7 Common Questions About SketchUp with Mark Lauricello

This week we talk to Mark Lauricello from Trimble SketchUp about the powerful, yet simple, design software.  Mark is a SketchUp guru and ambassador for the brand with years of expertise explaining the benefits of SketchUp and the 3D Warehouse. 

With its roots in the architectural and construction space, SketchUp has created a lot of buzz in the interior design and contract furniture industry.  Mark answers some common questions about SketchUp and gives us insight into how manufacturers can use the platform to reach thousands of potential customers.

1. What is SketchUp anyway?

SketchUp is 3D for everyone. We try to make SketchUp the most intuitive way to draw in 3D. 

SketchUp was first developed as a 3D conceptual design tool for architects moving from the drafting board to the computer, but it’s abstract and intuitive nature makes SketchUp great for any application where 3D visualization is important including interior design, product design, construction, engineering, and set design.

We believe SketchUp is the most popular 3D design tool on the planet. 

SketchUp gained a lot of popularity while it was with Google, but it’s now owned by a company called Trimble. Trimble’s focus is on building design and construction, making it a great home for SketchUp.

2. I’ve heard SketchUp is a free software?  Is this true?

This is sort of true. We offer two versions of SketchUp. SketchUp Make is our free version anyone can use for personal home design and DIY projects. SketchUp Pro is our paid version that’s licensed for professional use. Basically, if you’re using SketchUp to make money, we ask you to pay for it. We think it’s pretty inexpensive for what it delivers.

The core experience is the same for both versions, but SketchUp Pro includes features geared for professionals and comes with LayOut -- our presentation and documentation application.

3. Why is it important for the contract furniture industry to learn more about SketchUp?

We think SketchUp is important for the furniture industry because SketchUp provides a common design language for communicating in 3D with project architects, interior designers, builders, and owners. 

We believe that communicating design intent in 3D is important because we see our world in 3D and anyone can look at a 3D model and understand what a finished project will look like.

Most people can’t understand 2D CAD drawings and no one wants to pay for proprietary BIM software to participate in a project, but because of this trend toward 3D and BIM, property owners expect to see photo-real renderings and real-time 3D walk-throughs of a project before they commit. 

SketchUp provides an incredibly forgiving and cost-effective platform for accomplishing this and for overcoming many of the challenges involved in collaborative design-build projects.

4. Do interior designers really use SketchUp?

Absolutely! Behind architecture, interior design is the most common use for SketchUp. 

We know this by looking at SketchUp registration stats, but thanks to our incredible education program, we also know that interior designers have been learning SketchUp in school for years and continue to today.

5. Where do SketchUp users find SketchUp models?

SketchUp comes with 3D Warehouse, our content sharing platform. 3D Warehouse is a free resource where anyone can find, download, and share SketchUp models. With nearly 3 million models, we think 3D Warehouse is the biggest library of models on the web. 

And best of all, every model on 3D Warehouse is free!

One pro-tip for using 3D Warehouse: try the advanced search. 3D Warehouse is so big that it can overwhelm users. 

The advanced search helps narrow your search based on model attributes, popularity, and other parameters that help you zero in on the perfect model.

If you just can’t find what you’re looking for on 3D Warehouse, I recommend checking out Podium Browser, FormFonts, and SketchUcation for great SketchUp content.

6. What’s the best way for contract furniture manufacturers to use SketchUp for marketing?

There are many ways contract furniture manufacturers can use SketchUp for marketing. If connecting with architects and designers is the goal, the best way to do this is by offering light-weight, architecturally appropriate SketchUp models of your products for download on your website and on 3D Warehouse.

You let the design community know your company speaks SketchUp when you share product models. 

By inviting project architects and designers to explore how your products interact with their space in 3D, you can connect with designers when critical decisions are being made and help initiate conversations with project stakeholders.

SketchUp is also great for internal marketing efforts. SketchUp works great for product illustrations both in print and on the web. 

SketchUp provides an excellent visualization platform for setting up renderings. SketchUp even works great for trade show booth design.

7. What’s SketchUp’s future?  Why should I get involved now?

SketchUp’s future is incredibly bright in my view. Trimble has invested a lot in SketchUp since acquiring it and we’re now starting to see this investment bear fruit. 

