SketchUp is a 3D modeling program designed for architects, civil engineers, filmmakers, game developers, and related professions.

Was developed by startup company @Last Software, Boulder, Colorado which was co-founded in 1999 by Brad Schell, and Joe Esch. First released in August 2000 as a general purpose 3D content creation tool, with the tagline "3D for Everyone" and envisioning a software "that would allow design professionals to draw the way they want by emulating the feel and freedom of working with pen and paper in a simple and elegant interface, that would be fun to use and easy to learn, and that would be used by designers to play with their designs in a way that is not possible with traditional design software. It also has user friendly buttons to make it eaiser to use "The program won a Community Choice Award at its first tradeshow in 2000. Key to its early success was a shorter learning period than other 3D tools.

Source Wikipedia

Google acquired @Last Software on March 14, 2006, attracted by @Last's Software's work developing a plugin for Google Earth.

The 3D Warehouse is a website that works along side Google Sketchup to provide a place where modelers can upload their models to the internet. It was created on April 24, 2006. Users can select the option when uploading their models to verify if it is "Google Earth Ready," which should be checked if the building is a real, current, and correctly-located model of the building. If a "Google Earth Ready" model is submitted, within a few weeks, the model will go through a review of several Google employees who check the models qualifications under certain acceptance criteria[3]. If the model passes, it is added to the "3D Warehouse Layer," and will soon be visible within Google Earth itself by checking the box in the sidebar that is labeled "3D Buildings."

SKECHUP MODELS AROUND THE WORLD

Source Wikipedia

What’s new in SketchUp 7

How to make tensile structuresusing ‘soap skin bubble’ plugin

How to make quality renders inside SketchUp using V-ray, Podium and other render plugins.

How to create a parametric Urban survey using Modelur

Creating complicated shapes in a easier way using plugins

How to make an environmental survey with VE-Ware

SketchUp Physics and how to create a simple environment

From SketchUp to computer games

-What are Dynamic Components?

Dynamic Components is a set of tools which allows to make any component dynamic.

Dynamic Components

Dynamic Components

Dynamic Components

Dynamic Components

Examples

MODELUR is a revolutionary 3D application for parametric urban design that enables:

  rapid design of built environment,

quick response to changed conditions of planned site,

automatic change of built environment,

quick creation of different variants of urban design solution,

avoiding mistakes issued by wrong building articulation and

continuous supervision of achieved urban control values.

               Parametric design of built environmentIn contrast to traditional CAD tools, where the building is described by its width, length and height, Modelur uses parametric approach, in which the building can also be designed by a combination of desired final parameters, e.g. built area, gross floor area or number of storeys.

               Batch modifications of the whole built areaWhen one of the basic parameters is changed, the built area is immediately adjusted - all buildings get updated and urban control values recalculated.

               Different colors reflect different land usesLand use represents one of the basic urban parameters. Modelur distinguishes four distinct land-use models: residental, service, industrial and mixed use. The color of each building depends on its use, which makes it easier to visually examine its impact on the area.

               Visualization of planning conflictsModelur automatically detects if your plan is in conflict with urban parameters or given restrictions. It will let you know, for example, if two buildings are too close or if a built area is overused and FSI is too high.

               Display of current urban control valuesAn on-screen display shows an array of current urban control values. The prompt adjustments enable you to instantly notice if given conditions and restrictions are violated and thus leaves you more time for unburdened design.

Sun illumination studyWith the help of tools in SketchUp, you can create sun illumination simulation and save it as a movie.

