If you don’t like the default templates in Sketchup’s Layout program, I have created a couple of extra titleblock templates in Layout for people to download and use.

Software is a necessary business expense; how much of an expense depends on your willingness to challenge the status quo.

A number of companies have started to realise that providing Sketchup files of their products for designers to download and insert into their design models often leads to their products being specified further down the track.

There are a number of must-have Sketchup plugins for designers and architects that can help you save a ton of time or do fancy things that will impress your clients/boss. This is not an exhaustive list and opinions will differ but when I get down to modelling, there are a number of plugins that I can’t do without:

Sketchup and Unity play very well together. For those who don’t know about or have never heard of Unity, it is a 3d software engine used for creating commercial quality computer games that has been around for about 10 years. Originally created for Apple Macs, the later versions (currently up to version 5 at the time of writing) are very much multi-platform and can be used to create 3d worlds on phones and tablets, as well as desktop computers and game consoles such as the Playstation 4 and XBox One.

I am a fan of Twilight Render for doing conventional architectural rendering because it is cheap, easy to use and if you only do the occasional render every few months, it is quite easy to pick it up again if you have forgotten the processes.

Lightup is another 3rd party rendering extension available for Sketchup, but one with a difference. Unlike all of the others, the Lightup extension allows you to render your 3d model and then walk around the rendered environment in realtime - all within Sketchup. It is truly amazing!

When it comes to creating the hero shot perspective of your design it is important to decide what form of image will sell the idea to your client the best and which type of rendering is the most appropriate for your circumstances.