The Feature Requests category

Hi to you. I´d like to see a time counter to see how long i work in a model. I´d like to sell my models in the future and its importent to now how long it takes.

Pardon me if this is a current Sketchup feature that I have not uncovered. I am designing a pantograph for use in my workshop:

The pantograph has 4 legs connected via pivot points, Is there a way to use Sketchup to ‘operate’ the mechanism by moving one of the arms and having the others move as constrained by their pivot points?

I have few feature suggestions that would help speed up the workflow:

-Ability to glue/connect components-when you select your component/group it should be possible to add joint points that would connect different parts with each other to form an assembly
-Ability to create/extrude multiple holes at once-when you create first hole it should be possible to select and drag selected hole in desired direction to form multiple holes instead of using plugins or doing it manually
-Advanced dimensions tool-add possibility to dimension tool that would enable user to select 2 points and enter different spacing between them
-Integrated simple render tool-as name suggest it would be great if you could develop user friendly rendering tool that would be easy on resources and without advanced features(Appleseed and Yafa Ray are both open source)

Hi!,
I am new to this 3D Modeling and after going through horrible experience in SketchUp. I think it is worth my time to say a few things to the team that’s building it.

  1. I had no idea I could turn off (Centimeter) / this is something SketchUp should teach new users, how to turn on and off.
  2. I had no idea if I can add plugins/extensions in SketchUp that can make my life easier.
    I have wasted a lot of my time building walls using PushUp tool and drawing lines and lines. And there is an extension that does just that in seconds!~ WTF!
  3. Add a Slide show that show the new features and extensions that can make life easier, at least those that are completely free.
  4. Add some useful extensions and plugins by default, ask to install major/useful free extensions in the installation wizard to download by category and install with some short description for each.
    FIX THESE MAJOR PROBLEMS.

@Bmuzammil

Not to slam your comment in any way, but if you feel SketchUp is a horrible experience, you might leave it for those of us who don’t feel that way; there are quite a number (I think they say around 30 million of us) who are pretty impressed and pleased. It’s definitely the most intuitive software I’ve used at my job (interior design/drafting} and I thoroughly enjoy every project I get.
Granted, every program should do it’s best to encourage new users, but I feel SketchUp has done fine with that too. After all, they set up this whole community with that in mind. I don’t see how integrating learner “slideshows” into the software would be a good idea; why don’t we leave the software space free for the real work, and watch the slideshows somewhere else, like online or something. They are available, last I checked.

Anyway, just my thoughts; have a great day!

Of course I am moving to ArchiCAD LOL!~

Well, I hope you find all the slideshows you’re looking for :smile:

All the best.

I think most people don’t care how many (hereinafter precision) Sides / Segments (hereinafter Sides) their Arcs, Curves, Circles, or Pies (hereinafter Arcs) have. They usually just want their Arcs to look smooth. I believe making precision relative instead of absolute, would eliminate 80% of the fiddling.

Currently precision defaults to absolute values. I think precision should be set relatively while drawing, based on the degrees of arc. The more degrees of arc, the more Sides will be needed to make it look smooth and vice versa.

Additionally, I think that the Measurements Toolbar, besides the Sides input box, should have a Precision input box or slider. This would set the Sides / Circle. For example, setting 360 would make a 90 degree Arc with 90 Sides while inputting a 180 would make a 60 degree Arc with 30 Sides.

Finally, I think that in addition to (or possibly instead of) the Tray’s Smooth Edges Dialog, there should be an Arc Precision Dialog. This wouldn’t just change the look of Arcs like Smoothing does but change the actual number of Sides of selected Arcs. There could also be a Global check box that would change the precision of all Arcs in the Model.

ye give us what we paid are paying for with Geo-location

Also an option to check “Daylight savings” needs to be added.

