designers, architects, and other creatives communicate their work through detailed and beautiful 2D architectural documents. In other words, it takes your SketchUp models and turns them into presentation-ready 2D drawings, diagrams, prints, and more.

LayOut is built into SketchUp Pro, so you can’t use it without SketchUp. There’s no separate LayOut app, extension, or plugin.

That’s because they’re a team – SketchUp models and LayOut drawings work together to create stunning, comprehensive design documents.

LayOut Features

Once you start using LayOut in SketchUp, your days of wrestling with 3D models and trying to get them to look right in a 2D document are behind you.

Here are some of the features that make LayOut such an incredible design tool:

1. Automatic and dynamic updating

Every page you create in LayOut is connected in real-time to your SketchUp model.

So, if you make a change to your SketchUp file, it’ll automatically update in LayOut – no need to go in and make changes manually. It’s a massive time-saver, and you don’t have to worry that your LayOut documents are ever out-of-date.

2. Vector drawing tools

LayOut comes with a handy set of vector drawing tools. This means you can add text, dimensions, arrows, and other markups to your LayOut documents – all without having to leave the program.

This is also convenient during a presentation, when clients and other stakeholders might have questions or suggestions about your design.

3. Print and export HD documents

Once you’re done putting together your LayOut document, you can print it out in high resolution or export it as a PDF, image, or CAD file.

Every single detail in your design will be captured, so you can be confident that everyone who sees your documents will be seeing your best work.

4. Annotate and explain in real time

LayOut for SketchUp empowers you to present your work as dynamically as you design it. In addition, you can annotate it with whatever you need – materials, lineweights, dimensions, callouts, and more – to ensure that your designs are clear and easy to understand.

5. Produce construction docs

If you’re an architect or construction professional, LayOut was made for you. With its powerful tools and dynamic updating, you can easily create construction documents at each stage of the design process. No more missed details or out-of-date drawings – just accurate, reliable construction docs that everyone can understand.

As you can see, LayOut doesn’t just complement SketchUp. Instead, it amplifies its capabilities and creates a better experience for both you and your clients.

The LayOut SketchUp Interface

Aside from being helpful, LayOut also happens to be easy on the eyes. The interface is designed for intuitive use, so you can focus on your work and not worry about how to use the program.

Here’s a quick tour of the LayOut interface:

The Menu bar: This is where you’ll find most of LayOut’s available commands, including those for adding and arranging elements, navigating pages, and more.
The Default toolbar: You’ll find the most common design tools here, such as Select, Line, Text, Label, Erase, Style, Join, and Start Presentation.
The Document area: This part is where the magic happens – the Document area is where you SketchUp images and models go. After inserting them, you can then add dimensions, text, shapes, and anything else you need to create your final design.
Tray and Panels: If you look at the right side of LayOut’s screen, you’ll see panels that appear to be stacked on top of each other. These panels are how you access various options for fill, text and dimension styles, etc.
Status bar: At the bottom of LayOut’s window, you’ll see a gray box. This is the Status bar. On the bar’s left side are helpful tips for the tool you’re currently using. On the right, you’ll find the Zoom menu and the Measurements box. We recommend making a habit to glance at the Status bar every so often – it lets you know every time your document is autosaved by LayOut.
The Zoom Menu: Being able to zoom in and out is important when you’re working with detailed designs. The Zoom menu is how you do it in LayOut. Select your preferred zoom value from the menu or use one of the other zoom options, such as Zoom To Page, Zoom Selection, and more.
The Measurements Box: The Measurements box displays the coordinates for the current position of your mouse cursor, as well as the dimensions of any selected entity. You can also use the Measurements box to input specific values for entities, such as lines, rectangles, and polygons.

Those are the basics of the LayOut interface. To give you an even more personalized experience, LayOut developers even made it possible to customize the toolbar based on your workflow and preferences.

You can make the toolbar icons smaller or bigger, add your favorite commands to the LayOut toolbar, establish global preferences for backups, companion applications, startup templates, folder locations, and so much more!

Creating Documents in Layout

Are you ready to start creating in LayOut? Let’s take a quick look at how to create a new document in LayOut and how to insert a SketchUp model into the document you created:

To create a new LayOut document:

First, open LayOut. You’ll see the Welcome dialog box.
In the Welcome dialog box, you’ll be able to select a LayOut template.
Next, adjust document settings like orientation and paper size.
Once you’re happy with your settings, save your LayOut document.

