SketchUp 2016 Wishlist

jeff hammond · 23 Jan 2015, 15:30

@jql said:

1 - Dynamic components UI Revamp;

also maybe a way to create geometry within a DC.. like AddLine(pt1,pt2).. or AddCircle(center, radius).. or PushPull(surface,distance).

that'd be sweet.. not really sure how it would work but i suppose the developer recommendation would be "hey dude, just learn ruby instead"

edit
or maybe a way to interact with things already in the model.. like-> select a surface then do this to it.. instead of the surface needing to be the dynamic component itself.

JQL · 23 Jan 2015, 17:42

@jeff hammond said:

that'd be sweet.. not really sure how it would work but i suppose the developer recommendation would be "hey dude, just learn ruby instead"

Then why not ditch DC's altogether and join forces to create an Ruby GUI wich would allow Sketchup Users, wich are people of geometry and sketches, to relate graphically to programming. Instead of writing up software or pilling up formulas, we would draw the relationships between functions, geometry and data...

A node aproach? A mindmap aproach? A Schematic aproach? An aproach like the constraint software above?

All of them connected? I'm I talking nonsense here?

jeff hammond · 23 Jan 2015, 17:50

@jql said:

I'm I talking nonsense here?

heck no.. grasshopper like capabilities in sketchup would be awesome and i imagine very popular.

jiminy-billy-bob · 23 Jan 2015, 20:13

/summon Jolran

pbacot · 24 Jan 2015, 00:56

ho hum... sure wish I could save Styles on my Mac.

baz · 24 Jan 2015, 01:02

@jeff hammond said:

the tricky bit with introducing this type of fuzzy logic(?) into sketchup might not be so much with the fact that user specific numbers / actions are stored or remembered.. i guess that part might even be the easy part.. the tricky part (as i see it right now at least) is how the data is then re-presented to the user..

Couldn't the rapid advancement of 'personal assistant' tech like 'Siri' add a lot of functionality?

"Hey Sketchup, draw me a table like xxxx.skp using same material and timber specs, but change the width to xxx, depth to xxx and the height to xxx. Oh, and update xxxx.layout as a new file with this drawing."

driven · 24 Jan 2015, 03:29

@pbacot said:

ho hum... sure wish I could save Styles on my Mac.

why can't you?

john

pbacot · 24 Jan 2015, 05:43

@driven said:

@pbacot said:

ho hum... sure wish I could save Styles on my Mac.

why can't you?

john

It's seems I never could. You have a Mac. I thought it didn't work on Macs. Nothing gets saved except empty collection folders. I make up new styles each job, if they aren't in my template.

TIG · 24 Jan 2015, 10:50

Copy+Paste this in the Ruby Console +<enter>
UI.openURL("file:///#{Sketchup.find_support_file('Styles')}")
It opens the SketchUp default 'Styles' folder.
Is that where you are saving your own Styles [inside a subfolder] ?
Also check that the parent 'Styles' folder has FULL read/write permissions for you [all]... and that those permissions settings trickle down to apply to the whole folder's contents...

You can save your own Styles on PC and MACs...
I can't imagine what you are doing wrong

driven · 24 Jan 2015, 11:21

mine are saved to my /Users/johns_iMac/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2015/SketchUp/Styles/SubFolder
I believe SU makes it when you save the first one, if not make your own in there...
For actually making them, I find having the double window the easiest, edit in the top window, update, then right click the 'in one' and 'Save As', I'm fairly sure it has always worked on mac...
john

jeff hammond · 24 Jan 2015, 11:38

@pbacot said:

It's seems I never could. You have a Mac. I thought it didn't work on Macs. Nothing gets saved except empty collection folders. I make up new styles each job, if they aren't in my template.

try it like this: (or some combination of this there's really not a direct/simple/obvious way to do it)

