I don,t know what it’s supoosed to be, but I certainly would like to have a format that would be able to seamlessly transition from other formats to Sketchup, and would support Sketchup geometry, hierarchy and objects.
I really like how TrimBIM imports a DWG file into Sketchup and I also think Trimble Connect 3D model viewer is very close to fully support a Sketchup model.
So I don’t need a Rosetta stone, I just need a gate to expand Sketchup into the BIM and DWG, world and interoperability with AEC software beyond the presentation and rendering segments.
Good on Trimble for embracing the need for change in the area of using Layout and making moves to improve the experience for the users of SketchUp.
They get hammered flat out daily on about a gazillion fronts, relentlessly and realistically, they only have certain budgets, time frames and resources to keep progressing, so this is a good initiative on the face of it.
That said, it sort of looks like a cop out to head in the direction of using the dwg format to head in a different technological direction with the program.
It sort of feels like, Layout cannot either be fixed well enough to function as people want it to, or the cost in time and resource is now not so willing to be committed. Maybe it is both, simply not economic and probable to turn layout into something it cannot be easily or otherwise is my guess.
Change can be good though, however, no one should expect or ask for SketchUp to be a BIM program because it is not.
If User wants to get into BIM, then be prepared to pay for the technology and claim it back on your company tax structure/personal tax regime.
Use the productivity against your client fees and don’t moan too much because the levels of automation and productivity lie in User efficiency and skill like anything else, but it sure is worth it.
BIM is a planetary difference from SketchUp and that is not to slag off SketchUp, it is just a vastly different program and technology set up than BIM offerings.
Take part in the trial and you might be pleasantly surprised at the future.
Layout is not getting any better after years of promises. It’s a toy. I am working on kitchen cabinet updates using vector rendering so I can see the model. Screen redraws take 5 minutes. It’s not a big project. It kills productivity and my profitability. PERIOD. I will take it from there. When I see there’s a piece of software being introduced I ask why? Fix or replace what you have first. Is this what you are doing?
I have given up on layout. I have a specially downgraded mac running a bit old vectorworks (which is a top prog) to get things done.
But my real problem with cloud: every company wants us in their own ‘grip’ like adobe also does. I have dropbox and want no second storage location.
Where online for many of us is no option because of connectivity problems. France has no wifi most of the time and too often no 3g4g5g too. England the same.
I work in the summer on a location where wifi is too thin for any work, and my phone switches the whole day between NL, DE and BE providers, inbetween ‘no service’ . Working ‘online’ simply is impossible.
Is there a native way for me to add data in SU entities such as wall type information? Are there native scheduling tools in SU that auto update with additions and changes? For large firms and projects it’s not there yet imo.
Most ‘online’ apps can work offline when it’s loaded in the browser, some can also be downloaded as an webapp that runs locally (eg. SketchUp for web)
When having connection, it uploads the current document. Dropbox also works this way.
And iCloud/Google/Onedrive…
I don’t see why this wouldn’t apply for Trimble Drawings.
I guess we’ve already passed a line, if it’s a matter of trust, one can always opt for spreading your data across multiple platforms.
I have to agree with many others - fix Layout please. If Trimble has access to resources beyond the SketchUp team, then use those resources to fix Layout and you will then have a tool to deal with dwg export. It does not seem to make sense to work on something new and different. Fix what you already have.
I didn’t either, just that one sentence is puzzling to me. What does she mean by that? I know Trimble has a lot of agricultural and heavy civil users, perhaps she meant “more specialized.”
Gotta say, what do I need a drafting program for? I’m creating everything from SU and LO right now. I get nervous when I see Trimble getting to cozy with DWG.
Well considering a 40 year old piece of 2d drafting software still dominates the CAD market there is a huge opportunity for an innovative new alternative that is cheap, intuitive and intelligent… certainly that is not going to come from AUTODESK!