It’s Friday evening in New Zealand so I’m taking a little time out to list my top 20 Feature Requests :scream: :beer:

  1. A few different line weights could be added (and ensure they are exported to PDF and Layout properly.) this could be done through the layers palette in the same way that Colors are handled. Or a component/group could be assigned a line weight. Or lineweights could be mappd using colours (similar to Autocad) so red = 1pt, blue = 2pt…there are many options.

  2. Export scenes to PDFs: a better scene export dialog box (maybe use Scene Manager to select and export scenes) should allow more functions such as renaming multiple scenes, copy & paste scenes between models (there’s an extension for this), have an option so that scenes don’t automatically display new layers.

  3. Daylight savings time check box, How many times did I not realise that this wasn’t being changed, and ended up showing a 3pm shadow that was actually a 4pm shadow? :frowning:

  4. Import and Export with basepoint (or ‘origin’) should be possible in a way that allows me to model even though the origin of imported entities is 100s of km away (which is often the case if you work with coordianted data in a local or natuonal grid system)- If i import a DWG with a known cadastral system and the basepoint happens to be 100s of Km away, I have to shift it otherwise the model warps when viewing. I’d like to model in sketchup without altering the basepoint, so that when I export the model the basepoint is intact…otherwise a surveyor/engineer risks importing my model to the wrong coordinates. So, the model needs to remember where XYZ is referenced. Surely trimble has a tool for this! (and I dont mean “use TBC”)

  5. Fix the Components and Materials browsers so they don’t default to the original file path and force me to “open local collection” every time. (yes, I have mapped my file path properly in my template). Also fix the amount of time it takes to load a component/material menu - it takes at least a few seconds but this is frustratingly long -when you’re flicking through numerous folders - does it not make a local cache of thumbnails & meta data?

  6. PDF export with line weight options (default 1pt is usually too thick for technical drawings).

  7. a way to eliminate all components & materials not created by Pro users (no offence to non pro users but your components are usually terrible). Alternatively if somebody competent can give good components/models a badge of “professional-ness”, that would be OK as a filter.

  8. basic animations…I mean just rotate, move & scale.

  9. camera path animation and more options for scene transitions (eg like google earth tours where the transition starts off slowly, speeds up then comes to a slow stop)

  10. ensuring materials edited using the sketchup material editor retain full resolution.

  11. a way to ensure certain layers are not affected by smoothing (eg if i have property lines shown on a surface, i want to smooth the surface but not affect the property lines)

  12. soft shadows

  13. A layer manager function with referencing so that I can ‘attach’ or ‘reference’ the drawings of others (eg a topographical survey).

  14. Sketchup models have no titleblock in which to edit properties such as “issued” dates, who last edited the model, when it was saved, what status the design is (preliminary, draft, final, etc) or version control (other than the file name). This could be added quite easily, I’m sure.

  15. filters or 'tag’s for components and materials in the browsers. Eg I could tag something “hi poly” or “manufacturer XYZ” or “Project X” to create collections of my own design. Generally using Collections is quite time consuming and of little value. I find. Lately Im just using A window (microsoft OS) as a way to browse for & load components into a model. The search box for components uses the 3D warehouse (and takes forever) - why can’t I search within my local component library? The details showing for each component only include “Author” and “Description” which are usually fairly useless in a pro workflows. What about IFC Classifications or Tags? What about size, weight, etc? Custom fields would make sense (eg a folder of timber components would have their dimensions and grade as the key bits of distinguishing info.

  16. Welding edges of contours and curves…pretty basic but this is keeping Sketchup from being used for drafting, which is a real shame.

  17. adding labels to contours , labeling each selected face with it’s area, labeling selected lines with dimensions, making all text labels glued so they float around like crazy, more tools for adjusting their size, etc, making sure m2 symbols are mapped properly to PDFs and include superscript 2 instead of m ’ t

  18. make it possible to map a shortcut key for “hide rest of models” and “unhide rest of model”

  19. Actually, I could go on, and on, and on…but I’ll just say that this isn’t a general complaint, I genuinely believe that Sketchup could really benefit from these additions. I wont mention the dozens of extensions that are also necessary to do anything useful in the professional space - we just have to spend (literally) years working through 1000s of possible extensions and forum posts to figure out a set that works for us - it’s a huge time commitment.

