Skip to main content

Creating Floorplans using SweetHome3D

Matt Blount
Updated

| Getting the Software

Do you wanna build cool 3D Floorplans easily with minimal training?? Then go to the Microsoft Store and download (or buy for a one time fee of 14.99 + Taxes) SweetHome3D!!

 

| Important Notes

  • These floorplans are not meant to be used as accurate maps of the building, they are merely graphical representations. Dimensions will not be 100% accurate and that is completely okay.
  • To create a floorplan in the most efficient manner, it will be best to use PDF versions of the MEPs.
    • If those are not available, screenshots or images of the aforementioned PDF can still work, so long as we know the dimensions of the building (Google Maps).

 

| Gathering Floorplan Information

See steps below to gather the information needed to create a floorplan. 


| Step 1 : Getting the Airoverse Standard Template

  1. Click the link here to download the Airoverse Standard SweetHome3D Template that contains :
    1. 3 Standard scenes for Floorplans that are tall, normal and wide.
    2. Doors setup with standard opening percentage.
    3. Rendering settings to ensure all final photos are consistent.

| Step 2 : If you are using a PDF version of MEPs, follow the steps below, otherwise skip ahead to Step 3

  1. Open the PDF file and navigate to the floorplan you want to create.
    1. If these MEPs identify Demo and Renovation work, be sure to use the Renovation plans.
  2. Zoom in as close as you can to get the floorplan to look as big as possible.
  3. Take a screenshot (I use Snipping Tool which comes standard on all Window machines) of the floorplan that removes whitespace and unnecessary information. See screenshot (how many times you think I can say screenshot before it gets annoying?) below that shows what I keep, highlighted in red. 
    1. mceclip0.png
  4. Save this screenshot as an image using the naming convention of *FloorName*_PDF.
  5. After this is saved, you will want to use the measuring tool to get the proper dimensions (Width Always) of the floor.
    1. Some PDFs will automatically have the scaling metadata, so once you measure, it will provide the Width in Feet.
  6. See screenshot below of how this should look on your instance.
    1. mceclip1.png
  7. Based on this measurement and the scale providing in the MEP, we know that every 1/8" = 1'. So to get the measurement we will need in SweetHome3D (inches) use the maths below:
    1. 8' (1 Inch in the PDF) X 28.02 (Measurement of Floor in Inches) = 224.16' X 12 (to get this measurement to inches) = 2,689.92".
  8. Skip ahead to Creating the Floorplan.

| Step 3 : If you are using a screenshot / image of the MEPs, follow the steps below, otherwise skip ahead to Step 4

  1. Talk to Jake. More information to come at a later date.

| Step 4 : If you are using a image other than MEPs (Fire Escapes, In Building Plaques, Hand Drawn Picassos), use the steps below

  1. Talk to Jake. More information to come at a later date.

 

| Creating the Floorplan

See steps below to create a floorplan. 

 

| Step 1 : Open the SweetHome3D Software

  1. Open the Airoverse Standard Template.

| Step 2 : Add Background Image to Trace

  1. Right Click on the Grid View where you see a lonely floating door (don't click on the door, somewhere else).
  2. Navigate to 'Import Background Image', about 3/4s of the way down the list.
  3. This will open the Background Image Wizard. Select 'Choose Image...'
    1. Select the Screenshot of the floorplan that you saved earlier in Step 2, sub step 4.
    2. Click 'Continue>'.
      1. At this point, I recommend scaling the Background Image Wizard screen to take up the same size as the grid (doesn't really matter how big, just make it bigger for ease of use).
    3. You will now see prompts to identify the measurement of the background image.
      1. Select either end of the Blue line and drag it to match the points of measurement you used in Step 2, sub step 5.
      2. Enter the final measurement (in inches) that you determined in Step 2, sub step 7.1. (I round to the nearest foot to make life easy)
        1. mceclip2.png
    4. Click 'Continue>'.
    5. On this last page, the software prompts the user to identify the origin, leave as default (0,0) and click 'Finish'
  4. YAY! You've added the background image to trace :) The 2nd Hardest part of creating a floorplan. Skip ahead to Drawing the Floorplan.

| Drawing the Floorplan

See steps below to draw a floorplan. 

 

| Step 1 : Use the 'Create Walls' tool

  1. At the top of the tool bar, select the 'Create Walls' tool to start creating walls.
    1. mceclip3.png
  2. Once selected, start by tracing all exterior walls. IMPORTANT NOTEs BELOW, PLEASE READ.
    1. When creating these walls, the background image walls may be larger than the walls you are creating. This is fine, DO NOT RESIZE the walls to match the drawing. If this occurs, trace the exterior walls from the midpoint of the background image. This will allow the most accurate representation.
    2. Draw all walls, regardless if a door is shown. All you care about right now is making a big box.
    3. If there are segments of wall missing, do not draw over these missing segments.
    4. mceclip4.png
  3. Once all the exterior walls are drawn, draw the interior walls. Same important notes above apply here as well.

