A new home for SketchUp

agamemnus · 27 Apr 2012, 04:14

Excellent.

The complex plugins are still horribly slow on my relatively new Asus G74. Maybe now this new company can advance the plugin API and make plugins faster (compiled?). The Sketchup plugin developers have done so much with so little. Now perhaps they can do a lot more with a lot...

petersaal · 27 Apr 2012, 04:23

I hope this means that SketchUp will finally be ported to run on the Commodore 64. There's a huge community that's been waiting for it. For decades. We're getting old.

jeff hammond · 27 Apr 2012, 04:30

if I could offer one piece of advise on making this transition, from the user point of view, be a welcomed one.. it would be to make sure all the license transfers and whatnot go smoothly.

it's probably one of those weird situations when someone has to do a lot of work in order to create something that more/less goes under appreciated or unnoticed by others but if that work wasn't done, it's gonna be gripefest2012.

(or hey, maybe google just loads up the license hard drive and ships it over to trimble and everything stays the same.. ha. I don't know how this stuff works)

fakircho · 27 Apr 2012, 05:24

I really think that the next step has been long overdue for Sketchup, i just hope this is the right one, good luck to the Sketchup team

Alan Fraser · 27 Apr 2012, 06:30

A sensible, balanced evaluation from TechCrunch .
I can see the move as perfectly logical...a GIS company buying a software company that can build geopositioned 3D content. After all, FormFonts models pretty much exclusively in SU, for SU users, yet who did we do a deal with a couple of months back? ESRI...a GIS company, probably better known for its software than Trimble which at the moment seems to deal mainly in hardware...which has to run on software, when all is said and done.

You also have to ask yourself what were the alternatives? Dassault? They'd probably have killed it off or come up with some weird SU-3DVia love-child. Most of the other big boys are owned by Autodesk...no thanks. Then again, it could have remained with Google.
Who can put their hand on their heart and say that development under Google has been everything they'd wished for? Change is always scary...but it can offer some great opportunities and makes for an interesting ride.

Bob James · 27 Apr 2012, 07:49

@solo said:

Base camp and October fest need to overlap.

From what I saw at Boulder you did pretty well at overlapping it anyway

thomthom · 27 Apr 2012, 07:57

@bob james said:

@solo said:

Base camp and October fest need to overlap.

From what I saw at Boulder you did pretty well at overlapping it anyway

thomthom · 27 Apr 2012, 07:57

@unknownuser said:

@mark h. said:

I wanted to share a comment that was left on our Facebook wall, because it has really resonated with our team today

I will feel more comfortable if we will have a better contact with the whole SU team. It looks Google haven't allow you to talk to us as openly as you wanted to. Will it change under Trimble wings?

I really hope so - from what I understand, thing where more open in the days of @Last.

tomasz · 27 Apr 2012, 08:09

@mark h. said:

I wanted to share a comment that was left on our Facebook wall, because it has really resonated with our team today

I will feel more comfortable if we will have a better contact with the whole SU team. It looks Google haven't allowed you to talk to us as openly as you wanted to. Will it change under Trimble wings?

MrMikeEsq · 27 Apr 2012, 08:36

I was glad as soon as I read this. So long as all current functionality remains, if more advanced stuff gets added what's the problem? I've never used trimble gear, although know a land surveyor who does

Panga · 27 Apr 2012, 08:39

Euh...Trimble ?? SketchUp for linux ??...ok I left...

thomthom · 27 Apr 2012, 08:45

Are people really going to walk away from SketchUp before they even see the direction it's going?

Marian · 27 Apr 2012, 08:55

@thomthom said:

Are people really going to walk away from SketchUp before they even see the direction it's going?

Neah...it's just fear talking.

chedda · 27 Apr 2012, 08:56

Some people are on the edge of moving this could be the push they need. I am however hopefull my only issues with sketch up are performance related and high poly support. This is surely a given now they are entering the pro market. I do fear for the free users however who may eventually be dropped. Googles do no evil was a good thing. Has Mr Bacus mentioned version 9 anywhere, it has to be in development right ? I'm guessing it will be launched under the trimble banner and then they will start producing their add ons.

thomthom · 27 Apr 2012, 09:14

@chedda said:

Some people are on the edge of moving this could be the push they need.