To insert a SketchUp model into your LayOut document:

First, go to the LayOut document where you want to insert the SketchUp model.
Then, from the menu bar, select File > Insert.
After that, an Open dialog box will appear. Navigate to the file for your SketchUp model and click Open.
Next, after inserting the SketchUp model into your LayOut document, you can now start designing it to put the spotlight on the best features of your 3D models.
Need to update or change the SketchUp model? Simply go back to SketchUp, make your changes, and then update the model in LayOut. All your changes will be synced automatically!

Finally, it’s time to show off your work to the world (aka your clients). This is perhaps one of our favorite things about LayOut – it makes giving presentations a breeze!

You can present the design right from LayOut itself. Access this feature by selecting View > Start Presentation. You can also use the default toolbar and click on the Start Presentation icon.

Clicking either of these options will take your LayOut document full screen. Now you’re ready!

Play animations, navigate seamlessly between pages, and change the view of inserted SketchUp models – all with just a few clicks. In addition, you can control every aspect of your design, from the camera angles to the annotations, so you can be sure that your audience is seeing exactly what you want them to see.

Wrapping It Up

We’re excited for you to see how much LayOut can do for you. With its user-friendly interface, brilliant tools, and customisation options, we’re confident that LayOut will help you work smarter and have fun while you’re doing it.

Still have questions about LayOut? Watch our tutorial on Getting Started with LayOut!

Discover The Black Friday Magic Behind The SketchUp Scenes

Posted on November 23, 2021May 25, 2023 by Charlotte Lee

25% Off Your SketchUp Pro Subscription

From Thursday 26th November until Friday 3rd December 2021, you can receive 25% off your new SketchUp Pro subscriptions.

You Can also receive 20% off any new V-Ray for SketchUp subscriptions from 26th November to 29th November 2021.

As an early Christmas present on us!

This can be applied to new SketchUp Pro 1-year subscription or a 1-year V-Ray for SketchUp subscription when you contact one of our authorised resellers here. (Terms and Conditions Apply)

SketchUp Pro 2021

SketchUp Pro is 3D Modelling software that proves simple is powerful, offering the most intuitive way to design, document and communicate your ideas in 3D. SketchUp Pro has long been used by professionals in a range of industries – architecture, construction, engineering, landscape architecture, kitchen & bath design, urban planning, film & stage, and woodworking. SketchUp is the intuitive, all-purpose antidote to complicated, expensive CAD software.

Interoperability

SketchUp slots into any workflow and plays nicely with other design tools.

Extensibility

Extension Warehouse contains over 400 plugins that layer additional tools and features on top of SketchUp. Free and paid plugins are available for industry-specific workflows such as rendering and 3D printing. Elmtec sells a range of productivity and rendering plug ins such as V-Ray, Enscape, Skatter, and Profile Builder.

Present and Document

SketchUp Pro includes LayOut a powerful 2D illustration app for the creation of professional drawing sets, construction documents and screen presentations, all dynamically linked to SketchUp files.

Inferencing and Customization

Accuracy and speed plus personalization of any design project to make it your very own.

Why V-Ray For SketchUp?

Visualize designs in real-time

Now with V-Ray Vision, you can visualize your designs in real-time while you work in SketchUp. Move around your model, apply materials, set up lights and cameras—all in a live real-time view of your scene. And when you’re ready for photo quality renders, V-Ray is ready to go.

Lighting made easy

Adjust the lights in your scene even after you render. With Light Mix, once your scene is rendered, you can interactively adjust the brightness and colour of any light without having to render again.

Add randomness for realism

To create more realistic materials, new tools have been added that randomize textures and colours. The VRayUVWRandomizer lets you randomize texture coordinates and includes Stochastic Tiling that automatically fixes repeating textures. Built-in controls have also been added to the VRayMultiSubTex material to randomize colours.

Improved Sun and Sky model

Render your scene at the perfect light of magic hour. The Improved Sun & Sky model is more accurate, with a better-looking sunrise and sunset, even as the sun dips below the horizon.

Optimized V-Ray Core

V-Ray 5 is the fastest and best rendering experience yet.

New software architecture

Much faster scene loading and scene export thanks to the newly refactored V-Ray backend.

Post-process your renders right in V-Ray

V-Ray 5 features a new V-Ray Frame Buffer. With built-in compositing, you can make colour corrections, combine render elements and save them as pre-sets to be used in future—all without needing another app.

