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Sketchup 2015's free Trial Expired

asked 2015-02-19 13:52:53 -0600

nadish21's avatar

I downloaded Sketchup alongwith Openstudio 1.5.3 more than a month ago. Now I am not able to use SketchUp because 1 month free trial has expired. I do not understand this. Do we need to Buy SketchUp if we need to use it with OpenStudio, or has NREL procured a Key for Sketchup which I do not know about. Previous Versions of SketchUp worked for more than a month and I was never Asked to Buy an Product.

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answered 2015-02-19 14:30:09 -0600

You can also use SketchUp Make, which is free. The link is here: SketchUp Downloads You do not need SketchUp Pro to use OS.

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OS DEVELOPERS - what about supporting blender in the future: some excellent work has been done by ODS Engineering for creating geometry models and starting EnergyPlus simulations from within blender. So, blender could become an open source substitute for Sketchup

OS-user-AT's avatar OS-user-AT  ( 2015-02-22 14:38:27 -0600 )edit
1

We would love more tools in using the OpenStudio SDK. We can provide some support to developers integrating other tools, but it isn't likely that we will directly develop plugins for other modeling tools, rather we will probably make both our API's and our support for formats such as gbXML more robust.

ODS Engineering looks great and is already using a few DOE tools (Radiance and EnergyPlus). OpenStudio could simplify their use of those tools, and give the access to OpenStudio's native functionality. With Blender using Python for scripting there are other examples like Honeybee to follow.

David Goldwasser's avatar David Goldwasser  ( 2015-02-23 16:46:32 -0600 )edit

Upon re-installation of OS, it still asks for Sketch-up 2015. How do I use Sketch-up 2016 Make with OS?

Troche21's avatar Troche21  ( 2015-11-23 09:37:07 -0600 )edit
15

answered 2015-02-19 14:46:40 -0600

updated 2015-11-16 22:14:41 -0600

SketchUp remains free for non-commercial use, to download this version you simply need to choose “Personal Projects” or "Educational Use" under what you plan to use SketchUp for when you download it. You can also download the Make version of SketchUp directly from this page. However, if you download the professional version, the free trial will expire and prompt you to purchase the product. The OpenStudio team plans to support alternative geometry workflows that do not require SketchUp (beyond 2016). The options to create geometry in OpenStudio currently available are:

Other options:

  • IFC import via BIMServer (developed by CBEI) is available in OpenStudio 1.7.1 or higher, here is a link to the tutorial.
  • VirtualPulse by the Building Science Group at University of Maryland.
  • 3D OBJ/WebGL export of geometry via measure for verification (developed by NREL). A Model Measure version for use with Apply Measures now is at https://bcl.nrel.gov/node/82771. A Reporting Measure version which allows for plotting output variables on model surfaces is at https://bcl.nrel.gov/node/82802. Both measures require OpenStudio 1.6.3 or higher.

Additionally we would like to build a merge tool to allow users to merge geometry changes made by another tool with their current working OpenStudio model.

The OpenStudio team would love to collaborate with or support developers looking to build standalone geometry tools or plug-ins for other CAD software that write to either OpenStudio directly or indirectly via gbXML.

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@macumber: The new reporting measure is VERY cool. Nice job!

For those wondering how to use it - one way is to download it in the OpenStudio Application, then drag-and-drop it into the reporting measure section of the Measures tab. Run your simulation, then pick the custom report from the Results tab.

ljbrackney's avatar ljbrackney  ( 2015-03-24 16:32:52 -0600 )edit
1

Thanks @ljbrackney. We have to also thank Theo Armour and the vA3C team for their help figuring out how to use Three.js for building applications!

macumber's avatar macumber  ( 2015-03-24 23:21:23 -0600 )edit

It is not free either, but we have found out that FormIt Pro allows you to build models easily and you can download the gbXML from Green Building Studio for import into OpenStudio. Just one more option to put out there.

macumber's avatar macumber  ( 2015-06-19 17:24:46 -0600 )edit

Honeybee is another alternate tool.

David Goldwasser's avatar David Goldwasser  ( 2016-01-05 23:15:06 -0600 )edit

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Asked: 2015-02-19 13:52:53 -0600

Seen: 9,461 times

Last updated: Nov 16 '15