Disappointed in 18. Files locked up, lost

Had two projects with a weeks worth of work on them… then here come the error messages. Wish I had them backed up but didn’t see any way to do it easily. I have many older projects for the past few years and will go back to using 17 as long as it’s available. I was trying to trust the Cloud, but my old-fashioned instincts were screaming “Get out”, lol.

18 is cumbersome, much slower and inefficient to use. Company should be making things easier to use not harder. Most software engineers have too much time on their hands and make their own version of “improvements” to look busy. Then it’s handed off to the Marketing department to brag on. Better plan is to make very minor changes and and have the designers test them at risk of pay cut if they don’t work, bonus if they do.

This is confusing. Your profile indicates you are using SketchUp Free (web) but your message seems to indicate you are using SketchUp 2018 which is the current pro desktop version. You mention error messages but don’t say what they are. So which version are you really using and what error messages are you seeing.

I’ve been using SketchUp 2018 Pro, SketchUp Free, and SketchUp Shop. I haven’t had any issues with any of them being slow or cumbersome to use. I’m not sure where you get the idea that software engineers have too much time on their hands. I know that’s not true.

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Thanks Dave. Sorry if I missed some facts and details. I’m using SketchUp Free. Because the prior versions I have are named as 17, 16, etc, I confused SketchUp Free as 18. My mistake.

One of the errors seems like it may have been popping up at the Auto-Save points. It said something like “we’re having trouble connecting to Trimble”. It’s quite possible there are some kind of caching issues or data size relative to transfer rates…I dunno. What I do know is that I never had problems with earlier versions.

My sarcasm directed at engineers, while maybe somewhat misplaced, is based on the fact that many so-called improvements we see in products of all types add complexity without any appreciable ease of use or needed features. Not all of course, but many. And I say that as a 30-year product and graphics designer. Experience with AutoCad, Broderbund, and a larger variety of graphics programs.

Didn’t mean to step on toes but sure gotta wonder why myself and other users are going to go back to using older versions. Never crashed before and they’re all saved on my own gear close at hand.

I’d be interested to hear others views and appreciate your comments

One factor to consider is that SketchUp Free is a web-based aka “cloud” app, and that makes it vulnerable to network and browser issues that locally installed desktop versions (all the previous ones as well as the current Make 2017 and 2018 Pro) don’t have.

Hmmm. Reliability and vunerability can be a concern. Kinda making my point. And I’m factoring in that this problem could be presented from either end of the pipe.Could well be that my system is deficient. But not with prior desktop versions. Still thinking here. Other posts mentioned similar problems and some referenced the functional changes in 18 as well. Maybe it will work out over time.

Overall, the capabilities of SketchUp provide a great platform for design expression. I’ve done my share to promote it.

Appreciate your comment

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On the other hand, we are much more able to find and fix issues as they come up with our cloud-supported products than we are with native desktop software. In other words, there are trade-offs to consider in both directions.

Either way, you can choose between either of our free products, either SketchUp Free (in the cloud) or SketchUp Make (on the desktop).

Models stored on Trimble Connect are backed up for you automatically. You probably even have older versions of them available if you want to roll back to a prior state at some point. If you haven’t done so already, log into Connect’s dedicated web interface (http://connect.trimble.com) to see everything that has been saved online.

In addition, you might want to have a look at the Trimble Connect Sync tool, which allows you to synchronize the contents of your desktop computer with your cloud storage in Connect.

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Thanks Jbacus, appreciate your timely reply and suggestions.

There were two issues that bothered me. One was that Auto-Save function failed (could be on my end, unknown). The other was the redesign of the Toolbar which seems more awkward to use. Maybe just me, but saw other’s commenting on it.

Since last night I found some fragments of my previous work, probably up to where the Auto-Save stopped working. But gave me something to work with.

I understand all the points that you and others are making and will keep an open mind. The design/build community is wide, and there are always different opinions. And change always brings a little turmoil.

I’ll keep using SketchUp in one form or another because I think its a worthy product. Fascinating to see what others do that are much more skilled than myself. I build each product that I design as long as it passes scrutiny and final review, so the software serves a valuable purpose.

Thanks to all who contribute here.

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