What’s up with SketchUp Make?

Hello everyone!

I did a google search with SketchUp Free.

The first result is this page:

For what not to propose a big red button to download the Free version 2017?

If SketchUp Make 2017 is the latest version, why not delete the development year in the title?

Appointing a free version with an outdated year may scare away all new users. :open_mouth:

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Sketchup Make is now the ‘old’ version as it wont be updated.

Sketchup Free is now the most current version. I think the idea is that ‘new’ users make use of the browser version rather than the desktop version.

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It is still the same mayor version as SketchUp Pro 2017, has the same bugs and same features. It doesn’t stop being version 2017 just because no version 2018 is released.

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One of the downsides of the online version is that the many people on the forum that answer questions don’t use it on a daily basis. This combined with the silent updates makes it hard for us to be up to date on how best to use it.
We are basically playing catchup and testing when a question is asked to see what the answer might be.

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Silent updates are in my view one of the worst things with web apps in general. With proper applications you know what version you have and how it is supposed to behave.

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Case in point: we sometimes encounter unexpected behaviors on this forum when Discourse makes behind-the-scenes “silent updates” without telling us.

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Dear Everyone,
This may sound harsh, but here goes:

When I was a kid my parents renovated and worked on the house we lived in. My dad went out and bought tools he needed to do the work. If he didn’t want to spend the $$, he borrowed them from neighbors, co-workers, grandpa, etc.

He also often did work ‘for fun’ - or for a ‘hobby’ if you like - making wooden things for the family - from bookshelves to doll houses to doll cradles to play swords and shields and airplanes, etc. - he used the tools he paid money for to build these things - even though he was just ‘a hobbyist’ and not a professional woodworker, toymaker or ‘maker’. He bought the most reasonable tools for his use - from soldering irons, table saws, hand tools, etc. When he needed a trencher or cement mixer, wood splitter, or similar he would pay $$ and go to the rental store and get what he needed.

I couldn’t imagine him on a Craftsman or Delta forum (back before the internet existed) complaining that the tools he wanted to use would cost him $$, even though he was just ‘a homeowner’ or ‘hobbyist’.

Fast forward to today:

I take photos - primarily for the love of it. Sometimes I use said cameras for work - job sites, etc., but regardless, I love making images.

I have invested in cameras, lenses, filters, tripods, gadgets, bags, and software. At some point I decided that I needed to get better software than what came with my camera(s) and iPhone - so I spent $$ on panorama software, editing software, cataloging software, etc. etc. All because I love what I do, and believe in supporting other people who give me the tools to love what I do that much more.

I get it, SketchUp was free. You used to be able to download a new and updated and fancy version every year or so. And you could use it for work, for play, for whatever… (depending where your morals lie and on how you value the people who create the tools that you use…)

I got my start in the @Last days. I used a demo disk that seemed to work forever, then I would use it at work on the architect’s desktop machine. Eventually Google got its hands on it and I would use the free version for some projects I did at home, and then I made the full on switch to the paid version, and eventually ditched another much more $$ CAD package.

Yes, it costs $$. Its a tool. I like getting paid for my work. I think others should get paid for theirs.

If you are angry about this, or having issues with the technical aspects of using the web app -

2017 Free / Make / Whatever is still available for download and use - please, download the 2017 version. Use it until it wears out. I still have clients using Pro8 Pro 2016, Pro2017, etc. - that refuse to upgrade. Its a PITA for me, as I have a list of folks I have to remember to back save for… but its working for them.

And while you are using 2017 maybe start up a respectful, constructive dialog in another thread encouraging SU to offer a ‘make’ version that runs 80-100 a year for a single license with no upgrades… As a pro with lots of clients spread round the skill spectrum I can see a potential market for this approach - but one would need to convince SU about it - and one would also assume that they’ve already done their homework on it…

And finally - by all means - if you are angry and pissed off - vote with your wallet and go use some other free software out there.

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Well said!

I think it’s valid to question the business decision and how the lack of a competent free version for hobbyists today will affect the sales of Pro tomorrow.

It’s also valid to feel sad for the other hobbyists that are not given the same opportunity you were given. I myself learned English and coding through using SketchUp and wouldn’t have done that if the current SketchUp Free had been the only free version at the time.

