SketchUp 2019 release

Glenn at home · 26 Dec 2018, 13:54

@mike amos said:

Despite the early promise, I believe Trimble have a lack of direction for the program with the predicted integration into the Trimble software group not happening as far as I can see. While open source has its attraction, Trimble are a hard nosed, profit driven company and it is this that I see as the hurdle and bar for development.

Agreed! Trimble was around long before SU and this is NOT their money maker by any means. SU sales are probably a drop in the larger Trimble bucket. IIRC we were lead to believe that SU would be the base for Trimble's new BIM solution, correct? Time will tell and we'll see what happens.

Mistro11 · 26 Dec 2018, 16:50

I hope Sketchup gets a good update next release. I'm becoming very concerned about the futures of my 2 favorite CG packages. Sketchup and Thea Render. We get great software with a great community and active developers then the developers sell out to some company who is clearly profit driven and kill the very things that grow the user base like the free version of SU is no longer available in the form it was and it seems we can now kiss free updates to Thea good bye as the new company is adopting the same Trimble business model. Companies should really take a look at how 3DSmax hooks their user base giving away free versions to students who later swear by the product. Why suppress the free versions and updates that would only bring in a lot more users of which many will eventually buy a pro license like I did?

But I accept what I have for now. I bought a pro license for version 14 and got v.15 during that same cycle. But ever since I been holding out on getting newer versions because I can basically do everything I need with what I have so far (except UV mapping) and the newer features just didn't grab my $100. The only reason I'm considering an update is so I can use the newer versions of Profile builder in a pro version but it's not that serious because i do have v17 free. So my attitude is, I still love and use Sketchup versions I have so far and even if we do not ever get another update, I will continue to use what I have as long as it works. I just hope this community continues to be active.

Glenn at home · 27 Dec 2018, 04:15

@mistro11 said:

...Companies should really take a look at how 3DSmax hooks their user base giving away free versions to students who later swear by the product. ...

Best way to do it imho

xtov · 27 Dec 2018, 08:52

Some developers have informations....

andybot · 27 Dec 2018, 14:30

@davidmreinbold said:

Is Sketchup dead?!?!

Sketchup is dead, long live Sketchup!

sketch3d.de · 28 Dec 2018, 13:52

@juju said:

...that there will be annual major version updates.

planned, surely.

rv1974 · 29 Dec 2018, 09:34

I thought it'd be great if Juju (responsible of this extremely disturbing thread) would set up some prize for a first one delivering the news about v2019 is out.
One week free trip to South Africa for example

solo · 29 Dec 2018, 17:50

@rv1974 said:

I thought it'd be great if Juju (responsible of this extremely disturbing thread) would set up some prize for a first one delivering the news about v2019 is out.
One week free trip to South Africa for example

Sounds like a great plan, I have not been home in almost 20 years.

juju · 1 Jan 2019, 08:25

Hahaha, I would love to meet some of the crowd here.

Unfortunately, coming to Cape Town would be much of a case of "Hotel California".

Jeff89 · 9 Jan 2019, 07:58

Starting to get a little-bit nervous now. Any news about SU 2019 yet?
Should I renew my maintenance plan, just in order to continue with the same SU 2018?
Although it is not their money maker number 1, I think Trimble is making more bucks with SU nowadays than ever. Why did they stop renovating their product on a regular basis (i.e. every November). What´s the problem here?

sketch3d.de · 9 Jan 2019, 10:27

@jeff89 said:

What´s the problem here?

development of (3D) software is in general a tedious job which is prone to be postponed because of unexpected issues arising, nothing special one should be upset by.

tl;dr: sit down and relax

ntxdave · 15 Jan 2019, 21:50

Have not seen any posts to this thread in a while. Seems to me like earlier in the thread someone mentioned that there was going to be a price increase in February so I had a DUH moment. I would not expect any update to the 2019 version until that price increase kicks in.

Hope the wait (and price increase if that is accurate) is worth it.

numerobis · 16 Jan 2019, 00:17

Yes...
https://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=70382&start=90#p643293

And we already have a "hidden" price increase for 2019, since the release cycle has been changed from 12 months to 14+ months... (~16%+). And everyone who bought 2018 right after release got nothing for his last "maintenance fee"...

andybot · 16 Jan 2019, 20:23

I held off on paying the maintenance fee, and at this rate, Trimble really doesn't want me to buy 2019 SU.

Garry K · 17 Jan 2019, 00:11

Andy,

If you let your maintenance lapse then it will end up costing you more.
You really shouldn't equate yearly maintenance with a new version.
The next thing we will hear is - I can't get SU 2019 because I let my maintenance lapse!!!

andybot · 17 Jan 2019, 02:43

Oh, I am aware, plus they give you a month grace period, which I'm still in. In any case, 2018 wasn't really worth it, so I will decide once I see 2019 if it's worth getting back on maintenance. It may well be that there's nothing there and I will just continue to stick to old tried and true 2016/17 versions.

juju · 17 Jan 2019, 06:29

@andybot said:

Oh, I am aware, plus they give you a month grace period, which I'm still in. In any case, 2018 wasn't really worth it, so I will decide once I see 2019 if it's worth getting back on maintenance. It may well be that there's nothing there and I will just continue to stick to old tried and true 2016/17 versions.

You'll find that, once you've been issued a license for an updated (newer) version, and you have used it to activate the updated (newer) version, the serial for older versions won't work anymore after (I think) a month. Existing activated installations will keep on working as normal, but you won't be able to do a fresh install and activate any of the older versions. I suppose they do it that way to curb unauthorized installations.

andybot · 17 Jan 2019, 13:17

Yep, I only installed 2018 on one of my computers for this very reason. I've only used 2018 in the past year to open 2018 version SU files, but do my main modeling on a different computer, usually in 2016. I'm planning to trial 2019 on that same computer and even if I do end up purchasing for some reason, I likely won't touch my other installs.

@juju said:

You'll find that, once you've been issued a license for an updated (newer) version, and you have used it to activate the updated (newer) version, the serial for older versions won't work anymore after (I think) a month. Existing activated installations will keep on working as normal, but you won't be able to do a fresh install and activate any of the older versions. I suppose they do it that way to curb unauthorized installations.

Glenn at home · 18 Jan 2019, 13:06

@juju said:

... but you won't be able to do a fresh install and activate any of the older versions. I suppose they do it that way to curb unauthorized installations.

This is a shame. This is one of the benefits of having an AutoDesk subscription. You can download and install older versions of the software if you have some sort of need like to run an older version say for a 3rd party add-on or plugin that is not updated yet. Oh well, maybe one day.

sketch3d.de · 18 Jan 2019, 13:17

@glenn at home said:

... You can download and install older versions of the software if you have some sort of need like to run an older version say for a 3rd party add-on or plugin that is not updated yet.

• SketchUp Forum: RfE: make License Data eligible for previous Version(s) (12/2015)