Building in Four Dimensions! - Google SketchUp Workshop: Modeling, Visualizing, and Illustrating - page 102

work at the same time. But in larger projects, it is difficult to maintain a broad
overview of the project and thus keep everything under control.
As construction projects become larger and ever more complex, the need
for optimal collaboration and communication grows, and these practices
should be implemented from the very first planning stages of the project.
Visualization in four dimensions allows you to do just that. The construction
process and all its attendant parameters can be controlled in an entirely vir-
tual, construction management-based manner.
Construction management techniques have been around for a long time.
But the traditional approach, with its Gantt diagrams, can be difficult to
understand for people external to the project. When the project manage-
ment becomes extremely complex, containing many hundreds of rules, it is
especially difficult for project managers to clearly explain the project organi-
zation to members of the team. However, by tying project management
tools to SketchUp, it is possible to remedy this problem. The entire process
of construction is represented in a simple and readable 3D form. In addition,
SketchUp's capabilities facilitate the production of animations, presentations,
or reports. These 4D models are usually used for communication between the
partners involved in the construction, but they can also be used for dissemi-
nation of information to the wider public, or for the more technical aspects of
construction and site management.
The Dimensions-Studio has been working since 1999 on 4D visualization
techniques and, in 2008, added Google SketchUp to its suite of programs.
Although at first its use was restricted to certain projects where the client had
requested that SketchUp be used, gradually its use has spread to a growing
number of other projects and users.
Technical Context
Visualization in four dimensions is a technique whereby the time factor is
inserted into a 3D model or into a 2D drawing. The basic technique consists
of giving SketchUp objects temporal characteristics that define construc-
tion activity. Thanks to certain specific functions that allow us to navigate
through time, we can move the clock forward and, in this way, reproduce the
process of construction. It is still possible, for example, to show which tasks
have been carried out in time or have been delayed compared to the original
schedule.
When 4D models are being created, it is best to get away as much as possible
from the actual detailed modeling.
The basic principle consists of creating elements in SketchUp with the correct
construction activities. Each activity is defined by an xD object that has, at a
minimum, the following properties: start of activity, end of activity, and type
of activity (construction, demolition, etc.). For each xD object, SketchUp ele-
ments belonging to this activity are assigned via a simple selection.