Land F/X has developed a unique process to connect AutoCAD with Google’s SketchUpÒ 3-D visualization program. This process allows for a quick interaction of designing in either AutoCAD or in SketchUp with 3-D, with the same Land F/X project data, and viewing the designs in either format.

This interaction allows for instant visualization of an AutoCAD design in SketchUp, or to take a SketchUp 3-D design into AutoCAD with AutoCAD symbols and data.

In This Section

• The AutoCAD to SketchUp design process allows you to design in either and view the results in the other.

• Automate the process to prepare your AutoCAD site base for importing into SketchUp.

• Assign SketchUp 3-D symbols to your plant palette within AutoCAD.

• Export you AutoCAD design into SketchUp in one quick process.

• Learn the tips to do your design within SketchUp.

• Export your SketchUp design into AutoCAD, swapping the SketchUp 3-D symbols out with AutoCAD symbols with Land F/X data attached.

Land F/X has developed a unique connection with Google’s SketchUpÒ 3-D visualization program. While no 3-D software is “easy” to learn, SketchUp is considered by many to be the easiest to use of the available options. SketchUp is also free, you do not need the Pro version of SketchUp in order to connect to Land F/X. SketchUp also has a large support community of users, making available an ever growing library of SketchUp 3-D symbols for the public.

There are four basic steps to the Land F/X SketchUp Connection.

• Step 1 – Prepare the Base File: This prepares you AutoCAD site base for importing into SketchUp. This also coordinates with SketchUp the orientation and insertion point of the site so the 3-D plant symbols and 3-D site amenities can be correctly placed.

• Step 2 – Export the Plan: This allows you to export your planting plan to SketchUp. Within this function you can review the SketchUp 3-D symbols that are associated with a plant and assign SketchUp symbols to plants that need them. When you export the plan the AutoCAD symbols will be swapped out with the assigned SketchUp 3-D symbol, and placed on the SketchUp created site at the same location they were in AutoCAD.

• Step 3 – Import a SketchUp Design: You can also design within SketchUp, and then import that design into you AutoCAD site drawing, where the SketchUp 3-D symbols will be swapped out for the related AutoCAD symbol.

Before using the Land F/X SketchUp Connection you would have started a Land F/X Project, and added some or all of the plants to the project plant palette. As you need to design in AutoCAD, you will need Land F/X AutoCAD symbols associated with at least the plants you want to visualize in SketchUp. During the process when you Export the Plan to SketchUp you would assign SketchUp 3-D symbols to represent the same plants.

Now you have SketchUp symbols as well as AutoCAD symbols assigned to your plant palette, and you can go back and forth between AutoCAD and SketchUp to develop a design and visualize it in 3-D.

There is no set process for designing with the SketchUp Connection, but there are basically two methods, with certain variations.

In AutoCAD, place some level of planting design into your site drawing. This might be just the tree masses, or it might be a detailed level of tree and shrub planting design. Now review your design in SketchUp to evaluate its effectiveness and any need for changes or additional development with the Land F/X “Export Design” function.

After reviewing the design in SketchUp, come back to AutoCAD and further develop your design…and then take it back to SketchUp to review it again. Keep repeating the process as desired.

Before beginning your design in AutoCAD, but after you have developed you plant palette and assigned symbols to the plants, go to the prepared site base in SketchUp and place plants into the SketchUp site. Again this might be a beginning of the tree massing only, or more detailed as desired. Designing from SketchUp is helpful as you may have a fully developed building mass to give you a better feel of appropriate planting.

Now export this design to AutoCAD to see how the design is developing there. You may wish to then make some adjustments in AutoCAD, as drawing control is more accurate in AutoCAD, and export that revised design back to SketchUp.

Again keep repeating the back and forth process as desired.

The SketchUp symbols you selected for your plants will come into SketchUp at the same diameter as the diameter of your AutoCAD symbol, the height will be whatever it is. As your AutoCAD symbol diameters are somewhat arbitrary (subjective based on the designers feeling of the space requirements of the plant), you may find you need to adjust your AutoCAD symbol diameter to better suit the output into SketchUp of the plant.

You may also find that the SketchUp symbol you selected is somewhat unsatisfactory. You will find you will need to go back to AutoCAD and the SketchUp Connection and experiment with different symbols to get it just right. For instance, you have a deciduous tree that really is better represented by a SketchUp tree symbol from the Evergreen or Generic library of SketchUp symbols.

Assume it will be a standard procedure to keep going back and forth between AutoCAD and SketchUp and adjust the symbols from each until you get the desired look and feel.

To access the Land F/X SketchUp Connection function, click on the SketchUp Connection button.

