So I have completed my first “Project” in sketch up using the PlusSpec plugin. Overall very impressed but I did have a few suggestions. Please note I’am new to sketchup so I apologies if any suggestions seem uninformed or if there are already solutions to what I suggest.
Fascias - Would be a nice touch to have a fascia tool that runs around the roof.
Framing/Walls - One thing I find frustrating is when I turn the wall framing on, I can see the framing through the walls. Some sections views I want to be able to take a section through a wall showing framing and not seeing it through the plaster in other places other than the section. I can understand that you want to maintain the 90mm stud wall dimension, but it would be great if the plaster was represented as a 3D solid on its own layer that can be turned on and off. ArchiCAD does this I believe.
Solid Modelling - This may just be a sketchup thing, but it would be good if everything was created as a solid. So, once again, if I take a section it looks more realistic, rather than having hollow timber members.
Slab - More features would be great. Such as reo, control fill and water proof membrane.
Room Labelling - A tool that is similar to the 3D text Icon that labels the room, provides the area and labels the floor finish.
Making Surface Finishes Open Source - It would be awesome to be able to have an online shared library that people can upload their surfaces to.
Multi-select Wall Skillion - Essentially select all the walls at once an specify a roof pitch that updates everything correctly in one hit, rather than doing each one individually.
Roof Truss - Probably the biggest one as nearly every house these days utilizes roof trusses.
Anyway, looking forward to using this software more and seeing it develop!
Great to hear that you were able to complete your first project using PlusSpec. That is fine we understand that you are new and may have not known about a few things. Thank you for your suggestions and feedback, there were a few questions that can already be done you just weren’t aware but now you are and we can both benefit.
The fascia is automatically added when you draw a roof. Were you after a stand alone Fascia tool?
Being able to turn the plaster into 3D or 2D is something already on our list for the future and you will enjoy the way it will be set up.
This is just the way that SketchUp models. It is very simple and easy to make the section look like a solid. Just add a face to the section this will make it look realistic.
More features will be added in future versions for the slab tool. For now you can draw your reo and mesh etc… and then use the BIM tool so that it estimates.
If you go into your component tool and go to the 4th option from the left you will find a tool called Room Layout. This will allow you to add room names and room sizes. Check screen capture below
Thank you for the suggestion, I will bring it up with the team
This can be done. You can edit multiple walls at once by selecting each wall while holding shift. Then go to your wall tool and when you make an edit in the wall tool, all walls that were selected will update.
Yes we understand that this is very important but it is more of an engineering aspect and will be developed in later versions. You can create your own roof trusses very simply by using normal SketchUp and then using our BIM tool to add BIM to the trusses. Don’t be afraid to use normal SketchUp.
Thanks for the prompt response and detailed reply, very helpful!
Doesn’t seem to show up in my model, it’s just a plain white surface?
Excellent looking forward to it!
I did abit more research on this and found another plugin that does this. So all good.
Excellent looking forward to it!
Apologies I missed that, will be using this for my next project.
Pleasure.
The problem is when I select multiple walls and select skillion, it creates a saw roof effect rather than a nice even taper accross all walls, I can provide a screenshot to clarify?
It’s more of a visual representation rather than engineered structure, I appreciate what you’re saying.
