Nice Structural 3D sketches and plan views

[liam1369]

Good morning all,

Does anyone know what software or application is used to generate the following images which are used quite often in structural reports. I really like the look of this and it doesn't seem to be hand drawings.

Is it google sketch up or a similar 3D software?

Liam

 

[HS_PA_EIT]

Looks hand drawn to me, but using some digital drawing tool & software. I've been doing some similar sketching with a digital drawing tablet and Microsoft Onenote.

 

[Sosipater]

Wait. HS, you're sketching on OneNote? How is that working for you?

 

[HS_PA_EIT]

Sosipater, it's working pretty well. I've just started using this setup so it's taking some time to get used to the drawing tablet, but I'm finding it faster than scanning in sketches on paper. Also being able to type notes on the side of the sketch is nice. I'm sure there's better software out there but I already had access to Onenote. I've got the tablet set with hotkeys for different things like switching to erase etc.

 

[MIStructE_IRE]

They’re hand drawings done on Microsoft Whiteboard. Its not ‘drawing software’ in the sense that sketchup etc is. You have to be able to draw.

 

[Celt83]

HS_PA_EIT:
Give a look to AutoDesk Sketchbook it went completely free a year or so ago and has some great tools for technical sketching.

I'll toss another "looks hand drawn", to me it looks like a scanned in ink sketch colored using some computer program.

You can get a similar look with one of the visual style options in SketchUp, but since Trimble took it over and monetized everything I haven't given it a second look.

My Personal Open Source Structural Applications:

https://github.com/buddyd16/Structural-Engineering

Open Source Structural GitHub Group:

https://github.com/open-struct-engineer

 

[1503-44]

I saw where Sketchpad was going, so I never updated after version 14. I'm happy I didn't update it.

Maybe I'll try Sketchbook.

 

[JoelTXCive]

I used to do a lot of sketches/models like this with the free version of Sketchup.

Google sold Sketchup to Trimble several years ago; and now the free version is called 'Sketchup For the Web' (formerly 'Sketchup Make'). It's all cloud based and the program (& the files) do not reside on your local computer. I'm not a fan of the new setup and do not use it much anymore.

I'll try the Autodesk Sketchbook..

 

[HS_PA_EIT]

Celt83 Thanks for the recommendation, I'll definitely give it a try.

 

[Enable]

I'm not at all confident what those were drawn in but Sketchup can be used for similar purposes. See here and here. You basically draw it as usual in model space and and can either convert at the end or switch your styles as you go. To my eye looks pretty decent.

 

[skeletron]

Concepts on iOS

https://concepts.app/en/

 

[liam1369]

Thanks all, I think concepts or a whiteboard program is the best.

Yes it appears hand drawn, however, there is definitely an element of CAD to help out .

Thanks all. I might try a few examples and put them here to show progress.

Liam

 

[kostast88]

I do the same quite a lot. It's definitely Sketchbook because I understand the sequence of gray colors - these are next to each other in this app.

It was probably drawn + colored in Sketchbook. You can create layers just like Autocad.

So something additional was probably drawn as a guide/ruler, but it's not visible in end result (hide the layer).

 

[structuralCADspecialist]

While on the topic of Sketchup, I was looking for an alternative to Revit (I hate that program for various reasons). The structural engineer in this video has very successfully created a workflow for themselves using Sketchup:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMtJ0GIbm3A

Their drawings, especially the details, look amazing. The plans are a bit too 'busy' in my opinion. But subjectivity aside, it's neat to see such a different approach working so well for them; I was really impressed the first time seeing this.

Sketchup is 'good' but not great. When you get into annotations/documentation it starts to break down - it's really slow in that area. You could achieve a similar style to those sketches using Sketchup. But I would only recommend that approach if you are already familiar with Sketchup. "Sketchbook" (not to be confused with Sketchup) would be the way to go most likely - that's an assumption however as I've never used that program. If you have room on your desk for a tablet that is.

 

[ATSE]

Are you familiar with Revit?
There is a visual mode: "Sketchy lines" which makes your model render as hand-drawn. Looks similar to the posted sketch.
However, I'm not sure about how to get that text style.