Starting your SketchUp journey and feeling a bit lost? Or, perhaps you want to save time on your models?
Enter 3D Warehouse for SketchUp.
This vast online library of models is a treasure for designers of all levels. Whether you’re crafting a simple chair or an intricate building, 3D Warehouse has got you covered. Let’s explore how you can leverage this incredible resource to enhance your SketchUp projects.
What is 3D Warehouse for SketchUp?
3D Warehouse for SketchUp is a dreamy collection of pre-built 3D models and materials to help speed up your design process. The library has over 5 million items, ranging from sofas to flooring, light fittings and more. While the wonderfully talented SketchUp community has created some of these models, there is also a huge collection from over 2300 brands, meaning you can put in furniture that can be purchased in the real world.
3D Warehouse is available with SketchUp Go, Pro and Studio licenses. You can open a window within the SketchUp program and drag and drop the images in. Additionally, you can browse the library for free on the 3D Warehouse website, which is great if you work with stakeholders who don’t have SketchUp access.
It’s worth noting that these are available for commercial use, so professional designers can use them in the designs and services they sell. However, you can’t sell the digital model on its own or 3D print the models and sell exact replicas of the models. Always err on the side of caution and check the usage rights if you’re not sure.
Why use SketchUp’s 3D Warehouse?
Using 3D warehouse for Sketchup comes with a lot of benefits.
Time-Saving
If you’re on a tight deadline, accessing pre-designed models can significantly reduce the time required to complete projects. Rather than having to render furniture each time, you can grab one from the library and stick it in quickly. The models are fully customisable, so you can quickly tweak the models to your colour palette.
Community Engagement
The community builds many of these items, and you can add comments to designs to chat with fellow SketchUp users. If you choose to upload your own work, heed our warning: it does get addictive to upload something and watch the downloads come in. Forget LinkedIn and Instagram; this is our new favourite social media channel!
Diverse Resources
The extensive library caters to a wide range of needs and industries. There are cars, furniture, various plants, whole buildings and a menagerie of animals for your designs. With over 5 million models in the library, you’re sure to find something you love and discover other models that pique your creativity.
How To Find Models In 3D Warehouse For SketchUp
5 million models might sound a little daunting. But never fear! SketchUp has made it really easy to browse through the library.
In SketchUp for Desktop, you can find 3D Warehouse in the Getting Started, Large, and Warehouse toolbars. On the web, it’s on the Panels toolbar on the right-hand side. Clicking on this icon will bring up the search console. On iPad, it’s on the left-hand side.
If you’re unsure what you’re after, you can use keywords to find a model. You can search for something as simple as “light” or even specific brands. For example, a search for IKEA brings up 20k models. It’s not just big items like lights or chairs. There are tiny details too, from taps to mugs, flowers and more.
However, if you have something really specific in mind, this is where the 3D Warehouse tool becomes incredibly useful. You can use web images, client images or your own photos to do a reverse image search. Click the file and drag it onto the 3D Warehouse search bar, and the AI will find models as close as possible to your uploaded image.
Once you’ve added your desired model to the scene, you can rotate it to any angle you need on a horizontal or vertical axis. So if you want your bed upside down on the ceiling, you absolutely can do that.
Finding Materials With 3D Warehouse
It’s not just 3D models on display. Materials are now searchable, filterable, and directly downloadable under the Materials tab. Using keyword search, you can now easily source material and texture swatches for SketchUp. Once you’ve found what you want, click the download icon, and apply it to the relevant surfaces.
Modifying your Search
When you search 3D Warehouse, there are some handy filters to help you narrow down your search.
The “File Size” and “Polygon Count” filters are arguably the most important here. Some of these models and textures are huge—computer-crashing huge if your specs are on the lower end of the scale. So, using the polygon counts and file size sliders help keep your designs small and fast.
Another useful search filter is the “Certified Content” filter. The SketchUp team often reviews models and has a set of criteria by which they value their quality. They look for things like aesthetics, the organisation of the layers, and the metadata attached to the model. You will need a SketchUp licence to use this filter, as it doesn’t work on the free library.
The search box has a “sort by” box at the top right corner. By default, searches are sorted by relevance to your keyword. We recommend sorting by popularity, number of likes, and number of downloads to see the top trending models.
Favourites and Collections.
While browsing the 3D Warehouse library, you can save your favourite products, models, catalogues, and collections across desktop, mobile, and web. These are saved to your Trimble ID. As long as you’re logged in with your Trimble ID and launch 3D Warehouse, all your curated content will be accessible.
Collections are really useful for grouping together themes. We find it useful to group things into modern, rustic, etc. Others might prefer to group by client type or create a collection for individual projects. There’s no “right” way to do this, but it can quickly get out of hand without a system!
Conclusion
So, that’s our introduction to 3D Warehouse for SketchUp! Will you give it a go? Share your designs with us on Facebook, X or LinkedIn!
Are you ready to try out SketchUp’s 3D Warehouse? By Go, Pro and Studio today.
Already have a licence? Download SketchUp to get started.