Learn a number of ways to create building framing in SketchUp in this SketchUp write-up.
Building Model
There is a hand full of ways to create Framing in SketchUp. One of the most mighty things that people use SketchUp for is modeling buildings. Architects use it to draw full architectural models. In addition, contractors use SketchUp to create drawings that can be used for realistic construction. Sometimes, you may want to create the actual framing involved with a building for different causes you may want to see how a building will be constructed, or you may want to use your model to generate the real quantities of building materials required.
Whatever the reason be, this article will walk you to a number of various ways to generate framing in SketchUp.
Creating A Wooden Frame For Building Model
The first is the easiest step to build a gram. Just you can build the framing yourself by modeling 2×4’s, top and bottom plates.
For a very easy building, this may be a great option – you can generate your plates using extrusion or the follow me tool, then model your 2 x 4’s as components. This would allow you to handpick what pieces you want to put where. Probably the simplest thanks to starting with this are able to be to draw your plan as a rectangle first. You could then use the follow me a tool to quickly create a bottom plate.
Then, you could model your 2 x 4 once as a component, then use the move tool in copy mode to create your framing.
This is certainly the best way to do this. Nonetheless, it can get a bit time taking. Sometimes, it’s better to find an extension to do some of the work for you. The extension you choose will really depend on what you are trying to do. Your possibilities will range from very simple to very complex, and also from low cost to high cost.
House Builder Extension
If you are trying to just model a building for visual purposes, there is an extension you can download called house builder. It authorizes you to set your framing type, as well as attaching doors and windows. It’s a free-of-charge extension, and it seems to be very powerful. It permits for going back and editing of walls and windows as well as the creation of roofs. This is an excellent tool for the visual building of framing. The drawback(if you consider it a drawback) is that the buildings are not “smart,” meaning you cannot create quantities out of them.
Profile Builder
Another alternative for something like this is profile builder. Profile builder is a smart profile building extension that allows you to build different smart assemblies, so that it would automatically create everything from framing to drywall, etc. This is the best if you are trying to get real, useable quantities out of your wall framing assemblies because you can truly run a report that generates those quantities for you. The drawback to this extension is that you cannot really set it up to generate doors and windows, so you don’t have to model them separately and then insert them into your model manually.
There are other extensions you’ll use for this also. My understanding is that you can generate full BIM (Building Information Models) out of an extension called Plus-Spec, but it is a very powerful, very expensive extension probably more well-suited for full-time contractors and construction/design professionals.
