Pro Case Study: Safety Training with Turner Construction, Part 3

In our third and final installment in our blog series profiling Turner Construction, Jim Barrett, Director of Integrated Building Solutions explains how Turner uses SketchUp Pro as an innovative training tool:

Turner takes advantage of SketchUp Pro’s ease-of-use, friendly environment and the 3D Warehouse as a fundamental tool for introducing Turner engineers, superintendents, and safety managers to Virtual Design and Construction (VDC).

Safety Example Model: Excavation Logistics

Turner training courses begin with teaching SketchUp Pro. Many VDC concepts are taught through SketchUp. SketchUp Pro is also a core tool and foundational step towards Turner’s advanced VDC tools and processes.

Turner Safety Manager Training in SketchUp

Jim explains, "We find that SketchUp Pro is a great tool for introducing fundamental modeling and analysis skills to all construction families. At Turner, we include SketchUp Pro as part of the standard program installation package on all computers. This makes SketchUp just a click away for all users."

Safety Example Model: Edge Protection and Opening Coverings

We'd like to thank Jim and all the folks at Turner for giving us a detailed peek into how they use SketchUp Pro in their operations. We look forward to hearing more.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp Marketing

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Pro Case Study: Turner Construction and the WTC, Part 2

In the second installment of our three-part series profiling Turner Construction Company, we turn our attention to the plugins Turner is developing to increase efficiencies across the global organization. Jim Barrett, Director of Integrated Building Solutions, explains:

The National Turner Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) team has developed several SketchUp plugins in Ruby to bring existing and evolving VDC processes into the simple, efficient and visual environment of SketchUp Pro.

A proprietary plugin for steel modeling and tracking was created to accelerate the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) at the World Trade Center Transportation Hub. The tool was written to batch convert single line framing plans into 3D steel sizes, using a standard library of parts. This tool was expanded to report steel takeoffs and is now used throughout Turner to support estimating and pre-construction services.

The Place Steel for Modeling module in Turner's proprietary SketchUp plugin

By developing our own tools on top of the intuitive interface of SketchUp Pro, we continue to increase operational efficiencies. The place steel plugin is a great example of how streamlining the modeling process by reviewing the process of modeling steel, standardizing the modeling of stock pieces, and integrating that database information into SketchUp Pro reduces redundancy as well as dimensional errors in steel sizing.

Working with several Turner offices including, New York City and Seattle, a takeoff plugin was developed to support Turner’s current approach to “Control Quantity Models” and “Gross Square Foot” takeoffs. This tool allows SketchUp models to be built for different purposes. For example, using client or business unit standards, we still achieve consistent and accurate takeoffs of square footage, count, length and volumes (using SketchUp Pro’s Solid Tools).

The Count Steel for Estimating module of the Turner plugin

Design information is still in its infancy and rapidly changing. Supporting Turner’s evolving estimating expertise, a plugin was developed to accelerate the takeoff process for conceptual estimates. This plugin allows for rapid creation of space and room plans, as well as the detailed takeoff information that is required for estimates.

The Mass Generator for Estimating module

These two takeoff plugins work together to seamlessly streamline the quantity takeoff process developed by estimators in SketchUp Pro. At Turner, we look at opportunities to develop existing processes & workflows using new tools.

A detail view of the Mass Generator for Estimating module

In this way, we aren’t teaching new workflows based on new tools as they come along (a very disruptive process for any business). Rather, we’re able to leverage the skill sets and broad knowledge bases of our VDC team to build streamlined versions of existing workflows into new tools.

In the third (and last) installment of the series, we’ll explore how Turner is using SketchUp Pro in a unique and innovative way: for safety training.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp Marketing

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SketchUp Pro Case Study: Turner Construction and the WTC, Part 1

Today, we kick off a three-part series profiling Turner Construction Company, one of the largest construction management companies in the world. Turner uses SketchUp Pro at several points in its workflow: planning and coordinating of demolition and construction, creating presentations and providing safety training. They’ve even developed SketchUp plugins to accelerate certain internal processes.

