You can now use SketchUp with Allen/Iano’s Fundamentals of Building Construction book

When it comes to learning construction methods and systems (and, of course, the related materials), it is crucial for a student to understand how things fit together. Every construction system is an assembly of subparts (e.g. beams, bolts, decking) and often a layering based on various functional requirements (e.g. air barrier, insulation, structural sheathing,…). This […] Read more..

WebGL works again on Android 4.3! Yay!

In case you heard me complain on Google+ about the fact that I apparently am last in queue for Google’s mysteriously-timed Android updates: I finally got it (on my Nexus 4)! Yay! As you may know, one of the improvements in Android 4.3 is better WebGL support. So one of the first things I did […] Read more..

Sketchfab uploader plugin updated to v.1.4

[sketchfab id=”9UlsCfk5yh11kDMfLSM1nUfRCsY” start=”0″ spin=”0.3″ controls=”0″] I just updated the Sketchfab uploader plugin for SketchUp to v.1.4. You can now set your model on upload as private and assign a password (as long as you at least have a PRO account). It also sports a shiny new image. The full list of changes is: Support for […] Read more..

My SketchUp Book is Out!

This is an exciting week! My book “Architectural Design with SketchUp” is now available from all of the online booksellers and should be in stores soon, too. After a year of writing and a few months editing and finalizing, it feels really good to see the final product now on store shelves and on Amazon’s […] Read more..

Hacking COLLADA to add reflectivity

[sketchfab id=”vj4S4foHFOZ8Lv9ckcyA0cAhdXQ” start=”1″ spin=”.5″ controls=”1″] Model with shininess (Phong shader) If you export a COLLADA DAE model from SketchUp (using either the 3D Model Export feature in SketchUp or my Sketchfab plugin), then you will notice that any materials in the model (colors or textures) look flat (like you can see in the model shown […] Read more..

Google SketchUp sold to Trimble

As announced today, Google has sold their widely popular 3D modeling application, SketchUp, to Trimble, a company that focuses on GPS- and heavy-construction hardware and software (for example, the steel and concrete BIM software Tekla belongs to Trimble). This is a very interesting and at least on the surface quite appropriate move. After all, SketchUp […] Read more..