New layered V-Ray material

The V-Ray Material now includes built-in Coat and Sheen layers. Coat makes it easy to create materials with reflective coatings like varnished wood, and Sheen makes it easy to fabrics like silk, satin, and velvet.

Improved contour rendering

The global Contours control gives you more control over linework, making it easier than ever to give your renders an illustrative look.

Dirt and weathering

Give your SketchUp models a weathered look with the improved V-Ray Dirt texture. Add dirt and streaks anywhere—in corners or across entire surfaces.

New documented API

For developers looking to create and connect tools with V-Ray for SketchUp, there’s a new fully documented API to make it as easy as possible.

Send an email to sales@elmtec.co.uk for more information on 20% off V-Ray for SketchUp and/or 25% off a SketchUp Pro 1-year subscription.

SketchUp Pro vs SketchUp Studio

Posted on September 24, 2021December 12, 2023 by Charlotte Lee

It’s a question as old as time

(Well since SketchUp established in the year 2000), and one we are asked on a regular basis, so today, we are releasing our secrets and giving all you SketchUp users the 411 on our SketchUp licences and helping you to find out which one will sit your projects a head and shoulder above your competitors.

So, what’s the difference?

Both Pro and Studio are subscription offerings for professionals. They include our desktop modeler (SketchUp Pro), augmented and virtual reality viewing apps, 2D documentation, and more.

The main difference is that the Studio bundle includes the latest up and coming 3D Rendering software, V-Ray that combines real-time and photoreal rendering — all in SketchUp, and Scan essentials, Scan Essentials is an extension that adds a huge amount of value early on in your workflow because it lets you import, view, and model directly on point cloud data in SketchUp—accurately capturing the “as-built” condition of your project. It equips first-timers and pros to quickly turn rich point cloud data into accurate 3D models with ease through a variety of file formats (E57, RWP, LAZ, TZF, LAS, PLY).

SketchUp Pro:

The SketchUp Pro licence includes the premium online modeller (SketchUp for Web), Trimble Connect for Business, as well as the desktop applications; SketchUp Pro for Desktop, LayOut, PreDesign and Style Builder. The bundle also includes augmented reality features within SketchUp Viewer for iOS and Android and viewing apps for the following XR devices: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Microsoft HoloLens, and Windows Mixed Reality headsets.

What's included in SketchUp Pro?

LayOut

LayOut takes your 3D model into 2D space; it’s the tool for creating documentation from your SketchUp model.

PreDesign

PreDesign lets you enhance your design research before you even begin to model. Figure out daylighting, shading/glazing, outside spaces and architectural response.

Style Builder

Style Builder has one primary job: enabling you to create sketchy edge styles from your own images.

SketchUp Web

SketchUp Pro’s desktop client modeller; all you need is an internet connection and your creativity.

3D Warehouse

Find a 3D model of just about anything and import it straight into your own model.

Extension Warehouse

SketchUp extensions are add-on tools that solve 3D modelling problems which can seriously supercharge your workflow.

Support

You’ll get all the help you need with any installation and technical questions that may arise.

Trimble Connect

The Trimble Connect extension for SketchUp provides direct access to projects, models, and other features of the Trimble Connect platform.

SketchUp Campus

SketchUp Campus is a unique, in-depth learning hub with SketchUp-approved courses, to make learning SketchUp convenient and simple.

Mobile Viewer

Wherever you are – so are your models. Access your models from 3D Warehouse, Trimble Connect and Dropbox.

Mixed Reality (XR) Viewer

Designed to support the ever-expanding list of mixed reality headsets offered by Microsoft and its partners, SketchUp Viewer for Windows Mixed Reality can be installed from the Microsoft Store.

Viewer for VR

Brings your projects to life in VR, supporting Oculus Rift, HTC VIVE and Vive Pro headsets.

SketchUp Studio Features:

SketchUp Studio is for design teams that want to advance their workflows. Draw in 3D, import and model on point cloud data, generate hi-res photoreal renders, and share your designs. Windows only.

V-Ray 5 and Scan Essentials are now included in your SketchUp Studio subscription. Start your project off by importing and modelling on robust point cloud data and finish it using incredible, high-quality renders.

A SketchUp Studio subscription is assigned to one individual and can only be used by that registered user. It cannot be shared between colleagues. The individual can authorise their subscription on two computers that they use – but can only use one at a time (typically a work computer/desktop and a laptop).

To access your subscription, you must sign in with Trimble ID. Each user account can only be associated with one individual person. You cannot create a generalised user account that is shared by more than one person. This is what we refer to as a “named user”.

