Google SketchUp Creates Virtual Design World
With the ability to place drawings in Google Earth's virtual cities, and its easy-to-learn interface, Google SketchUp is set to be the go-to software for the conceptual drawing phase of design.

The type of conceptual design that landscape architects can create with Google SketchUp. ( Image courtesy of Googlle SketchUp. )

There's a feeling in the software business that everything Google touches simply turns to gold. But, devotees of SketchUp Pro 5 , the brainchild of Boulder, Colorado-based @Last Software, can tell you that the company didn't need Google's Midas touch to prove that the 3-D drawing software was a great product for creating quick renderings of landscapes, plans, and buildings in the conceptual design stage. However, what Google did bring to the table when it purchased @Last in March, 2006, was a way for users of SketchUp to fit their work into a larger, virtual world.

According to John Bacus, SketchUp product manager, the Google purchase "caught the CAD industry by surprise," but made sense because it gave Google Earth--Google's striking mapping software that incorporates satellite imaging technology--a tool for users to create models that could be placed into the Google Earth software, allowing them to create their own virtual world. It also gave the company a base of users for its 3-D Warehouse where these models can be posted on the Web and downloaded and manipulated by other users. For SketchUp users, Bacus adds, the combination of the modeling software and the Google Earth tool, through a software plug-in for SketchUp, means that plans and models can now be instantly placed on a three-dimensional satellite image representing the real-world building site, giving clients and the design team an immediate context for the project.

Share and share alike
What's made Google's software offerings so popular to the current generation of web-users is their ability to share content across platforms with different users, and allow those users to manipulate the content as they see fit. This sharing philosophy continues with SketchUp. After a user creates a model in SketchUp they can upload that model to Google's 3-D Warehouse, where it becomes available for the rest of the World to download, change, and re-upload into the Warehouse. While this may be great for hobbyists looking to share their models of the Empire State Building and Eiffel Tower, it's not ideal for professionals who need to share proprietary renderings of a master plan across continents. A better solution would be for Google to provide these professional users with secure space on a server where several teams could work on a stored model through the SketchUp software.

When asked about future plans for sharing, Bacus is understandably reticent. He says that the 3-D Warehouse "functions as intended, which is to get people sharing in an open way. Then we'll see where we go from there."

While sharing over the Web might not yet be right for professional users, there are plenty of ways to share renderings across platforms. While SketchUp produces a unique .SKP file, several independent programmers have begun making .SKP importers for CAD software, a trend Bacus says the company encourages. As he puts it, "your plans, your data, belong to you, and you should be able to use that data as you see fit." In addition, SketchUp files can be converted to collada files, XML-based files that can be transmitted to several applications.

A move to landscape architecture
While Bacus admits that SketchUp "grew up" selling primarily to architects, and many if its developers were architects, the company quickly saw that landscape architecture could be a successful market for the company. He notes that landscape architects tend to spend more time in the conceptual design phase of a plan, and do more sketching than architects, which makes the software a nice fit for the mentality and workflow of landscape architects.

  The most recent version of the software, SketchUp 5, is the first version to include a suite of tools specifically geared toward the landscape architecture profession--cheekily called "the sandbox." The SketchUp developers worked closely with landscape architects at EDAW to create this suite of tools and continue to work with landscape architects on future developments. While there is no timetable for future releases, Bacus says the company is always looking to improve its offerings and has a devoted user base that is constantly providing suggestions to the developers.

Spreading through the schools
Bacus readily admits that the proliferation of design software has created a training problem in landscape architecture--particularly when it comes to mid-career professionals. To help neutralize this problem, SketchUp created an interface that is designed to be intuitive so users don't have to spend a lot of time learning. He adds that the software packs a lot of functionality into a few key tools, allowing users to become more proficient quickly. "There are about five tool that will give you 80 percent efficiency with SketchUp right from the start," he says. For those looking to get deeper into the software, SketchUp offers videos, tutorials, and in-office training sessions by top-level trainers.

Google is also aggressively bringing its software to a new generation of landscape architects. According to Bacus, SketchUp is currently "in virtually all of the accredited landscape architecture programs in the country," with approximately 80 percent of those schools having lab licenses for the software. However, he is quick to add "in the professional world, training is a huge problem."

Where's the competition?
According to Bacus, SketchUp does not compete with other design software, because it fills a niche other providers don't address--specifically a 3-D tool for conceptual design. Bacus notes that CAD software such as Nemetschek North America's Vectorworks provide solutions for creating finished designs, which SketchUp is not meant to do. Rather than competing with the software, SketchUp is seen as companion program to Vectorworks, he says, adding that SketchUp renderings are easily transferred to Vectorworks, and can provide the basis for a final "hard design."