SU8 - WISHLIST

kwistenbiebel · 3 Jan 2009, 05:03

I welcome more DC control (even though I haven't used it), but I would also love it if the whole DC engine could be switched off in Sketchup.
Same for 'Styles', the 'inference engine' etc...
It would be great to have a modular Sketchup....and to be able to switch 'on' and 'off' a lot of things in order to get a more speedy modeler. Some users might want to strip their SU down to the bare minimum when power modeling...

And when I think about it: a complete rewriting of the component and material brower. They both take to much power away from modeling editing currently.
I think that is one of the biggest reasons for the current slowdowns while we are modeling.
Both the component and material browser need to refresh constantly, especially when using the thumbnail view.
I am sure this can be coded much more 'economically'.

A better coded material browser/editor and component browser could prevent sketchup becoming unresponsive as it often is now.

Gaieus · 3 Jan 2009, 10:06

You can already turn DC's off at Preferences > Extensions although when you're not working with them, I don't know how much power (if any) they use.

As for refreshing of different browsers, I think the Outliner can be a resource hog especially when you use some power plugins which create extensive geometry all over the place (think of Fredo's P/P operation on a complex surface or Didier's CompSpray plugin).

madra · 28 Feb 2009, 19:31

i'm quite a newbie to sketchup, so my wishlist is quite modest. i just want the sketchup GUI to behave a bit more 'intuitively' by which i mean like the other apps i use every day. most of these specifically relate to using SU on a macbook pro [before someone jumps in with the "use a 47 button mouse" rejoinder].

a few eg.s off the top of my head:

1: hold down spacebar to temporarily switch to the pan tool, so i can quickly move my view of the work area about without having to select a special tool [see almost every other mac graphics/design app]

2: autoscroll my view if i'm dragging an object off the edge of the window.

3: give me some way of resetting my viewpoint to the default so that if i've messed about zooming in or out, changing my field of view etc. etc. i can get back to 'normal' without having to reset everything individuallyy.

4: just make the zoom tool work like it does in almost every other app i use; click to zoom in, alt/option click to zoom out, drag a marquee with the zoom tool to zoom to that area and doubleclick on the zoom tool in the toolbar to view actual size. nice and simple and you only need the one tool to do it all. no need for all these different tools and silly 'push up to zoom in' in, 'pull down to zoom out' stuff, which is really imprecise.

5: make other commonly required stuff like turning on and off guides, and snapping and the like accessible as menu items, rather than making me hunt through preferences and obscure windows.

there are a few more things that bug me, but those'll do for now.

for me, the irony with sketchup is that i find the actual 3D modelling to be the easiest and most intuitive of any 3D app i've come across yet, but the GUI has me tearing my hair out in frustration. i've previously dabbled in cinema 4D, poser, carrara, bryce and [w-a-a-y back in the day] infini-D - and sketchup knocks them all into a cocked hat as regards the speed with which i've been able to pick up the rudiments of modelling with it. however, i feel i'm spending more time switching between tools and setting options than i am actually making models. in day to day life i tend to almost live in photoshop and illustrator and their interfaces are so good and so intuitive, most of the time i hardly even have to think about what tool or option i need next, they're just there where you want them - or an easy keyboard shortcut away.

in summary i guess i'd just like the sketchup team to devote a bit of time into streamlining the interface and making it more user friendly, rather than devoting all their efforts into adding more bells'n'whistles.

Aidus · 28 Feb 2009, 19:42

If this whishlist is like su7 whish list then I think it is useless.

jeff hammond · 28 Feb 2009, 20:54

@madra said:

1: hold down spacebar to temporarily switch to the pan tool, so i can quickly move my view of the work area about without having to select a special tool [see almost every other mac graphics/design app]

⌘-ctrl = orbit.. add the shift key and it does what you want.. takes a minute to figure out the best way to hold your hand but once you get it ingrained, orbiting/panning is a breeze..

@unknownuser said:

3: give me some way of resetting my viewpoint to the default so that if i've messed about zooming in or out, changing my field of view etc. etc. i can get back to 'normal' without having to reset everything individuallyy.

maybe i'm not sure what you're asking for here but when i get 'lost' in a model, i'll use shift-Z.. try it and see if that what you want..

[edit] oh wait, you're talking about field of view etc.. yeah, i agree

@unknownuser said:

5: make other commonly required stuff like turning on and off guides, and snapping and the like accessible as menu items, rather than making me hunt through preferences and obscure windows.

SketchUp -> Preferences -> shortcuts ... lots and lots of actions can have shortcuts assigned...