| Step 2 : Use the 'Create Rooms' tool

  1. Look at you go Superstar! You're about halfway done creating the floorplan now.
  2. Select the 'Create Rooms' tool, directly to the right of the 'Create Walls' tool.
    1. When creating a room, you do not need to create a specific room for all spaces on the floorplan. Create one large room that covers all of the interior Area.
  3. Now this is where it can get a bit tricky. I recommend zooming in to where you can only see about 1/4 of the floorplan in the grid.
  4. Start at the top left of the exterior walls and make your room start on the inside of the wall corner. Screenshot below (zoomed in for exaggeration).
    1. mceclip5.png
  5. Once you have clicked and started drawing the room, move in a counter clockwise rotation and select the inside corner of every exterior wall until your room covers all the area within your exterior walls. 
    1. mceclip6.png
  6. Almost done, just a couple more steps.

| Adding Doors

See steps below to add and adjust all doors for your floorplan. 

 

| Step 1 : Select the Lonely door that is part of the template

  1. Copy and paste this and move them to match where all doors are identified on the floorplan. These will auto adjust to fit to the walls, so you just have to get it close and it will take care of the rest.
    1. Do not worry if the way the door swings open in the opposite direction from the MEP, we will take care of that soon. Just copy and paste those doors where they need to go.
  2. Once all doors have been placed where they need to be, go through and find the doors that swing open the incorrect way.
    1. When you find a door that swings the wrong way, left click it first and make sure that it is highlighted.
    2. Right click and select either 'Flip Horizontally' or 'Flip Vertically'. 
      1. If the door opens up or down, 'Flip Horizontally'.
      2. If the door opens left to right, 'Flip Vertically'.
  3. Boom. Your done with the doors now. 

 

| Modifying Wall and Floor Colors

See steps below to modify wall and floor colors to match the Airoverse Standard. 

 

| Step 1 : Double Click on the Room you created earlier

  1. This will open a dialog box that will give you a lot of options. Right now we only care about 'Floor'.
    1. Select 'Texture' radio button (little circle) underneath 'Floor'. If you clicked it, it should shade that button.
    2. Select the gray box to the right of the radio button you just clicked.
      1. Select the texture 'Floor - Grey Tiles'. Then click 'OK'.
  2. Once this has been done, click 'OK'.

| Step 2 : Click a random spot on the Grid, then press 'CTRL+A' (Select All)

  1. Once everything is selected, you have two options:
    1. Hover over a wall and right click -> select 'Modify Walls' about halfway down the list, or
    2. Press 'CTRL + SHIFT + E'.
  2. This will open the Modify Walls wizard. All we care about is Left Side and Right Side colors.
  3. Select 'Color' radio buttons on both Sides.
    1. Select the little boxes to the right of 'Color' radio button on each side.
    2. Use the RGB Color #FFFDF6.
  4. Once both sides of the walls have been set to the color above, click 'OK'.

| Creating the Floorplan Render

See steps below to create the Airoverse Standard floorplan render. 

 

| Step 1 : Go to the Menu Bar and click the 3D View dropdown

  1. Select 'Display In Separate Window'.
  2. Adjust the new window size to be roughly the size of you monitor.
  3. Go back to the 3D View Menu Dropdown and select 'Go To Point of View' and click the point of view that best fits the floorplan. Test out each one.
    1. These may not fit the entire floorplan, or will have a bunch of whitespace. That is fine for right now.
  4. Once you have the selected the view that gets you as close as possible, zoom in or out to fit the floorplan as close as possible to the new window.
    1. When doing tall floorplans, there will be lots of whitespace. This is fine.
    2. When doing wide floorplans, there will be lots of white space at the top and bottom, adjust the window to remove a about 50% of that whitespace.
  5. DO NOT CHANGE THE ANGLE OF THE VIEWPOINT. You can change this accidentally by click the mouse's wheel button and moving the mouse. If this happens, just go back to the original point of view and zoom in or out again.
  6. See example screenshot below of what the floorplan should look like in the new window. 
    1. mceclip7.png

 

| Step 2 : Create the Render

  1. Once again, go the Menu Bar and click the 3D View dropdown but this time select 'Create Photo' (4th from the bottom).
    1. This will open the Create Photo window. See items below that will need to be confirmed or changed. These options may change in the coming weeks.
      1. Width: 1920
      2. Height: Auto based on 3D View window. Do not change.
      3. Apply Proportions is enabled and 3D View is selected from the dropdown.
      4. Quality: BEST
      5. Date: 5/5/2022
      6. Time: 7:30AM
      7. Lens: Default
      8. Add Ceiling Lights disabled
  2. Click 'Create' and let your computer do its thang. 
  3. Once it is created, save it as a new file and use the following naming convention *FloorName*_Final.

 

Thats it. You've created a cool 3D floorplan.

 

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or concerns, reach out to Jacob Klein to discuss.

| Additional Information

Watch a quick crash course of using SweetHome3D on YouTube if you have any issues using the tools. I will try to create some easy details for the most commonly used shortcuts and methods. 

 

 

 

 

Comments

0 comments

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Powered by Zendesk