SketchUp Plugins: Delete Coplanar Edges

Easily delete all those unnecessary coplanar edges with this Plugin. It will reduce de size of your model drastically.
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I've been doing a lot of SketchUp modeling at work, that's the reason why you see here more posts about SU Plugins than usual. Anyways, I needed to clean part of my model that had a lot of unnecessary edges separating coplanar faces. And I though, there must be a Plugin for that. I wasn't wrong.

The deletecoplanaredges.rb Plugin, easily erase those unnecessary edges, turning a bunch of coplanar faces into a single one. See this quick example.

We want to remove all those lines that play no role anymore other than increasing the file size. Once you have the plugin installed, simply select all the geometry you want to clean up, right click on it and on the context menu select "Delete Coplanar Edges.

The result will be like the image below, a single face made of all the previous coplanar faces.

You can download the Plugin here.




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AutoCAD: Make object's layer current with an Alias

Switching between current layers is one of the most common operations in AutoCAD, make it an alias instead of clicking on the icon to work faster.
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Those who have been reading me for some time will already know that I am a keyboard freak when it comes to enter commands. I strongly believe it multiplies the speed you work on with AutoCAD as oppose to clicking on icons. This becomes even more important with those things we do hundreds of times a day.

Making an object's layer current is one of these operations we repeat and repeat every day many times. By default, you have to select the object, then click on the icon on the right of the Layer Properties Toolbar.


This operation can be sped up by setting up an ALIAS for it. If you pay attention to the command line, every time you click on the previous button, the command that it actually triggers will appear there. This command is either LAYMCUR or AI_MOLC depending on the AutoCAD version you have. All you have to do is to edit your acad.pgp to create an Alias for either of these commands. I have my acad.pgp set up with LK to point to AI_MOLC. It is a time saver.

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SketchUp Plugins: Round Corners

Need to turn Sharp corners into round ones? There is a Plugin for that too. A new great Job by Fredo6.
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The rounding of corners is usually needed when we create our models. Fredo6 has made this awesome Plugin, now on its 2.0 version that just rocks! See the video below.


To download the Plugin go to the original Post by Fredo6. Remember that this operation will increase very quickly the number of faces in your model, so use it wisely.

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AutoCAD: Using Annotative Scale for Texts

Annotative Scale Texts are an awesome way to speed the annotation process when a drawing needs to be shown in different Scales.
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Since AutoCAD 2008, there is a property for several entities called Annotative Scale. What this property allows us is to show the objects differently according to the Active Annotation Scale. This is specially useful for Text notes.

Imagine a floor plan of a project shown at 1:200 scale with a lot of descriptive notes. The notes you have will be the right size to be printed at 1:200. But you might want to use the same drawing to show an enlarged plan of certain portion of the project. The problem is that if you just blow it up, the notes will be twice the size that shows "properly" when printed. Annotation Scale will help you solve this.

If you select the text and go to the properties Tab, there is a property called "Annotative". By default this is set to NO. Change it to YES to turn the Text into an Annotative one. There is a system variable, ANNOAUTOSCALE, that controls if new annotation Scales are added automatically or not, it has a lot of values, from -4 to 4, so see here what each value does.

In general, it is not recommended to have the ANNOAUTOSCALE set to automatically add annotation scales to all the objects, since that would increase the file size quite a lot. Alternatively, set the annotation Scale of the drawing by selecting it on the lower right side of the screen.


Then, you can simply select those objects you want to add new annotative scales too, right click --> Add Current Scale.



One more thing you can do is set different orientation for each annotative scale. This is very useful, because you might have an overall plan aligned to the World UCS (or North on top, or whatever) and then enlarged plans aligned according to the portion of the building/project you are focusing on. If you rotate the Text using the ROTATE command, it will rotate all its Annotative instances. If alternatively, you select the text, and on the properties tab you enter a new rotation, the new orientation will apply only to the current Annotative Scale. See the following image.


The 1:200 text is aligned in one direction, while the 1:100 text (the smaller one) is aligned according to the enlarged plan orientation. I am still trying to figure out how can I in AutoCAD Architecture, do the same for Space Tags. Will definetily post it whenever I find the way.

Annotative Scale applies to other AutoCAD objects such as Blocks, I will deal with that in a different post soon. Stay tuned

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AutoCAD Architecture: AEC Modify Tools

This awesome Tools make editing 2D objects really quick. It is like having Boolean Tools for 2D.
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AutoCAD Architecture has some great tools that help working way faster than with plain AutoCAD. Some of them are logically specific to Architecture, but others like the AEC Modify Tools I think should be standard to any AutoCAD version. They are actually like having Boolean operators for 2D Objects. See this quick video to understand what they do.


Sorry for some of the Tools Selection beeing cut on the video...I am still working on getting this video recording figured out. The order of the tools used is the one on this image. I skipped the ones on the bottom, after the spacer, since I don't find them very useful.



