Sketchup Layout Tutorial

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Malcolm Lozada

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Aug 3, 2024, 2:38:17 PM8/3/24

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I often get asked how I make my layout or cutting diagrams in SketchUp. The simple answer is that I just manually make my own. There is a Cutlist plugin for SketchUp but I find it to be incredibly flawed. There are other programs out there that will generate cutlists or layout diagrams for you but I like to keep the work in SketchUp as once you complete the model all the data and part sizes you need for the layout are already there.

The video shows the process I always use. I find this to be much faster, more efficient, and with less errors than working with pencil and paper. The purpose of using SketchUp is to be quicker and more efficient in the design and planning stages. Because of that I like to present the videos in a faster pace than what is typically shown in SketchUp videos. Here are a few of the shortcuts I used in this video:

Thats great. But how do you then get the actual cut list? Do you still have to track that manually? I want to start using sketchup but have really no idea how to do the things you do. I am sure once I learn it would be as easy as you make it seem. Thanks for the video.

I just laid it out like you mentioned and I believe that would result in more cuts. I like to establish the most commonly used dimension with the fewest cuts. So that means cutting all the side pieces to length first. Then ripping them into strips.

I use a program called Maxcut to perform the layout. I use the cutlist plugin to export the parts to csv file which can then be imported into Maxcut. The Macxcut program does an amazingly good job of minimizing waste.

My name is Luke Whitelock and I am an award winning feature film Art Director, in these tutorials I will show you the method I use to design sets in SketchUp and turn them into legible and professional construction drawings in LayOut. Although the project is based on set design, all of the methods I teach can be transferred to any design vocation. So whether you work in interior design, architecture, theatre or film and TV like I do you can use these courses to truly become a master of SketchUP and LayOut.

A 10 hour comprehensive tutorial demonstrating how I produce set designs for the major motion picture industry. I have used the method demonstrated in this tutorial to produce working construction drawings for many clients including Marvel Studios, Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, Eon, Warner Brothers and Netflix. Projects I have been involved with include: "Avengers: End Game", "Avengers: Infinity War", "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil", "The Batman", "James Bond: No Time To Die", "Cruella" and "Guardians of the Galaxy". Please feel free to look me up on IMDB for a full list of credits ( ).

NB: A note on versions for SketchUp and LayOut - new versions cannot be opened in old versions of SketchUp or LayOut therefore I have saved all the models and Layout files as 2018 versions meaning that if you have newer versions of the software you will be able to open the model hopefully eliminating the need for you to upgrade to the latest version of SketchUp

If you do not have this font on your system then the fonts in the layout file provided will revert to your own default font. Which is fine but if you want it to look the same as my file you should download and install spectre verde.

A comprehensive 10 hour tutorial covering my workflow from start to finish, including research, blocking out the 3D model, setting up the drawing space in Layout and producing a working Plan and Elevation of a New York loft apartment

Using Rhino only, you are in trouble if you need to output good-quality drawings out of the project and then after revisions and design changes revert back, make changes, and export a new set of documentation.

Nor Autodesk does, but to give them credit, they provide better showcase projects, even they made a new one with Revit 2024. No one is doubting that you can do a fully documented project in Revit but there are a lot of doubts about creating documentation in Rhino.

When comparing Rhino I divide whatever I pay by 4 (average amount of time between releases). Even with Visual ARQ (which does a lot of what those Sketchup plugins do, but it its own way), Rhino ends up being a bargain.

So for instance, if you have some client changes on the 2D plan, how can you translate those changes from layout to 3D? You would need to scan the document, import it as an image into sketchup, scale it somehow to be correct scale, and then you can use that as a blueprint to 3D model.

In Rhino this is all inside one single application, you can correct the 2D, and then extrude those new lines/surfaces to update the 3D model with new geometry. So you can actually go from 2D back to 3D.

Honestly at some point architectural drawings need so much more detail and tweaking than a 3D model that live 3D model update becomes irrelevant, only serving as a base for the drawing, which is exactly what Make2D command does.

Also take into account the whole Rhino command list which includes tools such as Extend lines, Linear Arrays, Polar Arrays, Blocks, Scale1D, Control Point Editing, Mirror, etc. All which are very useful when drafting.

Sketchup is fine for making sketches. easy to quickdraw some stuff, but when it comes to really making serious stuff, Rhino is just more versatile, has tons of handy (and by times very branch dedicated) functions included and is without a doubt the better choice for production or complex drawings.

Typically a new user would start with a box and combine it with a second one. Rhino would demand already some knowledge wehn making a boolean union with them due to exact overlapping surfaces. We already lose some of the beginners there and they ragequit directly to sketchup.

I know Layout produces a raster output and not vector but I can forgive that since once a print out is taken, it does not matter whether that it is a raster or vector. Actually, even in Rhino, the technical viewport gives a raster output and not vector. And this has been a long requested feature in Rhino.

I think you should see the same thread you posted and read the discussion @ShynnSup. For annotation and tagging things, I definitely think Skp + layout is superior and there is definitely scope for Rhino to incorporate these in them.

And again, I do understand the modeling capabilities of Rhino. I use Rhino for my everyday tasks than skp tbh. And you will not see me so active in the SKP forum since the community is not as great as Rhino. McNeel team is doing a great job in handling this community so well.

The most fundamental part of creating a presentation using Layout is creating scenes within your model. You can bring up the scene window at Window > Scenes.If you need to know more about how to create scenes checkout this tutorial.

Once you have the scenes in your model set, within Layout go to File>Insert and navigate to your sketchup file in the browser. Click on your blank paper in Layout and a new viewport will display. You can change the viewport to your scene by right clicking on the new viewport and scrolling down to Scenes in the menu. Get used to using the Window>Sketchup Model toolbar as well.