sketchUcation

Builder is a SketchUp plugin designed to help build projects from stock parts using SketchUp. It can create optimised cutlists for both sheet and strip materials, and order lists to help speed up making your next project. It also allows you to check the cost quickly as you progress through building projects to ensure there are no unwelcome suprises at the end!

Please note - Builder Free is limited to nesting a maximum of 50 parts. Builder Pro can nest unlimited parts, and can be purchased from the Extensions Warehouse.

Getting Started

First, you need to start making your project in SketchUp. You can use Builder's built in Dynamic Components from the toolbar to easily construct frames, insert stripwood parts (including mitering) and sheetwood parts as well. Builder recognises three diferent types of parts: strip materials, sheet materials and unit parts. You can also create your own parts from scratch and make them into components in SketchUp.

Using Builder

When you run Builder, it will work through your model and create a list of every single component. It will then attempt to assign a material to each component (either a strip material, sheet material or unit part) and then nest all parts of the same material type onto full lengths/sheets of that material. Materials are assigned in two ways:

Material name - first Builder will look in the name of the component for the name of a defined material. This can be anywhere inside the name of the component.

Dimensions - if no material is found in the name, Builder will attempt to match the component dimensions to the dimensions of a material in the list and automatically assign that material. In the case of materials with identical dimensions (e.g. two sheet materials with the same thickness), it is best to use the material name method above, as this always takes precedence. Unit parts must be assigned by the name method also.

Wrapper Components

If you have a component that is just a wrapper for parts inside it and isn't actually a part itself (or you don't want it included in the output), simply put a '-' or a '*' anywhere in its name and it will not be assigned a material, e.g. 'Assembly-Frame', 'Wall section *'.

Materials Lists

Builder needs to have a list of material sections to nest your parts onto - you can edit this from the 'Builder Settings' button in the toolbar. You can add as many strip materials, sheet materials and unit parts as you like as long as they don't have duplicate names. The stock lists are saved to a file so will be saved even when you close SketchUp.

Running Builder

Once you have setup your model and you stock list, you can run Builder. Select the parts of your model you want Builder to process and click the 'B' button in the toolbar. It has 3 output options:

Quick View: this produces a quick costs overview of all the stock parts within SketchUp, so you can see how much your project costs so far.

HTML: this section is designed for printing and for when you have a more finalised version of your project. An HTML document is produced with an overview of costs and optimised graphical cutlists for both strip materials and sheet materials to make cutting your parts easy.

XLSX: this outputs a spreadsheet with formulas built in to be used for ordering and budget tracking once your design is complete.

Whichever mode you choose, Builder will first check both your components' physical sizes in SketchUp in relation to material dimensions to make sure they are correct. It will also check for parts with no material in the list and if any are larger than the material available. If there are any errors, they will be displayed by type and components with errors will not be included in the output.

Please note - Builder Free is limited to 50 parts

Builder is a SketchUp plugin designed to help build projects from stock parts using SketchUp. It can create optimised cutlists for both sheet and strip materials, and order lists to help speed up making your next project. It also allows you to check the cost quickly as you progress through building projects to ensure there are no unwelcome suprises at the end!

Getting Started

First, you need to start making your project in SketchUp. You can use Builder's built in Dynamic Components from the toolbar to easily construct frames, insert stripwood parts (including mitering) and sheetwood parts as well. Builder recognises three diferent types of parts: strip materials, sheet materials and unit parts. You can also create your own parts from scratch and make them into components in SketchUp.

Using Builder

When you run Builder, it will work through your model and create a list of every single component. It will then attempt to assign a material to each component (either a strip material, sheet material or unit part) and then nest all parts of the same material type onto full lengths/sheets of that material. Materials are assigned in two ways:

Material name - first Builder will look in the name of the component for the name of a defined material. This can be anywhere inside the name of the component.

Dimensions - if no material is found in the name, Builder will attempt to match the component dimensions to the dimensions of a material in the list and automatically assign that material. In the case of materials with identical dimensions (e.g. two sheet materials with the same thickness), it is best to use the material name method above, as this always takes precedence. Unit parts must be assigned by the name method also.

