In this detailed walkthrough, Mike Brightman demonstrates how to properly tag a two-story ADU SketchUp model using the ConDoc Tools system. This session picks up where the Quick Start tutorials leave off, shifting from button-clicking basics to real-world project application. The featured model is a real (though unbuilt) ADU project from Denver, making it a practical case study for tagging strategy and documentation setup.
The video begins by walking users through downloading the model from 3D Warehouse and opening the Layout file to preview the fully built permit set. Mike emphasizes a practical level of modeling detail—walls are simple planes, not overly complex assemblies—and explains why ConDoc Tools eliminates the need for nested groups.
The heart of the tutorial focuses on applying the Level–Element–Location–Condition tagging strategy. Mike systematically assigns ConDoc tags to components like walls, doors, lights, trim, and equipment, showing how to isolate, freeze, and reset elements using the Express Tools.
He explains when and why to use specific tags, sharing tagging philosophy and real-world logic. Multi-tagging is also covered, including how to apply multiple level or location tags to a single object—something now possible with ConDoc 5.3.
In this tutorial, Mike walks through the essential ConDoc Tools for generating construction documents directly from a fully tagged SketchUp model. He starts by emphasizing how the Plan Generator was the original proof of concept for ConDoc, later expanded to include tools for sections, elevations, and perspectives. These tools automate scene creation, allowing users to quickly move from 3D model to 2D documentation once tagging is complete.
The video focuses on using the Plan, Section, Elevation, and Perspective Tools to produce all necessary scenes. Mike explains how each tool creates properly named and styled scenes, drops in section planes, sets the camera, and prepares everything for LayOut. Throughout the process, he shares practical tips—like using keyboard shortcuts for scene navigation, centering camera views for consistent viewport alignment, and avoiding common tagging errors.
He addresses real-world issues like misaligned doors, missing stairs, or visual clutter caused by overlapping geometry, and shows how to fix them using the Scene Update and Save tool and Visual Merge tag. Mike also demonstrates new Express Tools that simplify camera updates and section plane management.
In this video, Mike walks through the final and crucial step of the SketchUp-to-LayOut workflow: running the ConDoc Drawing Export. This single button automates an enormous amount of work—bundling scenes into grouped drawings, stacking viewports, applying optimized render settings, and assigning proper line weights based on scale.
Mike demonstrates how to choose drawing sets and adjust scales, explaining why certain views (like sections) often benefit from thicker line weights. He covers how perspective scale presets (small, medium, large) affect line thickness and advises defaulting to lighter weights for flexibility.
He flags a potential issue: running the export while the ConDoc Drawing scrapbook is open in LayOut can crash the program. The fix? Switch to a different scrapbook before exporting.
Once the export is complete, Mike opens a new LayOut document, selects a ConDoc title block, and starts building the drawing set. He lays out foundation plans, construction plans, roof plans, elevations, and sections—demonstrating smart viewport alignment, scaling tricks, and how to avoid common gotchas like off-sheet views.
He wraps by discussing render performance in LayOut, toggling settings to optimize for responsiveness. His final reminder: adjust render quality based on your computer’s specs—but always export at high resolution.
The next video will cover using the ConDoc Annotation Scrapbook to dimension and annotate drawings.
In this final installment, Mike wraps up the permit set by focusing on the annotation phase inside LayOut — the part where things start to look truly professional. This video is packed with real-world tips for labeling drawings, applying dimensions, and putting a polished finish on your documentation using the ConDoc Annotation Scrapbook.
Mike begins by dropping in title blocks and drawing titles using the preconfigured scrapbook elements. He addresses common quirks with auto-text, renumbering sequences manually to stay in control of the layout. From there, he builds out a structured set: foundation plans, floor plans, roof plans, elevations, sections, and perspectives — all clearly labeled, clearly scaled, and ready for permit submission.
He then shares his best practices for dimensioning. Instead of toggling between style dialogs, he demonstrates how to use the scrapbook palette as an eyedropper — dramatically speeding up the process. He also dives into Layout’s layered tool settings and explains how to manage precision, length snapping, and dimension string cleanup for maximum clarity.
The video also covers:
Using leader text to pull smart data from ConDoc windows
Overlay techniques to add heavy ground planes to elevations
Scaled drawings and how to draft over vector viewports
How to create detail views and foundation sections directly in LayOut
Final notes on cleaning up linework and structuring your detail pages
Mike wraps with a call for feedback and personal support — encouraging viewers to reach out directly if they hit any snags.