What’s up with SketchUp Make?

Excellent brief history. Exactly as I recall it.

Agreement or not, Google did set users up with the expectation of free software, which is now difficult for Trimble to work its way out of.

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Sketchup does have a lot of flaws. you can’t draw geometry under 3mm with out hacking [Scaling] to mention one

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All 3D modeling software has a working size range. You happen to be bumping into the lower limit for some modeling operations in SU. Try a new approach to making small stuff. Go ahead and start modeling to size. Before size-related issues appear, make the model a component. Make a component copy and place it somewhere off to the side and out of the way. Scale up the component copy. Make your modifications in the large copy. Being a component, all the changes will appear in the small original. It’s just that the tools don’t like to work on very small geometry.

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This is an excellent point. I always model at a scale factor of X then scale down once the model is complete but this is a much better solution.

I normally do architectural work - but had the chance to do some product design. I modeled the backpack and associated components at 10x normal size, and using LayOut (imagine that, I paid for pro software!) - I set up various dimension scales for the work.

Even at 10x the size I had a few instances where I couldn’t complete solid functions - so I did exactly this - copy everything off to the side, make those components all 10x larger once again. I eventually just left these in place and would use them as needed.

I’ve seen this a few times in architectural work - mainly when detailing compound joinery for roof systems. Same process works.

For anyone who comes along and doesn’t understand what this is about, Box made a nice tutorial on it.

I’ve been using and teaching this for more than a dozen years. It’s very useful for many of the things I model.

Example:


The knurling on the knob is geometry, not texture.

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I am dismayed by the move to a web-based model. I actually wouldn’t mind if there was a low-cost desktop version ($60-$100). But not having a desktop option is a killer. I was about to teach my grandson SketchUp because I didn’t want to use the online TinkerCad. But now I have no reason to turn him to SketchUp. So, back to TinkerCad.

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I wouldn’t be too put off by the change. Make is still available and will probably work for many years to come, as has been mentioned. I daily use cnc software from probably 1998 maybe earlier. It runs on windows 10 and is incredibly stable, I don’t think it’s ever crashed.
Go ahead and teach your grandson I’m sure he’ll love it, my daughter sure does.

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Download Make 2017. Use it for a long long time.

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Good advice. Thanks.

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Since you’ve asked for feedback, here’s mine…

Lets see, the only choices,

  • a free desktop version that is no longer developed,
  • a free online version that’s crippled (to the point of almost becoming unusable) and also difficult to use without an excellent internet account,
  • or the pro version which the average hobbyist cannot afford ($700 cdn) or cannot justify the cost for a few extra features.

Do you know what will happen Trimble? … WAREZ!
Sketchup Pro is so easy to obtain “FOR FREE” and has become much more common on the warez/torrent/usenet internet sites. Without a usable desktop free version, (or even a consumer $50-$100 cdn version) people could turn to warez. Who cares, you say? They were using a free version anyway?
Well, … as the warez Pro version becomes really popular, potential paying customers could stop paying $700 cdn, and pickup a copy online for FREE! Do you have any idea how many copies of Photoshop and Microsoft Office are used in business without the programmers earning a cent?

Is this really the path you potentially want to follow?

Give the people what they want at a fair price they will pay, or you will lose those consumers and some potential (and current) paying ones, who could and probably will turn to Warez.

$700 cdn for a program (no matter how wonderful but outdated it is) that has continuously “Bugsplatting” for the last 3-5 versions (Despite spending more troubleshooting time on Sketchup then on Windows, lol) does not deserve the full price!

Is it too much trouble to make sure that ALL extensions in the warehouse work together with the latest versions of Sketchup? Too much time has been spent isolating a misbehaving extension. I would assume they should all be working and fully tested before releasing to the warehouse.

I would recommend, bring back Make and continue with the online version. Despite Microsoft trying their best to ruin things, Sketchup should be (after all these years) alot more stable than it is, isn’t it time to fix it? I believe it is time to upgrade the display, it looks to me like 256 bit VGA. You should only allow extensions that are fully tested, alone and in combination. Apple controls their apps/games to improve reliability, do you not control the extension warehouse? Add some features (at the minimum, the extensions developed by Sketchup) and develope Make into a consumer level product. Charge people a reasonable price, say $50-$125 cdn. I bet a large number of former free users will pay for this version.

Next develope the Pro version into a real 3D product. Including the improvements made to Make, you should add some professional tools to create B-Spline & Bezier Curves, Architect and/or Woodworking building tools, simple rendering, UV control, real animation, GPS/GIS and procedural support and more. If the cost is too great to be included, these features could be in additional modules which could be purchased separately.

Making these changes and Sketchup will be seen as a more professional 3D designing product. A fully decked out and improved Sketchup Pro product would be worth more than $700 cdn.

