SketchUp

Collaboration

Give and receive feedback in the SketchUp environment, linked to specific geometry. You can share your model with all stakeholders and view it in real time. Recognizable icons show you exactly where someone is in the model and what they are doing at that moment. This allows you to move more quickly from various feedback rounds to a final design, without having to leave your design environment!

AI Assistant

AI Assistant is the central access point for all AI-powered features in SketchUp. This is where tools like Help Assistant and Generate Object come together in one clear and convenient location.

Through AI Assistant, you can quickly access AI features from one straightforward menu:

• Get contextual help right when you need it.
• ⁠Generate 3D objects based on prompts or images.
• Generate conceptual or photorealistic images based on prompts or predefined styles.

AI Render

AI Render is an innovative, AI-powered feature within SketchUp that lets you quickly generate both conceptual and photorealistic images. By combining the geometry of your SketchUp model with a text description (prompt) and an optional preset style, AI Render produces multiple visual options in no time.

The latest version of AI Render, now powered by Nano Banana, offers:

• One-click rendering that immediately produces a photorealistic image, accurately reflecting your camera angles, geometry, and material details.
• Extensive fine-tuning with custom styles, your own prompts, and model parameters.
• Powerful in-painting tools that let you regenerate or selectively adjust parts of the image.

This makes AI Render valuable at every stage of the design process, from early concept work to final visualization, without time-consuming rendering workflows.

Generate Object

Generate Object lets you create 3D objects with PBR materials based on text prompts or images. Generated objects can be opened directly in SketchUp or saved to your private collection in 3D Warehouse.

With the upgrade to Rodin v2, Generate Object delivers cleaner meshes and more detailed, accurate geometry that is production-ready from the start. The new ‘Simplify Mesh’ toggle is enabled by default for optimised geometry, but turn it off to take full advantage of everything Rodin v2 has to offer.

Help Assistant

The Help Assistant provides in-app guidance based on your questions, so you spend less time searching through documentation or tutorials. Responses are given contextually, depending on what you are doing in SketchUp at that moment.

Analysis Hub

The Analysis Hub lets you run professional daylight and shadow analyses directly inside SketchUp, without the need for external tools or specialist knowledge. The first available feature is Advanced Shadows: a set of tools that maps shadow conditions at different times of the day or year. This helps you understand how neighbouring buildings, trees, or other objects affect sunlight exposure over time.

After running an analysis, you can review and interact with your results in the Analysis Viewer, a 3D environment with tools to adjust settings and toggle visibility.

In addition to Advanced Shadows, the following analysis types are available as SketchUp Labs features:

• Annual Illuminance
• Daylight Factor
• Underlit & Overlit (sDA & ASE)
• Direct Sun
• Date & Time

Environments (Image-Based Lighting – IBL)

Create a realistic sense of place with environment lighting conditions that interact with photorealistic materials. 360-degree HDR or EXR images act as light sources and reflect off materials, enhancing realism. These images (skyboxes) can serve as visible backgrounds or purely as light sources.

Photorealistic Materials (Physically Based Rendering – PBR)

Achieve richer, more realistic visuals in SketchUp. PBR materials accurately depict texture and light absorption, helping designers make precise material and finish choices.

Ambient Occlusion (AO)

Enhance depth and realism with or without applied materials. This global style highlights edges and corners, adding visual emphasis.

Shadow

With a single click, you can display shadows. Depending on the location, orientation, date, and time you specify, SketchUp will instantly and accurately show the sun’s shadow on your 3D model. Drag the sliders to adjust the shadow in real-time. For more advanced shadow and daylight analysis, including annual illuminance and daylight factors, the Analysis Hub provides additional professional tools.

Sections

Visualise cross-sections in a simple and beautiful way with SketchUp. Simply define where the section will be placed with a simple plane and then drag it over the model to visualise the section.

3D Warehouse

Access millions of ready-made 3D models, 2D elements, and materials from the world’s largest free 3D library. Minimise the time spent finding that one object with the AI-driven image and material search function in 3D Warehouse.