KDSDESIGN · 1 Mar 2009, 00:14

DC Should Be Avaible for free users too

madra · 1 Mar 2009, 21:24

@unknownuser said:

⌘-ctrl = orbit.. add the shift key and it does what you want.. takes a minute to figure out the best way to hold your hand but once you get it ingrained, orbiting/panning is a breeze..

cheers. i'll look into that.

i think i'm also going to have to get to grips with the two-finger touchpad options on my macbook pro, which i havenae really bothered with up til now. because i've noticed that, when i've accidentally moved two fingers on the trackpad at once, on a couple of occasions, sketchup has seemed to respond by zooming or panning the camera - although, since i'd done the double-tap by accident it wasn't what i wanted to happen at the time

solo · 1 Mar 2009, 21:53

Screw a wishlist, we need a petition.

jmmad · 1 Mar 2009, 22:29

Dear Google
For SU 8 please :
Buy AutoDesSys and incorporate the best of Bonzai 3D, and Form Z with the grate modeling interface of SU and its ruby script

dacad · 2 Mar 2009, 00:54

Well after seeing the new update for sketchup, reading the release notes and seeing the highlights of this release (Place models underwater in Google Earth; More accurate model placement in Google Earth; Authorizing Pro is easier) there's no more Mr. Nice Guy!! i just wish the sketchup team listen to this (hope i don't offend anyone by my language):

PRO USERS COULDN'T GIVE A CRAP ABOUT GOOGLE EARTH INTEGRATION!!
(if we have to choose between fixing the damn tolbars bug, shadow bug, exporter bug, offset bug and so on against google earth integration guess what we're going to choose?!?)
6 YEARS TO FIX KNOWN BUGS IS TOO MUCH TIME!!
(even Ghandi wouldn't have patience to wait for you to fix something as the toolbars bug...in six years a completly new sketchup could be rewriten)
WE (USERS) AREN'T STUPID!!
(next time you give interviews telling us that multicore or 64 bits wouldn't make gain much time right now, remember you have users that use other 3D software and know basic stuff of what can and can not be done, and how in hell a multicore or having more ram available isn't at least going to help in exporting, intersect calculations and so on?!?)
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WAKE UP!!
(in SK6 or 5 you removed the layer toolbar and replace it for a window, making you receive so much complaints that you put it back again in the maintenace release, now we have this component browser?! At least try the workflows in you're own software...if possible in something more than Google Earth Cubes or Playgrounds)

Feel free to disagree or agree with me because i would like to see if i'm the only one who thinks like this or not. I would also like to see anyone from the SK Team awswer to this post (you have one of the best and most suportive user base out there and still you can't talk to us...just make anouncements)

fossa · 2 Mar 2009, 04:32

@aidus said:

If this whishlist is like su7 whish list then I think it is useless.

I couldn't agree more. I think that the current release and silence on Google's part says it all about the direction of SU. I bought Version 7 and if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't. Unless there are some serious advancements with SU in the future, I'm staying where I am with it (back in 6) and using something with some more horsepower under the hood to finish things out.

If it were not for the generous community of scrip writers and others on this forum, I'm not sure SU would even be in my workflow. If you look at what has really been done to SU since Google purchased it, their intentions become painfully clear.

It's a gateway 3d app. (the first one's always free)

chrisglasier · 2 Mar 2009, 05:01

@solo said:

Screw a wishlist, we need a petition.

With the greatest respect Solo and others of like mind, what I see is that the community needs to give Google a reason to improve and promote Sketchup. I repeat quotes from Google's corporate page:

@unknownuser said:

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.

@unknownuser said:

Over time we've expanded our view of the range of services we can offer –- web search, for instance, isn't the only way for people to access or use information -– and products that then seemed unlikely are now key aspects of our portfolio. This doesn't mean we've changed our core mission; just that the farther we travel toward achieving it, the more those blurry objects on the horizon come into sharper focus (to be replaced, of course, by more blurry objects).

Is Sketchup one of those blurry objects on the horizon? Could expanding the web dialog help bring it into focus? Of course I think so ... how about you? ... how about Google?

Chris

solo · 2 Mar 2009, 05:04

Chris, unfortunately your SU wishes and mine are very different.

I guess by the way things are going your blurry objects will get very clear, and my memories of SU will get very blurry.

kwistenbiebel · 2 Mar 2009, 05:26

@unknownuser said:

Well after seeing the new update for sketchup, reading the release notes and seeing the highlights of this release (Place models underwater in Google Earth; More accurate model placement in Google Earth; Authorizing Pro is easier) there's no more Mr. Nice Guy!! i just wish the sketchup team listen to this (hope i don't offend anyone by my language):

PRO USERS COULDN'T GIVE A CRAP ABOUT GOOGLE EARTH INTEGRATION!!
(if we have to choose between fixing the damn tolbars bug, shadow bug, exporter bug, offset bug and so on against google earth integration guess what we're going to choose?!?)