SketchUp Connection Toolbars	SketchUp Connection Drop down

When you select SketchUp Connection you will get the SketchUp Connection dialog box.

SketchUp Connection dialog box.

From here you can go to one of the four functions:

• Prepare Base File
• Export 2-D
• Export 3-D
• Import Design

• This function is performed on your AutoCAD site base and will dramatically modify the AutoCAD drawing in order to best prepare it to import into SketchUp.
• The base file is for the initial Base in SketchUp. Once imported into SketchUp you will not use it after.

Prepare Base File button on the SketchUp Connection dialog box.

Preparing for SketchUp does several things to the drawing:

• If the site base consisted of an Xref, and even with multiple nested Xref’s, the Xref’s would be re-inserted as blocks and then exploded.

• All layers would be moved to layer “0”.

• All polylines would be exploded so that they are individual lines and arcs.

• If necessary, a common insertion point and coordinate system is established to that the symbol locations will be coordinated with the SketchUp file to AutoCAD. Normally the AutoCAD 0,0 insertion point is used, unless that point is more than 1 mile (or so) away from the site drawing, then a more convenient origin point for the SketchUp Connection is automatically established by Land F/X, leaving the AutoCAD origin point alone. This is because SketchUp does not deal with long distant origin point references well.

Upon selecting “Prepare Base File” a confirmation box will appear:

• Just as it says, this routine will dramatically modify your drawing, so if you have not already saved this drawing, select “No” and run this function again. If you select “Yes”, you have saved the drawing and you do not object to modifying it.

Here is an AutoCAD drawing before the drawing preparation.

AutoCAD drawing of a site before “Prepare Base File”	After selecting Prepare Site Base

The base is now prepared as indicated at the start of this section. The dialog box says you may now import this drawing into SketchUp.

Important: It also says to be sure to select “Options” to set the Units and to Preserve the Drawing Origin.

After selecting “OK”, save this modified drawing with another name at a location of your choice, for example, save this as “Siteprep.dwg” at some location.
Now open SketchUp. Go to “File/Import…” and import the above AutoCAD drawing, “Siteprep.dwg:.

Importing an AutoCAD file into SketchUp.

• At the bottom of the “Open” dialog box, select “ACAD Files” as the file type, highlight your file you wish to open, and, Important, go to the “Options…” button.

In Options set the Units to match that of your drawing.	Check the “Preserve Drawing Origin” button

• In the “Options…” dialog box, be sure and set the “Units” to match that of your AutoCAD drawing.
• In this example the AutoCAD drawing had imperial units of 1 AutoCAD unit equaled 1 inch. Also check the box for “Preserve drawing origin”.
• You will now bring into SketchUp the AutoCAD drawing.

The AutoCAD drawing as first brought in

The AutoCAD drawing after zooming extents viewing from “Top”

Now you are ready to prepare this drawing to the extent that you wish.

• You could leave this file just as it is, you could give some basic textures and colors to turf, ground cover, and paving areas.
• You could extrude the building as a basic block, to you could define the building with more accurate rooflines, etc.
• You could fully define the ground plane textures and colors, and either bring in a building that was fully developed by the Architect in SketchUp, or more fully develop it yourself.
• The site could even have contours and grade elevations, which you usually have to clean up to some extent.

After doing the extent of further development that you wish, save this drawing as a SketchUp drawing and your AutoCAD site will be coordinated with it.

SketchUp is a topic onto itself. We recommend reviewing the various SketchUp tutorials to become more proficient with it.

The following is an example of this site with textures and an extruded building.

The prepared site drawing of the previous plan

Another great aspect of SketchUp is that, if you create windows in the building, you can create views from inside the building looking out at different widows.

Viewing from inside the building to an outdoor area

Select the Export Plan function from the Land F/X SketchUp Connection.

The “Export Plan” button.

When you select Export Plan you will get the Export to SketchUp dialog box.

Export to SketchUp dialog box.

When you go to the Export Plan function you will see a list of plants in your project and any SketchUp symbols that may have been assigned to them. Note: when you assign a SketchUp symbol to a plant Land F/X will remember the relationship, and if you add that plant to anther project, that SketchUp symbol will already be assigned.

• The list of plants in the “Export to SketchUp” dialog box will list the plant used in the drawing that is active at the top, and all others that are simply in the project under the heading “Palette”.
• Highlight the name of a plant you want a SketchUp symbol assigned to, and click on Select Componet. You will see the thumbnails and SketchUp 3-D plant symbols library.

Select Component button

The SketchUp “Select Component” dialog box for Trees.

The SketchUp “Select Component” dialog box for Shrubs.

