John Bacus interview about Sketchup 7
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@bigstick said:
To be honest, I don't really think there is much point in adding many new features if we can't use the existing ones with a satisfactory degree of complexity. If SU does become 'more powerful', it's unlikely that this is going reduce model complexity is it?
Sorry to pick just one phrase out of your well formulated discours, Jim, (I really dig the whole post), but I can't help reacting on this line.
You hit the sweet spot with it.
Without optimisation of the Sketchup core code, new functionality will indeed make no sense.
The new in(ter)ference engine makes SU a tad slower than before. Also the DC (which is a nice feature by the way)pushes the limit.
I think it all proves that the SU engine is running at its limit.....
In the survey, if 'more power ' means having more functions than 'more speed ' needs to be solved first.As some of the other members here, I support the idea to further 'OpenUp' the Sketchup 'Platform' and make a strong playground for the plugin developers. But they will need a stronger base to work on to get serious things going.
It is good that SU still is a lightweight app (as Kmead pointed out) and it should stay that way. A strong but small Sketchup can be the foundation and open platform for lots and lots of plugins for different kinds of purposes.I see parallels with how Microsoft is now trying to strip the current Vista and make a smaller but more stable core and release it as 'Windows 7' (next year). Sketchup should be going that route as well imho.
Make it small but powerfull and make it as open as possible for 3td party devs.Asking for 64 bit and multicore (those words are starting to sound nasty) is not just about high poly modeling, it is also about stretching the live span of Sketchup and strengthening it for more years to come.
64 bit is not marginal anymore. If you are about to buy a PC soon, really consider a 64 bit OS, as 32 bit will be dead in a year (or two) for newly purchased computers.
64 bit has much more to offer now and it IS very stable, especially in Vista. -
@unknownuser said:
Make it small but powerfull and make it as open as possible for 3rd party devs.
My thoughts exactly.
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Great post bigstick. I agree and i also don't think were asking for too much. In the post i made for the "sketchup 8 wishlist" thread (http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=14234&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=wishlist#p111818) most things asked were just solving bugs and optimization.
@unknownuser said:
Your first mistake was to buy the model....build your own!! SU is just not built for importing complex x-format models...it is built for modeling!!
When i say that i had to fix a big (as you think) imported model knowing that i had to redo some of the modeling and texturing (with some using uv unwarping) should tell you that i'm should be able of doing most of the model in sketchup, but even so, the main reason people sometimes have to use other models (skp or any other format) to do a work it's probably the most (if not always) requested thing in this works: SPEED (very short deadlines to answer). And if sketchup it's not built for import then they shouldn't put that option in there. And you still didn't answer my question in that post..
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@unknownuser said:
SU is just not built for importing complex x-format models...it is built for modeling!!
Correction, for modeling simple things only.
SU is probably suited for woodworkers, as the geometry will be simple enough.
For architects, SU is only suited for pre-design.
Don't try to use it as a visualisation tool for architecture, as Sketchup will choke on anything more than a beautiful 3D tree you want to import. -
@kwistenbiebel said:
Don't try to use it as a visualisation tool for architecture, as Sketchup will choke on anything more than a beautiful 3D tree you want to import.
And where would architects be without trees?
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Quite interesting read. We all love SU and that is a reason why we are all so frustrated. I must say that SU (pro) still feels like inherited burden for Google.
Looking to improve existing SU without looking at the heart of problem will not bring solution. Reality is that core is very old and without complete rewrite things will not improve. Now question is does Google want to do that or not. My gutt feeling is that the answere is no simply because the current version serves perfectly the purpose for which Google bought it. I would love to be proven wrong though.
What we need is strong , stable and fast modeling core which can handle a lot of geometry and with import and export facility which works.
As it stand SU is slipping(big time)from ArchViz tool to PreViz tool. -
Wasnt it always meant to be a previz tool form the start?
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No I do not think so Remus. It was originally made as ArchViz tool.
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@kwistenbiebel said:
Correction, for modeling simple things only.
SU is probably suited for woodworkers, as the geometry will be simple enough.
For architects, SU is only suited for pre-designActually I disagree, and I'm sure this was really meant tongue-in-cheek.
I have attached some links to images of why I disagree. These are images of a model which is for design development.
We have all seen some of your fabulous work, you can't tell me that you don't use SU as a tool for evaluating design options. This is why I got involved with rendering
For me it makes SU a proper design development (and communication) tool. These images are just based on showing the client design proposals, no creating great images. In fact I only really use rendering for this purpose. It is true that free-form organic modelling with any degree of precision is almost impossible, but my buildings don't have the budget for this degree of complexity anyway. I add door handles and even signs to my models, so I can get a more accurate idea of how things will look in real life. All architects must have experienced the awful reality that occurs when what you have designed in the office, just doesn't look right at all when finished. I try to use SU (and renderers) to avoid/minimise this. -
It was indeed a tongue in cheek remark I was making.
Off course Sketchup is a very good visualisation tool.
I am just experiencing the damn limits of the software concerning the polycount handicap, and especially when using render software.If you really want to take visualization (rendering) to the next level, Sketchup fails.
It will work for simple buildings , adding some props and 3D trees around it , but once you go for streetscapes or bigger projects part of a masterplan, Sketchup becomes a real pain. Modeling wise, no problem, but it will become too slow to handle, despite of the tricks we all know by now.It is a pitty, because Sketchup could have that potential.
If only Google saw this too.....(yawn)..... -
Actually I'm sure they do realise this now. They are always tight-lipped about forthcoming developments. CraigD hinted that something might be coming in relation to basic improvements to the core. Unfortunately I would put money on it not happening any time soon.
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I am sure they know that for a long time.
The interview of John Bacus is off course a sales talk.
He would never admit that the polycount thing indeed is an issue.The thing is that it will probably take a lot of effort to fix it, and it would not be so visible to a lot of people.
But it is in their intrest to start working on it.
The people that use Sketchup on a daily basis in their jobs, like me, will feel a hugh difference.
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