Free sketchup or sketchup pro?
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Welcome at the forums, Joan (?),
By now there seems to be only two differences between the free and pro versions (not counting the new though still beta presentation program, LayOut, that comes with the pro version only).
One difference is the geolocation about wich you can read more here but as an interior designer you need not care too much about this (and there are effective workarounds as you can read over the other topic).
The other difference is 3D export. While the import functions are exactly the same in the two versions, you can only export into other 3D formats with the pro version.
Now if that is really essential for you, you may consider buying the pro version (I also did and my first job payed the expenses back).As you know, SU does not have interior lighting but there are a whole bunch of excellent (though external) rendering programs but quite a few of which is more or less integrated into SU. There are even free applications for this purpose and they can be very effective in lighting plans and studies. We have a nice "collection" of them here (and you can also browse our "Renders gallery" to see what great results can be achieved.
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Thank you for the information. I am concerned about the exporting. Last night I had to export the floor plan and could only do it as a jpeg, tiff, or png. I am new to this whole thing, so I don't know if people can work on my exported file in those formats.
Would another program altogether be better?P: joanffolliott
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have a look at vectorworks. i have been using it since it was called minicad. it is really good and packed with features. much cheaper than autocad, archicad and pthers like these.
it comes with a render module (renderworks) and a fine terrain modelling module (landmark).
good luck.
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On the legal side, if I remember correctly, the free version is not licensed for commercial use, so if you're doing it for money, then . . .
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In fact the free version CAN be used commercially, the agreement wording has changed from v.5.
The main difference between the versions is that Pro has Layout and vector-based output formats (DWG, DXF, PDF, 3DS, OBJ...)
Anssi
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Yes, true, they left the "commercial thing" out of the free version now.
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Well, thank you all so much. It seems like the pro version would be the one to enable me to export in the formats I want to.
I'd like to try Vectorworks sometime. Does anyone know of a free demo?P: joanffolliott
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try their site: http://www.nemetschek.net/
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At one point I heard that the export resolution on raster files had a lower limit than in the Pro version. Is that true/still true?
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Can the true free version import dwg files? or is it the Pro trial that is importing. One other concern is that the free won't output to dwg if ever needed.
Finally, if you are getting dwg files from clients, it seem slike SU might have problem with them if they are not trimmed down correctly. I don't know how elaborate they come in your line of work, but I can't imagine using SU to edit the CAD files created by my firm, just because of the detail and size of the dwg file.
I'm sure there are plenty who would disagree though.
Chris
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Susan,
In SU5 (free) trhere was a restriction of 2D image output to screen resolution. Now in SU 6 (free) this is the same as pro.
Chris,
The import functions of the two versions are the same - the difference is in the export functions of 2D models: the free version only allows kmz export (i.e. to Google Earth).
The only other difference is that (in the Windows version) there is no location option in the Model info in the free version (I just learned that in the Mac version there is, here on the forums
)And, of course, LayOut...
(In the office I work I only have the free version installed so I can check regularly - Google has eliminated most of the differences between the two versions)
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@gaieus said:
The only other difference is that (in the Windows version) there is no location option in the Model info in the free version.
I sort of didn't believe you when you said that there is no model location ability. So I looked it up and sure enough, they took it out! I think that's crazy. Of course there is the workaround of opening google earth and zooming to the location of your model and then importing that terrain. That will set your SU model to the correct coordinates. But that's sure a long way around it.
Chris
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Also Jim Foltz made a ruby that puts location into the free version, too.
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@gaieus said:
Also Jim Foltz made a ruby that puts location into the free version, too.
do you where can it be downloaded from? i looked for it in our repository but could not find it.
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We've already had this discussion, Edson, remember?
Well, it's listed here:
http://jim.foltz.googlepages.com/plugins_index.html
But you are on Mac, Edson, and the free SU for Mac has the Location afaik -
sorry, gai, i did not remember it. yes, i am on mac but most of my students are not so the script will be useful to them.
thanks.
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Yeah, I thought so.
Thank Jim, not me!
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I'm in a similar mode-- trying to decide whether to go pro or not.
The big drawbacks of the free version for me are
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Difficulty in printing large (11 x 17 or 24 x 36) copies of blueprints.
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Exporting to .dwg format.
If I have to have those two features, is there any option other than going pro?
Thanks. This is my first post here. I've been using SketchUp for about 2 weeks now, and I just found this MB a few days ago. Lots of good info here!
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Goggin,
First of all, welcome - though you found us in the middle of a move (so please, read the announcement right now).
As for your problems:
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works the same in the Pro and the Free versions now. Really no difference.
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Exporters are different. You need the Pro version to be able to export 3D models from (native) SU.
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@gaieus said:
Goggin,
First of all, welcome - though you found us in the middle of a move (so please, read the announcement right now).
Thanks. Which announcement are you referring to? The one in this forum? I read that.
@unknownuser said:
As for your problems:
- works the same in the Pro and the Free versions now. Really no difference.
Interesting. I thought that pro allowed you to easily select the scale, but that the free version didn't. If I want to print to scale at 24 x 36 (say 1/4" = 1'), do I draw a border around the plans so that printing to that border produces the desired scale? Otherwise, how would the program know how to scale things?
My only printing experience so far has been limited (I assume) by the ability to print only what is viewed on the screen at the time. Maybe I'm missing something...?
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