SketchUp 2016 Wishlist

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?????

eneroth3 · 2 Mar 2015, 09:19

DesertRaven: What pushpull bug is this? I don't think I've ever seen it.

slbaumgartner · 3 Mar 2015, 13:14

I'd like a built-in user-configurable tabbed window for tool sets. This would go a long way toward decluttering the typical SketchUp screen! I've seen a couple of examples built using WebDialog, but they are still somewhat buggy and awkward due to the necessary communication between javascript and Ruby.

Trogluddite · 4 Mar 2015, 10:45

@slbaumgartner said:

I'd like a built-in user-configurable tabbed window for tool sets.

Ideally - arrange all windows, dialogues, toolbars, visibility settings, snap settings - give this a name - assign to shortcut key. And now (for example)...
Shortcut 1 - I want to make a new component without any distractions.
Shortcut 2 - Now I want to paint/texture things with the prettiest view possible.
Shortcut 3 - I'd like to manage all my custom materials and components.
Shortcut 4 - Show the boss/customer what I'm up to right now.

Much as I love SU, the user experience (especially once you have a few plugins installed) is too much like trying to keep your kitchenware, DIY tools, stationery, clothes, toiletries, car spares etc. etc. all in one drawer that you have to rummage through every time the task at hand changes. Nor do we put all "sharp pointy things" in one category (cutlery for the dinner table, lawnmower, surgical instruments) or all "red things" in another (tomato, stop sign, blood sample).

Of course, SU is not alone in this respect - way too much software is "tool oriented" rather than "task oriented". SU's customisable toolbars are a promising step, but different tasks not only require different toolbars - often they require a different arrangement of the windows, different camera and style settings, different use of inferencing and snapping, maybe a different component/material folder visible...etc...

PS: And please can we sort DC's out!? I want to be able to say - "stick an M4 bolt here, it should be 20mm long, with a countersunk head" - at no point am I thinking "can I please have yet another duplicate component definition that no longer relates to all the other instances of this generic thing that should only need describing once!!".

JQL · 4 Mar 2015, 11:45

Since I've started using Sketchup my screen space for the actual model is shrinking fast. I'm annoyed by every wasted pixel.

Every tool is so complex that has 1, 2 or even 3 tool windows open. I have a new monitor on the way, but I'm afraid it won't be enough as this windows simply can't be arranged in a logical and tidy fashion.

Some examples:

DC components has 2 windows wich are big and should be open side by side a lot of times. Considering there's a lot of work that could be done with outliner and entity info, it's four windows open on top of model space.
A rendering tool like Thea, can have 3 windows floating on top of model space.
Managing scenes needs at least 2 windows for layers and scenes, plus the scenes tab that's always on.
Even painting stuff around opens up a window;

There's no way of combining plugin windows with native SU windows. You hit esc in the middle of an operation and you close a window. You use mouse on a window you loose mouse from model. You have the paint window open on edit and mouse wheel changes the current paint color. You want to search some component on the component browser and you have to wait ages. You want to have outliner open but you can't because some plugins will take minutes to operate while they take fractions of seconds if outliner is closed. You want to grab a coffee, and when you come back all those windows are all over the place so you want to take another coffee so you can just focus on what you were doing...

There's too much going on with our lives while also using sketchup, answering phones, checking emails, going to the toilet that we wouldn't need tool windows to distract us even more.

slbaumgartner · 5 Mar 2015, 14:13

Unify more of the UI between Windows and Mac to eliminate as many as possible of the seemingly arbitrary (that is, not simply Windows vs Mac look and feel) differences. For example, the materials UI is so different that it can be hard for a user of one system to even explain to a user of the other how to proceed.

Garry K · 12 Mar 2015, 22:31

Allow SU to reference external objects in other files, skp skm etc. If you are building relatively small DC's that have lots of materials and textures file size goes up in a hurry. So say if the collection of DC's number 40 then the project size gets very large. I looked into 1 DC that almost brought my computer down to its knees. The basic geometry wasn't huge but when you added in all the hardware choices and textures the file size was over 150 MB.

I would rather wait a little longer for the the DC to change out materials / components, rather than try to load everything.

Fix the tool bars and buttons. When I run into parsing issues while creating / editing a plugin some of my tool bars get moved around.
store true radius's so dwg exports will work properly. This would also simplify other types of exports.

veerlexyz · 13 Mar 2015, 12:17

Multicore support
Recommendation: not only "minimal hardware" and "recommended hardware" but also "optimal hardware"

DesertRaven · 26 Mar 2015, 20:46

@eneroth3 said:

DesertRaven: What pushpull bug is this? I don't think I've ever seen it.

Hi eneroth3, I get this "bug" all the time when working on complex shapes. The red face was push pulled, why is the blue line there?

I've seen the many nice plug-ins you created, my favorite one is the "erode" tool.

My question to you, how hard would it be to write a plug in that could just simply split up a solid in to quad faces? Maybe with some x/y/z parameters?

Aureus · 3 Apr 2015, 19:02

This might have been already discussed somewhere but I find a bit weird the way Sketchup displays colours of surfaces. It uses the different shades of the same colour for surfaces at different angles to your view and this is OK and normal as it gives you a clue about 3D aspect of your model. But I find that contrast between those shades is exaggerated. I got used to it (though never entirely) but not once happened that the client stared at the darker shade of a certain colour asking to change it - not realizing it's the same colour he/she likes/sees on the other surface!

See the image. (For those ones who want to check it: RGB - 222, 230, 255)

P.S. Actually, none of these shades are close enough to the original as the frontal surface is too bright. And don't try to apply shadows too this...

driven · 3 Apr 2015, 19:26

@aureus said:

... But I find that contrast between those shades is exaggerated. ...

you can adjust the contrast, what do you have it set at?
john

Aureus · 3 Apr 2015, 19:36

Good to know, where's that option? (SU2014)

I know to adjust it for shadows (Shadow Settings - Light, Dark) .

driven · 3 Apr 2015, 19:48

I think you want "UseSunForAllShading" unchecked in the 'Shadow Settings' dialog...
toggle it and you can see the difference of your 'Light/Dark' choices better, set 'View' >> 'Shadows' off when you do it...

john