Plan the Construction Phases in 4D BIM with SketchUp and 4D Virtual Builder

Learn how to create scenes for each construction phase

The 4D Virtual Builder, developed by the company D-Studio, which has offices in Belgium and the Netherlands, is a plug-in for SketchUp that lets you use your 3D models to visualize the assembly of a construction project in 4D BIM - that is, to define and plan the construction phases over time.

You can receive scheduling information produced in MS Project, Asta PowerProject, or even receive such information from applications like Primavera, exported as .xml, for example, to simulate, in SketchUp, the execution of the tasks defined by the WBS created in the software mentioned above. This simulation allows you to check and validate the actions. You can also edit tasks in 4D Virtual Builder and update them in MS Project or Asta PowerProject dynamically and in sync.

In addition, this powerful plugin can generate scenes and images at a time interval set by the user and share the 4D simulations in PDF and PowerPoint. Oh, and it can also export video!

[video width="1280" height="720" mp4="http://dicasdebim.tilab.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/PMR-Guaimbê-TI-Lab.mp4"][/video]

License prices range from US$160 (upgrade) to US$499 (full license, prices as of July 2017). It's available for download at the site http://www.4dvirtualbuilder.com.

And if you use Revit, ARCHICAD, Vectorworks, etc... how do you do it? Well, you can export your model as IFC and open it in SketchUp Pro! Want to know how 4D BIM construction planning works with SketchUp and 4D Virtual Builder? Check it out with the architect and director of TI Lab and ProBooks Editora, João Gaspar, and with totalCAD's marketing director (SketchUp's representative and distributor in Brazil), Danilo Vilela! https://youtu.be/pa9Wvl7tnDE   Bibliographic reference: GASPAR, João. SketchUp Pro Avançado. São Paulo: ProBooks, 2015