In just the last year, we’ve added functionality to SketchUp that enables users to work with data from Trimble’s 3D scan technology, we’ve integrated Sketchup with Trimble’s new collaboration platform -- Trimble Connect, and we’ve brought SketchUp into the world of augmented reality thanks to Trimble’s partnership with Microsoft and its Hololens platform.

While I can’t talk about future features, you’ll see us continuing to focus on these themes of reality capture, collaboration, and augmented reality or as we call it “mixed” reality going forward. 

Overall, our plan is to continue SketchUp’s legacy of being an incredibly versatile 3D design tool for everyone.

The best way to get involved is to start designing in SketchUp and communicating your products and ideas in 3D! You can download a free trial of SketchUp Pro at sketchup.com. 

If you’re interested in offering your products in SketchUp format but aren’t sure where to start, please contact Erik for more information about getting started.

Contact us to learn more about SketchUp model creation and SketchUp's 3D Warehouse.

5 Things Designers Dislike About Downloading Symbols From Your Website

Ever wish you could be a fly on the wall when a designer visits your website to find and download your symbols?  Imagine what they might say--would you be proud?

As I always preach (because of repeated confirmation from designers), your website is the #1 place that designers will look for your symbols.

That's a good thing, because on your website you can control your product message.

It's your website that presents all of the spec sheets, photos, and symbols--your site is a shrine to your products.

Here are a few complaints that I've heard from architects and interior designers about manufacturer websites and the challenges they faced when they tried to download the symbol they want.

1.They can't select the individual product symbol they need

Many manufacturers make the mistake of posting their symbol library online by offering a link to a .zip file or folder where the designer has to download the entire product library.

On some occasions this may be the desired way to access your symbols, but more often than not, designers look for an individual product and not the entire product line.

Give them the ability to come to your site and download the exact model they need to get started on their design.


2. There are no product images associated with the symbol search results

Even if you give the designer the ability to download individual products from your website, do you give them the ability to see a thumbnail or an image of the product symbol?

I reviewed several manufacturer sites where the search results lead to an endless tree of product numbers and codes.  You have to drill down through folders and folders of numbers and letters to find what you need.

Then, once you've found the product number you need, how can you be sure what model truly is?

This is the problem with the "folder tree" interfaces that were popularized by Windows '95.  It's too many numbers and alphabets and not enough eye pleasing images.

Designers tend to be visual people, so make sure your symbol search results give them an idea of what they will download.


3. You'll never believe this one... There is NO search field available

Come on!  How many times have I seen symbol search interfaces on manufacturer websites that don't offer the ability to search for the product that is needed.

 In this world of "Google this and Google that," place a search box next to your symbol search interface so designers can search for the specific symbol they need.

4. They can't search by product category or product line

Some symbol search interfaces on manufacturer websites offer the ability place a search via a field but not a way to search by a category (ie: "desk" "chair" etc.), or a way to search by product line.

Let's say a designer sees your new chair at NeoCon, they have a new Revit project, and they would like to include your chair.

They go to your site: furnituremanufacturer.com and find your symbol search interface and search for the Revit chair you offer them.  

But you haven't given them a drop down list of your products... just a search field.  

How will they be able to find your gold winning chair for their design?

On your symbol search interface, give the designer the power to click a drop down of all your products and refresh their memory.

I'm sure they'll find the Revit model they need and will place an order with you!

The same goes for product category.  When they come to your site and they want to find a chair model for their design, give them the drop down menu where there is a list of product categories: "chairs," "desks,"--you name it.

5. There is no way they can search by file type

You've given them all of these creative ways to slice and dice your symbols and download them from your website.  Lets help your customers get even more specific...

Often, manufacturers don't give customers the ability to choose which file type they would like to download which can make for a tedious search experience.

It's important to include a drop-down or selection field where users can pick and choose the file types they want to download, whether that is AutoCAD, Revit, or SketchUp models.

Learn about how Connect Search can make it easy for your clients to download your symbols.

Why GSA Encourages Use Of Revit And BIM For Projects

GSA is a major sales opportunity for most office furniture manufacturers.  Over the years, the organization has come closer to requiring BIM models for their projects.

Before we get lost in the world of acronyms, please remember that Revit is a "BIM" software.

Revit also has the largest market share of BIM software sales.  If it's easier to make sense of the following information about the GSA and BIM, you could swap out "BIM model" for "Revit model."

In 2003, the GSA (General Services Administration) established the National 3D-4D-BIM Program via the Public Buildings Service (PBS).