Push for what? There is no clear indication to what this involves. Why abandon ship before it's sinking?
I understand cautious - I am. But saying goodbye already now is just rash.

@chedda said:

I do fear for the free users however who may eventually be dropped.

From the announcement it seem clear that there will remain free SketchUp version.

@chedda said:

Googles do no evil was a good thing

Well, do no evil doesn't mean they do just good.
How much enhancement did SketchUp get during the Google era vs the @Last era? Thing did for sure slow down - at least for those that didn't have that much for the integration with Google's mapping services. In terms of modelling tools, Solid tools for Pro was about what SketchUp got while Google managed it. Google is a might large company - but that doesn't mean all their projects are on unlimited budget. Also observe the amount of information that came from the SketchUp developers during @Last vs Google.
Just say, while I am a Google fan, they aren't automatically the best thing.

@chedda said:

Has Mr Bacus mentioned version 9 anywhere, it has to be in development right ?

I wouldn't expect such announcements during an acquisition. They will need to re-group and re-plan. The game just changed. Observe what happened to V-Ray for SketchUp and V-Ray for Rhino when ChaosGroup acquired ASGVis - their planned roadmap had to be revised.

@chedda said:

I'm guessing it will be launched under the trimble banner and then they will start producing their add ons.

There is what I hope it will be - as addons - as plugins. So SketchUp remains lean and simple. A core platform we can build our own software on.

Hieru · 27 Apr 2012, 09:16

A smart move would be to tidy up what work has already been done on SU9 and release it ASAP in order to dispell the fears of the user-base and show that Trimble has a progressive attitude to the development of SU.

They can then take their time and leave any major changes and Trimble integration until SU10.

Rich O Brien · 27 Apr 2012, 09:31

Without deviation from the norm progress is not possible. - Frank Zappa

brewsky · 27 Apr 2012, 09:36

Indeed a bit scary this change.
But on the other hand, I worried about SketchUp's future within Google.
With the focus on "core-business" these days, the investments in SketchUp would have at least diminished to a bare minimum.

I don't really know Trimble, but I believe their "vision" for BIM is O.K. from what I have read about Tekla.
I am also really glad it's not Autodesk!!!

Good luck to the SketchUp team, and I agree "keep the focus on user-prowdness"!
Untill now I always tell anyone that SketchUp is the most fun piece of software I've ever used
I hope to be able to say that a year from now!

Jan

altab · 27 Apr 2012, 09:42

As a free sketchup user and google opensource "fan", this not the best annoucement I would have expected (wouldn't dare to say a sad one ).

we can't deny the fact that google brought a lot of new users ( mainly because of the free version) .that it has blown a fresh air on the AEC softwares( compare how many sketchup clones and how many free softwares since its apprearence under the google umbrella. )._ not to mention the Sketchup plugins from the leading softwares in the industry...

All I Hope is that it will continue with Trimble...

@last has done a great work with SKetchup, but I didn't pay attention to Sketchup until google bought it ( even if i've heard about it when it was @last ). I do understand their feeling when seeing their software not evolving as they wanted it to be . And also Glad that they continue as Sketchup developpers. ( more success Wishes.)

Alan Fraser · 27 Apr 2012, 09:52

Regarding V9; from what I understand it is on indefinite postponement. This isn't as dire as it sounds...with acquisition in the wind and almost certainly new enhancements that would at least in part be aimed at further Google Earth integration (and therefore maybe not relevant to Trimble), it would make absolute sense to hit the brakes and take stock of new directions and new possibilities, whilst at the same time perfoming some sort of feature-ectomy on stuff that might be no longer relevant.

I'm sure most people would welcome some kind of mid-version release (sooner rather than later)...if only to give us some idea as to what they have been working on, as concrete evidence of continued commitment and maybe a glimpse of which direction we may be heading in the future.