Do i want to invest my time into learning sketchup?

Stinkie · 5 Sept 2008, 18:57

The "poly limit" applies to both the free as the pro version. SU cannot handle as many polys as, say, Silo or modo. You can work around the issue, up to a certain point, by carefully layering your model. Turning "repeated stuff" into components helps a great deal as well.

johnsenior1973 · 5 Sept 2008, 19:30

@tekkybot said:

so stick with the free version right?

Definitely when you start. And from what I've read on here the only advantages of the Pro version are Layout (which no one seems to use anyway because it's too buggy) and exporters for 3ds and obj. If you absolutely need these exporters then you need Pro, but if you don't need them then the free version will be fine for you.

As far as I know the Pro version doesn't offer any extra modeling capability. I have the free version and haven't even tried the pro trial, so a Pro user would need to confirm that.

remus · 5 Sept 2008, 19:33

Thats all correct john, with the minor difference that there isnt a native location setting in the free version, although i believe a ruby has been developed that does this.

Gaieus · 6 Sept 2008, 02:50

Interestingly, the location is available in the free Mac version. However yeah, Jim wrote a location ruby for PC users.

Alan Fraser · 6 Sept 2008, 06:46

Another point. If my memory serves me right, the first free version did not work with encrypted Ruby files...such as many of the commercial ones like Subdivide and Smooth. It only worked with the plain text Rubies. Is this still the case? I don't have a free version on my system at the moment.

Gaieus · 6 Sept 2008, 07:05

No Alan, Now it should be all the same for the scripts. A lot of people here use subdivide and smooth with the free version.

Edson · 6 Sept 2008, 15:27

one important thing about SUp: the amount of information available on the internet is enormous (videos, tutorials, forums, etc) which means that any doubts can be solved very quickly. i would definitely go for it.

Tekkybot · 6 Sept 2008, 19:28

@edson said:

one important thing about SUp: the amount of information available on the internet is enormous (videos, tutorials, forums, etc) which means that any doubts can be solved very quickly. i would definitely go for it.

EXACTLY. this is why ive decided that sketchup is the program for me. the program im going to invest my time in, and learn, and get good at all the other 3d modeling apps had horrible documentation sketchup rules

Chris Fullmer · 6 Sept 2008, 20:16

I've found that 3ds max has pretty good documentation. It comes with lots of tutorials and help files that are decent. Plus it has lots of books you can buy that are geared towards different audiences. It has a bunch of online communities, some better than others. I would suggest it might be more documented than SU.

However, its still a beast of a bulky software with so many options its impossible for most people to master it as an entire software. So it is not my #1 choice.

Chris

plot-paris · 8 Sept 2008, 06:36

well, maya has quite a good documentation too. and you can literally do anything with it. but the lord of the rings seems a a short magazine compared to this huge manual
I love the ammount of control maya gives you though. seperate control over faces, edges, whole curves, or vertexes, together with loads of different snap modes. that is really some nice programm. but by the time you are able to create simple objects, you will design complicated shapes with SketchUp...