It’s however not valid to be angry and act like a jerk about no longer getting something for free that you were never entitled to in the first place. People should stop being angry and instead be thankful for being given it for free for such a long time.

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Amen!

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Maybe I should have written the day after tomorrow as many pro users have first been hobby users for years before convincing their employer or clients to start using SketchUp too.

You can download older versions from the warehouse. When you click download you can choose from SketchUp 2018 back to Sketchup 2014 plus Collada.

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All models in 3D Warehouse are available in older versions in addition to the current (2018) version. 3D Warehouse is fully compatible with SketchUp Free, SketchUp Make 2017 and with SketchUp Make 2016 (for those running older graphics hardware).

Just click on the pop-up “Download” button to select the version you want. Are you having a different problem that is keeping you from using 3D Warehouse models? Or are you perhaps using a much older build of SketchUp for some reason?

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Thanks a million! If you have a page with thumbnails of models they have a small download button and that apparently downloads the 2018 version. It gives you no choice. But the page of the model itself does indeed give you the opportunity to download an older version. I had not seen that. Thanks again!!!

I truly HATE this. Even with reaonable internet speed the web version is SLOW. When internet is down I cannot model. Is that customer friendly? I would be willing to pay something like 30 dollars for a personal version that works normally on my PC. The Pro price is ridiculous for home use.I think you have made a big mistake. And I noticed that all warehouse models have been converted to version 18 and thus are of no use anymore to everyone that wants to stick with an older pc version. Shame on you. Why do you tell people they can still use an old version if all the warehouse models are out of reach now?

Older versions are available on the warehouse. You can still download and use 2017.

Might I ask, as I pay for pro and am in a different use case, what do ‘home users’ and ‘hoobbysists’ use this for, where they need access to the thousands of models on the warehouse, and where having the most up to date (2018) version is so important?

Serious question. Make 2017 is free to download. Warehouse models are available in many formats. The web version is available for use if needed.

I’m baffled by the outrage here. Yeah, the web version might not work for many folks do to many reasons, but no one took away Make 2017. No one locked anyone out of warehouse models. And certainly no one is threatening your livelihood if you are just a home or hobbyist user. There are options to continue using the tools that up until just a short time ago were working fine… and continue to work fine.

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Being a customer implies to me that you’ve paid for the service.

You are using a piece of software someone put out for your use, on their servers, at their cost.

And when you use Make 2017 you are using software written for, developed, distributed, debugged, etc. by someone else, who has decided not to charge for it.

In both cases, you are not a customer.

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If you are a Make user, you are not a customer. Customers are those who’ve purchased the software.

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As I understand it, Make will not be updated if it breaks on future operating systems or new hardware that comes out. Make 2017 might work for years or it could stop working as early as later this year when Apple brings out macOS 10.14. Right now, I can use versions as old as SketchUp 8. Older ones might still work, that’s all I have. Sometimes more drastic changes happen like the move from PowerPC to Intel, this could happen again with ARM processors on laptops. I lost the use of some older software when that happened (my PPC Power Mac G5 died), software that was not being actively developed which is what Make will be now.

As a Pro user, this won’t affect me directly, but I can’t recommend anyone try the free version of SketchUp now either Make or the web-based Free, which I used to recommend before this. Make doesn’t have a long-term future so would not be a good use of anyone’s time unless they meant to buy Pro eventually. If I hadn’t had such a long ‘trial’ of the free version, I would never have realised that SketchUp was worth buying.

I find it reasonable that the quick download link on the listing page is for the latest version and the full list of different versions is available on the information page.

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compare Trimble SU Free against the first ‘Google’ SU free version [v5] and it actually has more functionality…

I would advise ‘new’ users to learn it because it has no extensions and they will learn the basic tools and concepts…

john

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We released SketchUp 8 in 2010, a little over seven years ago. If you’ve been able to maintain a system that runs that version effectively, you might well expect that you will be able to do the same with SketchUp Make 2017.

SketchUp Make 2017 will celebrate its seventh birthday in 2024. It is tough for me to imagine what the cutting edge of personal computing will look like that far out, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t expect long life for your current configuration.

john
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