Bezier Curves Sketchup
Vernon
I wanted to create a fluid stair and since Revit (to my knowledge) doesn't offer bezier curves, I thought I would import the outlines (as dwg) from sketchup and trace them with stair/sketch. Everything worked fine except for the supports and rails which broke at each step.
so you guys are telling me that sketchup is better for designing stairs than Revit? I am new to this program but the more I dig into it, the more bauhaus-y it appears to be! No spirals, no parabolas, no hyperbolas, just lines and circles! :((((
In the office I work, we use Revit for offices, stadiums, public buildings, housing,... You really can create anything in Revit, you just need to know how. The program has many features and tools, so it takes some time to learn them all. I've been using Revit for 10 years now and I still don't know all the features.
The Bezier Spline plugin created by Fredo6 on SketchUcation.com is a set of tools to create bezier curves easily. As SketchUp does not come with a good option for this, Bezier Spline allows you to create these curves with ease by utilizing the almost 13 tools in the palette.
Tags: bezier curves, Bezier Spline plugin, Classic Bezier Curve, Close Loop Nicely, Close Loop With a Line, Fredo6, Polyline Arc Corners, Polyline Dog-Bone Corners, Polyline T-Bone Corners, sketchucation.com
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The content in The Engineering ToolBox is copyrighted "+ "but can be used with NO WARRANTY or LIABILITY. "+ "Important information should always be double checked with alternative sources. All applicable national "+ "and local regulations and practices concerning this aspects must be strictly followed and adhered to.
If you miss something in the ToolBox - or want some components added - please contact us by email. " + "If you can add documentation like property tables or similar for the components - it would be very helpful.
Makes a component of the selected object. Note that all objects from the Engineering Toolbox are inserted as individual groups. You should transfer a group to a component sharingthe same definition when there is more than one instance of the same object. Tip!Rename the object to its final name before making it a component (in outliner or withright click and entity info).
Move or copy (multiple) selected objects. Make advanced geometric constructions with multiple selections, multiple copies and the offset. Tip! - Use "Make Component" to save space and reduce computer load when working with multiple copies.
Before cut - customize the inserted Knife! The Knife is a group you can rotate, change the size of, and even add or remove objects within (example - add a function curve for an advanced cut). You can also make your own Knife by naming a group "theKnife". After insert and customizing the knife - positioning it to the object(s) where to cut - select the object(s) (must be groups) - and click cut! Afterwards - select the object(s) and remove the parts of the object(s) that you don't want. YouTube demo of the Knife!
Insert standard and customized parametric components - like flange beams, lumbers, piping, geometric figures, function curves, stairs and more - to your Google SketchUp models with sketchup.engineeringtoolbox.com
Note! The Engineering Toolbox extension in Sketchup Extension Warehouse only works for Sketchup editions up to 2023. For Sketchup edition 2024 and higher the extension can be installed by using installation alternative 2 or 3 below.
From the Sketchup menu - select Extensions > Engineering ToolBox. A page like this opens in a separate window - navigate to the wanted component - and select insert! to add the component to your SketchUp model.
Organize your model in groups - add components to the groups! Example: Use separate groups for construction steel, piping, the different HVAC systems and more. Always keep an eye on the model in the "Outliner" window. Use layers to organize and control the visibility of the model.
Be aware that objects from The Engineering ToolBox are inserted in Sketchup as Groups. They will show up in the Sketchup > Window > Outliner dialog but not in the Sketchup > Window > Model Info > Statistics (Only Components) dialog.
The objects will now show up in the Sketchup > Window > Model Info > Statistics dialog and be available for reporting through Sketchup > File > Generate Report feature or other third party report generators.
An insterted object from The Engineering ToolBox can also be converted to a Component by right clicking the object and selecting Make Component. The name will not be preserved and must be changed after the conversion.
Im working on a model in SketchUp many because allot of my clients use it and understand how it works and its quick and easy to model in. I want to model in SketchUp and render in max? in this project.
Yeah, avoid SketchUp to Max as a workflow all together. To get quality renders, you really should model directly in Max. SketchUp to Max is like putting a lawn mower engine in an F1 racer. SketchUp renders in Max look as if the geometry was cut from stone using the worlds most precise laser. Just way too blocky and hard edges that never exist in real life.
