First year in 12 I won't be teaching SketchUp

Of course not. There are watermarks on other software my students use. Why would a watermark on student work be rejected by teachers? And SU Free is doing that already by baking the logo into the corner.

3 Likes

In Poland price of SketchUp for students is ~360PLN. Same price is for living in dormitory (month).

I think it difficult to compete with Autodesk when they are giving licenses for free for students and universities. I tried to buy new SketchUp licenses with my University, but there is a lot of strange procedures when universities wants to buy something with public funds. So we failed.

3 Likes

Exactly, they (AutoDesk) have done this for years. Nothing new since early 2000’s if I recall correctly.
Form Z SE (student edition) has NO watermark FYI :wink:

1 Like

I’m pretty sure nobody here who reads these forums on Trimble staff has a say it this matter anyway, some probably agree with the views but for obvious reasons cannot agree on open forum, some may try toe the company line, but none can change anything anyway.
It is sad, and it will bite Trimble on the ass in years to come when the user base dwindles to niche.

7 Likes

everyone I know who uses sketchup is saying the same. but now blender 2.8 is out they are dabbling to make a change even from the sketchup pro version. Seems like trimble don’t have a vision.

3 Likes

The day I can draw in Blender like I can in SU it will be over. As of today I can’t but who knows what’s around the corner. I think some of that proof is that Tremble dropped their MEP SU plugin to focus on Acad and Revit plugin :wink:
SU’s ease of use has not been replicated…yet.

" Trimble apparently dropped SketchUp in favor of AutoCAD, AutoCAD MEP, and Revit.

Trimble SysQue and Revit"

3 Likes

Like I said before you are comparing apples and oranges. Autodesk is a giant entity that can easily offer free versions of their software in order to hook the industry into paying their outrageous prices once the student becomes the professional. They make that money back in 3 months. Do you really want SketchUp to follow that path…”here’s your free license, oh you graduated, great that’ll be $1600/yr…thank you!”

Sketchup’s Plan is different, and it makes sense.

10 Likes

Except AutoDesk isn’t the only one doing this. It seems that Tremble is the “odd man out”. Why would they charge $1,600/yr for SU?
Form-Z
IronCAD
SolidWorks
Bently
ArchiCAD
OnShape
PTC
Siemens

1 Like

Why wouldn’t they? Solid works, Bentley and Archicad are all expensive also.

With all due respect, SketchUp is the least costly of all of them and SketchUp users are not exactly the most welcoming group for price increases. What if SketchUp went free for students? Would all of you then except a price increase for pros without complaint? I’m taking a guess the answer would be “no” given the response to the last format change.

4 Likes

Because it’s smart business to do so? Is that trick question? Form-Z is not that much more than SU and they do it. They also allow the student/free versions files to be used across platforms with NO restriction on business/personal usage. Using “price” as an excuse seems a little like straw grasping to me.
I honestly don’t care if they, SU, raises their price, if it makes the product better. You act as if SU is the ONLY product Tremble has in it’s portfolio. Tremble could give SU away and still be in the black, it’s their product and can do whatever they want with. We the users choose either to use it or not. I also think paid users have the right to voice their concerns and opinions. I’ve been using it since v2 and will continue to do so as I enjoy using it and it keeps me employed. It’s price certainly doesn’t come out of my pocket. It’s also not hard to justify the prices we pay for software in order to do business, including my AutoDesk AEC collection subscription. It’s a drop in the bucket to the other services we uses. Yes, not all businesses are the same before you correct me on it.
I think users were upset with a charge for little more than “dashed lines” in their eyes. Not every one uses Layout and don’t benefit from it’s updates. All users are different you know

2 Likes

It’s smart business when you know your customer base. While you in particular may not care what it costs, SketchUp for years offering a free version outside of education set up a price expectation. For better or worse, there are numerous complaints on the cost.

You are correct all users are different and SU better than any of those other softwares exemplifies that. But to negate cost as a factor when discussing business decisions is somewhat disconnected.

It’s “Trimble” by the way.

3 Likes

Oops, my bad. :wink: Thanks
Yes, people will complain about free stuff, we’ve seen it here and you’ll not see me defend them. I never said to not take cost into business decisions, if I alluded to this then I did not mean to. I just have a different take than others as I have almost always worked for large companies that software costs are NOT the big ticket items, again users are all different.
Agree to disagree good sir

2 Likes

I Agree completely with Nick and all the ketchup communities that grew from the first versions of Sketchup FREE versions FREE plug-ins (even if some are so good that I am willing to pay)
Sketchup 2019 is nothing more than Sketchup 2018 + a bill.
The google goal has been lost since Trimble ones Sketchup.
No more new powerfull functions BUT SIMPLE that where the key to success, no speed or bug corrections, terrible support, google maps replaced by a bad satellite and geographic tool…
And can cary on on and on…
The community might disappear, Buyers to.
I realy hope tha skecthup developement team wil react, and invite all sketchup users to request that trimble changes it’s business plans : Better have plenty users paying a litte amount for a license than very little users paying an expensive amout.
THIS WAS AND IS THE CORRECT BUISINESS PLAN.

I hope the trimble reads these messages and will at least reply to “our” request

I think online version is a complete utter miss. Something that the HR department industrious mind would come up with. As far as the cost is concerned what other ‘free’ software your students chose to use besides blender? I must say that SK without plugins is pretty much unusable. I, too, have introduced design students to the 3D digital world with SketchUp. In addition to physical modelling that they executed in the wood and metal shop, they have used SK for 3d printing and laser cutting as well as checking the accuracy of their design. Trimble or previously Google was lucky that SketchUp userbase is large and generous despite few expensive plugin solutions.

2 Likes

Blender and SketchUp do not compare. Two different animals, thus it would be unfair primarily to SK. However modeling in Blender - once you grasp, is extremely efficient and intuitive especially polygonal modeling. Blender has free and paid plugins (similar range to SK plugins) that make it a killer in comparison to Maya, StudioMax or Cinema 4D

Yes its certainly catching up with overpriced Autodesk (Alias). There are many people now using Blender at Volvo and I know several other well known OEM’s using it as a main tool.

1 Like

And yet SketchUp is

Seems a fair comparison to me and a few others here.

Intuitive absolutely. Efficient not so much, I beg to differ here. Let’s just say that holes (2-5mm) in the closed geometry for which you need 2-3 plugins to repair plus a hand repair or even remake the whole form does not count in as friendly and efficient.

LOL, OK have a good day.

It’s literally true: For the first time since 2014, I’m not teaching SketchUp at my usual gig. I was scheduled to, but shortly after telling me I had to teach it remotely (not too bad, as I’ve already been recording video lessons in previous years), I was then told, never mind, we’re canceling the spring after school classes. Now I’m told we’re not coming back for next fall either, so that may be the end of it there. I did an intro to SketchUp webinar for my maker space, but I think they may be gravitating more toward Blender. I’m just reporting what’s happened around me.

5 Likes