• Notice that the upper left corner of this dialog box has a listing of libraries of symbols, and to the right are the thumbnails of the highlighted library. Look thru the various libraries and find the symbol that best represents your plant, you can always change you mind later.

• For example, highlight the plant Pinus halepensis and then Select Component, go to the Conifer library. The symbol “TC-PinusAri-01” seems to fit the bill.

After selecting Pinus halepensis and “Select Component”, now select the name of the symbol to the left, or the name under the image of the thubmail.

• The window will automatically close, and you will see that this SketchUp symbol name is associated with the pine.

You don’t have to assign a SketchUp symbol to every plant, just the ones you are interested in seeing in 3-D. The list of plants will indicate the plants actually placed in the active drawing at the top, and those simply in the project under the heading “Palette”.

• If you wish to, you can view the selected SketchUp symbol from within SketchUp by selecting the “View” button.

“View” button.

• When you select this button, after highlighting the plant, you will open up SketchUp to view the actual image, to make sure it is the one you want for this plant.

Click the “View” button to view the pine tree symbol selected above.

Theory

The symbol you pick is your 3-D representation of the plant. You might select a plant from the Generic library, or a library that is unrelated to the plant, such as a symbol from the Deciduous library for an Evergreen plant. As long as the look works for you, it does not matter which symbol library it comes from..

You don't have to assign a SketchUp symbol to every plant, just the ones you are interested in seeing in 3-D. The list of plants will indicate the plants actually placed in the active drawing at the top, and those simply in the project under the heading Palette.

Select the SketchUp Connection function and the “Export Plan” button. You go back to the “Export to SketchUp” dialog box, simply click “OK” if the desired number of plants have been assigned SketchUp symbols. When you click OK you will get the following confirmation:

• This confirms you may now go to your SketchUp site model and import your design from AutoCAD. A Plugins menu will automatically be added to SketchUp in both pulldown and button toolbar form. Click on either the “Land F-X Import” function on the pulldown, or the “AutoCAD Import” button on the toolbar.

Import Toolbar Button	Import 3-D drop down

• The plants in AutoCAD that you assigned SketchUp symbols to will be swapped out with the SketchUp symbol at the same location that they were placed in AutoCAD.

The SketchUp site before the Land F/X Import function

The import function places the plants at the correct grade elevation that they are in the AutoCAD drawing

• You can now review your planting design to see if meets your design requirements.
• You can now either go back to the AutoCAD drawing and do further development and changes, and then export the revised design into SketchUp…or…you can make adjustments or additions to your SketchUp drawing, and import the SketchUp design back to AutoCAD.

Theory

The SketchUp symbols will be sized at the same diameter as the AutoCAD symbol for the plant. The SketchUp symbols will be slightly rotated from one another (unless they are face me), and the size will be varied by about 10%.

6.3.2 Revise the symbols inserted into the SketchUp model. Often when seeing a design unfold, you decide the selected symbols are not quite right for some reason

To change the physical height of a symbol, you can increase the diameter of the AutoCAD symbol within AutoCAD, and then re-export the AutoCAD design into SketchUp. The changed plant will be tall as it is also wider. You could, of course, use SketchUp to physically stretch a given symbol and apply it to that particular plant.

You may also decide you don't like the SketchUp symbol you associated with a particular plant. You may frequently wish to alter existing SketchUp symbols in some fashion, or create your own symbols. . Don't be afraid to keep changing or altering the symbols to get the look you are seeking.

Theory

Keep working on the plant symbols to get the desired look of the plant. This may require that an evergreen tree get its symbol from a deciduous or flowering library of symbols, if that symbol is simply more appropriate.

6.3.3 Revise an AutoCAD symbol size and re-export the design. Often the symbols in the SketchUp model may be the appropriate type, but appear either too large or too small. The size of the SketchUp symbol is entirely dictated by the diameter of the AutoCAD symbol you selected when you edited the plant in the Land F/X Project Plant Manager.

Go back to the original AutoCAD drawing with plants in it. Edit one of the placed plants and make the symbol larger or smaller. With the SketchUp Connection, Export Plan back to SketchUp. Go to the SketchUp plan and use the AutoCAD Import to re-insert the design.

The plants in question will be larger or smaller. You may have to do this several times to many of the plants to get your desired look.

Theory

As the SketchUp symbols are based on the diameter of the AutoCAD symbol, it is important to edit the diameter of many of the AutoCAD symbols so that the resulting SketchUp presentation will appear more appropriate.

• Most find that the easiest way to work in SketchUp is to view the site from plan view, similar to how you work in AutoCAD. After adding or moving some plants, you would most likely view your site in perspective to test your design, then go back to plan view to add to or adjust the design.

