GoToMeeting & Sketchup

ericschimel · 26 Jun 2009, 03:52

Has anyone out there used GoToMeeting with Sketchup? Sometimes is seems that 3D software doesn't agree well with applications like that. Just curious if anyone has had any experience with Sketchup and online meeting software.

Gaieus · 26 Jun 2009, 10:30

I haven't used GoToMeeting yet (but thanks for the tip; I'll check it out as I'm generally interested in such apps) but have tried YuuGuu which (obviously depending on your internet bandwidth on both ends) gives pretty good results.

I have to tell that its voice conferencing system is rather disappointing as it uses some "cheap" dialing telephone numbers obviously only available in a very limited number of countries. So for a couple of hours' of conference calling and online collaboration I for instance could end up paying more than if I flew there (oh well, with some exaggeration).

But then I have the same experience with WebEx - I once took part in a "webinar" organised by Google and of course I had no sound at all until it turned out I should call some overseas number which I obviously didn't (not to speak about that my landline phone I never really use is downstairs while my computer is upstairs). All the numbers were free for calling from inside the US. I wonder why Google,as an obviously (more and more) "globalised" company doesn't think of this

So briefly speaking,"great" solutions that tend to forget that the Internet nowadays expands outside the borders of the US are pretty much useless for me (and to the majority of the world).

re-read: it seems that my "contribution" turned into some kind of a rant so sorry about that.

mitcorb · 26 Jun 2009, 12:15

Hi:
Also, check out "ezmeeting". Has a subscription requirement.

Dave R · 29 Jun 2009, 17:05

I've been using the two together to do tutoring. Works just fine.

ericschimel · 30 Jun 2009, 14:17

Nice! Thanks for the input folks!

Has anyone out there been able to compare GoToMeeting directly with WebEx... WebEx is a bit more expensive, just wondering if its worth it....

Al Hart · 30 Jun 2009, 14:50

@mitcorb said:

Hi:
Also, check out "ezmeeting". Has a subscription requirement.

eZMeeting is "unique" in that rather than just sharing the desktop as a raster image, the geometry of SketchUp, (or AuotCAD, PDF, or other products), is downloaded to both machines. This allows both people in the meeting to quickly zoom, pan, or rotate the model and the changes are displayed quickly - using OpenGL - on both machines.

Also, both (or all) meeting participants can mark-up up the model (text, arrows, etc.) and measure lengths and areas, to collaborate on design changes.

Dave R · 30 Jun 2009, 15:16

Al, that's very interesting and I would love to be able to have that sort of thing. the price is too steep for me, though, since I've been paying for goToMeeting out of my own pocket and haven't got a company supporting my efforts.

wmanning · 1 Jul 2009, 22:24

@unknownuser said:

Has anyone out there been able to compare GoToMeeting directly with WebEx...

We've done a number of Webinars using WebEx, and some smaller 1:1 work with GoToMeeting. Both are quite functional and you probably won't see much difference until you start doing larger group meetings, recording, or using dial-in services instead of VOIP.

One tip however is that if you have SketchUp and another 3D application open and are recording at the same time, it is best to always minimize the applications that are not currently in use. If you have to windows open we've seen some performance issues and from time to time WebEx can lock up. Minimize, then enlarge the other and no problems.

-- William

Al Hart · 2 Jul 2009, 04:14

@dave r said:

Al, that's very interesting and I would love to be able to have that sort of thing. the price is too steep for me, though, since I've been paying for goToMeeting out of my own pocket and haven't got a company supporting my efforts.

We will be announcing two new products soon.

These are not "meeting" products - but let you save SketchUp models in a document - mark them up - and then send the document to someone else who can view it - in interactive 3D - mark it up some more - and return it to you.

eZ Review will be the free version - for single page documents (A single SKP file with markup).

eZ SketchUp book allows multiple models, mixing SKP and other document formats, and has other features.

eZ Meeting and these other two products all use the same file format. Just the features are different.

We hoe to release tet versions soon.

Jim · 2 Jul 2009, 21:30

I just upgraded my Skype, and it now has screen-sharing built-in which is cool because I use Skype already.

Gaieus · 2 Jul 2009, 23:46

Isn't that an "Extra", Jim? I also tried an extra the other day (month) but it didn't really work for me.

Jim · 31 Jul 2009, 19:39

@gaieus said:

Isn't that an "Extra", Jim? I also tried an extra the other day (month) but it didn't really work for me.

The latest version of Skype does have this as a built-in function. The people I tried it with were not overly enthusiastic about the quality. They told me the images looked like an over-compressed jpeg. It could have been my computer, though. Has anyone else had any luck using it?

Dave R · 31 Jul 2009, 20:33

@jim said:

The latest version of Skype does have this as a built-in function. The people I tried it with were not overly enthusiastic about the quality. They told me the images looked like an over-compressed jpeg. It could have been my computer, though. Has anyone else had any luck using it?

I thought that, too.

Gaieus · 1 Aug 2009, 10:08

Yes, ever since I've tried it, too (it was actually you, Dave, as far as I remember). Anyway, true that the image quality looks exactly like you describe plus even the SU mouse cursors don't show (just a "generic" cursor can be seen).

So far, I have to tell you, YuuGuu is what I'm most "impressed" (well, say "contented") with.