Sketchup is amazingly simple to use as a newbie and an amateur user but can be incredibly slow to get ‘sorted’ as a pro user who expects CAD-like workflow tools for Architecture, landscape design, survey, engineering, etc. It’s taken me 15 years to get to this point (even approaching programmers to make me custom extensions where necessary).

Thanks.

  • Sam.

I, on the other hand, would like to see Sketchup output an STL file for my Cubex Trio 3D Printer.
Even nicer: if it would produce a .cubex g-code file that would print out directly on my Cubex Trio.
As soon as these features are implemented, I’ll buy the full professional package.
Also, my computer graphics chip (on motherboard - laptop) does not work with OpenGL. Would be nice to see Sketchup work with other graphics file types.
Thank You,
J Chalinder
Eugene, OR

I would like a feature (and it might already exist as I admit my ignorance) where I can toggle a “bump” feature that disallows components or groups to merge. So if I slide a chair on the red axis and it comes into contact with a wall, I want it to stop no matter that I keep moving along that axis or not. It’s probably not as easy as I imagine it to be, But it would seem like the computer could keep track of where things are in space than I could ever be.

just like drawing with my A3 board referencing many development drawings ,cross reference ORGANISER is maybe a bit corporate for single user tho I failed to load the trail version, more detail to follow if if line time, Jon,

here is a new more complete sample of a ,m-doc,working model page tho I think the DOC should open from the toolbar , it is trying to be ,for work flow ,very minimal and interactive,Jon,

Yes to tray tabs ,personally ,I am trying to find and customise a small on screen keyboard for hotkeys , as for line types yes yes yes ,a coloured pencil box and width option, if my test are correct ,styles simply changes ALL model media ,Jon,

29 days later

jonathonltBasic User

3m
 TPL

Yes to tray tabs ,personally ,I am trying to find and customise a small on screen keyboard for hotkeys , as for line types yes yes yes ,a coloured pencil box and width option, if my test are correct ,styles simply changes ALL model media ,Jon, for MAKE users who cannot axes LAYOUT

I think it should be kept simple, clean and fast. Perhaps leave the customization to the individual’s owners. Sometimes trying to put too many ingredients in the soup, makes it a slow casserole.Extensions and plugins are great and can be utilized to a specific area as is now with the templates when you first open the program. I think faster is what most of us want and reliable not crashing all the time.

  1. Please add an option to shadows that allows either sharp-edge (as it does now) or blurred edges to reflect distance from the object and the shadowed surface.

  2. the reverse of shadows that allows an object to appear to create the appearance of illumination creating reflected light on other textured surfaces.

Cheers, eh.

C.C.

This is a small item, but repetitively annoying. When naming a Scene or Layer or changing an Objects Layer, striking the Return-Key enters the name value from the dialogue box; however, the cursor does not exit the dialogue box.

The workflow problem is this. After renaming and pressing the Return-Key and before entering the next key command, one must use the mouse to exit the dialogue box. If a user misses this step and enters a key command, Sketchup;
(1) replaces the name just entered with the value of the key command (which cannot be undone), ;
(2) creates a new Layer that must be deleted, and ;
(3) moves effected objects to that new Layer - that will need to be moved again to the correct Layer.

Please change the Return Key input behavior so that it exits the dialogue box, this would be a significant improvement for me as a user.

Thanks
-BNH

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It would be great to have dynamic, subtractive components/groups (that subtract even when hidden and/or nested). This could be a tick box in the entity info. There could be also another tick box that a solid doesn’t receive these subtractions.
This would allow for example window, door, screw and other such components automatically cut holes.

Furthermore the solid tools could be made dynamic.

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