Since that time, through the Governance Board, there has been a strong collaboration between PBS and its sister organization the Public Buildings Information Technology Services (PB-ITS).

Across all PBS business lines, BIM is supported by the National 3D-4D-BIM Program.

Here is an older GSA video about BIM and why they like the process.  It's a bit dated, but the BIM concepts are still correct.

Why the GSA likes BIM

According to the GSA website, the GSA uses BIM to help their customers in design, construction, asset management, program requirements, and facility management.  BIM gives the organization the ability to simulate, coordinate, and visualize--all from BIM 3D, 4D models.

Not all 3D models are created equal.  Because a model is 3D does not mean that it is a BIM model. AutoCAD, for example, is not a BIM software.  BIM is more than just the geometric representation of the models used in BIM projects.

BIM models in projects

Including supplemental 2D and IFC BIM models, at all project milestones, the GSA often requires BIM deliverables.  All milestones, in these required BIM projects also must include open-standard facility management data.

As it stands now, the GSA requests 3D, 4D, and BIM technology as a solution to the data challenges faced during the project life cycle.  Although BIM is not yet 100% required, it is strongly encouraged by the organization.

The BIM "information" (product data--dimensions etc.) portion is important for optimizing, coordinating, keeping track of facility data, and simulating projects.

BIM, in the eyes of the GSA reduces re-formatting and re-gathering information and aids in project decisions.  The organization says that it is still looking into using BIM through the entire life cycle of a project.

In conclusion

Prepare yourself for a future where BIM models will be required to be considered for GSA projects. If you don't have them, your products won't be considered which is a missed sales opportunity.

3 Reasons Why Your Customers Love Typicals

Render by ofcdesk Connect

Often known as "configurations," "planning ideas," or "planning starters,"  what I call "Typicals" are one of the most powerful selling tools available to you as a manufacturer or dealer.

Lets take a look at the benefits that Typicals offer your customers.

Typical Configurations are pre-configured product arrangements that are often created for marketing materials.  Typicals are also popular for AutoCAD, Revit, and SketchUp product symbols and are a key part of your symbol content strategy.

These appealing product arrangements help your customers understand how your product lines come together in a practical way in a designed space.

Typicals for Furniture manufacturers are similar to the mannequins used in the clothing industry. That pair of jeans looks a lot better when its paired with a nice shirt and a sweater.

This is why you rarely see a single piece of furniture displayed on its own at NeoCon: give your products some complimentary "friends" and watch your customers flock to your showroom display.

This Typical concept carries over to how your design customers work with your products in a virtual space.

Here are some reasons why Typicals should be a part of your symbol content strategy:

Render by ofcdesk Connect

1. Typicals give your customers a place to begin.

The majority of your customers don't have the deep understanding that you do about your products. They don't understand how product number xxxx-xxx fits with product number yyy-yy.

Symbol Typicals put your products in context and help designers see how the parts come together. From there, they can change the arrangement, as needed, by swapping out individual products.

Render by ofcdesk Connect

2. Typicals show how multiple product lines can come together.

Typicals aren't limited to one product line.  You as the manufacturer can mix and match different products in your Typicals to add variety and introduce another product line to the designer.

For example: a designer may have seen an image of your chair and downloaded the Typical that contains the chair.  The Typical that you offered them may also contain a table from an entirely different product line.

Now your customer has been introduced to this new table product line.  Cross selling at its finest.

Render by ofcdesk Connect

3. Typicals are fast.

Whether a designer is in a dealership or an architecture firm, its understood that time is money.

Giving a designer the ability to download a pre-configured Typical right away will save them time. Don't make your potential customer sift through long lists of individual products to figure out how they come together.

Remember, they don't know the details of your products--they just want something that looks nice at the right price.

So what now?

Typicals are important to the design process--not having them could mean leaving money on the table (no furniture pun intended).

Here are some simple steps that you can take to prepare your Typicals right away:

1. Build them: Use your existing Typical arrangements and reproduce them with your AutoCAD, Revit, and/or SketchUp symbols.  If you can't create them all on your own, hire a service to create them for you.  Also, focus on creating Typicals for your most popular product lines first, if you're unable to build them all at once.
2. Create enticing Typical images: Create images for each Typical, so designers can see what they will download and eventually use in their design.  Keep the images clean and place them in a white environment, so the background is not distracting.  See the above images as an examples of Typical renders.
3. Put them on your website: Create a web page on your site where designers can download your Typicals.  Name the Typicals something like "design starters" or "planning starters." 

