SketchUp for Construction Documentation: Plan Template

so Sketch up templates are something I use for all of my model types the two main models that I do are actually the plan model and the site model you can see here in my folder of Sketchup standards I have a folder labeled templates and in project base file templates these show you each type of file that I use so I have one which is the base home model which is done as the project plan I have a template for the site plan for all which is basically the whole site with the project plan referenced into it and then I have some secondary ones that I've mentioned before that I do keep separate just for complexity like these sections the reflected ceiling plan in the interior elevations I have specific reasons for doing that with regards to complexity you don't necessarily have to do with it but for me it makes a lot of sense and keeps things a lot cleaner as an example here I'll show you what a blank template looks like this is a blank project plan template and when you open it it already has two section planes in it which are cut through and set to an approximate height differential between first and second floor about three to four feet above the floor finish sometimes you have to vary that move them around to position them so you can capture more openings for instance if you have high clerestory windows you might want to be able to capture some of those but they are set up pretty well in a good distance that works for most projects I also have each one of the scenes save that I will generate a scene for layout so it will be looking at the elevations floor plans and roof plan for this type of file you'll notice in the layers it's a pretty simple layout with a higher hierarchy of a level system so it has foundation first floor second floor and roof then there are objects and special layers that are all contained within these other groups that are on these layers so I can control them individually or globally with the level layers and those are objects like cabinets floors and walls furniture lights patio setback trim and then I have a couple of special layers that are either for gathering information like calculating area or line work which is generated to vector render into layout so I'm going to switch now to a plan that is already in one of these templates and I'm going to show two versions of it this is a schematic design of a house you can see it's still set up in this layering system and you have control over the different elements very simple globally with the level layers in this case I've generated a second floor roof layer and you can really only determine if you need to do that after you've generated your section and position your section correctly sometimes you need to do that so you don't see some part of us a roof layer that obscures another part of the floorplan that's really on a case-by-case basis but same with cabinets floors and walls things like that are all set on these different layers you'll notice there is a site layer which is the setback layer I always import that directly from the site so I'm well aware of where the building's position is relative to any setbacks on the property it's also what I use to position the home in the site model you can see here each one of these images are saved during the schematic design I use a more sketchy style helps the client think they have a little bit more flexibility which of course they have more than they realize even though the plans look somewhat finished so as you go through each one of these you'll see what the relationship of each one of these elements are North elevation East elevation all of these are already preset and set up now you can adjust them you know based on your screen or what-have-you but it really doesn't matter once you have them organized one of the key elements that's important in Sketchup in scenes and this applies to any type of Sketchup scene is that you have alignment so you want to make sure that your Sketchup view matches for each floor plan so that the second floor plan overlays directly over that floor plan it becomes a great factor for speeding things up and layout and I just notice my roof plan actually does have the section line cut so I need to update that on the Slayer which is very simple I took the set section cut off going to update it but I going to ask me if I want to create a new scene and I'm going to save that as a new style the reason that is this way is in the schematic design phase I typically don't show the client a roof plan that happens as the project developed further so I'll show you that where this project goes as each phase occurs or any changes occur I always save different versions of the plans so we can always go back if the design changes this one is the first shot at the design we are actually on the final which only took three and you can see here there's a lot more detail and so in this case I don't use a sketchy style anymore I use a more refined style and in this phase I also show all the furniture so we know how things fit all the floors are aligned there's a lot more detail on the project I'll just click through each one of the views real fast so you can see how they relate to each other roof plan as well as all the elevations are much further refined you can see there's a lot of detail as far as trim not only on the windows and doors but on corner boards as well as the foundation shown to its actual depth as well as footings and this has more detail like these knee braces here the stone Wainscott shown with actual thickness to it as opposed to just a blank material continuing around and so again all of these elements work really well with a simple system of scenes and layers to be able to document a home quickly

Channel: SketchUp

Views: 136,761

Rating: 4.901566 out of 5

Keywords: SketchUp, 3D modeling

Id: jK8lusVdHTQ

Length: 6min 12sec (372 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 08 2015