A new home for SketchUp

[SurfingAlien]

oh my... I so love SketchUp the way it is now (I mean all round: cheap/free, tons of plugins you don't even need to install/uninstall, lots of 3rd party renderers, clean and "generalist" approach... etc) I am also worried as many of you

I am not afraid of the change itself but please don't make it another revit/archicad (for both price and complexity)

I just hope 8.x will still work with all my plugins for a long time in the worse scenario...

...and you should see what my 12yo students can do with it after a few lessons!

[publied]

Time to learn Blender.

Oh shit! and now?

[raineysky]

Just heard the news and read all of the previous posts. Thanks John and the other members of the Sketchup team for coming on this forum and easing some of the concerns many of us had/have. I have literally dropped everything (spare time wise) since discovering Sketchup one year ago and have been learning how to use it efficiently. My heart was in my throat when I first read the news.

Sketchup is the best thing since sliced bread.

It is the missing link I have yearned for. Visualization is made easy with Sketchup and that is something that's been needed since the Cave Man days. Please, Please Trimble, don't make us go back to the cave man days. Remove that ball & chain (Google Earth?) from John and the team and let them go full steam ahead. Best Wishes Guys!!!

[bmike]

So, just in case, how do we download, save and archive an install package (Mac) of Pro8 (SU and LO - I need them both) - and ensure they will run if reinstalled at a later date, assuming licensing goes awry?

Blender? What is this blender?
Easy to use?
Mac like?
Anything like LayOut out there... Ugh.


Sigh.

Here's to change. I guess.
Really hoping this turns out well. Time will tell, I guess.
I only open up AutoCAD every once in a great while, and would prefer to keep it that way.
Currently teaching a class on using SketchUp to do timber work, using various plugins, but also because its so damned accessible. Hope that doesn't change. Hope that we don't go from an approachable (if dated) interface and selection of tools, to something one would find on a Windows 95 machine. That Trimble website is obtuse to put it politely.

[alexschreyer]

Here's my five cents worth...

http://www.alexschreyer.net/cad/google-sketchup-sold-to-trimble/

I am quite excited by this. Maybe the second default exchange format will now be IFC in addition to DAE. Lots of possibilities. Also curious how point clouds will get implemented...

Cheers,
Alex

[panixia]

I wonder in what way this will affect the developement ov VFSU 1.5

[Alan Fraser]

There's some out-of-touch clown in the comments section of this article who's "kicked the tires" and deemed SU to be nothing more than a toy. Go sick 'em boys.
It was heartening to see how many people put him straight on the subject.

[bmike]

There's some out-of-touch clown in the comments section of this article who's "kicked the tires" and deemed SU to be nothing more than a toy. Go sick 'em boys.
It was heartening to see how many people put him straight on the subject.

yeah, horrible posting over there.
good to see folks sorting it out.

its funny to see folks get so worked up about tools...
whatever did folks do when we only had pencils?

[charly2008]

Hi,

I note that this message still generated quite a stir. Maybe we should wait till it’s finally clear what Trimble intends with Sketchup. I can only hope that Trimble-Sketchup is retained as a separate program, possibly with some improvements. What I can think of so far is:

Of course, "Trimble" will integrate the program into its range of products. This assumes that Sketchup may receive a similar appearance. The menu structure may also be adapted to other programs in the product range. It will certainly also include interfaces to exchange BIM data with their programs.

I would hope that there are at the end two Pro versions, one version with BIM functionalities or BIM interfaces, and one Version without and of course a free version.

The most important thing is that the program continues to remain intuitive. That is the great advantage over all other 3D programs.

[Mike Lucey]

Some interesting comment there Alan.

Yeah, the retired 'tyre kicking' architect is getting a bit of a taking down because he is describing SketchUp as a toy. It seems that many users take great insult when their 3D design tool of choice is referred to as a toy. It was SketchUp toyish simplicity that attracted to be to it in the first place as I could find no other application with this built in fun appeal.