(these aren't in order necessarily.. the numbers are just used to correspond with what i'm typing)

push the expander which opens another browser below
push that to create a new collection (i put mine in ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/SketchUp201x/SketchUp but you can put it anywhere.. or-- you can just add to existing collections if you like but they'll be overwritten when upgrading sketchup)
This is where the new styles will be saved to.. in #2, i created a new folder called 'MyStyles'.. now in this browser, i've selected that folder
drag & drop the new style you've created in the model into this folder (like what the arrow is showing.. drag from the top then release into the bottom white space).. and it will save as a new .style.

edit
was typing this as john posted above.. see, different methods ..i think it's more confusing than necessary. (same goes for the material browser)

jeff hammond · 24 Jan 2015, 12:03

@baz said:

Couldn't the rapid advancement of 'personal assistant' tech like 'Siri' add a lot of functionality?

"Hey Sketchup, draw me a table like xxxx.skp using same material and timber specs, but change the width to xxx, depth to xxx and the height to xxx. Oh, and update xxxx.layout as a new file with this drawing."

i don't doubt that type of stuff is coming eventually.. like your examples along with just requiring less explicit instructions from the user.

"hey skiri, draw a 9' radius sphere with the top third cut off" (for example).. instead of what we'd have to do now to achieve this volume.

pbacot · 24 Jan 2015, 15:09

Thanks I've tried it all over the years. I'll do the ruby search. Don't want to hi-jack the thread.

siim11s · 25 Jan 2015, 10:22

Sketchup:
Better layer management as in this Layer Panel plugin by jiminy-billy-bob. Does exactly what is needed but has bugs and is not currently being worked on.

Layout:
Components
Plugins + ruby API
Improved autotext: Create formulas re-using data from other autotext tags.
Layers as for sketchup above.

L i am · 2 Feb 2015, 12:57

I am at a loss to understand why when navigating in Sketchup you are suddenly navigating trough heavy mud with the mouse and getting muscle burn with the ineffectual center wheel but as I grab my 3d Dexion "mouse" with my left hand the mud is gone and easy navigation returns. Surely this is an issue with the mouse/SKP navigation if the issue disappears with another navigation interface Surely this can be fixed in 2016

utiler · 2 Feb 2015, 22:59

@frederik said:

@jql said:

I don't like the fact that:

All commands are different in LO than they are from SU (we are so used to SU why reinvent the wheel in LO?)

I agree 110%...
The commands should be the same...

All in all that's a really great list, Joao...!

Ditto, JQL / Frederik... I scratch my head as to why Layout functionality does not mimic SketchUp in everyway possible??? Maybe beacuse the way it started was quite amateurish but has really developed into a solid companion... although a little way to go.

Calstock · 6 Feb 2015, 18:15

Shadows that respect PNG transparency would be great - I presume I'm right in saying we don't have that yet ?

pbacot · 7 Feb 2015, 00:06

@calstock said:

Shadows that respect PNG transparency would be great - I presume I'm right in saying we don't have that yet ?

Good idea. And some other improvements in png if the system (openGL?) allows: eliminate halos that occur in some instances. Stop StyleMaker edges bleeding through png "solid" parts. These would all open up some possibilities in SU native rendering.

saimonh · 10 Feb 2015, 15:26

Modifier stack like 3ds Max..

DesertRaven · 1 Mar 2015, 19:17

Okay here it is,

More import option from CAD programs Text, dimensions, Hatch patterns. This should not be missing ---in a PRO version.
More stability in Solid calculations.
Comes with the Quad face Idea and a better, cleaner topology.

How many times have I spent hours, cleaning up models from customers to make them fit for 3D printing!!! I hope I'm not the only one who ever had a complex model, performed a boolean operation only to find out SU rendered the previous clean solid into a reject Solid!!!

Come on! Please fix that push pull tool to where it doesn't leave line fragments and hidden lines in the model! I think this has to do with the auto-fold and smoothing.
So again a big issue with the topology.

Meanwhile I use MOI and form Z to save myself from long added hours dealing with this unclean modeler.

Now if the topology issues were kind of dealt with, I'd ask for some mapping tools next.

Edit:
5. !!!!! Give us an override for that obnoxious constraint engine and give us object-snap options already!!!!!!! Try tracing something that's not supposed to be square?????