What’s up with SketchUp Make?

Form Z Free - Free
Form Z Jr - $495
Form-Z - $995
BricsCAD Shape - Free
MOI 3D - $295 Very similar to Rhino. Developer used to work on development of Rhino.

Yes I do enjoy Moi3D but I never went further than the trial since I already had Rhino.

Some great stuff coming out of it however, if I had not got Rhino via work it would have been a likely candidate for home!

free for commercial usage?

Yep, 100%

“form•Z free is a great way to start exploring the power of design with 3D solid modeling. This version has no restrictions for professional, academic, or home use.”

Also same file format as the 2 paid versions.

Same with Shape…
“BricsCAD Shape is free of charge to everyone, with no commercial usage restrictions.”

Agreed. I don’t own it either as I really don’t need it but it was so easy to use and a great bargain for it’s price.

6 posts were split to a new topic: Photo Matching for Web based SketchUp

The current SketchUp Make (2017) is already a crippled version of PRO, no solid boolean tools except for the one and no layout. However it still runs extensions.

The native solid tools are already crippled by not honoring components, axes, materials etc. Not all people need LO either. I used SketchUp for years and years as a hobby user with no need for it whatsoever. When I started using it for projects in architecture school on the other hand LO became indispensable.

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Very well said. I believe they had their reasons and an upgrade to pro still beats out the competition. I do hope one day they offer a month to month sub for us who would like to use an updated version of sketchup without the bugs of a later or outdated version. I am sure they will hear the call for it and one day make it so. As long as the investors don’t get greedy.

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Your friend could easily save it as a SketchUp 2016 model for you to open. Takes only a second.

Fair point. I hadn’t thought of that at the time.

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Just created an account here to say that I’m dissapointed about your decision to discontinue Sketchup Make. I have no interest in using a web-based application, and without support, Sketchup Make can only possibly last so long. I’ve been using other applications more and more, this will just serve as a catalyst to speed up that transition.

I can’t imagine this will be a good thing for your Sketchup Pro userbase either.

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SketchUp Make has the same support today as it had last year at this time.

Many users are still using earlier versions of SketchUp without any problems. No reason to think SketchUp 2017 Make won’t continue to work.

I tried it with an open mind, but sketchup free just does not cut it. As thousands of other amateur woodworkers, I work in a barn with no internet connection, or poor at best. Cloud based computing (as this is) always depends on good internet connections as a rule. A big part of your sketchup make user base have their workshops in barns and annexes with poor or no internet. Some of us have less than 2 megabit/s internet connection in our house because we live in the countryside where the internet providers don’t prioritize because of cost issues per capita.
It does not matter how much you try to make the web based application match the desktop version. It’s just not the same thing.
Please do continue the development of the sketchup make platform and stop this silly idea of making it a cloud thing. The cloud is fine for things that belongs there, but sketchup just don’t.

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Well, I think I am done with Sketchup. 2017 Make is buggy, and if you’re not going to update it, there’s not much point in staying with it. I will not use a browser based tool, as it is nowhere near as good as a local client. I’ve been using Sketchup since 2006, and it has gradually gone downhill. Time to find something else. $700 is way more than I would pay for the amount I use it.

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I understand you need a revenue stream, but:

  • SketchUp Pro at $695 is too much for home use/hobbyist
  • SketchUp Web is not appealing at all, as per a lot of the other comments here
  • SketchUp Make 2017 will gradually get more buggy and won’t be compatible with component library/3d warehouse files that are 2018 and later

I purchased the iPad app so I could view my files. This is a good way for you to make some money from hobbyists - add some small purchase options or tools (e.g. advanced rendering options, model export options) without crippling your core free product.

Please reconsider this.

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There’s an extension for that now!

Eneroth Open Newer Version

The 3D Warehouse automatically creates files for versions back to 2014 even if they were made in the latest version of SketchUp.

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Hi, I’m trying to get started with SketchUp and am a little frustrated by this decision. Why exactly is it better to have the free version in a clunky browser with a different UI than the pro version?? Isn’t the point of the free version to allow people to get to use basic features of the software to get a feel for it, learn it, and see if it’s right for them? I feel like getting comfortable with the UI and workflow is one of the most fundamental parts of learning a piece of software, right? So why change the UI? If you’re going to put it in a browser, why change the UI? And I’m still confused, why constrict it to a browser?? I understand that I can still download Sketchup Make 2017, though I feel hesitant to get started with something that’s already out of date and will only get older… This feels like a better-for-google decision, not a better-for-the-users decision…But I’m confused about how this is even better for google??

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Going web/cloud based is probably to have more control of the software and prevent it from being cracked. The game industry is also moving in this direction with even some single player games requiring an internet connection to run.

Meanwhile in architecture we discuss resilience and off grid solutions. Even if the power grid is disabled you should be somewhat self-sufficient on electricity. Even though the sewers can’t cope with the amount of rain you should have a local pond to put it in, or a groundcover that can absorb water into the ground, to avoid flooding. It saddens me how the software industry moves in the exact opposite direction, making us more vulnerable to power black outs and other infrastructure failures.

Btw, Google hasn’t owned SketchUp for many years.

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