Do you already have Typicals?  How do they help you sell more?

Why AutoCAD Files Just Don't Work in Revit

Yes, its true:  AutoCAD .DWG files just don't work in Revit.  You can import a .DWG file into Revit, but you won't be pleased with the results.

Because of this, it's recommended that you don't send your customer, who uses Revit, your AutoCAD files.  Watch the video above to see why...

This is the challenge that manufacturers face: they offer symbols, but the majority of them are .DWG files (the most common AutoCAD file type).  This is great for your customers who use AutoCAD, but not so good for Revit users.

Your customers who want to interact with your products in Revit, won't like the fact that they have to insert a .DWG file into their precious design.  

Here are a two additional reasons your Revit design customers won't insert your AutoCAD .DWG files into their Revit projects:

1. AutoCAD .DWG files are HEAVY in Revit

Revit users often work on large scale projects.  Their designs could include entire buildings or floors, so .DWG files are not ideal.

Because .DWG files were not meant to reside in Revit projects, they are "heavy." 

This means that they slow down the Revit software, include too much detail, and are not parametric (the ability for users to turn product options on and off).  

In short, they're not made for Revit and don't allow the user to experience the best functionality that Revit can offer.  

Imagine adding a table and a chair 30 or 40 times into an entire Revit floor using clunky .DWG files. Your Revit project would come to a stand still.

The end result is a computer that crashes and an unhappy customer.

2.  AutoCAD .DWG files are not flexible in Revit

As we have shown in the above video, .DWG files used in Revit are inflexible and stiff.  

Let's say you've created a furniture typical configuration in AutoCAD and you then import it into Revit.  If your customer who uses Revit wants to make a change, they will struggle to adjust the model in Revit.  

The .DWG file in Revit imports just as you created it in AutoCAD and cannot be moved or easily broken apart.  The entire typical is essentially a stiff, unmovable block that slows down your customer's Revit project.

Also, .DWG files that are imported into Revit lose all "data," meaning that any specification information that the .DWG file contained will not show in Revit.

In conclusion: it's not a good idea to offer your AutoCAD files to a Revit user.  Give them the Revit version of your products they need, and they'll place an order.

Rendering: What You See Is What You Get

Render Image by Eduard Lefler

In the old days (less than 20 years ago!) designers, architects, and manufacturers used to rely on design sketches and pictures to help their clients understand their vision.  How did we survive before rendering?

For manufacturers, taking high quality images of their products in showrooms with set dressings was the only way to show new products in their true environment.

The cost was high to assemble furniture, find a suitable space, and hire a photographer for the shoot.  The furniture used often had to be sold at a discount as a "display" model.

Now, manufacturers create photo-realistic renders of their products in synthetic settings.  Their customers are also designing spaces with similar virtual products on their own platforms.

This is all great, and everyone is doing it, but what are the real benefits that renders offer?  How can dealers and manufacturers sell even more with render technology?

Dream faster in the cloud

Everything is moving faster and so are your customers.  Render technology is keeping up with business, but not everyone in business is moving faster.

Are you going overseas to create renders?  Many manufacturers go abroad and there are plenty of companies who create realistic renders in India and China, but that turnaround time is still not fast enough for time-crunched customers.

With new render cloud technology, you can render your designs in the web and not halfway around the world.  Make sure your design tool uses cloud render technology, so you can keep your sales momentum.

Speed is one of the most important elements that renders offer.  No physical products--everything is digital and your design teams across the country are creating professional photographic work on their own at a fraction of the cost.

Image by Fdecomite

Swap it out: quick

Think about how complex your products are.  Imagine showing your customer a finish library that has hundreds of options.

There was a time (and still today) where books filled with all of the variations of your products was the most efficient way to help your customer envision your product in a space.

The problem was, after the sixth book, your products turn into a heavy stack of cloth pasted in a binder.

Options, options, options.  Offer them quickly and at the touch of button in render software. Hundreds, and in many cases, thousands of options are digitized and ready to be applied to your render.

The faster the better.  You can send high quality render-able images off to your client before they decide to spend their money elsewhere.

Condensing your product offerings into a digitized state where the options you want to show are at your fingertips is the second most important way to increase sales with renders.

If the customer doesn't like something--change it, and know that you have thousands of options you can insert immediately.  This is the power of rendering to sell more.

