A new home for SketchUp

Mike Lucey · 6 May 2012, 18:41

..... 'some other 3D program' What other program? Maybe SketchUp will in some way evolve into that 'other 3D program'!

andybot · 6 May 2012, 19:53

I'm talking about new "content". I use Sketchup day in and day out to work on new building designs. How is "automated model generation" going to do that? For my part, I don't see anything better and more flexible than Sketchup for design.

findthong · 6 May 2012, 20:35

@johnsenior1973 said:

SketchUp is an awesome program. It's my favourite program and I love it, but its strength isn't in its power, it is in its speed and simplicity. But in the future if models are going to be easily created automatically, one must question whether some other 3D program won't include these automated methods, and mean that SketchUp is as redundant as Jason thinks BM will be.

umm ... I don't think so. How some one could do that for new building?
I'm a bit worried about 3D Warehouse now. If there's any rushed attempt to sell something that equal to current free contents on that updated website, I think it will make a big negative feedbacks and fear enough for a lot of people. That would affected a lot to SketchUp free users and even pros. I really feel like to hear some words from authorities before the deal closed.

jeff hammond · 6 May 2012, 21:06

I highly (highly!) doubt Trimble is going to just start selling 3dwh models (as in, everything stays the same except downloading now costs $).. can you imagine the backlash that would create?

it might be neat if they come up with a way to have premium models which are for sale and $ is split between the author and the host.. I don't really see that happening though. at least not immediately

[well, if I'm considering formFonts, then the idea might not be so neat after all ]

pbacot · 6 May 2012, 21:55

Takes a lot to get premium models (professional editing like FF does). I don't do a lot from 3D WH, but here are some collections of plants and small entourage etc that are useful, but it can be painful trying to find something on the fly. So much is wrong with many models. When you get a really nice and NOT bloated model, you wonder where it was stolen from

jeff hammond · 6 May 2012, 22:22

right.. basically what I was saying was that with a premium service, they could (should?) also have decently strict guidelines for acceptance along with mods to review each model etc.

Panga · 6 May 2012, 23:04

All those supposition are not really constructive...why don't we start a thread with a wishlist for this new beginning and we wish good luck to Trimble and the SU Team !!? Just my thoughts...

jeff hammond · 7 May 2012, 00:19

@panga said:

All those supposition are not really constructive...why don't we start a thread with a wishlist for this new beginning and we wish good luck to Trimble and the SU Team !!? Just my thoughts...

hmm.. aside from a couple of facts to be found here and there (i.e.- google is selling sketchup to trimble), i though this whole thread was speculation

Panga · 7 May 2012, 07:59

Yes...speculation is the right word !

Mike Lucey · 7 May 2012, 09:04

Speculation indeed but I think Scott Lininger, even though his lips are probably sealed tight, may be trying to tell us where things are!

His new avatar says a lot in one new word! @GoobleUp

Alan Fraser · 7 May 2012, 09:18

Meh! @Last + Google + Trimble + SketchUp = @GoobleUp. He's telling you they do threesomes.

thomthom · 7 May 2012, 10:00

@mike lucey said:

Speculation indeed but I think Scott Lininger, even though his lips are probably sealed tight, may be trying to tell us where things are!

His new avatar says a lot in one new word! @GoobleUp

That was his response when I asked for how the new t-shirts where going to be like. Combination of @last, Google and SketchUp.

jason_maranto · 7 May 2012, 12:01

I was gone for most of the day yesterday so I missed the comments on my post until now -- but here's the reality (as I see it) about the future of 3D:

Infinitely re-usable assets gradually building up in large quantities

I'm not taking about the 3DW here -- although with some effort it could morph into such a place... but I mean more like FF/Turbosquid/Dosch/etc.

Increased utility of 3D scanning of real world objects

For instance imagine Google street view, but scanned in 3D -- obviously the technology is not to that place yet in terms of affordability/ease of use/accessibility... but it is coming. Tools like this will become the new norm: http://www.photosculpt.net/ .

Parametric Modeling becoming more and more commonplace

Not much to say here... this seems like a good thing, and it is in-terms of efficiency and quality control -- but the side effect is it lowers the entry level for people to produce reasonable quality 3D.

Taking those things into consideration you have to say that for the most part direct 3D modeling will eventually become minority concern. With the wide availability of creating a huge range of 3D images without learning any real modeling skills already a very real phenomena at places like DAZ/Poser.

I've watch several very large workforces, in diverse creative fields, be completely displaced by the steady march of technology -- the majority usually do not see it coming or do not adequately prepare... the time will eventually come for the 3D modeler as well.

