A new home for SketchUp

[chedda]

My big question is the price it's not as if google needed the cash. Trimble just basically bought a huge user base.

[Ecuadorian]

Trimble is committed to investing in SketchUp and expanding its development in multiple directions.

I certainly hope you won't do this:

[marvins_dad]

[Marian]

Can we please have just SKETCHUP on the banner. No @Last, no Google, no Trimble..etc?

[tallbridgeguy]

What bothers me the most is the loss of Google. I was a big advocate for Google sketchup to kids and now I have to push Trimble Sketchup?

I doubt the product will survive the loss of Google, a worldwide Mega name.

I liked sketchup because of Google, they stayed out of the way. I doubt Trimble can afford sketchup to be run by users.

Eventually it will be just another product on the marketplace.

[Gaieus]

[thomthom]

I doubt the product will survive the loss of Google, a worldwide Mega name.

SketchUp was doing all right before Google...

[chedda]

I'm guessing Trimble will launch v9. I just hop google didn't lose it because they hit the wall with performance issues. Im thinking google dropped it for a reason perhaps they have their own 3d software on the horizon or they just didn't achieve their google earth aims.

[Mark H.]

One Google tie-in that I have really liked is "Add Location" inside SU. Hoping that continues to develop.

Add Location and other key geo-location features (like Terrain) aren't going anywhere -- being able to effective geo-locate models and do site analysis is a big deal!

[Rich O Brien]

If the guys that develope your favourite software are genuinely excited about a new direction then I'm really stoked about this.

Everyone that is involved in this community has helped shape SketchUp in some way. I imagine the Pro version is now gonna be crazy.

[jbacus]

John, you and the team moving too?

Yes- I'm moving to Trimble, along with the rest of the SketchUp team. They are building us a nice new office across town here in Boulder.


john
.

[pbacot]

Technically it is still for your Google SketchUP Needs as the latest extant software is Google SketchUp v.8

[thomthom]

Thom, they say they acknowledge the value of 3rd party developers, and will support them

Yes- I'm moving to Trimble, along with the rest of the SketchUp team. They are building us a nice new office across town here in Boulder.

[tald311]

John, you and the team moving too?

Yes- I'm moving to Trimble, along with the rest of the SketchUp team. They are building us a nice new office across town here in Boulder.


john
.

Congrats John and SU Team!
Thanks
Daniel Tal

[tald311]

[quote="tallbridgeguy"]
I liked sketchup because of Google, they stayed out of the way. quote]

Google did not stay out of the way of SU development. If anything, they were very much in the way. Its the main reason we saw many tools developed for Google Earth like building maker, integrated road views, enhanced Photo Match, Add Location (direct integration with Googles Terrain and Map servers)....all released with SU 7 and 8.
Thanks
Daniel Tal

[solo]

John, you and the team moving too?

Yes- I'm moving to Trimble, along with the rest of the SketchUp team. They are building us a nice new office across town here in Boulder.


john
.

Great news, feel at ease and will stop "trimbling".

[tomasz]

Thom, they say they acknowledge the value of 3rd party developers, and will support them

It would mean big improvements to Ruby API and official support for C++ access to the SketchUp application through a decent SDK.

[Hieru]

If the guys that develope your favourite software are genuinely excited about a new direction then I'm really stoked about this.

That's the way I see things as well.

If they had announced an SU buy-out that involved telling the devs to sling their hook, then I'd be worried and start looking at Blender or selling a kidney in order to buy 3DS Max.

For now I'm excited about what the future will bring......although it is something of a nervous excitement.

[tallbridgeguy]

John, you and the team moving too?

Yes- I'm moving to Trimble, along with the rest of the SketchUp team. They are building us a nice new office across town here in Boulder.


john
.

This makes me feel better

[Pixero]

I totally missed this thread until now. Wow!
I havent heard of Trimble before but from what you guys have written could it mean a better landscape modelling solution?
Just hoping they'll release v9 with some features that will make us belive in SketchUp's future again...

[hirschma]

I feel like I've seen this show before, with other acquisitions of a generalized tech by very vertical entities. So I'm not getting really warm fuzzies about this. With apologies to Mark Harrison, who is an amazingly great person (I had the pleasure of getting his assistance with a user group meeting), and John Bacus (who is also wonderful, and gave a lovely presentation to our group), I'm just not buying the "nothing will change" line. I hope that I'm wrong, but consider - under what circumstances is SU helping Trimble's bottom line?

The "success metrics" for SU are determined by its owner. Google clearly sought to profit from SU in a pretty oblique fashion, although their mission for SU was kind of unclear to me (does this mean that they're going to kill off Earth, or some features of it, too?). Trimble, on the other hand, will definitely be looking more directly at the bottom line. Thus, we can assume that almost everyone that uses SU today, and isn't at least a potential Trimble client, is going to get leftovers. Unless, of course, that new developments overlap between Trimble clients and everyone else. And it could be that such overlap is very large, as we have little insight into what Trimble actually is seeking to get out of this. Or it could be the opposite, which is what I'd expect.

