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The man, the myth, the SketchUp
December 20, 2021

The man, the myth, the SketchUp

Andrew Huss | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

SketchUp Pro

Overall Satisfaction with SketchUp

We use SketchUp for quick iterations and design studies. Particularly conceptual level things. I think a lot of people in the design field have used SketchUp in school or at other places so it is important to have it in the firm if designers have a desire to use it.
  • it is intuitive, the hotkeys make sense, you can pick it up and start making 3D forms really quickly and it doesn't look overwhelming out of the box.
  • quick and nimble to create 3d geometry, morph it around, push and pull faces, vertices, edges, etc.
  • visualizing 3d geometry. It's called SketchUp and I really like the sketchy quality of everything. it feels looser than say AutoCAD.
  • you can't do NURBS modeling or true curves. everything is mesh-based. for example, if you want to make a circle, it will really be a polygon with many facets on it.
  • interoperability with other software isn't great.
  • construction documentation? it's possible but not as good as Revit or even AutoCAD/Rhino.
  • Quick visualization
  • that it exists. a lot of designers still use SketchUp today as one of their "go-to" tools in the toolkit. it's important to recognize that, what people are comfortable with matters.
  • massing studies
  • conceptual studies
  • I think we designers struggle with how much 3D computer stuff to show and when. SketchUp is a good way to start showing clients forms without going straight to a fully constructed building. this is not quantified in $$$ but rather in merit.
  • one positive thing is that it's not expensive compared to Revit. you can produce many things in SketchUp for what, $300 a year?
I did not personally select SketchUp. If it was up to me, I would only recommend it to legacy users who know/love it. Please don't take that as a shot at it, just my personal preference to use Rhino for similar functions. I think SketchUp is much cheaper than Revit for sure and better at out-of-the-box visualization. as far as Rhino, I think SketchUp has a nice sketchy quality that Rhino does not, but it lacks a bit on the actual precise modeling side.

Do you think SketchUp delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with SketchUp's feature set?

Yes

Did SketchUp live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of SketchUp go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy SketchUp again?

Yes

I think SketchUp is really well suited for nimble design iteration and visualization. you can crank out some massing studies and make sweet-looking diagrams to explain broad concepts. where it falls short is when you want to get a more precise design going and leverage that geometry into Revit.