A new home for SketchUp

pbacot · 7 Jun 2012, 18:01

Yes, Jason. I wish to thank you for all the help in videos and forums! We will all continue to benefit from your work, new and old, I am sure.

jason_maranto · 7 Jun 2012, 18:02

Thank-you all, I suspect they are going with a "wait and see" approach before jumping back in the SketchUp pool -- in the meantime they don't like to have me idle. But I will certainly be keeping my eye on things here and I will keep them (VTC) up-to-date with any new developments. Also thank-you for directing users to my videos -- that more than anything would convince VTC to stick with SketchUp (they follow the numbers like any business).

Obviously I have quite a bit emotionally invested in this software and community, so I do hope Trimble makes good on it's promises and the doomsayers are proven wrong.

Best,
Jason.

Edson · 7 Jun 2012, 18:59

@rich o brien said:

That's genuinely sad news. I also hope they reconsider as I point alot of people towards your videos.

rich,
would you tell us where those videos can be found?

Edson · 7 Jun 2012, 19:01

@jason_maranto said:

The expected fallout from the sale to Trimble has materialized for me -- I have been moved off SketchUp/SketchUp Pro by my employer, which means that will be one less Pro license updated for SketchUp 9.

Best,
Jason.

very rash decision. how can they do that if nothing has changed?

Michaelv · 7 Jun 2012, 20:30

@edson said:

very rash decision. how can they do that if nothing has changed?

Because in the absolute a lot has changed and that is what creates the worry for some and the reaction in others.
Trimble much like Google is a business, so in that sense it's the same.
Google did what they did, so there is no more unreasonable expectancy as to what they would have been doing, we know what it is and what it was. Trimble "will do" so it's always less real in the future than in the past, besides they haven't been really very forthcoming as to what they will really do so far.
And I think most of all is the business model. Google has time and time again shown that their business model is to make something available to the community (maps, search, email, earth, etc..) and then find a way to capitalize upon it, that is their model, and so was the model with SU as well. So implicitly, we placed a certain value in that.
Trimble so far is an unknown and certainly has not proven anything in these terms. They have a very traditional business model it seems, develop their company and their brand on a "sell products" model. That doesn't mean they won't do it, and they said they would, but for them it's a bit of a paradigm shift. So we have to hope and believe in the mean time. The quicker we see concrete action and confirmation, the better.
Google is rich and a well known name, that has impact as well. Trimble as known as they may be is much less known in general, especially worldwide.

All that plays a role, most particularly in any business decision, whether it should or not.

There will be an impact as we see here. We should just hope that Trimble will react strongly and show that it is progress indeed, and that we will lose no people and gain a few.
At this point they are either fine with that as they had an entirely different objective all along and are just trying to lose as little as they can in this maneuver.
Or they are genuinely motivated to move along the direction that it was, and that the team wants. Then the quicker they show it, the least we'll lose, but time is of the essence, and very quickly so I'm afraid. Worse of all, it's a vicious circle (the more we lose, the more people will move away).
Please, please react quickly and make people feel comfortable with commitments.

thomthom · 7 Jun 2012, 20:50

@jason_maranto said:

Thank-you all, I suspect they are going with a "wait and see" approach before jumping back in the SketchUp pool -- in the meantime they don't like to have me idle. But I will certainly be keeping my eye on things here and I will keep them (VTC) up-to-date with any new developments. Also thank-you for directing users to my videos -- that more than anything would convince VTC to stick with SketchUp (they follow the numbers like any business).

They are jumping boat before it's sinking?

"The sky is falling!" -Chicken Little

Rich O Brien · 7 Jun 2012, 21:02

@edson said:

@rich o brien said:

That's genuinely sad news. I also hope they reconsider as I point alot of people towards your videos.

rich,
would you tell us where those videos can be found?

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jason_maranto · 7 Jun 2012, 22:30

Certainly don't take my situation as anything other than my situation -- my services are in demand, and I have to choose carefully the packages I support because I only have so much time. They are interested in having me do a competing package, and I have no solid information to offer them as to why they shouldn't move on from SketchUp.