I expect that the PR efforts will be to keep users and plugin devs from bolting initially (because the devs seem to be part of the value equation for Trimble), and it'll be business as usual for a while. Perhaps even a long while. We might even see SU9 land in a form that's effectively the same as what a Google-owned SU would have been (as it must be pretty far down the road at this point).

But eventually I expect the hammer to drop. Trimble does (or doesn't) do something that's a deal-breaker with the community. And then the community either finds a new tool, or creates one.

Is it time for all the dev rock-stars to create CloneUp? I'd imagine that a Kickstarter campaign for that purpose would raise tankers of cash to do so. I already have my wallet out

One thing to note that may inspire some positivity, from the Trimble press-release: "The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2012, and it would not be material to Trimble's 2012 earnings." Q1 GAAP earnings were in the $40mm range, so it'd appear that the transaction between Google and Trimble was mostly or entirely cashless. Might mean that the deal came with (user-friendly) strings. Let's hope so.

And lastly, I do need to acknowledge that both Mark and John are both stand-up guys, and as much as I tend to be a Cassandra, I cannot ignore my (contradictory) feeling that I find it very unlikely that they'd mislead us in any way. And that might render all of my fears moot.

This is entirely my own uninformed opinions, and should only be considered as pure speculation across the board.

[Rich O Brien]

(ps: just so you guys know, there are 64-bit (and multithreaded) members of the SketchUp team sitting together in a room reading these posts.)

I'm already liking the move...

[Ecuadorian]

I'll condense my feelings in a single phrase:

I'm worried because Trimble does not seem to be about design at all, but only boring engineering stuff like GPS and such.

[nomeradona]

my first reaction i trembled with trimble... is it a gamble? trouble? i hope 32 bit will double...

[Ericschimel]

Well, in my opinion, I think this is going to be OK. I mean, Google aquired Sketchup to enhance it's geo products, and since this company is a geo company as well, I think this might be a good fit. Only time will tell. PS, if anyone's interested, I've got a blog post up, with a SketchUCation shoutout. With any luck there will be some comments from users other then this community. It might be interested to see what others have to say:

http://sketchthis.net/breaking-sketchup-has-a-new-home/

[fossa]

I too question Trimbles commitment to communities like ArchVis and woodworking. I hope I'm proven wrong.

[SketchUpNoobie]

After reading through all the posts made by the SketchUp team, I feel a lot better about this move than I originally did.

However, why are some people 'freaking out' about having to learn another piece of software. Am I mistaken or could you-at the very worst-keep using the version of SketchUp that you have installed, minus support from Google. For example, plugins would still be able to be developed for Google SketchUp Version 8 that we have now, right?

I guess I'm just a little confused as to the way some people are/were taking this move. Could someone please enlighten me?

[notareal]

(ps: just so you guys know, there are 64-bit (and multithreaded) members of the SketchUp team sitting together in a room reading these posts.)

I'm already liking the move...

[EarthMover]

Wow! Speechless! I think we should refrain from too much speculation and just wait and see. I feel I've settled in to a very comfortable workflow and well adapted set of plugins for what I need. As long as the geolocation is going to still be functional and the 3D warehouse only improves, then there is nothing to lose. I can stay with version 8 until something proves to be worth the upgrade. From a marketing standpoint, the folks at Trimble must certainly understand they are not just acquiring software, but the 30 million users that come with it. I think they are looking to integrate some core functionality from the engine into other softwares, but as a stand alone, Sketchup will fundamentally remain the same or get better. They don't have to do much, other than put the right people on payroll and allow John and his team the resources they need to start beefing up the infrastructure. My point is they know what software they are acquiring. One would not purchase Maya from Autodesk and turn it into a CAD program...it would be easier to just create a new program. Why buy Sketchup and completely change it? As they are not competing with it on any level, it would be an asinine business strategy. I'm hopeful for good things in the future. Google is too big and has their hands in too many other pots. Trimble sounds like a good fit with goals that are geared toward better GPS based terrain information and BIM tools. Two things that will take Sketchup to the next level.

[Rich O Brien]

You're SU8 is fine as is. No different than Instagram being bought by FaceBook.

Think of it as grandfather rights. What you have is yours as long as you don't remove it.

Looking closely at the companies Trimble has acquired over time it seems SketchUp is on a bit of a homecoming. As a Pro user I'm really excited to see where the team take it. Although Google has a wider audience it can also dilute products somewhat. A more focused industry can only bring sweeter rewards.

I'll still be here regardless