Get Started with SketchUp

Are you the kind of user who likes to know about every method of creating drawings in SketchUp, or are you someone who prefers to take the simplest route? Whatever your style, this guide to drawing a spiral staircase in SketchUp gives you everything you need. Why not visit our download page and download a free 7 day trial copy of SketchUp Pro to play with? You might also appreciate our vast library of training resources and tutorials. You can check out the difference between SketchUp Free and Pro here.

SketchUp 2021: Building a Foundation for Success

Posted on November 17, 2020July 14, 2023 by Lauren Donnebaum

This unprecedented year has changed the way we live and work as the pandemic shut down our lives and forced us to stay at home. Like many of you around the world, we used this time to tackle projects we’ve been meaning to do for months (or years?) and were reminded of the importance of setting yourself up for success at the start of a project with a solid foundation.

Today, we are pleased to introduce a major update to SketchUp Pro with a number of improvements to help you tackle complicated projects, work efficiently, get more done, and succeed in new forms of creation. This major update of SketchUp Pro includes new tools and features, innovations, improvements, and time-savers that help you with all the unique challenges of this past year and beyond.

To start, SketchUp’s full suite of products have a fresh new look. The best part? You can finally model the logos in 3D. Get to know the new SketchUp logos!

Speaking of a new look, this new version introduces an architecturally-trained, Nigerian mother of twins as the scale figure to SketchUp Pro 2021: Sumele Aruofor. A Strategic Marketing Manager at Trimble, she knows a thing or two about the importance of starting a complicated project on a strong foundation. Say hi to Sumele when you open the new version, and get to know her a little better.

Now that we’ve settled into SketchUp’s new and improved exterior, it’s time to get to know the new features. SketchUp 2021 brings you a brand new, climate-savvy way to start designs, better model organization, and smart, configurable objects. The latest SketchUp version solidifies the groundwork of your most complicated AEC projects. Let’s get to know all the SketchUp 2021 updates.

A new way to start SketchUp

As AEC professionals we strive for a reality where every addition to the built environment works in harmony with the natural surroundings. This synergy requires a comprehensive understanding of a site’s context before plans are drawn. That’s where PreDesign comes in. This brand new climate research tool helps you to understand the local environment surrounding your project before you start modelling in 3D.

“Although SketchUp is a fantastic way to develop ideas in 3D, we are continuously exploring new capabilities and see tremendous value in making it easy for our users to include design research in their pre-design workflows,” said Andrew Corney, PE, M.CIBSE, M.ASHRAE, Product Director at Trimble. “With PreDesign, we’re providing designers with the insights they need to take a truly holistic approach to creating suitable design strategies and communicating value to their clients.”

Pulling site-specific weather data, PreDesign suggesting appropriate architectural responses for your project. Intuitive sun path diagrams show you the areas of your site that need to be shielded from overheating sun. And it doesn’t just flag the issues; PreDesign suggests effective glazing, shading, and top-lighting strategies for each face of your building. Talk about getting things right from the start.

“PreDesign provides useful information that we need to position our projects for better design outcomes from the very start,” said Adam Osterhoff, principal architect at HeartwoodStudio. “Its compelling visual outputs and intelligent talking points also help us clearly communicate the value of our proposals to clients.“

PreDesign is here to enhance your design narrative with meaningful climate observations while alleviating some of the heavy-lifting from your workflow. By getting things right at the start, you’ll avoid wasting your precious design time and resources, and avoid costly rework. The forecast is sunny with PreDesign, see for yourself.

Improved Tag Management

We know managing long lists of tags and scenes can be overwhelming—particularly with complex models. That’s why we’re helping you stay organized with Tag Folders in SketchUp Pro and LayOut. Whether you use tags to set up models for design scenarios, documentation, reporting, or visualization, we think you’ll find it a lot easier to locate and work with tags when you start grouping them in folders. You can also control the visibility of all tags in a folder at once to turn on and off large chunks of your model.

We didn’t stop there. Filtering tags is finally possible in SketchUp! You can now quickly zero in on a specific tag. And if your tags are organized with a naming convention, you can quickly filter on your prefixes to select similar tags and organize them in a folder.