Trimble hasn't proven anything yet (in regards to SketchUp), and all anybody knows for sure is they are not likely to be able to grow the software's visibility at the same rate Google was able to... so at the very least a 3D market share contraction should be expected for SketchUp -- and it may be severe if Trimble makes the wrong moves. We all know it is just as likely that SketchUp is absorbed into existing Trimble software and never updated again as anything else... all we have is a few optimistically vague statements to go by, made by people who are not actually the decision makers at Trimble. It certainly would not be the first time things went that way after a big acquisition...

I've said before, I would have been much happier with Dassualt... there's a track record there that you can make some sort of predictions based off of -- with Trimble we are all grasping at straws, and hoping. In lieu of some solid facts or a track record I have to agree with the judgement of my employers and put my energy/time into another package. There is a bit of gambling happening here, but it can't be helped with what I do...

Best,
Jason.

OG1 · 7 Jun 2012, 23:41

Jason, this must be a bit difficult for you to change on to another program. I feel for you. I think your boss is right though, to take that direction. Trimble bought Sketchup for a reason. I'm sure they wouldn't invest in a product and not apply its use to their product. But then again, I could be wrong. Logic tells me that they will use it for their purposes (whatever they may be as I don't know). My heart wishes they will just improve it and keep it alive for all of us.

I have a friend who is in the process of taking exams to be a Google Certified Sketchup Instructor. Does this have any merit anymore? Or did he just waste his time and money? I sure hope he didn't. That would be sad.

Mike Lucey · 7 Jun 2012, 23:59

Just noticed the 'Moving onward, moving in' post in the SketchUpdate Blog. http://sketchupdate.blogspot.ie/2012/06/moving-onward-moving-in.html

Looks like John and Susan are happy looking. Don't know about Brad .... but would you with all those broken PCs awaiting repair

chrisglasier · 8 Jun 2012, 00:32

@og1 said:

Jason, this must be a bit difficult for you to change on to another program. I feel for you. I think your boss is right though, to take that direction. Trimble bought Sketchup for a reason. I'm sure they wouldn't invest in a product and not apply its use to their product. But then again, I could be wrong. Logic tells me that they will use it for their purposes (whatever they may be as I don't know). My heart wishes they will just improve it and keep it alive for all of us.

I have a friend who is in the process of taking exams to be a Google Certified Sketchup Instructor. Does this have any merit anymore? Or did he just waste his time and money? I sure hope he didn't. That would be sad.

This backs up what I posted before . Better help push to get HTML5 canvas established and developed. Here is a step forward I just found.

andybot · 8 Jun 2012, 00:36

@mike lucey said:

Just noticed the 'Moving onward, moving in' post in the SketchUpdate Blog. http://sketchupdate.blogspot.ie/2012/06/moving-onward-moving-in.html

Looks like John and Susan are happy looking. Don't know about Brad .... but would you with all those broken PCs awaiting repair

Thanks for the link Mike. Sounds like they're very positive over there.

Geez thomthom - you read through all that and you're angling for the socks!!

kwistenbiebel · 8 Jun 2012, 02:56

@michaelv said:

@edson said:

very rash decision. how can they do that if nothing has changed?

Because in the absolute a lot has changed and that is what creates the worry for some and the reaction in others.
Trimble much like Google is a business, so in that sense it's the same.
Google did what they did, so there is no more unreasonable expectancy as to what they would have been doing, we know what it is and what it was. Trimble "will do" so it's always less real in the future than in the past, besides they haven't been really very forthcoming as to what they will really do so far.
And I think most of all is the business model. Google has time and time again shown that their business model is to make something available to the community (maps, search, email, earth, etc..) and then find a way to capitalize upon it, that is their model, and so was the model with SU as well. So implicitly, we placed a certain value in that.
Trimble so far is an unknown and certainly has not proven anything in these terms. They have a very traditional business model it seems, develop their company and their brand on a "sell products" model. That doesn't mean they won't do it, and they said they would, but for them it's a bit of a paradigm shift. So we have to hope and believe in the mean time. The quicker we see concrete action and confirmation, the better.
Google is rich and a well known name, that has impact as well. Trimble as known as they may be is much less known in general, especially worldwide.

