A community chat about SketchUp's future

[Mark H.]

Hi everyone,

In the past few weeks, we've noticed that many folks in the SketchUp community have been digesting the news about our move to Trimble and also expressing their hopes and expectations for SketchUp's capabilities in the future. We're still waiting for the Google/Trimble deal to be approved by Uncle Sam, but we're eager to start a community dialogue about our future.

This Wednesday from 11:30 to 3:30 (Mountain time), we'll be hosting a community chat session on Reddit with several members of the SketchUp team. We're hoping to hear directly from you (and SketchUppers across the web) about what features would take SketchUp to the next level. The Reddit chat is a bit new for us, but we're excited to try out dialoguing with a broad section of the SketchUp community.

We've submitted our event request to Reddit's moderator team, so I'll be sure to chime in to this thread with any relevant links for the chat or updates on the timing!

Cheers,

Mark

ps SketchUp AMA event time around the globe here

[Rich O Brien]

[EscapeArtist]

Any way to post a concern for those unable to attend? Will the discussion be available to read later?

[Sonder]

Sounds like a great move Mark.

[Mark H.]

@EscapeArtist

The discussion will be available to read after the live chat. If you know that you can't attend, feel free to post a question there -- we'll be prioritizing questions asked live, but if there is a pause in the action, we'll be happy to address your question/suggestion in absentia!

[Mark H.]

A bit more fodder for discussion, we just launched a new gallery of user projects. Notice anything new?

[Rich O Brien]

That 3D orbiting feature is pretty cool. Not sure if it's new though

[ArCAD-UK]

That 3D orbiting feature is pretty cool. Not sure if it's new though

and you HAVE to install Chrome to use it

[findthong]

A bit more fodder for discussion, we just launched a new gallery of user projects. Notice anything new?

[BrooksL]

I look forward to the discussion! Will you be able to publish it in audio - podcast kind of format?

Some general thoughts that have been crossing my mind about Trimble + SketchUp/Google;

I'm wondering if Trimble and the SketchUp team are going to spend 80~95% of their allocated resources on the architecture/building/planning/mapping/GIS focus and next to nothing on the generic 3D design & manufacturing application sector (which is equally large and word is still spreading).

Personally, I really like SketchUp (because of the whole package combination) and have been promoting it among students, teachers & colleagues.

And if SketchUp continues to receive significant general development (and correction of some things that have remained new-user hindrances for a while), then I clearly see how SketchUp could become the world's most popular 3D design app -- and if the product couples tightly with Adobe for complete viewing and analysis in Acrobat Reader (it still has some significant problems), then together they could become the de facto standard for 3D idea communication and collaboration.

Of course, the mesh database has some fundamental limitations in fully connecting the engineering users, but partnering with the SpaceClaim folks might provide a great bridge since SpaceClaim's mantra is also about making powerful 3D design tools easily accessible and usable for the wider general tech population rather than only dedicated CAD users.

I'm mostly concerned that Trimble might get short-sighted and noticeably neglect the very large market outside of the architecture/planning/mapping area... Or, they might do the Autodesk thing and create 5 different product flavors that leave general users in a quandary.

For discussion consideration - significant factors which I think have contributed to SketchUp's success (not necessarily in any order):
Manifesting the mantra of making powerful 3D Design easily accessible to general computer users;
Relatively simple yet powerful User Interface (UI);
Freely available, quality, short, tutorial videos;
Excellent utilization of Google's social media network capabilities (including 3D Warehouse, groups, forums, newsletter, search engine intelligence - it all helps users get the answers they need quickly);
A highly capable free version (this is critical in winning and continuing to win over large numbers of new users - and I believe it's how Autodesk beat CadKey in establishing a majority user base back in the early 90's though CadKey was a better product with a more efficient UI);
An open-source-like attitude in providing ways for others to easily and seamlessly add features and extensions;
Having helpful, encouraging, and technically knowledgeable people monitoring and responding in the forums;
Educational promotions;
Making a product that appeals to a very wide market;
Integrating it with Google Earth.

[Jeff Hammond]

is mountain time 1 or 2 hours behind the real time ?

[pbacot]

A bit more fodder for discussion, we just launched a new gallery of user projects. Notice anything new?

Great site, fast, fun, and some fine projects... Hey there's no Google anywhere!

[thomthom]

is mountain time 1 or 2 hours behind the real time ?

Real time - like UTM?

[thomthom]

That 3D orbiting feature is pretty cool. Not sure if it's new though

It's WebGL! Anyone else done that for SketchUp models?

[thomthom]

How does Reddit chat work? I've never used Reddit. Don't see anything chat related on their site...

[Rich O Brien]

That 3D orbiting feature is pretty cool. Not sure if it's new though

It's WebGL! Anyone else done that for SketchUp models?

That I know I was just unsure if this 3D viewer was new/ in-house developed or just using One already out there.

[tbd]

an example of Reddit AMA - Louis CK

[Jeff Hammond]

is mountain time 1 or 2 hours behind the real time ?

Real time - like UTM?

I was just joking as we barely ever see nationwide (much less worldwide) things listed in mountain time.. but I'm in mountain time zone quite often.. (though usually at 37,000ft! )

[Mark H.]

I look forward to the discussion! Will you be able to publish it in audio - podcast kind of format?

We won't be recording audio; on the flip side, Reddit keeps a transcript of the entire chat, so it will be immortalized on the interwebs all the same. Thanks for the rest of those thoughts, Brooks. For the purposes of this chat, we're hoping to have a conversation about some specific features of SketchUp that you'd like to see, or some specific use cases for which you think SketchUp can be better. For example, we are definitely hoping to have a discussion around SketchUp's API/SDK ecosystem and how it can be improved. Plenty has been offered here on SketchUcation about that, so we're looking forward to addressing some of those issues live tomorrow.

[pbacot]

I missed the note somehow: what do we do to join the chat? a URL? Do you go to reddit and search?

[dbalex]

everyone can attend? even from europe?

[TIG]

everyone can attend? even from europe?

If you can stay awake !

[thomthom]

everyone can attend? even from europe?

If you can stay awake !

GMT 18:30 - 22:30 ... not too bad.

[thomthom]

I've started to write down some notes on the SketchUp Ruby API.
Google Docs document - read only to public with ability to comment.

[JClements]

So how do we participate Will there be login link to this Reddit session?

[thomthom]

So how do we participate Will there be login link to this Reddit session?

They will announce the link when the session begins. Keep an eye on this thread, twitter or G+.

[JClements]

So it is only thru Twitter or G+. Rats, can't use them at work.

[Rich O Brien]

So it is only thru Twitter or G+. Rats, can't use them at work.

Can you view the Reddit page in work?

[thomthom]

So it is only thru Twitter or G+. Rats, can't use them at work.

No - that's some of the channels they'll use to publish the link. I expect the link to be published here at SCF. If not, we (the mods) will update the first post.

[Mark H.]

I will definitely be posting the link to the Reddit chat when we start it up, John. In the meantime, you may want to visitReddit.com and register a username (which you'll need to participate) -- it takes 30 seconds.