About
Between the design office and the workshop
Tools written by someone who uses them on real projects, every day.
The “Excel” of 3D modelling
I started on heavy CAD, CATIA V5 and SolidWorks, designing for aerospace and industrial mechanics. Powerful tools, but rigid.
In SketchUp I found something else: freedom of design. I often call it the Excel of modelling: deceptively simple, very efficient, and with the right tools, almost limitless.
Automation, learnt on the shop floor
As technical project manager for an innovative timber building system, then in product development for a manufacturer of pergolas and timber frames, I had to run complex production flows. I pushed SketchUp to its limits with dynamic components that produced quantities and manufacturing plans.
That is where the idea came from: combine SketchUp’s flexibility with targeted automation, and you can do better than heavyweight CAD for a great many products. Pilot was born from it.
Tools tested in the real world
My work rests on two everyday realities. At Agilité 3D (external site), I prepare building permits and planning applications. At Atelier Créateur (external site), I design and have made custom furniture, steel stairs and new products.
When I write a tool, it is because I needed it to build a real staircase or design a real product. Twenty years in engineering and manufacturing, and the habit of going all the way from the model to the finished object.