I had to laugh at the 'person' comments. I suppose his user name tells a lot! Anyway his comment was,

Oh BOY. I can't WAIT for Trimble SketchUp! Rude customer service, crappy activation codes and customer service portals..and of course we'll have SketchUp Standard for $500 and SketchUp Professional for $1200...and we can't forget about those extended maintenance certificates...paying for incremental updates is just awesome....it makes a SketchUp fan just GIDDY!

Looking forward to the renaming....Trimble WretchUp...

WretchUp! What a plonker

It seems that many feel the SketchUp name, then Google SketchUp will automatically change to TrimbleSketchUp! There is no evidence or apparent Trimble policy for this type of product naming that I can see so I imagine SketchUp will be reverting back to SketchUp with possibly a 'by Trimble' tagged on. I doubt they have the need to push the Trimble brand name the way GOOGLE does.

[Jeff Hammond]

whatever did folks do when we only had pencils?

pencil fights..
of course.

[speaking of which, i haven't had a good pencil fight in a few years… anyone want to do battle? ]

[jbacus]

Ralph Grabowski, long time CAD industry watcher, has weighed in with an opinion on our news. I'm not sure he's ever really understood what we're doing with SketchUp. Maybe you guys can help him out in the comments?


john
.

[jbacus]

whatever did folks do when we only had pencils?

pencil fights..
of course.

[speaking of which, i haven't had a good pencil fight in a few years… anyone want to do battle? ]

My Mirado Black Warrior can take your puny Dixon Ticonderoga any day. Bring it on.



john
.

[Jeff Hammond]

whatever did folks do when we only had pencils?

pencil fights..
of course.

[speaking of which, i haven't had a good pencil fight in a few years… anyone want to do battle? ]

My Mirado Black Warrior can take your puny Dixon Ticonderoga any day. Bring it on.



john
.

ouch!.. you obviously haven't been keeping up with the latest & greatest.. nearly 1/2" across and triangular shaped.. this is gonna be easy!

817CBnIOrKL._AA1500_.jpg

[but ok ladies.. deadlines are approaching.. i'm turning off the internet now.. ]

[thomthom]

Off-Topic:

[speaking of which, i haven't had a good pencil fight in a few years… anyone want to do battle? ]

I'll bring my waterproof marker.

[Al Hart]

From: the Boulder Daily Camera:

http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-busi ... operations

Trimble to open Boulder office to house SketchUp operations

Trimble Navigation Ltd., the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based positioning technologies firm that acquired the Boulder-based SketchUp unit from Google, plans to open a Boulder office, said Scott Green, Google Boulder's site director.

The “vast majority” of the SketchUp team accepted offers from Trimble, Green said, declining to disclose specific workforce numbers. Trimble officials are looking for an office in Boulder, Green said.

“SketchUp's a really impactful product; it's instrumental in a lot of professionals' daily lives, kids love it and, at this point, it's the most widely used 3-D software in the world,” he said. “What Trimble will be able to do that Google had a hard time doing, is investing in it. The core area of its strength is you can draw anything.”

Google was interested in SketchUp for 3-D buildings that could be integrated into its Google Earth mapping product, Green said.

“That's a fairly narrow aspiration for this product,” he said.

The SketchUp team's involvement in Project Spectrum — a program created by Google to help people on the autism spectrum develop life skills and express creativity through SketchUp — is expected to continue, he said.

A local official for Trimble was unavailable for comment.

[IdahoJ]

“That's a fairly narrow aspiration for this product,” he said.

My attitude towards this acquisition just did a 180 turn ...

[jason_maranto]

Yeah, definitely -- I've been saying for a while that Google was not doing SketchUp any favors as a general 3D modeling tool... however I'm also not really into BIM either so it may not work out so good for users like me.

Just to be safe, I've begun researching alternatives much more seriously (I already own a few packages but nothing I would say is my main app like SketchUp has been) -- my needs are pretty simple: I want a competent and powerful surface modeler that allows for quick, precise(real world scale) work.

