3D Sketches Made Easy

At times, the look of a CAD drawing can be rather cold and unfriendly. Often, at the concept or presentation stage, you'd like the option of a more "hand-drawn look" for conceptual design or client presentations. Today's sketching software meets these needs for builders, remodelers, landscapers—anyone who is searching for a simple way to convey a concept or a direction in 3D. Following are a few examples.

Quick and Easy
SketchUp (www.sketchup.com) is a 3D modeling software program designed for anyone who needs to easily create 3D visualizations and walkthroughs without the complexity of a CAD program. An outgrowth of a vision of @Last Software founders, a Boulder, Colo.-based company whose mission is about "bringing 3D design to the masses," SketchUp was designed to provide quick and easy 3D form creation with an interface that supports a dynamic, creative exploration of 3D form, material and light.

This conceptual modeling software presents a real alternative to more complex CAD programs. "It's often difficult to get into a CAD program that requires linear thinking," says Jeff Martin, @Last's senior director of marketing. "SketchUp is a great outlet for the creative part of your brain. As people become more familiar with it, they stay in the SketchUp space longer and they can take a design very far."

Combination Products for Remodelers
While the programming simplicity is appealing to designers, there always has been a demand for a way to use SketchUp designs in the post-conceptual phase. Now, the company offers a plug in for ArchiCAD^® software (www.graphisoft.com), a popular CAD program that links real building data to preliminary models for smooth workflow between the preliminary design and the design development phase.

Many remodelers also are choosing other combination software tools that facilitate the transition from presentation to construction drawings. One such product is Chief Architect (www.chiefarchitect.com), an integrated 2D and 3D package that includes a number of tools for developing preliminary sketch designs, 3D modeling and working drawings. Features for remodeling projects include the ability to automatically generate cost estimates, materials lists, photo-realistic 3D renderings, custom plans, blueprints and elevations.

SoftPlan (www.softplan.com) is another design tool that affords remodelers the flexibility to easily create complex, custom drawings with speed and accuracy. It comes with design tools and predefined libraries that make creating and editing floor plans, roof plans and joist layouts a snap.

From Concept to Presentation
Software programs such as SketchUp make presenting preliminary concepts easier than ever by providing plenty of options. "We pride ourselves on creating software that plays well with others," Martin says. "We have dozens of import and export file formats. You can import and export to CAD, export to Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, and you can work further in those programs for a more photo-realistic look for presentations."

Byron Bottoms, a Waco, Texas, builder, uses the software as both a design tool and as a tool to better communicate with his clients. "We use SketchUp to draw our designs, then download the view and e-mail it to our clients," Bottoms says. "The homeowner can then spin it around on their computer and get a good idea of what we have in mind. It couldn't be easier."