Styles

Present your design in various styles, such as hand-sketch. Additionally, you can add a watermark and fog.

Animation

You can present your SketchUp model in a video. Select all the views you want and turn them into “scenes”. This allows the camera to smoothly transition from view to view. Export it as an .mp4, and you can view it on any computer!

Dynamic Components

Attach various information to your components, such as different colours, dimensions, or rotation. With a single click, you can then modify the properties of your component.

BIM

BIM Classifier: Link standard IFC BIM object types to geometry (e.g., walls, floor slabs, roofs, etc.) to improve compatibility with other BIM tools.
IFC Export: Export an IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) file of your model, including geometry and valuable metadata, for use in other BIM applications.
IFC Import: Ability to import IFC files from other BIM applications.

Reporting

Generate tabular reports about your SketchUp model. Display the number of used components and their colours, so you know what you need to make your design a reality!

Geo Modeling

If you have a specific location in mind for your project, you can directly open the Google Maps window in SketchUp, select and load the location. Then, you can model your project on the map (with an accurate 3D terrain).

SketchUp for Web

This web version runs entirely in your browser, giving you access to SketchUp’s most popular drawing tools anytime, anywhere.

SketchUp for iPad

Combine the ease of hand-drawn sketches with the power of 3D. Users can intuitively sketch in 3D using the Apple Pencil and quickly create 3D shapes and configurable components with smart drawing tools.

Trimble Connect

Collaborate with clients, designers, contractors, and stakeholders on BIM projects. Besides being integrated into many Trimble products, Trimble Connect also works with files from other developers. This allows the structural engineer, installer, and estimator to work on the same project. All information is stored in the cloud and can be viewed, managed, and shared there. You always work with the latest version. This significantly reduces construction errors and ensures a faster project turnaround.

Trimble Site Contractor

Connect your SketchUp model to the field. With the Trimble Site Contractor extension, you turn your 3D design into accurate, field-ready data. Export your earthwork model to Trimble Siteworks for layout and stakeout, and deliver machine-ready files to Trimble Earthworks. Import field measurements into SketchUp as a reference. This gives you a single data model from design to execution, with less rework and more confidence on site.

PreDesign

This tool provides designers of buildings and outdoor spaces with all the information they need to incorporate climate influences correctly into their initial concepts.

LayOut

With LayOut you can place your model in a template and present it from multiple viewpoints. You can enhance your model with text, images, and other graphic elements such as arrows and circles, and create multiple pages to present your work both on screen and in print.

The latest version of LayOut introduces two significant improvements:

• Clipping Masks now work with Groups and Scaled Groups as well, giving you the same flexibility you already had with images and model viewports. Show exactly what you need without permanently deleting or trimming drawing entities.
• The improved graphics engine is now enabled by default. This delivers better text fidelity and more efficient handling of geometry and patterns, making everyday navigation and documentation work noticeably smoother.

V-Ray Rendering

With a SketchUp Studio Subscription, you gain access to the V-Ray rendering module. V-Ray is a fast, high-quality, and comprehensive rendering solution for SketchUp. It provides all the lighting and rendering tools you need to create professional, photorealistic images and animations. It helps you make better design decisions and captivate your (potential) clients with lifelike images of your 3D designs.

Please note: You only get V-Ray for SketchUp—no plugins for other CAD applications are included.

3D Scan Data

Quickly transition from complex scan data to a 3D proposal by importing point clouds from land surveys, mobile mapping, photogrammetry, lidar sensors, and drone recordings. Don’t waste time modelling contextual details; instead, model directly on your point cloud using SketchUp’s own Scan Essentials toolbox.

Please note: Scan Essentials is Windows only

Revit Importer

Seamlessly convert Revit models into SketchUp files to enhance collaboration between project phases and different design teams. Revit families and layers are translated into groups, components, and tags, saving you hours of model cleanup.