One is scale of your project. You need to make sure that your scale is correct when you export so that a wall that's 4 meters in SketchUp will import as 4 meters in Max. If not, this will really screw with your textures, lighting, and cameras. Either your objects will be massive in size or miniature scale. Just make sure your units are set correctly for both.
Export using FBX. This is a much easier format when going into Max from 3rd party software. This can also preserve UVW mapping coordinates, but I highly suggest re-mapping everything in Max. This format can also convert to whichever scale you are going into, such as meters or what not.
haha, I would totally disagree with Elvis. I'm primarily a SU user but am getting more into 3ds Max and my final output is Maxwell Render. First I want to answer your question and then address a couple of VE's points.
Which version of 3ds Max are you using. I think starting with 2011 they began incorporating a SU importer and in 2010, I believe it was, they had a download that would incorporate a SU importer. That is almost always the best way to go and it works wonderfully from my experience. It imports the SU model quickly and maintains components, geometry, and UV's (as I recall whatever texture map you use in sketchup comes in in the diffuse map of a Standard 3ds Max material and the UV's are maintained). If you have an earlier version of 3ds Max let me know and we can go from there, I've found some tricks going both directions.
There's no reason this needs to be so. The reason this is typically true is because SU models are typically made to look good in SU, not to be rendered. That means people don't add the detail necessary, but there's no reason a SU modeler can't add the appropriate detail. Where you may run into poly limits are with things like vegetation, high poly cars, and high poly furniture. Those things can be added once you get to 3ds Max, but as for architectural detail I use lots of bevels and rounded corners with no issues (primarily for exterior hospital renderings which of course get quite large).
I don't recommend Vray for SU for the reason I mentioned above. Although you won't reach a poly limit in SU with your building or site, should you want to add some high poly objects in your scene, you WILL run into a poly limit. Vray for SU offers no workaround so if you already have Vray for 3ds max and 3ds Max don't waste your money - again I haven't had any conversion issues with newer versions of Max. There are a couple renderers out there (like Maxwell) who incorporate their own separate Studio programs which also serve as an in between where you can place high poly objects.
I'm probably not the best one to answer that but I've run into similar issues and found Max much less intuitive. In Max you usually don't want snaps turned on because it wants to snap to everything so toggle snaps with the "S" key. From there if you right click on the snaps icon which should be up top on your toolbar you'll get some options (similar to AutoCAD if you're familiar with that program). Check whichever options you want. There's also an Options tab. Down at the bottom Use Axis Constraints and Display rubber band do interesting things, although I never quite understand what. I play with them until I get it working right. Currently I only have Display rubber bands checked and it works how I want, which means that I can turn snaps on and either grab the point to any snap or I can just grab, say the Z gizmo and the movement will be constrained to that axis (similar to selecting Move in SU and then using the up, down, left, right keys to constrain movement to the Blue, Red, or Green axis.
You need to choose the snaps in max wisely. There is 3D, 2.5D, and 2D snapping options. I almost always stick in 2.5D (to be honest I can't tell you the difference between 2.5 and 2) but I'm always in 2.5D to avoid snapping on the Z axis. You can also customize where you are snapping to, similar to AutoCAD. Again, I primarily only have the vertex snap on or grid snap if I need to build to the grid such as creating assets to go into Unreal.
The axis constraints on is pretty much a must. What those do is keep you restricted to the active axis. Say for instance, you want to move an object in the Y axis only. Having his on will allow you to drag and move an object in that active axis only and not all over the view port as you do when they are off. Rubber band, to me as a Max user since version 3, is annoying. Old habits and likes die hard I guess.
I'm not a native SkechUp user. I only get what clients try to give me, which I use as a base to remodel in max, and spend hours ranting about how poorly it's modeled. So, I guess, SketchUp can be good in the right hands but the problem is everyone is not exactly familiar with proper modeling rules. I know of several large viz firms that simply refuse SketchUp models for that very reason. They'll use them for pre-production but will almost always remodel the scene in Max to avoid issues.
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