Speckle + Sketchup: Connector in Beta 🎉

Hello @Community :wave:,

We’re excited to announce that the beta version of our SketchUp connector for Speckle is now available!

Sunshine Canyon House - Max Achkovsky

Where We Were :face_with_monocle:

As you may know, Speckle has had a Sketchup Connector for a while as an alpha release. Thank you to all the community members who have provided feedback and contributions; we’ve made it better, more robust and user-friendly.

What’s New :new:

Our team has been growing quite a bit in the last year, Oguzhan joined us in November and focussed exclusively on this connector. Thanks to his expertise, he’s already been able to do wonders in such a short period of time, effectively rebuilding from the ground up. We’re very excited to have him on board and can only dream of what’s coming next!

What’s Next :technologist:

What are our plans for the Sketchup Connector?

We want to make it easy for users to store versions of their Sketchup models on the Speckleverse without any data loss. This will allow you to keep track of changes to your models over time and collaborate with team members more seamlessly. In the longer term, we have a roadmap of features and want to enable workflows between different design software.

Features

  • [2.10 :white_check_mark:] Preserving Faces on send and receive
  • [2.11 :white_check_mark:] Sending/Receiving Layer information
  • [2.11 :white_check_mark:] Create Stream button
  • [2.11 :white_check_mark:] Support for Always Face to Camera Components
  • [2.11 :white_check_mark:] Settings Dialog: We’ll store a bunch of options under this dialog.
  • [2.11 :white_check_mark:] Include Attributes: We’ll add an option to the settings dialog, so if you don’t need your attributes in Speckleverse, you don’t have to send them anymore.
  • [2.11 :white_check_mark:] Merge Faces on Send: This can be especially useful for users who are not interested in receiving their model back in Sketchup and want to view it in the web viewer or receive it on another platform.
  • [2.11 :white_check_mark:] Create Branch :palm_tree: button**:** Create a new branch within the connector UI.
  • [2.11 :white_check_mark:] Scenes to Speckle Views: This feature will allow you to view your Sketchup scenes in Speckle viewer.
  • [2.12 :white_check_mark:] Add Commit by URL :link: button: With this, users can receive public commits.
  • [2.12 :white_check_mark:] Advanced Settings for Attributes :label:: Add option for including/excluding attributes on edges, faces, components and groups.
  • Preserving Group/Component Names on Receive: When components are received in Sketchup, they are given GUID as their name because we need to keep track of elements somehow. We will implement a feature that allows components to retain their original names when transferred between Sketchup and Speckle while still tracking objects. This will make it easier for users to identify and keep track of their components.
  • :sparkles: NEW Desktop UI: We will develop a new user interface for our Speckle connector for Sketchup. This redesign will allow us to align our connector with the rest of the Speckle connectors, expand its functionalities, improve its performance, and provide a better user experience.
  • [2.x :construction:] Continuous Traversal: Apart from all these features, we also work parallelly on different plugin architectures to enable users to make diffing in their model. This will bring better UX and provide a robust send/receive process.

What Workflows :thinking:

#### Revit :arrow_forward: Sketchup :heart_eyes:

One of the exciting new workflows we want to enable with the Speckle SketchUp connector is the ability to receive Revit models directly in SketchUp. Here are some key features we want to ship:

  • Receive Revit categories as Layers
  • Map Revit categories to Existing Layers
  • Receive Families as Components
  • Map Family Instances to Sketchup components
  • Parameters as Component Attributes
  • Map Revit Materials to existing Sketchup materials

#### Sketchup :arrow_forward: Revit :boom:

Another workflow we want to enable is the ability to send SketchUp models directly to Revit as BIM elements, similar to our Rhino Mapping Tool(alpha). This feature is ideal for users looking to utilise SketchUp’s easy and fast modelling tools while also taking advantage of Revit’s extensive BIM capabilities. Some key features:

  • Components to Revit families
  • Map Components to existing family types
  • Geometries as DirectShapes with Categories
  • Faces to Floors/Walls/Ceilings
  • Edges to Structural Framing (Columns/Beams)
  • Topography support
  • Attributes to Revit Parameters
  • Map Attributes to Revit Parameters
  • Sketchup scenes to Revit Views
  • Map Sketchup materials to Revit materials

Your Input :speech_balloon:

We value your feedback and input; if there’s any feature you feel strongly about, let us know so we can prioritize it more. We are excited to be able to give Sketchup connector the attention it deserves and can’t wait to see what the future holds for it. :star_struck:

We’re excited to see how you use the new beta version of the SketchUp connector, and we’re looking forward to hearing your feedback. So download the latest version now, try it, and let us know your thoughts!

13 Likes

:thinking:Interested in sharing your SketchUp models with others but don’t want them to install Sketchup? Use our connector to send your model to the Web and share the link. Hint: It looks awesome :heart_eyes:!

6 Likes

:white_check_mark: Sketchup Scenes → Speckle Views

You can access your scenes from Sketchup as views in our amazing web viewer.

Residential & Commercial Building - Chrysler | Doug-Duggio P.

5 Likes

2.12 Release Notes :receipt:

Add Commit (Version) by URL button🔵

Users can receive commits by their URL now. Before, they would have to be a Collaborator on a stream to receive models from it. Especially useful for public streams (projects).
SketchUp_BF7P1jKCfj

Advanced settings for Including Attributes :gear:

We have expanded user control over including/excluding attributes on:

  • Edges
  • Faces
  • Components
  • Groups
    SketchUp_9LeTYW1ehj

Sketchup Scenes to Speckle Views :revolving_hearts:

Your scenes from Sketchup will be available in Speckle’s web viewer. Currently, we are storing only camera position, projection, and FOV. We’ll expand this in the coming releases.

Create Branch button :large_blue_circle:

Directly create branches (models) within the Sketchup connector. No need to switch to the web app and create a branch from there anymore.
SketchUp_Hgjn51HEGO

Signed Sketchup installer :pen:

Signing an installer provides a secure and trusted method of distributing software to users.

3 Likes

2.12.1 Hotfix :receipt:

Sketchup 2023 Support :new:

Sketchup 2023 has just been released and we’re pleased to announce that the Sketchup Connector for Speckle it🚀!

@gokermu

I am on a Mac. The SketchUp INSTALL option is not available. Is this a bug or as designed?


1 Like

The bad news is that sadly, we haven’t yet released a Mac version of the Sketchup connector.

The good news is that It is on our roadmap.

2 Likes

5 posts were split to a new topic: List of streams missing on Sketchup

2 posts were split to a new topic: SketchUp model is sent rotated

2 posts were split to a new topic: SketchUp for Mac