Ultimately, we want to ensure that your workflow is operating at peak performance with the utmost control and agility. Which brings us to our next exciting announcement for SketchUp’s 2021 updates…

Introducing Live Components in SketchUp

Do you dream of building models that are robust and flexible enough to react to design changes? We do! There’s no doubt that a successful model is one that can easily accommodate iterations and allow for rapid change. In SketchUp 2021, SketchUp is introducing parametric objects that do just this; they’re called Live Components.https://elmtec-sketchup.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/livecomponentsracking.webmProgrammed with modeling logic that controls their geometry, Live Components are configurable objects that re-draw themselves in real-time. What does this actually mean? Using Live Components with the 2021 SketchUp update allows for greater project scalability and benefits a wide range of use cases including architectural configuration, interior design, as-built modeling, space planning, and rapid iterations of concept or aesthetic. https://elmtec-sketchup.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/livecomponentstable.webm

Live Components can be found in 3D Warehouse and are now available for you to download and configure right in SketchUp with SketchUp’s latest version. For detailed steps on finding Live Components in 3D Warehouse from inside the SketchUp application, click here.

Once you’ve selected a Live Component, you can insert it directly into your model where you can control the component’s parameters in the ‘Configure Live Component’ dialog. As you adjust parameters, the Live Component will redraw itself to fit your needs. Check out our Skill Builder showing you all the steps you need to bring Live Components into your workflow.

Let SketchUp’s new Live Components do some heavy lifting for you: customize dimensions and sizes for repeated object use; quickly add rich context and make adjustments in real-time to produce more detailed designs in less time; or rapidly iterate large sets of components all at once as project requirements change.

Behind the scenes, Live Components are driven by a new computational design platform called Materia. Going forward, Materia and Live Components will unlock whole new ways of working in SketchUp and across Trimble products. This launch is only the beginning for Live Components. We are still actively working on improving their performance and usability, as well as developing more objects for you to use in modeling.

A new way to launch work-in-progress features with the latest SketchUp version

SketchUp is launching Live Components early as part of a new program called SketchUp Labs, so that your feedback can be incorporated into the product development process. We encourage you to join us in the forums for discussions on the future direction of Live Components, or provide feedback if you encounter issues.

Here’s to a solid start for 2021 with new SketchUp updates

Download the latest version to see everything that’s new in your favourite apps.

Last chance to buy SketchUp Perpetual Licenses

Posted on June 22, 2020July 14, 2023 by Lauren Donnebaum

Today, Trimble announced a big change to how customers will be able to purchase SketchUp products – see the official announcement here.

As of November 4, 2020, SketchUp will no longer sell Classic Perpetual Licenses and Maintenance & Support renewal plans. SketchUp is transitioning to subscription-based products, which offer customers a range of options including a SketchUp Pro subscription – featuring one of the most affordable professional modellers on the market.

SketchUp is shifting to a cloud delivery model for a few reasons. With a subscription, customers can always receive regular updates and improvements to SketchUp products, access from multiple devices at any time and enjoy simplified deployment and management as well as access to technical support.

If you aren’t ready to stop using your Classic Perpetual License, don’t worry. You’ll be able to continue using the latest version you own. In addition, if you’d like to update your Classic Perpetual License, you can do that until November 4th, 2020.

Please be advised: if you purchase an updated Classic Perpetual License or renew your Maintenance & Support license prior to November 4, 2020, you will no longer be able to upgrade and access additional features every year as you have in the past.

We know you probably have questions, here are answers to the top three most frequently asked and a handy guide for more detailed information.

Can I continue to use my existing perpetual licenses?

Yes, you will be able to use the latest version you own for as long as you want.

Can I continue to use and renew my Maintenance and Support plan for my existing perpetual license?

Yes, you can renew your Maintenance and Support plan until November 4, 2020.

How will I be able to purchase SketchUp products after November 4 when perpetual licenses are no longer available?

The SketchUp you know and love will be available via a subscription.

More questions? Contact us and we’ll be happy to help you understand these changes along with any other product questions you may have.

Just remember, November 4, 2020, is the deadline for purchasing SketchUp perpetual licenses and maintenance and support renewals.

Chaos Cloud – Chaos Cloud Rendering

Posted on November 26, 2019July 14, 2023 by Lauren Donnebaum

Now, cloud rendering is built right into V-Ray. And it’s as easy as pushing a button.

There’s no hardware to configure and no virtual machines to set up. Simply click render and Chaos Cloud takes care of the rest. It handles everything for you automatically – from licensing and uploading your scenes to launching virtual machines – so you get your job done. Fast.

Turn your computer into a supercomputer

What if you could render an animation in the time it takes to render a single frame? Now you can.

With Chaos Cloud, you now have your own personal supercomputer. And it scales with you for any job that comes your way.

