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Print at Dec 18, 2025, 12:10:15 AM

Posted by bitacovir at Nov 24, 2014, 10:22:21 AM

Lateral view of indoor walls
Hi. Congratulations for this amazing program.
As architects I found this software very useful and I think it would be very good if you can incorporate a function to display easily the views of the indoor walls.
Something like this:

We use plans with these lateral views of walls to give instructions to builders about the details of walls, position of lamps, electrical plugs, etc. Maybe you can create a function to get a general view of every walls in a room.

Anyway, thanks for your contribution with this great software.

Posted by okh at Nov 27, 2014, 3:49:11 PM

Re: Lateral view of indoor walls
I agree that a horizontal (non-distorted) view could be useful. The question has come up before, e.g. thread 5416, also describing a couple of workarounds.

Exporting a wall as .obj, re-import and rotate, add dimensions and texts, save as .svg and edit with (for instance) Inkscape, is a possibility. If you use multiple levels in Inkscape, keep wall outline on a lower level (with texture), dimensions on the next up, structural elements, plumbing, wiring symbols on top of that, etc. you can use different tools (layer opacity) to create a pretty accurate work-sketch.

Not ideal, I suppose, and you need to get a feel for Inkscape (or whatever software you use) but result is not half bad.

ok

Posted by bitacovir at Nov 29, 2014, 12:02:08 AM

Re: Lateral view of indoor walls
I see that the top or plan view is a perfect tool to show layouts, with position of furnitures and measurements. I used this to present a concept design of a house for a colleague to analyse the final cost of the building. The 3D view and renders provided by sweethome3D are perfect to present a comprehensible visualisation of a project for our clients.
However, architects display the information of a project with other views in their blueprints:
1) Front view of façades.
2) Views of sections (probably is not so necessary for sweethome3D).
3)Plan views (SH3D performs very well).
4)Plan of ceilings (to show the configuration of ceilings in a room with position of lamps, electrical elements, etc) http://c1038.r38.cf3.rackcdn.com/group1/build...ng-out%20plan%201_200.jpg
5) Plan of floor or carpet (SH3D can do it)
6) Elevation view of inner walls for each room (missing in SH3D)

Plans of floor, ceiling and elevation of walls are the more common graphical display for interior design that architects use. I think that SH3D should target to these features (no need to be complex features) to get a more complete interior design tool.

Posted by okh at Nov 29, 2014, 12:00:34 PM

Re: Lateral view of indoor walls
No idea whether this would be a good idea for SH3d, whether it could be done without complexity. But I agree that something like the enclosed could be useful for my planning permission (see SF FR 676) - the image was created by .obj export, import rotate, add dimensions, .svg export (and Inkscape edit). Will upload the files used if anyone wants info about approach).
ok

Posted by bitacovir at Nov 30, 2014, 6:58:05 AM

Re: Lateral view of indoor walls
I think that your facade is fine. But documentation for authorities is something more professional. Anyway I would recommend you SketchUp. It is easy and free. It includes measurements and you can print perfect facades for planing permission. maybe you can export your model from SH3D to SketchUp.

My point is SH3D can do quicly some things that SketchUP cannot. Such as the work with layaout and renders. Even for small renders of architectural visualsiation SH3D is much friendly and fast than Blender, making it more suitable for small projects or presentation in the early design stage.
If SH3D focuses for next versions on layout of ceilings and elevation of inner walls, it would be a great improvement for a more complete interior design tool.

Posted by okh at Nov 30, 2014, 10:54:26 AM

Re: Lateral view of indoor walls
I absolutely agree with your conclusion, a lateral view, even simple, would be a huge asset for many SH3D users (the correct ticket is SF FR 484, sorry). So, you don't like my 10 minute façade mock-up, huh? And you are right, it is indeed primitive. And could be given a more professional look with Sketchup or Blender. But:

Sketchup (not to mention Blender), is an altogether different kettle of fish in terms of user interface. Some users might find that frustrating if all they need is a lateral view.
The only way (I know) of importing SH3D work to the free version of Sketchup, is via bitmap(?). With Blender, it works well, but I suspect that for most users they will have forgotten what they wanted to do before they figured out how to do it in Blender.
Sketchup is a wonderful piece of software, but not Open Source and not (fully) cross-platform.
Using SVG lets you stay in an open, interchangeable format, and still scribble and make notes on the lateral sketch. Inkscape, LibreOffice and other software will work well, and probably easier to use for the non-professional. And I happen to love the SVG integration with HTML and text editability.
I cannot help smiling when you say that building authorities expect a more professional look. Yes, you are right, they certainly do. But (as a lawyer) I read the formal requirements in my municipality a while back. And as long as the scale was correct and certain measurements indicated, well, it looks to me as if they have to accept them.

All that said, I agree and your points are good, a non-distorted, lateral view (with measurements) would be super, as long as it does not defy the beautiful simplicity of SH3D.

ok

Posted by bitacovir at Nov 30, 2014, 11:11:41 PM

Re: Lateral view of indoor walls
Jajajaja. Sorry, I didn't want to be disrespectful with your drawing. Only suggest a method to have the best result. You are right, municipality requirements are basic and a sketch should be enough when they don't specifically ask for professional consulting. I think that you can use Inkscape to redrawing the facade to make more clear edges and lines. You can use different thickness in the lines to create deepness in the drawing: http://www.1164.com/facade/drawings/1981-front.gif

I see the ticket is from 2 years ago. That means these kind of features are quite complex to incorporate in SH3D.

Regards.

Posted by AlexandrDarius at Jun 18, 2019, 4:26:35 PM

Re: Lateral view of indoor walls
Hi guys!

Sorry for some grave digging, but anyway, please can you recommend an easy to use alternative to SW3D with the lateral view function?

Alternatively I'll try the way okh outlined :)

Posted by Greg2020 at Mar 11, 2020, 3:21:05 PM

Re: Lateral view of indoor walls
Does anybody knows if this request was adressed in the recent versions os SW3D? This is very important thing for practical use of SW3D!

Posted by Puybaret at Mar 11, 2020, 6:41:30 PM

Re: Lateral view of indoor walls
There's no side view in Sweet Home 3D 6.2.
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Emmanuel Puybaret, Sweet Home 3D creator

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