World Maker Faire, New York City, here we come.

We always say that SketchUp is at its best when modeling real things, especially when the modeling happens before the making. The thing is, there’s no penalty for screwing up in SketchUp; heck, mastering SketchUp screw-ups might just be the best way to learn 3D modeling.

So there’s a special place in our heart for folks out there who use SketchUp to design and make things. These are modelers who routinely demonstrate an utter disregard for screwing up. Instead, they embrace trying again, figuring it out, solving for, and sometimes just rolling the dice.

This weekend, we’re thrilled to be trekking out to New York City for World Maker Faire. In our second year as a Maker Faire sponsor, we’re looking forward to celebrating the projects of SketchUp modelers, and learning about countless other tools that people use to make ideas real.

World Maker Faire, here we come!

Are you heading to Maker Faire this weekend? Whether you’ve sawed, soldered, open-sourced, or 3D-printed a project you’re proud of, we want to hear about it. Need help with a tricky SKP? With the help of our friends at MakerBot, we’ll be 3D-printing models-in-progress all weekend. Looking to meet like-minded makers? Sync up with other SketchUp modelers heading to Maker Faire. Just exploring Maker Faire for fun? Stop by the SketchUp booth and say hi; we’ll be screwing up and figuring it out all weekend.

Posted by Mark Harrison, SketchUp Marketing

Modeling SketchUp roofs on a click with Build Edge PLAN

If you’ve ever taught someone to use SketchUp, you’ve probably drawn the basic SketchUp house and then breezed over the details when it comes to detailing the roof. The truth is that designing roofs is not always a straightforward task, even for experienced modelers.

We’ve explored some solutions for boosting roof design productivity on this blog, and today we’re happy to share a new plugin, Build Edge PLAN, that employs a bit of BIM for quickly creating dynamic walls and roofs. Here’s a quick look at how it works, courtesy of Aaron from Build Edge:

If you couldn’t sit still for the video, here’s the skinny: Build Edge PLAN plugin makes it easier to...

Draw Walls: Rather than outlining walls in a 2D view, and using Push/Pull to extrude them to full height, PLAN can draw complete 3D walls based on your desired dimensions. Each wall can be input as quickly as drawing a single line.

Edit Walls: Even if you are precise when it comes to grouping objects and creating components, modifying walls in an existing structure can be a trying process. With walls created by BuildEdge PLAN, you can move one wall, and all of the attached walls (not to mention the roof) will stretch to stay connected.

Model Roofs: Modeling a pitched roof in 3D is not a straightforward task. Properly projecting surfaces so that they intersect each-other to form a proper roof is time consuming, and if you want to model for framing, including proper heel heights and overhang geometry can be a challenge. BuildEdge PLAN simplifies the process by generating roof geometry from a simple roof outline. Just specify the slope and heel geometry of each side of the roof, and the plugin does the heavy lifting. PLAN also lets you set properties of each roof side individually, so there is plenty of wiggle room for customization.

Roof Creation in Build Edge PLAN: Roofs are created by outlining their profile; selecting individual sections allows for customization

Edit Roofs: Since BuildEdge PLAN recognizes walls and roofs as they are input, you can modify the house as a whole, and move walls or change properties of a roof on the fly. This allows you to quickly change the look of the entire house or any individual properties. For instance, switching from a hip to a gable is literally a single click.

Currently, Build Edge PLAN is only available for PC (a Mac version is in the works). The folks at Build Edge have some quick tutorials to get you going and are pretty great about helping modelers to get the most out of their plugin; give it a try, and the next time you teach someone SketchUp, don’t skimp on the roof.

Posted by Mark Harrison, SketchUp Marketing

SketchUp gets a warm welcome in China

In mid-July of this year, intrepid world travelers John, Shara and Steve headed east to join Sophie Feng (one of our newest SketchUp team members) on a mission to learn more about folks in China are using our software. Here's a travelogue that Sophie put together to describe the trip.