We sat down with Jim Barrett, Director of Integrated Building Solutions, to discuss how Turner is using new technologies and processes to solve everyday problems. In this first installment, Jim tells us about SketchUp Pro’s role in Turner’s World Trade Center Transportation Hub Project.

To meet the accelerated schedule and high number of deliverables for the World Trade Center Transportation Hub Project, Turner turned to SketchUp Pro. This project is not only a complex matrix of building system and structural elements; it also requires detailed phasing of demolition and construction to avoid disturbance to the six major subway lines that run within the project extents. Coordination models are essential for planning phasing and coordinating the location of not only the permanent structures, but also the temporary construction items such as formwork, shoring, and bracing.

Detailed model of East Box Girder steel, precast smoke purge ducts, and temporary shoring.

Weekly work-in-place presentation updates are automated through a custom Turner plugin (which we’ll discuss in Part 2 of this post) for exporting images to slide presentation software. The ability to customize workflows provides Turner with the opportunity to combine constructibility studies with graphic information about the schedule and clearly represent this information to the project team.

Work in place tracking of 1-train subway structure and temporary shoring towers. Both subway and PATH train service are maintained while construction is taking place.

Interoperability is key for Engineers at Turner. SketchUp Pro’s ability to import and save to exchange file formats allows the team to compile models from multiple disciplines, regardless of the model’s software origin. In this way, the team can quickly study complex details and integrate additional information to an existing model.

PATH Hall roof steel ribs, vierendeel truss, and adjacent to Memorial Pavilion structure.

We’d like to thank Jim and Turner Construction for chatting with us. In part 2, we’ll explore a couple of Turner’s custom plugins used to bring existing processes into the simple, efficient and visual environment of SketchUp Pro.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp Marketing

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The strengths of autism shine in 3D

About 8 years ago, the SketchUp team started receiving some pretty intriguing calls: parents of children on the autism spectrum were calling to let us know how SketchUp was changing their kids’ lives. People with autism tend to be unusually strong visual and spatial thinkers, and it became clear that SketchUp plays to those strengths. With that bit of information (and help from the Autism Society of Boulder County), we launched Project Spectrum with a single goal: connecting the autism community with SketchUp.
For some children on the spectrum, especially those who are nonverbal, SketchUp serves as a way to communicate allowing them to share their thoughts through images. Other kids learn life skills that help them to achieve educational and career goals they might not have even aspired to before SketchUp. It seems SketchUp builds self-esteem since these children are able to model circles (and squares) around their neurotypical peers.

Certified SketchUp instructor Steve Gross teaches two children how to use the SketchUp at an iSTAR camp.

It was these anecdotes that inspired Cheryl Wright, Associate Professor in Family & Consumer Studies, at the University of Utah, to study the SketchUp/autism connection in detail. Cheryl and her team have hosted several SketchUp camps, called project iSTAR, for dozens of children with autism.

Cheryl’s team studied hundreds of hours of video of campers, and last month they published a paper in the Family & Consumer Sciences Research Journal outlining their findings. While the camp set out to develop a skill set that could lead to potential employment, Utah researchers found several added benefits, such as stronger interpersonal relationships and greater confidence due, in large part, to a focus on the kids’ talents instead of their disorder. Cheryl explains, “[The campers] talents are often invisible. In our program, we provided a platform for their talents to shine.”

This, of course, is only a taste of the study’s findings, and we encourage you to read the team’s article to learn more. Lastly, we’d like to thank the University of Utah for helping us, and the world, understand how we can better prepare children on the autism spectrum for success. We look forward to continuing to forge new learnings that will enable us to touch more lives.

Posted by Tom Wyman, Project Spectrum

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Ideas Made Real: a Wine Bar, a Trebuchet, a Skate Park, a Movie Model...

In November, we launched the Make Ideas Real project with the goal of creating a showcase of the best SketchUp work from around the world. To build out this showcase, we asked you all to share stories of how SketchUp is helping you to turn your ideas into something tangible. The response has been overwhelming.