Screenshots

Screenshots

Screenshots

examples

Screenshots

examples

SketchUp Plugins: TENSILE STRUCTURES

HYPERPARABOLOIDS

RIDGEVALLEY

SADDLESURFACES

PNEUMATIC SURFACES

SketchUp Plugins:CREATING A SOAP SKIN BUBBLE

SketchUp Plugins:CREATING A SOAP SKIN BUBBLE

SketchUp Plugins:CREATING A SOAP SKIN BUBBLE

SketchUp Plugins:CREATING A SOAP SKIN BUBBLE

Negative presure

SketchUp Plugins:CREATING A SOAP SKIN BUBBLE

Positive pressure

SketchUp Plugins:CREATING A SOAP SKIN BUBBLE

CREATING A SOAP SKIN BUBBLE SketchUp Plugins:

Negative pressure

CREATING A SOAP SKIN BUBBLE

Photorealistic renderers

IDX Renditioner May 2008

IRender nXt Apr 9, 2009

LightUp for SketchUp August 2008

Podium February 2007

TurboSketch Studio May 2008

VRay February 2009

3DPaintBrush June 2008

Artlantis November 2005

Maxwell Render May 2007

Photorealistic renderers

Podium

SketchUp Plugins: SHAPES, ONION DOME, BEZIER CURVES, ROTATED RECTANGLE

SketchUp Plugins: Extruding and Offsetting Curved Faces

SketchUp Plugins: LOFT

Loft plugin allows to create surface from simple curvesChris Fullmer has programmed a Ruby Script to be able to do the common Loft Operation (creating a surface from 2 Curves).

SketchUp Plugins: Slice Your Model

SLICER (slicer.rb) is a Plugin that helps doing this. The Plugin generates slices from a given 3D model and you can choose which axis you want to use for the slices to be generated.

The plugin even asks you if you want a flattened copy of your slices, which basically means that it will spread the slices on the ground plane, so you can just set a Top view and Export to AutoCAD.

SketchUp Plugins: Drop Trees

SketchUp Plugins: Engineering

Sketchyphysics is a plugin for Google SketchUp, which runs simulations based on real-world object physics.

This means that, during the simulation, Newtonian physics laws are applied to grouped objects, with runtime user interactivity added through an on-screen object dragging system, using the mouse to pull objects around.

Joysticks, and limited joy pad button/keyboard input is supported to control a selection of joints and settings applicable to grouped objects, including self-replicating emitters, thruster settings, magnets, and more.

SketchUp Plugins: Sketchup Physics

SET OF TOOLS USED IN SKETCHUP PHYSICS

SketchUp Plugins: Sketchup Physics

SketchUp Plugins: Sketchup Physics

SketchUp Plugins: Sketchup Physics

• Free building energy and carbon analysisCompletely free whole-building annual energy and carbon usage tool.  Accessed by the IES plug-ins to Google SketchUp™ (also free) or Autodesk® Revit®, VE-Ware is a way for everyone to get involved in the drive for energy efficiency in buildings – IES believes everyone should have the capability to understand “how well does my building perform?”

• Global coverageVE-Ware can analyse both new and existing buildings of all types and across all global locations, allowing anyone involved in building design or refurbishment to compare at the click of a few buttons how different designs, layouts and system options affect energy performance.

• Power of the IES <Virtual Environment>This tool utilizes our world leading ApacheSim dynamic thermal analysis software to provide indicative comparison results. The calculation is based on real geometry, international data on climatic conditions and typical characteristics for different building, room and system types, as chosen by the user.

• Architecture 2030 Challenge (N. America)In North America VE-Ware checks how well you building performs against Architecture 2030 Challenge targets.

• SBEM Regulation Compliance (UK)In the UK, users can access our accredited VE-SBEM tool for regulation compliance and (Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) generation.

VE-Ware

VE-Ware

From concept to Analysis

VE-Ware

• Undertake energy performance snapshots to assess impact of design decisions• Develop building loads and impact of conservation strategies• Develop carbon Footprint reduction strategies• Assess passive/hybrid/renewable strategies• Assess the impact of daylight and solar• Incorporate bulk airflow, ventilation and indoor air quality into the equation• Assess compliance with a range of worldwide regulations and voluntary codes

VE-Ware

climate, natural resources, building metrics, construction materials, energy, carbon, daylight, solar-shading, water, low & zero-carbon technologies, ASHRAE/CIBSE heating & cooling loads

Automated indicative LEED rating system credit assessment that covers daylighting, comfort, water and renewables