2017 is here

Pixero · 8 Nov 2016, 08:17

Does this mean that all rb must be rewritten to a rbz with a loader to function in 2017?

Jim · 8 Nov 2016, 08:48

Does this mean that all rb must be rewritten to a rbz with a loader to function in 2017?

You can still drop .rb files into the Plugins folder, but you must have the Extension Loading Policy set to "Unrestricted" or "Approve" which has computer security ramifications.

Info on Extensions Loading Policy

bsfranza · 8 Nov 2016, 08:54

wow - impressive release - things go in the right direction i guess im so excited to see what su will go in the next releases!

vico44 · 8 Nov 2016, 09:15

The old way still work for me (drop stuff in plugin folder)
Visualizer not working for me too

The extension manager is really better...

kaas · 8 Nov 2016, 09:19

For people who have/make custom ruby plugins: the way you install / enable extensions has been slightly changed.
Just in case:

zip your loader.rb (+ folder)
rename the zip to rbz
install by using the extension manager.
In the extension manager - choose the settings (top right) and choose 'unrestricted'

Edit: seems like dropping rb's still works. It failed at first for me but it must have been another issue.

juju · 8 Nov 2016, 09:37

minor annoyance I have is that IE11 (I use Chrome for browsing but keep IE installed as SketchUp uses it) keeps on popping up now that I didn't have with the previous version, anybody else experiencing this?

juju · 8 Nov 2016, 10:04

aaarrgh!

starting to load extensions (starting on EW) and already have 3 that you can only install from EW directly that have licence issues... seriously??!!!

the new version isn't starting off so well...

I am impressed with the LO updates though, I hope the actual lives up to webpage I read on it.

SU2017 is 64-bit only, I can see some whining there but not from me though, I never needed the 32-bit version in SU2016...

kaas · 8 Nov 2016, 10:18

@juju said:

...already have 3 that you can only install from EW directly that have licence issues...

+1

Rich O Brien · 8 Nov 2016, 10:21

The 3D engine upgrade is what'll yield the biggest benefit in following releases.

Last time we had an upgrade was v7.1. But this release open ups a huge amount of scope in the viewport.

I like this release. Well done to all involved.

numerobis · 8 Nov 2016, 11:10

@rich o brien said:

The 3D engine upgrade is what'll yield the biggest benefit in following releases.

Last time we had an upgrade was v7.1. But this release open ups a huge amount of scope in the viewport.

I hope you're right and it's a real improvement.
But what does "in following releases" mean? So there is no improvement now, but maybe in future release? Why not now?

driven · 8 Nov 2016, 11:16

@juju said:

...keep IE installed as SketchUp uses it...

SU now uses an embedded version of Chrome and HTMLDialogs, most plugins that use WebDialogs will not be updated to use it yet and still need IE or Safari to be up to date...

john

Dave R · 8 Nov 2016, 11:22

@numerobis said:

But what does "in following releases" mean? So there is no improvement now, but maybe in future release? Why not now?

There are improvements in SU2017. I can see them on my screen when I look at the model, can't you? The changes they made make it so even more improvements can be made in future releases.

juju · 8 Nov 2016, 11:28

@rich o brien said:

The 3D engine upgrade is what'll yield the biggest benefit in following releases.

link to source?

+++ EDIT +++
OK so I found the reference on the SketchUp page, any references / benches on how much better / faster it is?

cadmunkey · 8 Nov 2016, 11:54

Some nice new features there, looking forward to using it once I finish this project.

Dave R · 8 Nov 2016, 11:56

@numerobis said:

@dave r said:

There are improvements in SU2017. I can see them on my screen when I look at the model, can't you?

I didn't test it myself, i just reacted to the "new features" video.

So you made incorrect assumptions without testing for yourself. Download it and try it. What have you got to lose?

I see huge line quality improvement and faster redraw on complex models with textures and shadows. Transparency is much nicer especially when you have multiple transparent surfaces overlapping. It handles large texture sizes better, and you can use large textures without degrading sketchy styles.

numerobis · 8 Nov 2016, 12:05

So it's mostly texture related? Not geometry?

Dave R · 8 Nov 2016, 12:09

What do you mean? And why won't you just try it and see for yourself?

juju · 8 Nov 2016, 12:11

I had to have some sugar water a moment ago, I saw the pricing on the Hololens and the app required to use it for SketchUp models...

Hololens: starting at $3000
SketchUp Viewer for Hololens: starting at $1499

The CheckUp 2017 app is great for people wanting to see if they need to upgrade anything in order to run SketchUp 2017. I tried it and passed on all levels, so minimum specification are met...

Rich O Brien · 8 Nov 2016, 12:12

@numerobis said:

I hope you're right and it's a real improvement.
But what does "in following releases" mean? So there is no improvement now, but maybe in future release? Why not now?

For the same reason you don't drive a new car like a lunatic until you get some milage on the clock. Then you drive like a lunatic.

There's no avoiding that 2017 out performs previous releases in terms of viewport performance.

I'm excited about what they can do with this upgraded viewport engine. Look at the Trimble Dimensions demo yesterday with the Hololens integration.

They're downplaying the change but the signs are there. 64bit only. No more software rendering. GPUs on OpenGL 3 or above. It's all geared towards a better viewport performance.

So it begs the question....what as users do we want in the viewport to help sell designs to clients?

Fancy shaders that bring specular reflections, matcap shaders for NPR, soft shadows, per-pixel shading, ambient occlusion etc....

As I said before, I like this release. Faster, more operability with LayOut, new SDK features and overall better platform to build out the extension ecosystem.

As a sidenote, upgrading the engine doesn't mean file imports are faster. SketchUp is a surface modeller and anytime you import a mesh it needs to rebuild it, heal edges, assign textures etc...

You can't benchmark it because everyone's setup is different.

But the change means SketchUp can innovate more with what is possible in the viewport. That is why I look forward to feature request with this pipeline.

Did anyone start a SketchUp 2018 Feature Request thread yet???

juju · 8 Nov 2016, 12:14

@numerobis said:

So it's mostly texture related? Not geometry?

if it's texture related it will help a lot already seeing that the more textures you have in your model the bigger the file size and thus slower performance