I don't care for BIM or animation tools, and I am apathetic to nurbs, solids, and Sub D (I can take or leave each approach with no issue). SketchUp has fit my needs very well to this point, with the exception of proper UV tools and better performance with high poly counts. I hope it still will in a few years, but if not I will be prepared. Layout is also a software that holds alot of promise for me, and I would be sad to see it not get further development.

As far as pay only versions goes I have no issues there, and I would be willing to pay more if the tools better fit my needs -- but I won't pay more for tools that don't (since I already routinely push SketchUps limits anyway).

Best,
Jason.

[michaliszissiou]

My wish!
Google stay away from blender foundation

[alpro]

I've been reading over these pages the last two days and all I can say is wow. I got an excited and sickening feeling. I've been using Trimble hardware and software for the last two years, some of what I use daily, S3 robotic total station with wireless TSC2 controller using Trimble Access software, R6 & R8 gps units in RTK mode and VRS network with wireless TSC3 controller using Survey Pro software, GeoHX sub meter handheld with Terrasync software, Trimble Business Center software. Trimble is a big world wide company, hardware is rugged and well built, most of their software is user friendly and intuitive just like SU. Thats the good news. The bad news, everything we use ranges in cost from $1,800 to $42,000, dont forsee a $500 SU anymore, customer service sucks unless you want to pay top dollar for that too, every module or addon to their software cost a third of the program, Business Center comes with a donagle, you have to deal with an authorized dealer or reseller. Trimble mostly caters to civil engineering, survey, gis, and mapping. They have no need for arch viz, product viz, animation, or any of the other uses many here have come up with for SU. The excited feeling is that they can make SU into an even more robust application. The sickening feeling is that my beloved SU will never be the same, as flexable as it is. My opinion is that its gonna be incorporated into some kind of field to finish solution thats compatible with Autodesk Civil 3D or incorporated into 3D scanning or lidar somehow. Either way I think it means a total rewrite of SU and pretty much useless for most of the users here. Lets hope not.





Mike

[Jeff Hammond]

"let's buy sketchup and morph it into something unrecognizable and overpriced!"

nah

I don't understand why they would acquire it then.. why not just write a new app instead?

[Marian]

I don't know....if Trimble wanted an application that didn't do what SU does and how it does it, I don't think they would have bought it. Why buy something and then completely rewrite it? Most of the time it's easier to start from scratch.

My opinion is that SU will mostly remain the same + a few integrated BIM tools or related to that and then have specialised commercial Trimble plugins catered to different needs. That ability makes SU flexible, itt would make more sense than wasting a lot of time making many different versions of SU.

Also SU's connection with Google is not completely severed, that means Google still maintains some interest in SU and it's ability to model buildings for GE or some future project. As such it would make perfect sense to give SU to a company like Trimble and not Auto(bloat)Desk or Dassault.

[ishboo]

I see one potential benefit that I don't think anyone has mentioned yet which is, if the speculation is accurate and Trimble makes add-ons to Sketchup, maybe that will be in the form of Ruby plugins which would imply that the Ruby API would get a much needed facelift (eg newer Ruby version, embedded WebKit browser, better file system APIs etc...).

If that is indeed the case, us developers would have a lot more flexibility and freedom to create even better extension.

Just a thought...

[alpro]

I dont know Jeff, all I know is SU in its current form just doesn't fit into the range of Trimble products we use. Maybe something in SU is patented and thats what Trimble really wanted, like the reference engine. It wouldn't be the first time a company has bought a software just for something in the software that it wanted to add to its own software and then let it die, look how many times Autodesk has done this.


Mike

[Rich O Brien]

Their pushpull is patented.

[findthong]

Yeah, definitely -- I've been saying for a while that Google was not doing SketchUp any favors as a general 3D modeling tool... however I'm also not really into BIM either so it may not work out so good for users like me.

Just to be safe, I've begun researching alternatives much more seriously (I already own a few packages but nothing I would say is my main app like SketchUp has been) -- my needs are pretty simple: I want a competent and powerful surface modeler that allows for quick, precise(real world scale) work.

