Good Move Trimble!

This is a good thing- it needed to happen. SketchUp is foremost an AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) tool. Though Google is not an AEC company, it is understandable why Google wanted to buy it and turn it into a Google Earth-model-making-machine, and with SketchUp 8 integrating not only Google Earth and 3D Warehouse but also Streetview they have done awesome work.

But Google Earth modelling is only one tiny part of SketchUp's capabilities. There is so much more potential for this platform. Google was not the right company to take it to the next step.

(Note: Lovers of free software need not be alarmed as free SketchUp will remain free.)

Authorised Training Centres hope to get a lot of support to spread the goodness that is SketchUp in their own countries/ regions. I get the feeling that Trimble, with an understanding the AEC market, knows the importance of this. We are very curious to see how interaction with Tekla, their BIM (Building Information Modelling) platform will play out. This could be very very big....

SketchUp is a great brand. The people who work there are awesome and we hope they will grow in strength with their new owners. We are behind you!

This is a great day for Irish schools...

Google SketchUp Pro is now available for free to all primary and secondary schools in Ireland!! 

This could be a huge boost to education in Ireland and even help contribute to the struggling Irish economy in years to come, by preparing students to geomodel, 3D print, plan buildings, cities, create games and who knows what else?

Above: Map showing locations worldwide where
Google SketchUp Pro has been made available to schools.

Schools can obtain licenses for Google SketchUp Pro
from the Galway Education Centre (click here)

This initiative was organised by Allyson MacDuffie in Google and Bernard Kirk of the Galway Education Centre. Hats off to both of them!

Check out our Irish Schools SketchUp Training Portal for great free resources for learning this deadly sofware.

Open Architecture Training Resources Comes to the InterWeb

Nicole Adams of Construction Management Degree sent us a link to their "50 Excellent Open Courses For Architecture Enthusiasts" blog entry. What an eye opener, with MIT Open Courses For Architecture Enthusiasts, which includes an "Introduction to Building Technology"

This is just the kind of thing we need to happen more and more- opening up of information to students and the public. Good job!

MIT Open Course Ware

Dublin now on Google Earth

We're delighted to see such activity relating to an Irish city on Google Earth. Well done to all contributors to this fine collection of models. Lets have the same thing for Cork! Please let us know who's interested in a coordinated project to get Cork City on GE.

Main contributors: The Picture Works, City Trip Dublin, and others....

Inflatable Church in Germany

This is certainly a departure from traditional construction technology. Will it catch on? Found it on creatustercero.blogspot.com where there are a lot of interesting videos and other things...

Standard Steel and Construction Components plugin!

Calling all engineers and architects- Engineering Toolbox has created a fantastic plugin that allows users to select from a standard array of steel and pipework components- and whats really brilliant is the ability to input bespoke lengths, colours etc. 

The plugin works a treat even on my Mac! Needs SketchUp 7 to work properly.

 Download the plugin here (Right-click and save file if it doesn't download properly) Check out how to install plugins on our previous blog post (below).

Viewsion's List of Essential Plugins

Viewsion's Top 5 SketchUp Plugins

How to install plugins: SU Wiki

1. Pluginloader 

2. Mirror Selection
This is a context click (i.e. right-click on an object) command. Input the plane (3 points) in which you want to    perform the mirror operation and hit enter.

3. Construction Line Tool

This command should have been included in SketchUp. Anyway, here it is. Once installed, you can find this command under the Draw menu or in the list of available tool buttons

4. Volume Calculator 

This is a context click (i.e. right-click on a Group) command. A popup window allows you to input parameters for level of accuracy. (Object must be grouped and group closed)

5. Drop 

This context click (i.e. right-click on an object) command is a must have for landscape design:

It literally drops multiple trees down onto your 3d landscape. Superb time saver.

Irish Architect's SketchUp collection now online...

I have been beavering away on a collection of images of my work in SketchUp along with some photos of the resulting buildings. I will be adding to this collection over time and reorganising, adding captions etc.

The image below is from a model of the Glucksman Art Museum in University College Cork designed by O'Donnell & Tuomey Architects, a Dublin practise that is producing some very important work. I have placed the model on Google 3D Warehouse (many thanks to José Manuel who has mentored me on modelling for Google Earth) I submitted it to Google Earth in the hope that it will be selected for the 3D layer, and so milluns and milluns of people from all around the world will gasp in awe at their computer screens when they visit Cork in GE.... OK so maybe I exaggerate a bit... Thanks also to Josh Reilly in Google for his assistance behind the scenes.

From viewsion aspire architecture portfolio drawings

Above: The Glucksman Museum UCC, Cork, Ireland.

 Below is a presentation of a recent project- an energy efficient dwelling in North Cork. I have found that SketchUp representation of a building is a great way to deliver exactly what you design, rather than leaving things to interpretation by the builder (or the client...)

Below is a sample of a an energy efficient dwelling project run entirely on SketchUp without the "aid" of CAD

From viewsion aspire architecture portfolio drawings

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