Free ArchiCAD-SketchUp Add-on Brings Preliminary Sketches Into the Virtual Building

New add-on means even preliminary design sketches in SketchUp can be used, developed, and documented in ArchiCAD

Budapest, October 31, 2005 - Graphisoft, a global leader in 5D Virtual Construction solutions and pioneer in 3D building modeling, has announced its Virtual Building� solution tie-up with one of the most popular architects' preliminary design packages - SketchUp�. The integration of SketchUp with ArchiCAD� lets architects and Principals alike focus on creativity at the earliest concept phase of any new project, knowing that their designs can be automatically imported into ArchiCAD and further developed. 

This SketchUp add-on means, in day-to-day design terms, a smoother workflow from the building's very conception through to a 3D model. Now, even these earliest sketch concepts formed in SketchUp can be incorporated into the intelligent Virtual Building environment. Here detail can then be easily added, and data interoperability can open the model to a range of other applications. Feasibility studies of volume and materials can be performed at this sketch phase, linking the building data to the SketchUp faces in ArchiCAD to support the design brief at this early stage of client cooperation. You can win the project with your clear SketchUp concept design - but now in ArchiCAD you can prove your design is viable.

Bence Kovacs, Graphisoft's VP of Product Management explains: "We recognize the global popularity of SketchUp. Its remarkable, designer-friendly interface can now offer the best of both worlds with our ArchiCAD solution. Our cooperation with @Last Software ensures a seamless data transfer route from concept surfaces and colors into intelligent architectural objects and materials."

The simplicity and power in SketchUp has always been appealing to the design community at large, and now this link to ArchiCAD opens a natural path to integrated and documented virtual design and construction. Any Senior Designer will find the ability to transfer simple SketchUp models into a productive and documented ArchiCAD Virtual Building appealing. "Our users are increasingly demanding that their SketchUp designs be reusable in the post-conceptual phase of their projects," says Dr. Mark Limber, Director of New Markets Development at @Last Software. "The capability to transfer SketchUp data seamlessly into ArchiCAD will enable users to be more productive overall, and their clients will be more satisfied with the results."

About Graphisoft: 

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it," Alan Kay. 

Graphisoft is the pioneer and leader in developing Virtual Building� solutions. It is widely acknowledged as the world's #1 supplier of model-based software and services for the building industry. Our clients are at the forefront of the industry - delivering projects that are better designed, more predictable to construct and less expensive to operate. 

www.graphisoft.com

About @Last Software: 

Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, the mission of @Last Software - 3D for Everyone - is about bringing 3D design to the masses. Award-winning SketchUp is conceptual modeling software with a unique user interface that allows quick and easy 3D model creation, viewing, modification and presentation. @Last distributes SketchUp directly as well as through distributors worldwide. SketchUp for Windows� and Macintosh� OS X is available in six languages. 

www.sketchup.com

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