While I find PlusSpec to be quite good it does have a couple issues with the ease of doing construction drawings.
The scenes provided are okay but adding hatching or colours must be done in Layout. Which is not ideal if a later (large) change/s is made to the model as the Layout then needs amending as well
I prefer to add colours to the Sketchup model. Such as red for a new wall in a renovation or black for a structural wall, etc.
I recall you have mentioned a tutorial or two on preparing a PlusSpec model for transferring to layout.
How is this progressing? While I’m fairly proficient in Layout and Sketchup a few pointers for using with a PlusSpec model would be great.
Also I like Sketchup’s brick texture/material. What is a quick way to add this to the PlusSpec Wall tool rather than using the other coloured faces like the 110 red brick?
I’ve played around a bit with adding it as a new wall but doesn’t seem work that well. I may have done something wrong.
You can apply any texture or colour you like to the “In Built” PlusSpec materials.
One way is to simply use the “Edit” panel in the Sketchup material dialog box and edit the relevant PlusSpec material. You will find the materials in the “In Model” section of the Material dialog.
Thanks for the feedback.
That is what I have been doing but if I edit the wall such as add a door it reverts back to the old setting…
I do a lot of renovation & addition work so the model may need a bit of tweaking after the client has seen the initial concept plan.
To then amend a window or door size, then to change the texture back to Sketchup’s, etc. it’s painfully annoying.
I’m sure the BIM part (which I don’t need at the moment) of PlusSpec is quite good but the architectural part for building design has some annoying bugs unfortunately.
I’m hoping the boffin’s at PlusSpec can sort out the design part and get it up to speed as it may then give the likes of Revit, ArchiCAD, etc a big run for their money.
Yes, changing an existing PlusSpec material but then editing the wall with the wall tool will cause it to revert back to the original PlusSpec texture.
Best solution here is to then create your own material using the “Create Material” button within the PlusSpec material section. I just did a test with the brick wall using a built in Sketchup Texture (Brick_Antique_1) and it works well. The key is to ensure the texture is scaled correctly. You do this by giving it dimensions in the set up area.
A good way to ensure you get the dimension accurate is to create a fixed size test plane in Sketchup based on the “Tile Size” of 2000m x 500mm… this is the size that PlusSpec shows you a “tiled” version of the texture you are creating. Then when you size your new texture in the set up area use a vertical or horizontal measurement that gives you a tiled view matching the test plane in Sketchup.
This is one of these things that is a lot quicker to do than to try and explain in words. Once you’ve done it a couple of times it’s a breeze.
A point to note here though is that “legally” you probably shouldn’t use a built in Sketchup Texture to do this. You’ll note that before you can use the “create” your material in the PlusSpec web based area you have to agree you have the legal right to use the texture. In the case of reusing a Sketchup texture you don’t actually have the right to use it to create your own materials. I’m sure PlusSpec asks you to confirm you have the right to use the material as it is being created and stored on their servers and they will not want to incur any breach of copyright issues.
In reference to your other points, rest assured… I know Andrew and his Team are “On a Mission” to make PlusSpec a real competitor to “the big boys”. What they have achieved over the last year or so is a real credit to them and the tools just get better with each release.
Zorro is on the money here. By using the “create material” button you are able to create 2D hatching that can be used for construction drawings. Getting the dimension accurate is important, so using the tiled preview on the right is important to look at to make sure you are happy with the sizing.
We are upgrading PlusSpec all the time and the latest updates show just how much of a mission we are on. We are trying to make PlusSpec suited for everyone. I will take your comments in Matt and bring it up with the other guys. Do you have any suggestions on what you would like PlusSpec to incorporate to help you design.
In regards to your PlusSpec to layout video tutorial, it is coming very soon and I recommend everyone watch the video.