Thanks again for your reply. I followed the link you provided and was able to get an idea of how it works. I asked further questions of one of the suppliers.
We don’t have any programs specifically targeted at startups, but I’m open to any ideas you’d like to share with us. What do you have in mind?
Sorry it was just a little sarcasm. I think there many startup possibilities with a platform like SU.
Can you share with everyone what you feel is “reasonably-priced”? Like an actual dollar amount. I’m so curious to know. I’m about to drop 3k for a BIM software package that I use professionally and have accepted that it’ll be paid off over the course of business in that year because without it I have no business. Please share. With a Sketchup license at $700, you feel that’s too much? On the same note, I hope you’re not one of those users who use the Free version of the software and complains about it’s shortcomings or bugs…
2 Likes
I’m not in business. I’m not making money with the software. I use it for personal projects around the house.
I’d pay $100 for a personal use version. I’d pay 20% of that for annual updates.
I don’t need to save in any other file format that SketchUp’s native format, so I don’t want to pay for a license fee that AutoCad’s DXF, or DWG, file format might require.
I sometimes need to work off line, and even when I do have an internet connection, I don’t like the user interface compromises a browser based version would impose.
Hi,
I also use a Ubuntu 16.04 laptop and got stuck on SU 2016 Pro since 2017 would not run under Wine or Virtualbox due to the OpenGL changes in SU. I have now changed from Virtualbox to VMware Player (free version for non-commercial use) with Windows 7 and SU 2018 Pro works much better than 2016 ever ran under Virtualbox.
I did get a Open GL error and had to:
vim .vmware/preferences
mks.gl.allowBlacklistedDrivers = “TRUE”
applicants providing e.g. a proof of unemployment, recent graduation or the formation of a new business venture could be provided with an extended trial of the Pro version (3-6 month) which eventually could be extended on request again if prerequisites still apply.
Participants could provide Trimble with models (creator denoted) for marketing and training purposes as well as success stories (if applicable) for the blog/newsletter .
We would, of course, be happy to continue to support uses like yours. Probably your use is closest to our SketchUp for Non-Profits6 program, through which we would offer you the same products we offer to students and educators. You would be eligible for SketchUp Pro 2018 licenses (available for use offline, the complete SketchUp Pro feature set).
I checked with one of the suppliers. The license is very cheap and I was excited. However, it seems that the program will cease to function after 1 year. Not like the commercial version which continues to function, but is not eligible for support or upgrades. This renders the non-profit version pretty much useless. We can’t give a program to a community that will cease functioning after 12 months, when they’ve just learned to use it, and are beginning to beneficially apply it.
We ask only that you reapply for the license on an annual basis. If you were granted access for one year, there’s every reason to expect you would continue to be eligible next year.
2 Likes
Thanks for getting back. The problem is that there would be a new fee each year. The fee is small, but the way our projects work, we leave this in the hands of the local community. It would be problematic for them. At the moment, a better solution for us is to give them a copy of the old Sketchup Free (I don’t know how far back that goes, could even be to version 8, or maybe 2016). This is something that doesn’t run out on them. When they have developed to the point where they need and can afford a more advanced version, they can them pay for that.
Thanks for the suggestion of FreeCAD.
If the topic is “Converting Sketchup file format to another CAD software product”, then you aren’t off topic. The original poster gave his post a misleading title.
I came to this post because I’m interested in converting SU models to other formats that can be used to for CNC machining, or in other CAD programs that I don’t have.
As much as I like SketchUp for some of the features it has, it does not export “solids modeling” models used in engineering. The best option is STL format, but that is still a polygonal model not recognized by some CAD programs.
I am also a Lightwave 3D user. I’ve had to bring SU models into Lightwave a few times, and they just don’t translate well. Points are not merged, polygons may be flipped, and none of SU’s organization, layers, groups, components are translated. A lot of clean up was required.
I like SketchUp for it’s ability to add dimension lines. It’s very good for visualizations and presentations, but I wish that any models created in it could easily be used either 3D rendering applications like Lightwave, or industrial applications. I don’t want to have to do work twice.
So, I came to this forum topic to look for solutions.
Thanks.
My pleasure, FreeCAD is quite a programme, as is Sketchup, we’re are
very lucky to have access to them.
My main point though was to stress the total futility of becoming angry
over what are often trivial matters in these forums. I am quite
surprised at times that the volunteer experts can be bothered to respond.
Good luck with your projects. As an aside, you might be interested to
note that when using Ubuntu as an OS there are ways of adding dimensions
into a FreeCAD project, I can’t remember how exactly but start looking
at GITHUB.
I’m about to try out SU2017 (Free) in a Virtual Machine as suggested by
Andrew Currie using Windows 7 as the OS because I really do like SU and
have done so for quite a while.
Hal.
Thanks,
You mean FreeCAD doesn’t have a method of showing dimensions on a plan drawing? I would think this would be an essential ability in CAD.
Anyway, I am on a Windows platform.
Sorry Donald, I didn’t expect to have to go into detail, but in answer
yes FreeCAD has dimensioning capabilities, I should have said in
“Workbench” which I believe is necessary for 3d printing. Something I’ve
not had need to do. Also I’ve no experience using FC on Windows.
Hal.
Okay, thanks! I didn’t understand. I don’t know what Workbench is. Usually, export to STL format is what I do for 3D printing. Cutting on a CNC machine requires one of the other CAD formats. I’m kinda new to this. I come from a Lightwave 3D background, not a manufacturing background, but I’m learning.
Thanks.
3D printing and CNC machining are typically done through different CAM tools. 3D printing, at least on devices like a Lulzbot, uses a free CAM package like Cura. STL out of SketchUp Free is a good solution for 3D printing.
CNC machining, as done on a device like a ShopBot, requires a very different kind of CAM package, something like Vectric’s VCarve Pro— which reads .skp files exported natively out of SketchUp Free without needing translation.
My friends Anne Filson and Gary Rohrbacher have recently written a book on this that you might find interesting: Design for CNC.
1 Like
Does being 75, retired, and therefore unemployed qualify? I use 2017 Make for 3D printing on my home made CBOT printer. I guess I am going to have the 2017 Make version for a long time to come.
Now if someone could only figure out why this crashes on me when an autosave occurs before, during, or immediately after a move. It is pretty repeatable. SU writes a tmp file then updates the autosave, then saves a tmp file and updates the autosave, then continues to do that … till it crashes. It can do that for a long time - like 5 minutes or more. Occasionally, it will recover. If I kill SU during this process and open the autosave file, everything is there. So why does it get stuck in this loop? Other times it autosaves just fine in less than a few seconds.
Bill,
If you aren’t saving directly to a “cloud” service like Dropbox, it tastes to me somewhat like a plugin problem. To pinpoint the culprit, you can try disabling half of your plugins. If the problem went away, re-enable plugins until the problem reappears. If it didn’t, re-enable the ones you disabled and disable the other half. Repeat until solved…
This topic was automatically closed 91 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.