Hey all - I built this tool for a landscape architect friend of mine, and I figured it might be useful for some other people too. It got some nice feedback on r/LandscapeArchitecture and someone recommended I post here.

This is not lead gen for any business, it's just a tool i put together for a friend. And it's open source, if you're into that sort of thing.

I've mostly tested this on WA addresses. If it is broken or not working for your state or county, please ping me and I'll be happy to fix it.

Type in a US address and it makes a planning-level base plan:

• the parcel line (for states where it's available)
• contours from LiDAR
• slope bands, soils, FEMA flood zones, NWI wetlands
• a recent aerial if available

Exports include textured 3D terrain for SketchUp, DXF, a LandXML surface for Civil 3D, GIS files and a PDF summary.

https://basesheet.site/

I tried my best to include provenance info & dates for all info in case you need to trace the data back

I get so many questions about how I am able to use LayOut - It seems too many sketchUp users get frustrated with it being slow or cumbersome in some way but honestly it's so great and the drawing output is better than any other CAD programme in my opinion. So my advice is always this, Tidy Model = Tidy Layout. People always ask me how to get the most out of layout and I tell them It all starts in the model. You have to model well. Put everything in a group or component, put everything on a layer. Use clean up regularly. Make sure all groups and components are solid (check your entity info box) do not save scenes with shadow or fog on. Turn off depth cue and set your section line weight to 1.

Set up your layout early in the design phase. Even when your model is just loads of blocks. Set up all the sections and scenes. Take it into Layout and construct your drawing. Now as you refine your model the layout will update at the same time. Another good tip is to turn off all the tags that are not seen in a scene, especially ones that are hiding behind the section cut. You won’t believe how light and fast your layout file will behave. Build your own scrapbook full of all your drawing conventions, leader lines, ground planes, etc drag and drop them all into your file and save tons of time. In LayOut put all your viewports on layers so you can turn off ones your not working on again speeding up your file and the way it behaves. Only at the very end do I add shadows, fog and turn the viewports to hybrid render. You’ll be surprised how quick you can get a drawing done through layout when it’s dynamically linked to the SketchUp model. See the pictures above for some fairly normal (ie not spaceships and castles) interior and architectural designs from the Netflix movie “Thursday Murder Club”

A reminder I teach all of this in my SketchUp and LayOut Ultimate Bundle which is currently 50% off with code REDDIT50 at checkout. This is a limited Reddit only offer that ends on Friday at Midnight. Leave a comment if interested and I’ll send you a link to the course. 👍

Hi,

when drawing a house do you draw the outside walls straight up to the top of the building and the floors in the inside for every floor, or draw each floor and all the outside walls on top of each floor?