Wrapper Components

If you have a component that is just a wrapper for parts inside it and isn't actually a part itself (or you don't want it included in the output), simply put a '-' or a '*' anywhere in its name and it will not be assigned a material, e.g. 'Assembly-Frame', 'Wall section *'.

Materials Lists

Builder needs to have a list of material sections to nest your parts onto - you can edit this from the 'Builder Settings' button in the toolbar. You can add as many strip materials, sheet materials and unit parts as you like as long as they don't have duplicate names. The stock lists are saved to a file so will be saved even when you close SketchUp.

Running Builder

Once you have setup your model and you stock list, you can run Builder. Select the parts of your model you want Builder to process and click the 'B' button in the toolbar. It has 3 output options:

Quick View: this produces a quick costs overview of all the stock parts within SketchUp, so you can see how much your project costs so far.

HTML: this section is designed for printing and for when you have a more finalised version of your project. An HTML document is produced with an overview of costs and optimised graphical cutlists for both strip materials and sheet materials to make cutting your parts easy.

XLSX: this outputs a spreadsheet with formulas built in to be used for ordering and budget tracking once your design is complete.

Whichever mode you choose, Builder will first check both your components' physical sizes in SketchUp in relation to material dimensions to make sure they are correct. It will also check for parts with no material in the list and if any are larger than the material available. If there are any errors, they will be displayed by type and components with errors will not be included in the output.

Please note - Builder Free is limited to 50 parts

Builder is a SketchUp plugin designed to help build projects from stock parts using SketchUp. It can create optimised cutlists for both sheet and strip materials, and order lists to help speed up making your next project. It also allows you to check the cost quickly as you progress through building projects to ensure there are no unwelcome suprises at the end!

Getting Started

First, you need to start making your project in SketchUp. You can use Builder's built in Dynamic Components from the toolbar to easily construct frames, insert stripwood parts (including mitering) and sheetwood parts as well. Builder recognises three diferent types of parts: strip materials, sheet materials and unit parts. You can also create your own parts from scratch and make them into components in SketchUp.

Using Builder

When you run Builder, it will work through your model and create a list of every single component. It will then attempt to assign a material to each component (either a strip material, sheet material or unit part) and then nest all parts of the same material type onto full lengths/sheets of that material. Materials are assigned in two ways:

Material name - first Builder will look in the name of the component for the name of a defined material. This can be anywhere inside the name of the component.

Dimensions - if no material is found in the name, Builder will attempt to match the component dimensions to the dimensions of a material in the list and automatically assign that material. In the case of materials with identical dimensions (e.g. two sheet materials with the same thickness), it is best to use the material name method above, as this always takes precedence. Unit parts must be assigned by the name method also.

Wrapper Components

If you have a component that is just a wrapper for parts inside it and isn't actually a part itself (or you don't want it included in the output), simply put a '-' or a '*' anywhere in its name and it will not be assigned a material, e.g. 'Assembly-Frame', 'Wall section *'.

Materials Lists

Builder needs to have a list of material sections to nest your parts onto - you can edit this from the 'Builder Settings' button in the toolbar. You can add as many strip materials, sheet materials and unit parts as you like as long as they don't have duplicate names. The stock lists are saved to a file so will be saved even when you close SketchUp.

Running Builder

Once you have setup your model and you stock list, you can run Builder. Select the parts of your model you want Builder to process and click the 'B' button in the toolbar. It has 3 output options:

Quick View: this produces a quick costs overview of all the stock parts within SketchUp, so you can see how much your project costs so far.

HTML: this section is designed for printing and for when you have a more finalised version of your project. An HTML document is produced with an overview of costs and optimised graphical cutlists for both strip materials and sheet materials to make cutting your parts easy.

XLSX: this outputs a spreadsheet with formulas built in to be used for ordering and budget tracking once your design is complete.

Whichever mode you choose, Builder will first check both your components' physical sizes in SketchUp in relation to material dimensions to make sure they are correct. It will also check for parts with no material in the list and if any are larger than the material available. If there are any errors, they will be displayed by type and components with errors will not be included in the output.

Please note - Builder Free is limited to 50 parts

2.3.1 Added ability to orient parts parallel with grain and saving and loading of settings files 2.4.1 Added efficiency and usage statistics to output