All that plays a role, most particularly in any business decision, whether it should or not.

There will be an impact as we see here. We should just hope that Trimble will react strongly and show that it is progress indeed, and that we will lose no people and gain a few.
At this point they are either fine with that as they had an entirely different objective all along and are just trying to lose as little as they can in this maneuver.
Or they are genuinely motivated to move along the direction that it was, and that the team wants. Then the quicker they show it, the least we'll lose, but time is of the essence, and very quickly so I'm afraid. Worse of all, it's a vicious circle (the more we lose, the more people will move away).
Please, please react quickly and make people feel comfortable with commitments.

I so enjoyed this comment . Well balanced and tuned in.

thomthom · 8 Jun 2012, 07:56

@andybot said:

Geez thomthom - you read through all that and you're angling for the socks!!

I'm an opportunist!

swedishnitro · 8 Jun 2012, 12:06

Turns out I have been living under a rock and this one totally missed me by until yesterday evening.

Whilst I share the cautious optimism shared by the far more experienced users on the forum, I cannot understate the psychological impact of the move for many casual and professional users across many industries.

The Trimble website, is horrible and reminds me of lots of proprietary software pages that don't have the same polish as AutoDesk, or for that matter, the relatively friendly Google Sketchup website.
Trimble's corporate video is uninspiring and sends out the wrong message to the millions of users who already use SU.

I won't comment on feature development or further 3rd party integration, but the simple fact of the matter is, that SU's user base exploded because of Google's rather straight forward front end and friendliness and is integral to it's appeal.

I hope someone from Trimble is listening, because they won't have many opportunities to make a good first impression to the vast majority of SU users, myself included, who have never even heard of them.

dale · 8 Jun 2012, 13:02

@mike lucey said:

Just noticed the 'Moving onward, moving in' post in the SketchUpdate Blog. http://sketchupdate.blogspot.ie/2012/06/moving-onward-moving-in.html

Looks like John and Susan are happy looking. Don't know about Brad .... but would you with all those broken PCs awaiting repair

Looks like John traded that executive corner office for Susan, smart move

Mike Lucey · 8 Jun 2012, 14:31

@dale said:

@mike lucey said:

Just noticed the 'Moving onward, moving in' post in the SketchUpdate Blog. http://sketchupdate.blogspot.ie/2012/06/moving-onward-moving-in.html

Looks like John and Susan are happy looking. Don't know about Brad .... but would you with all those broken PCs awaiting repair

Looks like John traded that executive corner office for Susan, smart move

..... but where they are now is only temporary The blog is saying that Trimble is building a new office from them! Mmmmmm I wonder was in designed using SU

kalli · 8 Jun 2012, 15:20

Okay, a long time lurker here with “some” input, but not necessarily insight.

Sketchup has become a large part of our company work-flow, primarily through recommendations to external consultants as a software package and, to some degree, in house. We tried (because of simplicity) to adopt SU to our some of our architectural, design, conceptual design and (various) engineering disciplines. For smaller projects it’s . . . okay (layout oddities accepted - grrr). Compared to other packages out there whose five-figure price tag very rarely obtains “full value use,” Sketchup seemed a boon. The “just get it done” aspect of the software is staggering.

A number of firms that we work with have “discovered” Sketchup’s abilities – in no small part thanks to the wonderful and excellent support plug-ins labored over for hours by creative authors throughout these forums. (Off-the-record: we know many that are using SU, but when their firm has invested hundreds of thousands in software and training, SU’s full “utilization” factor may not be fully in the light).

Having said that: A number of years ago we worked closely with a company developing a rather costly vertical add-on package (this for a company’s product “who shall not be named”). All was great until the smaller, vertical add-on company came to the notice of a much larger company. Purchase was made, all smiles, new HQ, etc. (Sound familiar?)

Within a year all the smaller company’s folks were gone and corporate mentality had taken over. When we called the new corporate types “had no record of that person ever working there.” Ya think? Jeez! They created the damn software, you fools. Six layers to get to anybody; we’ll call you back (uh-huh); could you please provide your credit card number?” For what? We just want to talk to somebody. (Okay, but we’ll have to call you back). We gave up and no longer purchase that software package. And, we never did get that call. Still waiting.

