I was looking around on the SketchUcation forums and found this link to an amazing set of plugins for SketchUp created by Vali Architects. They are geared toward terrain modeling and roof creation. They aren't free, but very affordable ($15-$25 each). Definitely worth checking out if you're using SketchUp for architectural, civil or landscape work. I've been wishing for something like this for a long time, and now in the past week I've found tools like these for both Revit and SketchUp.

Check out Vali's Instant Road, Roof and Site Grader Plugins here.

The Revit tool I found is called Siteworks by Eagle Point Software. It will cut parking lots, sidewalks, curbs & gutters, retaining walls, berms, swales and other things into Toposurfaces. It is full of features and therefor obviously costs a lot more. Watch the demo videos on their site to get a better idea of what it can do.

Have you ever wondered if you can create a 3d topography model from the CAD survey data you have? Watch this video and you'll see that we can use just about anything as long as it has proper height parameters.

I cover most of the scenarios encountered when you get a survey file from a civil engineer, which could be just about anything! We start with three different survey files in AutoCAD and distill the data down to just what we need, and then take it into Revit to make our 3d model using it's Toposurface tools.

For related videos, click here.

Methodcast 7, Part 2 - Taking Your Terrain from Bonzai3d to Revit from Method Training on Vimeo.

Continuing from our last session where we made a terrain model in Bonzai3d from Google Earth and SketchUp, we take the next step by learning how to export varying densities of meshes out to Revit to create a parametric Toposurface. Then we start talking about additional Toposurface tools available to create and manipulate terrain as well as create a schedule that shows us how much cut and fill we moved around.

Topics I cover in Revit include creating the Toposurface from Imported Instance, adjusting contour distance, adjusting contour display, Split Surface, and how to set up a Cut & Fill Schedule after doing a Graded Region.

See Part 1 Here

Methodcast 7 - Creating Smooth Terrain Models Using Bonzai3d, SketchUp & Google Earth from Method Training on Vimeo.

Have you wanted to get some 3d topography into your design files that is actually something you can work with? I mean, don't you want to be able to add some earth here, and take some away over there?

In this video I show you how to create a smooth, editable terrain model using Bonzai3d's NURBS tools after getting source geometry from Google Earth and SketchUp.

Google Earth has terrain, which is somewhat accurate, so we want to be able to use that as a starting point for our conceptual designs. The problem is that it's low resolution, and not very friendly when it comes time to add to it or subtract from it. In this workflow, we end up with a piece of geometry that allows us to manipulate the ground surface. We use three tools to get the final product, but as I always say, use your tools in your toolbox. Sometimes you just can't do it all in one tool.

See part 2 here!

Get a 30 day trial of Bonzai3d here.

Get SketchUp here.

Get Google Earth here.