Category: AEC CAD/BIM

Digital design, CAD and BIM-related tips, news and comments with a tendency towards architectural and engineering uses.

Place Shapes with Units

Posted on (Updated: June 21, 2016) by Alex Schreyer

When I initially made my Place Shapes Toolbar extension for SketchUp, I created it with a weird unit convention that used one foot as base size in the US and one meter everywhere else. That did not make much sense at all, because even in the US, folks might want to use millimeter-sized shapes for 3D printing […] Read more..

My SketchUp News Extension just got prettier

Posted on (Updated: June 21, 2016) by Alex Schreyer

As you may know, I have written a SketchUp extension that lets you follow SketchUp news (official and inofficial) and discussions right within SketchUp. You can install it from the Extension Warehouse or the SketchUcation PluginStore and then afterwards access it anytime you like from SketchUp’s Help menu. Because Yahoo recently discontinued its Pipes technology, I […] Read more..

Adventures in 3D Printing at UMass Amherst

Posted on (Updated: June 21, 2016) by Alex Schreyer

A recent promotional video for the new UMass Library MakerBot Innovation Center features many students from my fall course “Adventures in 3D Printing”. I also got interviewed for the piece. We all were very fortunate to be some of the first users of this exciting new center. You can also see in the video how the students used […] Read more..

Merry Christmas, Joyful Holidays, and a Happy New Year 2016!

Posted on (Updated: December 3, 2023) by Alex Schreyer

For this year’s Christmas post, I went back to a simple rendering approach. Mixing some extruded shapes, eroded boxes, basic materials and a few lights makes for a nice, moody image. As always, all done in SketchUp (and Twilight). To you and your loved ones a peaceful and joyful holiday season and a happy and successful […] Read more..