I don't care for BIM or animation tools, and I am apathetic to nurbs, solids, and Sub D (I can take or leave each approach with no issue). SketchUp has fit my needs very well to this point, with the exception of proper UV tools and better performance with high poly counts. I hope it still will in a few years, but if not I will be prepared. Layout is also a software that holds alot of promise for me, and I would be sad to see it not get further development.

As far as pay only versions goes I have no issues there, and I would be willing to pay more if the tools better fit my needs -- but I won't pay more for tools that don't (since I already routinely push SketchUps limits anyway).

Best,
Jason.

I agreed wholeheartedly.

Whatever technologies it is, I think they are too much hyped by marketing persons. Especially BIM it's just another term coined up by applied parametric and relation of 3D objects which use to solved engineerings problem for ages. They will always be new techs sooner or later.

We should focus on how effective of our problem solving, not illusions from marketing stand point. The problem is most people failed to address their real need, and lost in these marketing terms.

BTW, I want SketchUp have native options for bump map, reflections, displacement map, etc. even without native renderers or real-time presentation. I think it can be aligned with OpenGL and viewport real-time rendering update and improvements. And there're already so many matured tools these day. So I can switch to whatever rendering tools is needed without rework. Even one that need to export to get it done sophisticately later.

It would be drama for the whole industry if SketchUp under Trimble can become partners or licensed technology from Unreal or CryEngine LOL. The world will changed
http://youtu.be/EySdWbR4qcg

So, SketchUp will official become a tool for everyone who want realistic visualization too

[Jeff Hammond]

I dont know Jeff, all I know is SU in its current form just doesn't fit into the range of Trimble products we use. Maybe something in SU is patented and thats what Trimble really wanted, like the reference engine.

Mike

maybe you're right. (but probably not the inference engine.. moi3d has pretty awesome inferencing.. sketchup like in many ways but with extended capabilities)

I think 'push/pull' is patented.. but instead of paying multimillion $$ for the name of a tool, they'd probably just call it something else.

(and please realize when I talk about this kind of stuff, it's pure speculation.. of course I don't really know)

(edit).. oh damn... if rich is saying push pull is patented also then maybe I do know some things

[Jeff Hammond]

I see one potential benefit that I don't think anyone has mentioned yet which is, if the speculation is accurate and Trimble makes add on to Sketchup, maybe that will be in the form of Ruby plugins which would imply that the Ruby API would get a much needed facelift (eg newer Ruby version, embedded WebKit browser, better file system APIs etc...).

If that is indeed the case, us developers would have a lot more flexibility and freedom to create even better extension.

Just a thought...

I'm secretly hoping DCs get some much needed love.

i personally have some uses for such a thing. (bim + dynamic components)

[Phil Rader, AIA]

A couple of articles flying around,

SketchUp buy adds to Trimble's dimension

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/04/2 ... AL20120427



Google's SketchUp Acquired by Trimble

http://www.i-programmer.info/news/99-pr ... imble.html


Trimble Snatches SketchUp from Google

http://www.pehub.com/147629/trimble-sna ... om-google/


SketchUp Acquisition: The Big Picture

http://www.constructech.com/news/articl ... &SECTION=1

Thanks Mike

[Dan Rathbun]

I don't understand why they would acquire it then.. why not just write a new app instead?

From how I read the statements,.. they imply:

SketchUp "stand-alone" remains a generic modeling application, whose development and updates, will feed into an "insertable" engine, for Trimble’s professional BIM products (which will be pay of course.)

* Similar to how the best OpenOffice updates find their way into the commercial StarOffice product.

I cannot understand how many of you would think for a minute, that a company that charges premium prices for good AEC/BIM software, is somehow going to revise SketchUp into a cheap/free "BIM for everyone." It is nothing but a pipe dream. Wake up !

Their statements are clear, that they wish to enable their current (and future,) commercial products, with SketchUp style editing. That is a good thing for ease of use of their products. This can mean more sales for customers who already have workers familiar with SketchUp.

The question I'd think of.. will this give their commercial products Ruby extensibility ??