Author Topic: Sketchup Help  (Read 5567 times)

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Artisan

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Sketchup Help
« on: January 14, 2009, 10:32:26 AM »
Ahhh.....good Wednesday morning! We have trimmed our staff here, all of the original CAD department is gone as well as most of the company. I've picked up all of CAD work, estimating, codes, pricing, janitor and etc. Even though I've been using AutoCAD for about 15 years now, I never went the 3D route. Almost all of my work required 2D, so I never dipped into it. Until now that is. When the Architectural Manager was laid off, he deleted a lot of files, lots. Included in those files were Sketchup renderings of some of our houses and condo's. I've never used Sketchup until this morning and I'm not having much luck. Does it allow you to import a 2D drawing of an elevation and turn it into a 3D drawing? If so, is there a simple way of doing that? Any suggestions?

thanks


M-dub

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Re: Sketchup Help
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2009, 10:38:03 AM »
I fiddled with Sketchup and I was able to bring in a floor plan as a reference and use it to create a 3D version of it, but that's about it.  I didn't get too Gung Ho about it, though.

On another note, just because the guy gets laid off doesn't mean he can delete all of those files!!  Is it possible that those files could be recovered?  Have you (or the company higher ups) contacted this guy about this?!

Atook

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Re: Sketchup Help
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2009, 10:56:14 AM »
Yeah, I'm no help on sketchup, but it seems to me that utilizing a backup could save you a chunk of time.

Even using uneraser or something like that on his workstation could be worth the time...

M-dub

  • Guest
Re: Sketchup Help
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2009, 11:02:32 AM »
Even using uneraser or something like that on his workstation could be worth the time...

What if the files were deleted from a network drive and they had no backup utility?

I have often wished that there was a 'Recycle Bin' on the server, but haven't looked into this matter in quite some time.

M-dub

  • Guest
Re: Sketchup Help
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2009, 11:13:38 AM »
http://www.undelete.com/undelete/undelete.aspx

Quote
Undelete 2009 protects the files that the Windows recycle bin and backup systems miss:
  • Files deleted on Windows network shares.
  • Earlier versions of Microsoft Office files - Now supports Microsoft Office 2007
  • Files too large to fit in the recycle bin.
  • Files created and deleted by certain applications.
  • Files deleted from the command line.

Greg B

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Re: Sketchup Help
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2009, 02:55:51 PM »
I have not used Sketch up in about 6 months now, but the basic idea to creating a model of a house could be as follows.

Create a .dwg of the floor plans and elevations.  Clean them up so there isn't a bunch of extra stuff on the drawings.  Just the lines you really need.

Import them into a new sketchup model and either make them into symbols or group them.  Put them on their own layers so you can turn them on and off as needed.

You can probably start with the first floor plan, create a new rectangle (or whatever shape the house is and pull it up.  Turn on the elevation drawings and place them accordingly so you can get a correct height of the house and outside features.

This should get you a good base point.  I'll help out with questions as much as I can.  If you'd like you can send me some of the dumb downed .dwg files and I can work on it at home to give you a quick show how fast it can go.

mjfarrell

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Re: Sketchup Help
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2009, 03:09:25 PM »
Be your Best


Michael Farrell
http://primeservicesglobal.com/