No more new features?

I guess I’m doing it wrong with a very successful business…LOL.

Obviously you are finding clients who appreciate the level of detail you are supplying and you are used to SketchUp and have developed a process that works for you. Whether some other program could do it more efficiently is probably not a big factor in comparison to the time it takes to master any program.

Also if you value CD resolution over time (which you obviously do) you will be able to argue that your method is the fastest that accomplishes your very high standard (and maybe that is so).

For most though we do not judge the efficiency of a program by how well it handles the ability to hand draw and represent every component in a house. If that was my goal I can see how one could ignore the amount of labor required.

I would still rather see Sketchup grow into a platform that is more capable of producing building models efficiently. I do not think it has to come at a cost of loosing it’s core strengths.

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I’m a longtime user and NOT a dev. I use several different tools because they have different uses. Like, I learned how to model in Cinema4D because I really loved how they deal with sub-d modeling. Moving to SketchUp, I was missing it, but I also realized that the power of SU is it does a limited number of things really easily. I don’t necessarily want it to render. I don’t necessarily need shadows during modeling, but I can get simple ones. Organic modeling is not what SU was built for. It excels at polygons, not curves. I’ve used everything from Electric Image to Amapi (yeah, look it up for interactive extrude while shrinking) but ultimately settled on C4D and SU for most of my needs. None of which includes animation. If Marionette, the proprietary animation software that Pixar uses, existed for sale, I’d want to use that. The point I’m making here is Swiss Army Knife programs don’t make for the best toolbox.

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in 2003, I overheard two guys talking at an architecture exhibition in Paris on PassivHaus of Vorarlberg. One was talking about Sketchup to the other who didn’t know of it. He said : “You use Sketchup like a pencil on a pad, to communicate ideas, get the volumes right and it is designed so you could learn it in a day and get your ideas out quick.” That’s when I picked it up. Please keep Sketchup a simple modelling tool. Period. Maybe an extension can help for what you need. Use another tool if this one doesn’t match your needs. Use extensions to do the bit you need and leave beginners the pleasure of being able to model something they can be proud of the day they installed Sketchup for the first time.

I dont want to remove the existing tools. Just add to them. Make them better. Why do people keep writing “I want it to stay a simple modeling tool”…So do I and so does everyone using it! But Extensions feel like extensions. Even the stuff from ThomThom which is cool would be WAAAAY better if native to the program (I can’t even see the little icons in SubD because the scale doesn’t work right on my monitor). Lightup is kinda cool but it is just weird to modify materials and the lights just don’t feel like Sketchup. Vray cost more than Sketchup which is ridiculous… Adding tools/features does not complicate Sketchup. It will still be easy to pickup and model. BUT when you are past the ease of entry and use there will be depth which isn’t all filled by 3rd party programs which don’t feel like native programs. I am not saying I want everything thats done in extensions in Sketchup but just the basics. I want materials finished ( bump maps, reflective, emissive ). 3d primitives done in a Sketchup way. A better way to navigate 3d space ( something like UE4 but this can be just an option so if you do not like it do not use it). I am sick of getting stuck in zoom hell when you go thru a wall and you have to roll your mouse wheel until it smokes for it to get back to where you were. Baked in lighting (something like Lightup but much slicker and more Sketchup like ). Subdivision modeling something like ThomThoms but done way better … Modifying vertices like ThomThoms but better ( why not just pay ThomThom to come in and add some native stuff…before he goes off and makes a Sketchup killer ) I love his clean model command and can’t imagine not having that ( definitely should be native to be able to clean up floating lines. It should be under Model Info)… Not all has to be done at once just I would like to know some stuff is in the works… Oh and Sketchup needs to handle Sketchup models way better. I have a strong computer and adding 10 cars or 10 trees or 10 3d people just kills it. Granted those models are probably all done in another 3d program ( except the trees which are thru TreeMaker) because organic modeling is not native to Sketchup nor easy even with all the plugins in the world. By organic I mean anything with compound curves…A car, person, dog, cat, etc… Also, Moving something vs Copying it is like night and day. Move works well but a copy of a complex model bogs down Sketchup. Dreaming of the Sketchup that we should have and not the one from 2003…

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LOL, Thomas is already and has been on the SketchUp extensibility team for a few years.

That makes sense :slight_smile: I was hoping he was getting something for all his hard work.

There’s always the possibility to donate some cookies for his hard work too:
http://www.thomthom.net/software/sketchup/cookieware/

Fredo6 has a paypal donation option too (search in the SketchUp menu for the link) and you’ll find TIGs address for a paypal donation in the SketchUcation plugin store…

14 posts were split to a new topic: Hiding Lines Between surfaces