When a journey begins, you generally have no idea how it’s going to end. The small talk that seems insignificant turns into a great inspiration. The strangers from another country you only knew by name become your friends, while the colleagues you just met become your family.

In June, we talked by Skype about a trip to visit SketchUp users in China, planned it, then worked toward making it happen. Despite that, I doubt my dear colleagues knew how long it was going to be until we were sitting in a prestigious architectural firm the first day they arrived in Shanghai.

July 9th: Shanghai EC Architectural Design & Planning Co. Ltd.

Users presented to us how they use SketchUp in their workflow. They showed off their design skills by making a beautiful SketchUp animation for us. A local government official also was invited to join the "SketchUp Dialogue".

John really enjoys drawing on the wall.

July 10th: Better SketchUp, Better Design at the Shanghai Salon

Many designers, mostly young, came to the event filled with hope. They were enthusiastic, intelligent, idealistic, and joined us from all over China (Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, etc.) One interior designer even came all the way from Taiwan to share his SketchUp ideas with us.

Our users tell their stories one by one.

We were curious as to how these young designers use SketchUp for such large projects, which are actually fairly common in China. One thing that was very important to all those at the salon: They really want to make sure that SketchUp would not change too much after the transition from Google to Trimble. One of the most impressive presentations of the day was a local developer's "BIM for SU”. One of our users developed a series of plugins for SketchUp that completed a specific BIM workflow.

On a yacht in Huangpu River, Shanghai. From left: 王韶宁 wang shaoning, developer (Beijing); Steve Dapkus; 潘毅 Panyi, Landscape Architect; 钟凡 Zhongfan, SketchUp-BIM user (Guangzhou); John Bacus; 陈建良 Chen jianliang, interior designer; 刘新雨 Liu xingyu, Urban Planner (Beijing).

July 10th & 11th: Wuhan

This was our first visit to a famous Chinese university: HUST (Huazhong University of Science & Technology) is the only institution to offer a Masters degree for BIM qualification in China. Professor Luo (the College President) told us that there were 8,000 construction sites in Wuhan last year. There's no doubt that BIM has a great opportunity in China, as does SketchUp’s role in a BIM workflow. My colleagues John, Steve and Shara found themselves feeling hopeful at this leg of the trip, against all odds due to jet lag, 43 degree Celcius heat and 90% humidity.

As the first national research Lab in China, HUST is glad to get new ideas from SketchUp as a BIM tool. In the afternoon, another interesting salon was waiting for us.

Our new friends shared lots of interesting thoughts with us. Shara looks better after she's had some coffee.

July 13th: Guangzhou

On our way to Guangzhou University, The U-BIM Company prepared a BIM and SketchUp conference for end users in Guangzhou. John added that “Maybe SketchUp is BIM for everyone” in his slides, and added that “SketchUp can do more than just visual representations." digitalarch, a SketchUp user in Taiwan, had explained this notion for us at the Shanghai salon.

We look fresh today. We are standing at the entrance of Guangzhou University.

SketchUp users always have a way of expressing their thoughts; a designer who is also a professional rapper told us he would write a Chinese rap for SketchUp. What a brilliant idea! I know it's been a long trip—10 days, 3 different cities, and my American colleagues were all anxious to get back to their sweet families. Let’s end our long trip with a poem written by Chen ling 陈玲, a young Shanghai landscape designer. When he told us that he believes that SketchUp changed his life and career, I saw his eyes light up.

Chen ling is a very talented designer. Look at the scale of these models!

Poem: Gratitude for SketchUp by Chen ling 陈玲

Translation:

Have been working in designing after leaving school
So lucky I met you—SketchUp in October 2004
You change my career
Because of you, I seize more opportunities.
Because of you, I am one of the youngest writers who can publish the book about you.
You give me so much, so much wonderfulness
You bring me so much, so much glory
Thanks a lot

Posted by Sophie Feng, SketchUp China Team