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Well said. :point_up_2: Trimble; How about a system like DAZ Studio? They give away the core of the software away for free, and then charge for extras like plugins, clothes, hair, etc. I don’t even consider using an online only application of any kind. Too vulnerable to attacks. Ever heard of Equifax?

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Hello. Long-time SketchUp user, first time forum commenter. As a Mac user, I will continue to use and appreciate the free download of SketchUp Make 2017. I upgraded to 2018 Pro with some confusion, and am glad to see that I will be able to continue using Make. I hope to be able to one day pay for software like this, but at this point I cannot justify spending any more on hobbies with my low income.

About the web-based software: when I tried using it, my issue was that the keyboard commands and trackpad inputs that I am accustomed to from the downloaded software confused the browser (Chrome) and resulted several times in leaving the page. There may be a work-around for this, and for me to switch to being a primary web-based user, those annoyances would need to be entirely avoided.

Thanks for the continuing thoughts, everyone. Please know that the full SketchUp Free team follows threads in this forum. Also know that there are members of that team (me, for example) who have been working on SketchUp for more than a decade and a half. If there are specific questions you’d like answered, I will answer them as specifically as I am able.

I think it is natural to speculate about the business model that supports our development work. Not all aspects of that model are appropriate to discuss in a public forum like this one. But we do recognize the importance of universal access to SketchUp’s core modeling features and see the value in sharing them as widely as our business will support. You should expect to see things change over time, but we’ll never deliberately leave anyone without a way to use SketchUp.

Given we can’t yet reach 100% feature parity between our SketchUp desktop applications (SketchUp Make and Pro) and browser-based versions like SketchUp Free and SketchUp for Schools, we’ve kept stable builds of SketchUp Make (2017, 2016, 2015) available to everyone for free as well. If there are SketchUp features you depend on but can’t find in SketchUp Free, you can always switch back to the desktop application. Because we’re careful, old builds of SketchUp stay viable for a very long time.

While we work hard to keep SketchUp both as simple and powerful as possible, remember the words of Thelonius Monk; “Simple ain’t easy.” If you speak up about the features you’re missing, you may find we can add them without much fuss. If not, I’m open to talking about why and what workarounds are available in the meantime. That’s really the best way to steer SketchUp Free into becoming what you want it to become.

john
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This is definitely a problem for us running in a web browser. Can you be specific about the keyboard shortcut that causes you to unexpectedly leave the page? What were you trying to do at the time?

john
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Actually, this would be a pretty big testing effort for any software company. We do test for common problems and security issues before a new extension is posted on our Extension Warehouse, but it really isn’t possible to test every extension (or more importantly, every combination of extensions) in detail to make absolutely certain you won’t experience problems using them.

It is the extension developer’s responsibility to do detailed testing of their code before they launch. They are the ones who most understand how their tools should run and what they should be able to accomplish for you. We give them advance warning when new versions of SketchUp are coming as well as pre-release versions of the core application so they can test for compatibility before we launch.

john
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SketchUp changes and so does the APIs. A lot of precursor is taken by the extensibility team not to break existing extensions but it cannot always be done. Most extensions will work in newer versions of SketchUp but extensions using compiled C/C++ code need to be re-compiled, there isn’t much Trimble can do about that. Some extensions also (mis)use undocumented and unintended API behavior which can change between SU versions. The extensibility team are working on methods to find such extensions and allow extension developers to know there’s a better way to achieve their goals.

Are there any particular extensions you’ve found to clash with each other or the newest SU version?

There have certainly been some high-profile security breaches of cloud services in the news lately. Equifax is a great example of that.

Less frequently reported, though undeniably more widespread, are the regular intrusions into personal computers and private data centers that are also happening with distressing regularity. For example, the WannaCry ransomware attack.

Storing your data in a professionally run data center (like those we operate on Amazon’s infrastructure) means you get access to much more advanced anti-intrusion measures than you’re likely to be able to manage as an individual.

You might argue that using a client application inherently protects you from attacks, but unless you’re also isolating your system from the internet as a whole (never connecting to shared networks, never installing software, never opening email attachments, &etc.) you are still vulnerable.

Cloud computing, especially on devices like Google’s Chromebooks, really can protect you and your data very effectively. There are significant security barriers in place that are very difficult for malicious folks to bypass.

This is among the most common attack vectors into your system. Malicious people crack software installers so that they appear to install a popular commercial application for free. What you can easily miss, however, is that they may also install extra malware. You really have to be careful about this. Especially if you’re worried about personal data security.

john
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SketchUp, give this man a job :point_right: @mclancer

Why? He seems a promoter of the “If you cannot get it for free, steal it” morality.

BTW, as to businesses using pirated Microsoft or Adobe software: If you are a business, you really do not want to do that. You can get caught. Getting caught does not go cheap.

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