That said, this is likely 15-20 years off at this point... so it's not a terribly pressing issue right now. But the one thing you can count on with the march of technology is that manual work (by humans) will be replaced at some point... automation is always the ultimate goal.

Creativity and adaptability are the only things that can keep a person or software from becoming a victim of the steady march of technology. Here at SketchUp we have the Ruby developers -- essentially a huge extension of the dev team that can take the software in any given direction it might need to go (to keep up), and in ways the SketchUp dev team is either unwilling or unable (and I'm not sure which is more damning) to do.

Extensibility is the key -- Photoshop is another great example, a big part of why Photoshop thrived over the years was plugins... take that away and Photoshop would/could have been replaced by now.

Building Maker is limited by design -- there is no extensibility that I know of, so it is doomed to fail(eventually) when its designed purpose is no longer relevant.

Best,
Jason.

Marian · 7 May 2012, 12:01

from http://www.urbandictionary.com

@unknownuser said:

Gooble

man or boy who is amateur,but pretend to be mature.No or less experienced.

a small child, older than a toddler but not quite yet civilized

unidentified substance, object, smell, ect.

Uhm...doesn't sound too good.

jpalm32 · 7 May 2012, 12:24

@unknownuser said:

@edson said:

and, by the way, why do people generally picture the future as a catastrophic one? let's look ahead to a better Sketchup. it is much better for one's health.

dunno.. my take on it is that people are generally excited about this change.. it's just that one negative comment seems to affect people greater than one positive comment..

(which reminds me of something i heard a few times over the years… "it takes ten positive acts throughout a day to make up for one negative" (or something like that)) …we're (humans) weirdos

Or 10 ah shi$s equal 1 atta boy

jpalm32 · 7 May 2012, 12:31

@cuttingedge said:

Will this whole transfer halt all developments of paid plugins like Vray, Podium? I've been anticipating Vray for so long, now looks like its gonna freeze...

My thought also!

Mike Lucey · 7 May 2012, 12:47

Just read through the - Transfer of licenses and personal data to Trimble - here, http://sketchup.google.com/usernotice.html

This paragraph has me a little confused!

*'Opting-out

If you do not agree to Google assigning its rights and obligations under your SketchUp and/or SketchUp Pro license agreement you must cease all use of SketchUp under your license as soon as possible (and in any event before the Closing Date). You may then also request that Google does not share your user data with Trimble by completing this web form before the Closing Date.

If you do not agree to Google licensing, assigning and sharing your Google 3D Warehouse data (including 3D models and user data) as set out in this notice, you must remove models from the Google 3D Warehouse prior to the Closing Date.'*

What I am confused about is, how can a person act before a certain specified date if they don't know what that date is?

What happens to the people that are unaware of these happenings due to vacations etc. Surely there would be some sort of requirement to contact all possibly effected people before a blanket action is undertaken. At least this would, IMO, be good planning and an action that could possibly avoid confusion further on down the track.

As I said, I'm confused

andybot · 7 May 2012, 13:09

@jason_maranto said:

Creativity and adaptability are the only things that can keep a person or software from becoming a victim of the steady march of technology.

I agree! As long as you can create, it doesn't matter the technology. To design is the human endeavor, you can't automate that.

@unknownuser said:

Here at SketchUp we have the Ruby developers -- essentially a huge extension of the dev team that can take the software in any given direction it might need to go (to keep up), and in ways the SketchUp dev team is either unwilling or unable (and I'm not sure which is more damning) to do.

How about 3rd read on this: "not allowed" Let's see what Trimble allows to flourish...

andybot · 7 May 2012, 13:12

@cuttingedge said:

Will this whole transfer halt all developments of paid plugins like Vray, Podium? I've been anticipating Vray for so long, now looks like its gonna freeze...

I asked on the vray forum , and as far as the devs seem to be concerned, it's continuing uninterrupted.

jeff hammond · 7 May 2012, 13:16

@jason_maranto said:

Taking those things into consideration you have to say that for the most part direct 3D modeling will eventually become minority concern. With the wide availability of creating a huge range of 3D images without learning any real modeling skills already a very real phenomena at places like DAZ/Poser.

i think you're cutting out a huge swath of 3D world.. it's not just for creating 3D imagery.. it enables you to completely 'build' something prior to actually building it... sort out problems, develop a sequence/schedule, finer material orders, etc..

as far as creating a model of something that already exists then yeah, i can see that dying out.. we're probably not too far off from '3D cameras for everyone' which will more likely than not, produce superior results in a fraction of the time it takes to create the same model today (fraction of a second vs. days )

but as far as modeling new ideas, i'm not convinced it can be automated..
(that said, i am sure the way this stuff is done in the future will be a lot sweeter than today.. once we get rid of the mouse/keyboard/monitor paradigm)