Join us as we explore the world of rendering more in future posts, as ofcdesk adds this technology to their Connect tool.

5 Reasons Interior Designers Use Revit/BIM Software

Photo by Jakob Salovsky

For contract furniture manufacturers and dealers, understanding how their customers are using their products in a virtual space is becoming more and more important.

This post is a primer for members of the contract furniture industry to understand how their customers are interacting with their products in a BIM environment.

For those of you new to BIM, the acronym stands for Building Information Modeling. BIM is a streamlined, collaborative process used by architects, engineers, construction companies, and interior designers to efficiently plan and visualize buildings.  

Revit is a BIM software that works in this process.  In comparison, AutoCAD is not a BIM software.

In many cases interior designers may work with a manufacturer's products in a virtual space before even seeing the physical product.  

Designers may design a space using your task chair (provided you have Revit models available for them) before they've had the opportunity to sit in it.

This is the new reality for interior designers who collaborate simultaneously with other disciplines on BIM projects, the most popular BIM software being Autodesk Revit.

BIM has become an integral part of most large scale building projects and those who work with interiors have been in the process of making the switch for the past five years.

Here are 5 reasons that interior designers are making the transition to the BIM process using Revit:

1. Revit helps them visualize in 3D

BIM software, like Revit, helps designers create their space in 3D and then view that space. The ability to switch between 2D and 3D views helps the designers on both practical and creative levels.

In our interview with Linette Kilbourn, an interior designer working at Interior Architects, we learned the importance of BIM in the interiors space.  Linette told us:

"Personally, I feel that the (BIM) benefit for interior designers is even more than for architects.  First, we can immediately see the space in 3D, even right after the plan is drawn." 

For example, the concept of "clash detection," the ability to avoid errors when two objects are laid out in the same space, become more important. Designing in 3D makes inserting objects into a space as intuitive as placing a physical object in a room.

Revit designers use 3D Revit views to generate basic renders for their clients.  This is an opportunity for designers to impress and discuss their ideas for the layout for a given space within the building. 

It's in this phase that the designer showcases the furniture in the space, making it even more important for manufacturers to offer accurate Revit representations of their products.

Photo by stuart.childs

2. Data is easier to manage

There are a lot of 3D design tools on the market that the interiors community can use for free.  But the real power of BIM comes, not only in the ability to design in 3D, but in the easier management of all the data that can be used to plan the space.

Think of well made Revit/BIM models as little computer programs that hold data and options for manufacturers' products.  The bulk of the work that uses BIM models relies on product data and is not concerned with graphics.

Revit/BIM models often contain valuable data that assists with GSA and LEED requirements to be calculated for the space.

3. The Revit schedule helps them slice and dice data

Schedules provide an organized foundation for extracting and using BIM data as designers work through their projects.  If you're familiar with a Bill Of Material, schedules are a similar concept. Revit schedules provide an interface that could be compared to Microsoft Excel.

Revit designers use schedules to edit and view data in different ways.  For example, Room Data sheets are commonly created from schedules for an inventory of products which are added to the design.

Adding non-graphic data within the individual Revit symbols, enables interior designers to perform accurate quantity calculations in relation to surface areas and material amounts with ease.

Picture by GotCredit

4. BIM promotes collaboration

Furniture is just one aspect of a building project.  Interior designers involved with building projects are not only looking at their piece, they're collaborating in a virtual model that is simultaneously being worked on by other disciplines.

The days of passing architectural data from architect to engineer to construction and finally ending in the designers lap are fading fast.

BIM helps multiple disciplines work data for a building simultaneously.  That means engineers, MEP, electricians, and designers could theoretically still have their hands in a BIM model at the same time.

Creating in Revit helps designers capture and manage the design with multiple options such as space layout and material selection, within a single model, while communicating with their colleagues in other disciplines.

5. No fudging, accuracy is improved

With BIM/Revit there are fewer change orders as well as requests for information from the contractor and their subcontractors.

Revit doesn't let you fudge the numbers because its a 3D software.  In the old 2D software, dimensions can be overwritten, making the finished documents incorrect.

Revit doesn't let designers make up the numbers, and they appreciate the software for its accuracy and honesty.  In a BIM environment everything is as it appears, and if it is modeled incorrectly it will be caught in advance and fixed as soon as possible.


What have you heard about BIM technology for interior design?  Leave us comments below.