Why use Sketchup?

jason_maranto

My approach is simple -- you can either take Sketchup for what it is, or you can help to change it to be in line with what you think it should be... but only griping solves nothing, and griping about something you got for free just makes you look cheap and greedy.

If you want to do something about it great -- if you want to leave for another software great... these are your first posts on this forum and it seems like you are only here to say "I can't get everything I want for free from Sketchup, why not?!"

BTW whaat has every right in the world to charge for his work and personally I think if you have a problem with his price then you are beyond help.

The whole idea with open source anything is that the user base helps build it -- it doesn't just happen so you can take advantage without contributing nothing... that just makes you a parasite.

The question here should really be why should they give a damn what you think since you offer nothing in return? (which was the point I thought I already made).

Best,
Jason.

johnsid

@jason_marantoI think, You are still mising the point of this thread.
I'm not asking why I should choose Sketchup. I use Sketchup for years now, and some other 3D apps to.
I am just curious, why other people choose Sketchup, and I'm trying to provoke a discussion. Check, is it just force of habit, or is it a features, that Sketchup has.

What I wan't or what I need, has nothing to do with this discussion. And I also do not have problem with price, since I use other commercial and expensive apps, like Phtoshop, InDesgin or Illustrator.

I have already recive some interesting feedback. For now it seems, that the most mentioned reasons to use Sketchup is ease of use, but also support form big company, and big community of users. This is the answer I wanted, to get.
Also nobody replied "oh! so there is another app, in which i can get for free, this what im paying for in Sketchup". So the reason of choosing Sketchup is not lack of the information about other software.

Your debate on free software and contribution is a bit off topic. I'm pretty sure you don't know nothing about my contribution to free software, or Sketchup itself, and I do not understand you decided to take up this new thread.

Gaieus

I first started to use the free version (5). Obviously (at that time particularly) I would/could not purchase SU Pro if that had been the only option - and to tell the truth, the 8 hours trial would not have been enough for me.

Then of course I was enhanced with its ease of use, intuitiveness and all - and later also purchased the Pro version. I only knew later about Blender (and some other apps) and even though I tried them, I have never felt that comfort I do with SU so I got "stuck" actually.

I also use a lot of plugins - both free and commercial - and I have no issue with remunerating some or the efforts these plugins need. Certainly I also like freebies and whenever there is an alternative, I choose them (also as I cannot afford everything I would like to). I would not like to move to another 3D modelling program but I do not exclude anything from my repertoire of tools just on the basis that I am a SU user.

As for organic tools - for my "job" (that is also more like arhitects' modelling), I do not really need them either although I have purchased SDS1 some time last spring. I am interested in this field but I do not do it professionally (and am not even as talented as some others).

I also do not agree that "everything" should be integrated into SU. Many things are specific for certain user bases and most of these can be done via plugins. And most of these plugins are not too expensive for even the "hobbyists" although admittedly there are some rather pricey ones, too (but they may indeed be specialized towards professional use...)

dale

For me it quite simply put the fun back into my work.
I found SketchUp while researching to find an application that would let my boss express his ideas better than what he was doing using Acad.
I adopted it immediately. Probably there are still a few out there that did some of the @Last online seminars, the one where the sound came by dialing up on your telephone, and watching the computer screen for the visuals.
We were doing 3d work then using Vectorworks, and Architectural desktop, but what a struggle!
Then along came this simple program, where I could almost instantly express and idea, alter it, see it react to light and shade in all seasons, and have clients appreciate and understand our concepts without long winded explanation.
And it just gets better.
I am reasonably adept at a lot of software, and still have Vue, and Blender in my sights.
But I don't think in the long run there is currently anything that is as intuitive, and just plain fun to use as SketchUp.

johnsenior1973

Why I use Sketchup:

I'm a football supporter, I'm interested in architecture, I'm particularly interested in stadium architecture.

Because of these interests the idea of creating my own stadium designs has always appealed to me. I'd looked around for design programs and never found anything that suited. I think I bought a football game that included a stadium design feature, but I think the feature was so limited I never used the program more than a couple of times. Most of the 3D programs are massively expensive, not to mention so complex that it would take years learning the program before I could even begin to do what I wanted.

So the progam wasn't there for me.

Until I found Sketchup.

Sketchup has pretty much everything I need to make models of stadiums. I use it because it works far better than the vast majority of other programs and it's free.

Openspaces

when you have a short deadline(which is regularly) and the client cant wait(which is most of the time)and you are required to show a stunning architectural visualization.......Sketchup comes to my rescue

mitcorb

Here's one more vote for ease of use. Another vote for affordable, and I also mean the pro version.
I personally have used Autocad, Blender, and Rhino. Edit: Also, Sculptris. I did a hotel and parking garage and surrounding structures in Autocad. I have done a wolf, a bullfrog, a statue and hands in Blender. I have done countless things in Sketchup, some bizarre, some architectural, some biological, but always sculptural, because I feel more freedom to do so in Sketchup.

Mike Lucey

..... it was specifically designed for people that were more interested in design rather than the tool to create the design! Its nearly transparent in use ..... I took to it like a duck to water

liam887

Its easy so you get into it very quick but it also allows you to make very complex models so after a lot of practice you can do a lot of hard surface modeling very quick!

Speed

Price

User community (Support/plugins)

Ease of use

and what mike said: 'it was specifically designed for people that were more interested in design rather than the tool to create the design'

and most of all FUN and not a bore to learn like blender or max booooo

david_h

yeah . .. what he said. ****