6 YEARS TO FIX KNOWN BUGS IS TOO MUCH TIME!!
(even Ghandi wouldn't have patience to wait for you to fix something as the toolbars bug...in six years a completly new sketchup could be rewriten)

WE (USERS) AREN'T STUPID!!
(next time you give interviews telling us that multicore or 64 bits wouldn't make gain much time right now, remember you have users that use other 3D software and know basic stuff of what can and can not be done, and how in hell a multicore or having more ram available isn't at least going to help in exporting, intersect calculations and so on?!?)

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WAKE UP!!
(in SK6 or 5 you removed the layer toolbar and replace it for a window, making you receive so much complaints that you put it back again in the maintenace release, now we have this component browser?! At least try the workflows in you're own software...if possible in something more than Google Earth Cubes or Playgrounds)

Feel free to disagree or agree with me because i would like to see if i'm the only one who thinks like this or not. I would also like to see anyone from the SK Team awswer to this post (you have one of the best and most suportive user base out there and still you can't talk to us...just make anouncements)

I agree.... and a bonus point to you for saying it out loud. Other people might think the same but don't dare to write it down.

chrisglasier · 2 Mar 2009, 06:48

@solo said:

Chris, unfortunately your SU wishes and mine are very different.

It is not a you and me thing; it is us and them. And don't forget who owns Sketchup and what I have quoted before. For example, if you were Google (not the SU team) would you consider this type of thing pertinent to the stated mission.

@unknownuser said:

PRO USERS COULDN'T GIVE A CRAP ABOUT GOOGLE EARTH INTEGRATION!!

6 YEARS TO FIX KNOWN BUGS IS TOO MUCH TIME!!

WE (USERS) AREN'T STUPID!!

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WAKE UP!!

Right now I reckon Google considers SU one of their (NOT MY) blurry things on the horizon.

Until SU gets more focus, neither you nor I are likely to be satisfied. On the otherhand, if it does, say, via the web dialogs, I might just get the opportunity to design and use model-based communications systems, and you might just get greater opportunities to create more of your excellent 3D work.

Sincerely ... Chris

remus · 2 Mar 2009, 07:39

@unknownuser said:

WE (USERS) AREN'T STUPID!!(next time you give interviews telling us that multicore or 64 bits wouldn't make gain much time right now, remember you have users that use other 3D software and know basic stuff of what can and can not be done, and how in hell a multicore or having more ram available isn't at least going to help in exporting, intersect calculations and so on?!?)

Dare i suggest that the development team know a thing or 2 about the advantages and disadvantages of 64 bit and multicore support?

linea · 2 Mar 2009, 07:44

Dacad, I have to agree with Remus. We are more likely to get Google to listen if we try to be polite.

kwistenbiebel · 2 Mar 2009, 07:45

Hi Chris,

I feel your need for good web presentations of your models.
Would make a nice feature indeed, but you have to agree that the core needs serious work.

So yes, web is ok but please after the revision of the SU core.
I would gladly applause Google stating they are in for a feature lock and focusing on the main program instead for a next version.
But as everybody here will agree, it is beating on a dead horse.

kwistenbiebel · 2 Mar 2009, 07:47

@linea said:

Dacad, I have to agree with Remus. We are more likely to get Google to listen if we try to be polite.

There is no psychological method at all that is useful to get Google talking.
They're a multinational. They listen to shareholders, money and to their core business....which is all but Sketchup. There!

chrisglasier · 2 Mar 2009, 10:02

@kwistenbiebel said:

Hi Chris,
I feel your need for good web presentations of your models.

Sorry I can't have been very clear. I want a commercial version of the 3D warehouse to be populated by authentic models of building products each created by or for its manufacturer. These models are made with SU and can be selected and assembled into a building project using html/javascript sitting in a web dialog. In this case, two key Google revenue sources now spring from the existence of SU - a new method of searching and a means of advertising directly in UIs when requested.

@kwistenbiebel said:

... you have to agree that the core needs serious work.
.

Yes I got that impression from you experts, but don't you agree that with a Google oriented business plan there is more chance this may be enacted. After all ...

@kwistenbiebel said:

They listen to shareholders, money and to their core business....which is all but Sketchup.

... at the moment!!

Chris