In just one month, our launch video received nearly quarter million views and several hundred of you took the time to tell us your SketchUp story. Your positive reaction and the quality of the work you’ve shared with us is inspiring, but to truly blow out this showcase, we need to hear from even more of you.

If you haven’t yet told us your SketchUp story, share it now by filling out this form. If SketchUp has helped you turn an idea into reality, we want to hear about it.

And for your inspiration, here are just a few of the hundreds of quality submissions we’ve received so far:

Wine Bar design by Bertier Luyt of France

More images (See! You can use SketchUp to build a wine bar.)

Scout Trebuchet by Peter Leroux and friends of South Africa

More images | 3D model | Ropes and Poles blog

X Games Street and Park Courses by Dug Ketterman of California

Dug's website

The Machine by Evan Seccombe of California

A re-imagined prop from the film Contact, 3D printed

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp team

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How do you make ideas real with SketchUp?

Every week, two million people use SketchUp to breathe life into their ideas. The resulting 3D models get made into houses and schools, movie sets and aquariums, bridges, robots, and furniture. The sum total of all this work represents a larger, yet untold story of how the SketchUp community is profoundly shaping the world around us.

Well, it’s time for all you unsung SketchUp heroes to stand up and take a bow, so today, we’re kicking off the Make Ideas Real project. The result of this initiative will be an innovative, online showcase that does justice to the impact SketchUp users are having on the physical world.

But we need your help to pull this off.

Make Ideas Real with SketchUp

Here’s how you can pitch in: Use this form to tell us your SketchUp story. Send us an image of a SketchUp model with an accompanying photograph that shows your completed project. Anything goes for subject matter; architecture, archeology, industrial design, construction, woodworking, personal fabrication, model railroading, mousetrap design — as long as SketchUp helped you make it, we want to see it. Professionals, semi-professionals and proud amateurs are all welcome.

Here are three examples of what we mean:

City Lights Residence, Steve Oles

SKPR Bot, John Bacus

Stand Up Desk, Dave Richards and George LaRue Downing

Over the next few months, we’ll curate the submissions we receive, and in 2012, we’ll launch a special showcase of SketchUp users who are reimagining the spaces we inhabit. Please share your story with us, so we can share it with the world.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp team

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SketchUp Halloween Challenge: The Best Entries

Lots of you entered the SketchUp Halloween Challenge, and the results are impressive. In no particular order, here are our favorite entries:

Haunted Houses

Haunted Chapel by Sebastian Sosnowski of Wrocław, Poland
SketchUp and Twilight Render | Model | More Images

Mansion RB by tubero44 of Granada, España
SketchUp and Photoshop | Model | More Images

Haunted House by KonZawad of Morąg, Poland
Only SketchUp | Model | More Images

Casa Tétrica by Ronald of Perú
Only SketchUp | Model | More Images

Arris House by Arris Di Donato of Italy
SketchUp, Photoshop and Paint.net | Model

Haunted Farmhouse by Debi Long of Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
Only SketchUp | Model | More Images

Skull Chapel by Tomasz Szular of ZIelona Góra, Poland
SketchUp and GIMP | Model | More Images

Haunted Castle by Robert Waldo Brunelle Jr. of Jericho, Vermont, USA
SketchUp and Photoshop | Model | More Images

Zombies on Hunted House by Mosen of Brazil
Only SketchUp | Model | More Images

Apparitions and All Ghouls Haunted House(s) by visionvision of Ithaca, NY, USA
SketchUp and Photoshop | Model | More Images

Ghost Home by Kian Lind of Lago Vista, Texas, USA
Only SketchUp | Model

I see dead people! by Jorge De Albertis "Auquicu" of Lima, Peru
SketchUp, GIMP and Google Earth | Model | More Images

The Old RR Depot by Scottio of Newtown, Connecticut, USA
SketchUp, IDX Renditioner and Photoshop | Model | More Images

Haunted House Contest 2011 TMM by Thomas Mutch of Coral Springs, USA
Only SketchUp | Model | More Images

Hallowed Haunts by Pat Hannigan of Philadelphia, USA
SketchUp and Photoshop | Model | More Images