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SketchUp Plugins: Engineering Toolbox

Do you need beams, pipes, HVAC ducts, elbows, etc? The Engineering ToolBox Allows you to insert them to SketchUp with the right dimenisons.
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EngineeringToolBox.rb is a SktchUp Plugin to easily insert standard engineering elements to a SketchUp model. You can find more information on the plugin's website, but basically what you need to know is that this plugin will allow you to insert Pipes, elbows, lumber elements, flanges, metal beams and columns icluding standard IPE (not IPN unfortunately, which would be the most time consuming to model actually), HEB, etc, stairs, channels, hollow sections, and more. To me, specially useful are the standard Beam sections, no more referring to the standard dimensions manual to model these elements.


The Plugin works as a web dialog. Once installed, simply go to Plugins --> Engineering ToolBox. From there a web dialog will open (you need to have an internet connection) and you will access the plugin's website where you will be able to choose the elements you want to add to your model.
Download it here and give it a try, it is a trully time saver.

via SketchUp Ireland

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SketchUp Plugins: Google's Ruby Scripts

Google has a set of Plugins (ruby Scripts) on the SU website
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Google has a set of Plugins for SketchUp that can be downloaded directly from their website here.
The list includes:

• Bezier: to create Bezier curves
• Rotated Rectangle: for creating rotated rectangles.
• Shapes: to create and editing a number of parametric shapes.
• Window Maker: for creating parametric double-hung and slider windows. (different than the Windowizer Plugin)
• Grids: to create parametric grids.
  Onion Dome: to create onion domes.
• Simplify Contours: it simplifies the geometry, making it easier to work with.

Most of them are for very basic operations, but once you have them you'll miss them if you don't have them anymore, so keep the link for when you transfer to a new workstation.

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Rhino Plugins: VisualArq - Architectural Tools for Rhino

Need some ACA like tools when using Rhino? This might be the Plugin you are looking for.
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Rhino is a great modeling software, but you will agree with me that when it comes to simple tasks like creating Walls, windows, Stairs, etc. it is not as efficient as AutoCAD Architecture or SketchUp (specially if you have the 1001bit tools Plugin).
Well that might change if you add to your set of Plugins the VisualArq set of Architectural Tools. This set of tools aims to improve the work speed for Architects, Interior Designers, Etc by adding a set of Parametric Architectural Objects and Documentation Tools.
I haven't had the chance to check it since I only have access to Rhino at work, but from the Gallery on the VisualArq website, the Plugin looks promising.
You will need Rhino's Service Release 5 to be able to use this plugin.

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SketchUp Plugins: Loft

The Loft operation is very common in 3D softwares. Now SketchUp has a Plugin to do it too.
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Chris Fullmer has programmed a Ruby Script to be able to do the common Loft Operation (creating a surface from too Curves). It is not yet a final release of the Plugin and it is not 100% precise, but it does the trick and it is very useful and easy to use.
For those who don't know what a Loft operation is, check this couple of images and see how the surfaces on the right were created from the profiles on the left.


Chris has published a video at SCF where you can see the Plugin beeing used. The Link also works to download the Plugin (you need to be registered).

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AutoCAD: Find those Commands You can't Remember

Does it happen to you that you remember a command but not exactly and thus can't tye it properly? AutoCAD will help you with your lack of memory.
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The list of commands we use in AutoCAD is often longer than we can remember. Nevertheless it is more possible that we remember how a command begins but not the rest of it. We'll, AutoCAD can help you find the end of that missing command in your memory.
If you type the first couple or 3 letters of a command, and then press TAB, AutoCAD will cycle through all the commands that begin with those letters. Keep pressing TAB till you find the command you had forgotten.
It is actually a good way to discover new commands too. By looking a forgotten one you might stumble upon a very useful command you didn't even know that it existed.

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SketchUp Books: The Missing Manual

Another Manual to learn SketchUp.
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If you are looking for a cheap Book to learn SketchUp this might be the one you are looking for. Priced at only $24 dollars, it seems a good choice for those starting with SketchUp who prefer to work with a Manual near the computer.
The Missing Manual offers a good insight on SU's interface, it gives some tips on what the program is best for and has a detailed Index of Menu Entries for reference.
Remember that there is plenty of information about the Program for free on the internet, but if you prefer to learn with a manual to back you up, maybe you want to give this a try.

or or

If you want to check other Books about SketchUp, you can go to the SketchUp section of the CAD Addict Bookshelf.


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AutoCAD: Control How You Mirror Texts

Do you want to Mirror Text but AutoCAD keeps it the same way? There is a system variable for that.
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The System Variable MIRRTEXT controls how texts are mirrored. The default Value 0, mirrors the location of the texts, but it does not actually mirrors their orientation. If you set the value of MIRRTEXT to 1, then you will be able to Mirror the Text or Mtext as if it was any other object, Block, etc. Chek the image below. First is a text mirrored with the MIRRTEXT system variable set to 0, the second one has the variable set to 1.



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