• To go to plan view (or top view as SketchUp calls it), you would go to the SketchUp toolbar Views and select the Top button, or the Camera pulldown menu.

The SketchUp “Top” toolbar button	The Drop Down from Camera, Standard Views

• Now you may want to turn off shadows if they are on, by going to the View pulldown and un-checking Shadows if it is checked. This makes it easier to move about on the site.

The “Shadows” function unchecked

• You will also want to go to Parallel Projection to turn off any Perspective views, to better orient to the plan view, by going to Camera and adjusting that.

Parallel Projection from the Camera pulldown menu

• If your file is large you may wish to save graphic regeneration time by adjusting the Face Style, which will allow different levels of texture and intensity. Go to View / Face Style and then an option, or the Face Style toolbar.

Face Style toolbar

• It is wise to zoom in appropriately and save this view format into SketchUp with a Scene Tab at the top of the screen…either create a new tab or edit and update an existing one. Go to View / Animation / Add Scene

SketchUp Scene Tabs

As you start designing in plan view in SketchUp, you will want to test your design in various perspective views.

• You can do this by selecting the Orbit command to manipulate your site to a desired view. Go to Camera / Orbit, or click on the orbit button.
• Now, as opposed to the plan view, you will want to have perspective turned on, check Camera / Perspective, and most likely shadows turned on, check View / Shadows.
• Frame in some typical perspective views and save them as Scene Tabs, as indicated above.
• Now you can use the scene tabs to quickly go back and forth between plan and perspective views, and the different tabs will save the settings for parallel/perspective, shadows on/off., and face styles.

• Click on either the Plugins “Land F-X Place Tree” (or Shrub) or the LandFX toolbar button for “Place Tree” (or Shrub).

Plugins “Land F-X Place Tree”	LandFX toolbar button for “Place Tree”

• Land F/X may not know which project you are adding from, and it will display your project files

Select the project to open up that projects Plant Manager

Example of a project’s Plant Manager, indicating the plant palette on the left, and the assigned SketchUp symbols on the right.

• Click on a name or symbol of a plant and place it into the design similar to how you would in AutoCAD
• By moving the plant to the desired location and clicking the mouse button, the plant will automatically be placed at the ground level elevation, if there is a topographic condition.

• After you have created a planting design in SketchUp, you can export that design to AutoCAD and swap out the SketchUp symbols for related AutoCAD symbols.

The SketchUp site after placing plants and designing.

• From SketchUp select the Export to AutoCAD function.

The SketchUp “Export to AutoCAD” function.	You can Export from the Plugins Dropdown

• When you click on Export to AutoCAD a dialog box will announce the process.

• Now go to AutoCAD and open your site plan drawing.

The AutoCAD drawing with no plants before selecting “Import Design”.

• Select the SketchUp Connection function in Land F/X. Then click on the Import Design button.

The Land F/X “Import Design” from the SketchUp Connection.

• Land F/X now reverses the process and imports your SketchUp design into AutoCAD by swapping out the SketchUp symbols with the AutoCAD symbols for the plants, and indicating them in your AutoCAD drawing at the same location as they were in the SketchUp site.

• The import function places the plants into the AutoCAD drawing at the same locations that they occurred in SketchUp.

Theory

When you want to edit a design after viewing the results in SketchUp, it is often easier to go back to AutoCAD and make the design changes, then export that design back to SketchUp for review. This is because AutoCAD is a very easy and accurate platform for symbol manipulation.

The above method of editing in SketchUp and importing into AutoCAD also works. If you are going to place and move plants, it is often easiest if you orient in plan view to do that, then go back to a perspective view for evaluation.

• Often you will import an AutoCAD design into SketchUp, then revise it by adding or changing plant locations, and then export the SketchUp design into AutoCAD to see what those changes look like in CAD.
• For example, the following SketchUp design will be altered and taken back to AutoCAD.

The original design.

Changing some of the tree locations by moving and adding some trees.

• Now test your design changes with a perspective view of the SketchUp drawing.

Testing the design in perspective view

• If this is OK, click on the “Export to AutoCAD” function, and go to the AutoCAD drawing.

Going back to AutoCAD before running the “Import Design” function.

• After running the SketchUp Connection “Import Design” function the revised plant symbol locations will be inserted and a dialog box will announce the changes with “Done.
• The drawing has been updated to match the SketchUp design.”.

After clicking the “Import Design” function.

• You would most likely want to do a little re-adjusting of the design in AutoCAD and export that back to SketchUp to reevaluate the design in 3-D.