Spooky House by alsomar of Valencia, Spain
SketchUp and Photoshop | Model | More Images

Jack-o'-Lanterns

Three Friends a Greeting by Sebastian St.Troy of Austin, TX, USA
Only SketchUp | Model | More Images

Space Invaders Jack-O'-Lantern by Mike Ford of Surrey, UK
Only SketchUp | Model

Mario Jack-O'-Lantern by Mike Ford of Surrey, UK
Only SketchUp | Model

We Come In Peace by Mark Hammari of Modesto, USA
SketchUp and Shaderlight | Model | More Images

Abóbora Hallowen by Josianny Silva of Belém, Brasil
SketchUp and Microsoft Office Picture Manager | Model

Jack-O'-Lantern in Memoriam by Rachel of Florida, USA
Only SketchUp | Model

As for our top three in each category, we'll announce those in the next edition of the SketchUpdate newsletter. We're still open to suggestions, incidentally; please feel free to use the Comments to vote for your favorites. Thanks to all those who participated, and have a very happy Halloween!

Posted by Aidan Chopra, SketchUp Evangelist

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SketchUp Halloween Challenge: 13 Hours Left

A quick reminder: The SketchUp Halloween Challenge deadline is only 13 hours from now. If you're planning to submit a haunted house or a jack-o'-lantern, now's the time.


Posted by Aidan Chopra, SketchUp Evangelist

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PULSE-pounding visuals from Hollywood artist Harald Belker

Odds are, you’ve encountered Harald Belker’s work before. As a leading Hollywood concept artist, Harald is the man behind several iconic movie vehicles. His vehicular creds include:

The Batmobile from Batman & Robin

The Lightcycle from TRON: Legacy

The Lexus 2054 and Mag-Lev vehicles from Spielberg’s classic, Minority Report

The guy's got serious game.

So you can imagine our delight when our friends at Filter Foundry told us that Harald was using SketchUp extensively on his latest project, PULSE: the complete guide to the future of racing. We immediately reached out to Harald who happily agreed to tell us more.

“I can somehow just create in SketchUp,” Harald explains. “It allows me to visualize my ideas very quickly, giving me free range to explore. I literally use SketchUp the way I used to sketch with a pencil.”

Harald starts with a SketchUp model and uses Photoshop to bring it to life.

He continues, “SketchUp allows me to very easily create an environment for any vehicle I have designed. The typical application for SketchUp is to model something in 3D, set up the perspective, export the image and use that as an underlay for an illustration in Photoshop.”

This evolution of a space through SketchUp and Photoshop.

Speaking more broadly about SketchUp’s role in the movie industry, Harald tell us that “once it caught on, it spread like wildfire. Now everybody I know is using it.”

He continues, “Since a lot of people I work with are using SketchUp, it’s a great crossover platform, too. I can model something in SketchUp and I can send that file to somebody who adds something else to it, and it sort of becomes this thing that everybody adds to.”

An electric race from the pages of PULSE.

Thankfully, Harald believes it’s the “natural obligation” of an industry vet to share acquired knowledge, and to make good, he’s posting a series of SketchUp quick tips on Filter Foundry. His first tip shows “how easy it is to create good tires in SketchUp.” Stay tuned for more.

Harald is offering SketchUp tips on Filter Foundry.

As a final note, it’s worth mentioning that Harald got into SketchUp the way most of us did: by modeling (or at least attempting to model) his own house.

Like most, Harald first used SketchUp to design his house.

“The way I learned SketchUp was on a tip from a friend, who said to just make your own house in SketchUp.” With a big grin, Harald continues, “Before I was even close to finishing my own house, I started designing my dream house. It ended up being 15,000 square feet. It’s a little big, but there’s nothing wrong with dreaming big.”

We’d like to thank Harald for taking the time to chat with us; thanks also to our friends at Filter Foundry for making this story possible. To see even more of his work, check out Harald’s pad on Filter Foundry or visit his personal site, haraldbelker.com.

Posted by Gopal Shah, SketchUp Marketing

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