Render while you work

Keep creating. Keep designing. Let Chaos Cloud do the rendering so you can keep working.

And you can render multiple jobs at the same time. Because you’ve got more important things to do than wait.

Key Features

Smart Sync

Chaos Cloud automatically uploads exactly what it needs to render. And whenever your scene is updated, it only re-syncs the data that’s changed — keeping your upload times to the absolute minimum.

Live View

Watch your image or animation’s progress as it happens, from anywhere on any device. As soon as you submit a job, you can monitor the rendering from your computer, tablet or even your smartphone.

Remote Control

Adjust your job settings in the Chaos Cloud dashboard without having to resubmit your scene.

Smart Vault

Chaos Cloud stores your projects in the cloud, including assets, so you only need to upload them once.

To learn more about V-Ray Next for SketchUp, visit here.

To start with 20 free credits for Chaos Cloud, head over to the Chaos Group portal.

How to showcase interior design projects with SketchUp

Posted on November 18, 2019July 14, 2023 by Lauren Donnebaum

In part 1 of this series, we revealed how to create winning interior design options in SketchUp. Now that you’re finished modelling, what’s next?

We show you how to present your vision to customers and blow them away with your designs. Pssst…sign up to watch a live demo of this workflow in the upcoming webinar.

A SketchUp Pro subscription includes a powerful ecosystem of products to help you communicate your creations. Let’s explore!

Add custom Styles to your design

Adding your personal style is an important part of showcasing designs. StyleBuilder allows you to create customised line styles using imported digital or hand drawn strokes. Think crisp pen lines, wavy pencil marks or marks from a fat stick of graphite. Combine line styles with unique textures, colours and watermarks to inject your creative flair into models, renders and animations.

In SketchUp, you can create and edit styles. Apply your preferred style settings with a single click.

Create stunning 2D drawings and branded presentation documents

Now that you’ve added a style, it’s time to insert the model into LayOut. When you import a 3D model, a viewport is placed on the page. Good news, the scenes you set up in your SketchUp file are ready to use in LayOut.
Combine model views with text and 2D vector illustration to present design details, materials and design options. Many of the tools in LayOut work as they do in SketchUp. That means you can quickly get to drawing, resizing, adding details, making copies and changing styles and scale.

Present your ideas with SketchUp Viewer

Are printed drawings or a pdf the only way to showcase your work? Of course not! SketchUp Viewer for Mobile gives you the power to view and share your portfolio on iOS and Android devices. Take advantage of Augmented Reality to evaluate design options in real-world scale. Switch between scenes to showcase designs on the go while retaining your model’s style.

Model on the go with SketchUp for Web

Not all CAD tools are fully editable on the web, SketchUp is! Handy if you need to make on-the-fly changes when you’re away from your desktop computer. Let’s say you’re in a meeting at a client’s office and they want to see a project with a revised furniture layout. Open a model to SketchUp for Web directly from Trimble Connect on any web device to make the changes in real-time. Save the file to Trimble Connect for easy access back at the office.

Create rendered images with Trimble Connect visualizer

We’ll wrap this up with something that we are very excited about. Rendering! With a SketchUp Pro Subscription, you can create simplified renders using Trimble Connect for Desktop and the brand new Trimble Connect Visualizer. Note: this feature is currently available for Windows only.

Step into AR/VR to experience designs before they’re built

Do you have access to a VR or Mixed Reality device? If your answer is yes, you can bring 3D models to life in mixed or virtual reality. Step into a powerful new way to explore, understand, and share your work. The best part? It’s part of a SketchUp Pro Subscription.

The Best of Blocktober: 2019

Posted on November 04, 2019July 14, 2023 by Lauren Donnebaum

October. It’s a great month for many reasons – an extra hour of sleep when the clocks go back, trick or treating, and pumpkin spice beverages a go-go. On Twitter, it’s great for another reason. Level designers on games big, small, and everywhere in-between begin to show off what their creations looked like before the artists came in and took the clever and made it all pretty. It’s a great chance to look at how some of your favourite games are made and get a real sense of how much is taken for granted as these designers meticulously build and ‘block’ out the levels.

Blocktober is a companion trend to Inktober (where artists show off daily sketches to celebrate all things hand-draw) and highlights that there’s no less artistry involved when designing virtual landscapes.

Once again, the range of talent exhibited by level designers using SketchUp for Blocktober bowled us over. As an aside, the community these designers have are among the most supportive, collaborative, and fun out there! Here’s a few of our favourites.