In the interest of partial disclosure the vertical is still operating and, so is “the mother ship.” They’re working hard to revit-up, ah – pardon me – stir up interest.

Let’s hope that Sketchup has not been “trimbled” in a similar fashion. We also have experience with Trimble. Like any corporation they’re bottom-line oriented, but their “bottom line” starts somewhere in the stratosphere – several digits above our normal contracts. When dealing with several of our consultants their comment was “so much for Sketchup.” They have far more experience with the monstrosities than we do. Most are taking a “wait-see-but-we-won’t-hold-our-breath” attitude. All have stated (even those with financial agreements with Trimble) that getting information/assistance out of these folks is like pulling teeth – unless of course you have a seven-figure contract with them.

Let’s all hope it works out for the best; the aforementioned is strictly our unfortunate experience. Give up on Sketchup? No, but we, like several others, have put the mother ship back on our radar.

Mike Lucey · 9 Jun 2012, 23:25

@kalli said:

In the interest of partial disclosure the vertical is still operating and, so is “the mother ship.” They’re working hard to revit-up, ah – pardon me – stir up interest.

Not quite a 100% sure about what vertical app or the mother desk ...... eerrr .... ship you are talking about but I have a good idea.

If its the vertical app and mother ship I'm thinking of, in my opinion that acquisition has some parallel similarities to Trimble's acquisition of SketchUp but we should not forget that its not simply going to be 'SketchUp a Trimble Company' as there is a tail to the deal, that being that Google is still in the overall picture to some degree.

Maybe the deal has been a natural progression of things that came about over some time via association. This, from what I gather, is how the @Last / Google deal came about. I would not be surprised if the Google SketchUp / Trimble deal came about in much the same way.

My read / take, is that everyone is getting, to some extent, what they want. Google gets an ongoing association with Trimble and its 'resources' in a area that is dear to its heart, beefing up GE, also Team SketchUp's assistance with 3D Warehouse 'house keeping'.

Trimble gets an application that can only help to create more 'friendly' front ends / GUIs to their current rather stiff looking apps. Hey! why shouldn't CAD design be fun? SketchUp can most definitely provide this element.

Trimble also gets a huge user base and a very dedicated community that in some way regard SketchUp as 'their own' as they feel they have been a part of its development over the past twelve years.

This in my opinion is quite rare in the world of software and I think Trimble probably 'gets it' as we have been told by the Team SketchUp guys. I really don't think Google ever fully 'got it', then again they weren't in the design game, they were in that ad game so maybe not to be expected.

Trimble may well be a 'bottom line' company, what serious company isn't? Maybe they currently do deal with large customers! From what I see, most of their apps / products are high end, so this would not be too surprising.

Maybe they are now, like AutoDesk with its 1,2,3, looking at sections of the 'everyman' market! If so, SketchUp is an ideal foundation to build such a business model on. We mustn't forget fun appeal! Maybe they also want to join in on the fun aspect of SketchUp? Everybody deserves a bit of fun even large $1.6B turnover companies!

It looks like Team SketchUp in turn gets what they want, backing and resources from a company that is in the 'same game' as them, 'making things' and one that will allow them to again further develop along the lines they were heading in before the Google acquisition, which was not GE enhancement if memory serves me correctly!

I also notice that there is a tendency for folks to use words like *'Trimbled', 'Trimbles', 'Trimbler'*etc. This surely is a Google 'thing' whereby the 'Google' brand took precedence over all other divisions! I see no evidence that Trimble does this. Looking at current Trimble companies it is obvious to me that we probably will be seeing, 'SketchUp' in large letters followed by 'a Trimble Company' in smaller letters. Proper order to my way of thinking. SketchUp has come of age and is now a recognised brand in itself!

Mike

dukejazz · 10 Jun 2012, 23:29

After reading all what has been said hear.
I see it up to us to fix sketchup 8 bottle necks
That what my plugin were all about so far.
I will continue
I love this Sketch Ucation forum.

Two programs I use the most:

MS note pad
Shetchup "the 3D entities design pad"

Both will always be, because of their speed and simplicity of use