So the Sketchup pricing and packages and pricing seem to be really ridged when compared to the competition at the moment. Solild works as an example offers a full blown feature set with their online version.
I mostly print 3d drone parts and small items around the house and for the most part Shop works beautifull for this. However every now and then I need a feature that i can only get with an extension and ofcourse I can not use extensions in shop which means I need to pay 200 just so I can use advanced bevelling tools.
I am not an architech or big industrial part designer so I never need to use featues like VR and VRAY and other sophisticated tools.
So what is holding Trimble back from introducing a product that sits in between Shop and Pro and call it something like Sketchup Amateur where we can have access to basic sketchup addons like bevel tools etc but nothing complicated that only professionals would use?2
Perhaps a solution would be a shorter subscription option to Pro. Like 1 month and 6 month plans. $35 for a month, $180 for 6 months. That would solve the issue for many people I believe.
I never really could understand the reason for the online version of SketchUp, what is so wrong with a Desktop App? Besides as pointed out extensions don’t work in the online version, that pretty much seals the deal for me.
Without extensions SketchUp is a very basic toolset with no automation or bells and whistles. Yes, you can draw everything manually and setup all your layers/tags, materials and even attributes, but who wants to do all of that work, let the computer/extensions do the work for you.
Use Make 2017 or purchase a new license for Pro 2022. The online version of SketchUp is only a very basic tool until we can somehow gets extensions figured out for it.
P.S.
I agree, a Desktop version of SketchUp Pro that doesn’t include Layout and some other more advanced features at a reduced price, call it SketchUp LT.
Okay, Chromebooks I suppose are valid enough reason for the online version but that still is not a good reason to kill off SketchUp Make. Would have been better to keep Make around but start charging a reduced price for it if the profits were the concern.
Trying to get people to move to a vastly inferior online product was a non-starter for many in my opinion, the extensions being the main issue. Trying to get them to move to a Pro pricing level from a formerly free product was probably also a bit of a stretch for many. Killing SketchUp Make left a gaping hole, and it has yet to be filled.
I don’t disagree with you. Perhaps the thinking is that more and more people are relying solely on mobile devices and so they should develop the free ap in that direction and leave the professional version for the people who will still have a desktop workstation. The shop version as part of pro is certainly aimed at being the out of the office on my mobile device add on for the professional user.
Whatever the thinking, this is the way it is going and no amount of wishing will change that. I imagine extensions will eventually be possible in the web version.
In my case ( I mainly print small functional parts around the house and for my drone) the patform doesn’t really matter in my opinion as much as what you are getting out of the platform. Solildworks Experience gets you a browser application with a full set of native tools for $9.0 a month.
Fusion 360 give you a free desktop program that has basic shapes and a full set of native tools, you can do filleting etc and you can even do animation to mention a few, heck you can even slice and print directly to your printer.
SketchupShop is great for what I do but I have to pay 299 if I want to use filliting tools and make simple animations or if i want to add screw thread to a design.
Can you please explain to me how I can create moving gears and levers or spinning propellers with Sketchup shop natively.
Can you teach my how to fillet all edges of a box shape at once after the box have been extruded?
The point is yes you can do this but its basically manual work that takes time away from designing a part quickly. The point is that other software gives home designers like myself tools that can automate these proces either free or at a greatly reduced cost.
Yes it can be done but why spend half an hour copying moving and deleting lines to make a screw thread if you can have it done in a minute for either free or for $9 a month.
My statement basically says that I can do all of these things but I have to pay 299 for it where I can do it free or for $9 a month. All of these things that you mentioned can be done but its a labour intensive task in Sketchup Shop.
SO basically what I am trying to say is give people like myself who design parts for themselves a package that compares to other cad programs that gives me better tools such as those mentioned above but leaves out the things that is only intended to be used by Professional Designers such as VR and VRAY etc.
However there are enough people out there saying what Sketchup Can’t do when in fact it can, so I prefer to correct that misinformation when I see it.
