Should I... or wait?
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Really depends what your going to be doing.
If its going to be mainly a case of modelling in SU then exporting elsewhere to do construction drawings and such id go for 7.1 pro, it'll save you a lot of time because of the ability to export and because you'll be able to use layout.
If its going to be more of a case of modelling and rendering then id stick with the free version for now. Theres a huge variety of very capable rendering plugins for SU that all integrate very well with the free version.
One more thing to bear in mind is that SU pro comes with layout. If your going to be presenting a lot of models straight from SU this would likely save you a lot of time (updates in your SU model are directly reflected in layout.) Time = money and all that.
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Start with SU 7 Free. See how far you can with that. It could be that the free version contains everything you need anyway.
In the future, if you find you do need the extra features of the Pro version, then look into buying it.
No point automatically assuming that you need the pro version because it could be that you don't.
I don't think anyone who is in a position to know when SU8 will be released is allowed to say so on here. There have been no rumours I've seen.
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why buy the cow?
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Thank you all for your valuable suggestions. It definitely giving me a clearer direction as to where I should go.
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James, Pro gets you respect,-) dynamic components, layout, and added file conversion. Anything else, anyone?
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yes i'll add to that. dynamic components crap, layout crap, respect?? also crap!
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Rocky, that is not a correct answer of course (you hot-head
).There are lots of people out there who use DC's very efficiently (me not included) and LayOut indeed has its own place and a lot of people find it a very effective and maybe ultimately total replacement for their current drafting tools.
Certainly there are the export options and also the "Generate report" function and "StyleBuilder".
Well, I have the pro version since v6 came out (and I did not buy it at v5 exactly for the same reason as you are thinking, James) I did not want to risk an upgrade fee at that time (and I knew that SU 6 would be on the road already).
Now that time there was no upgrade fee but I couldn't tell it before
But now there is an upgrade fee ($ 95 or something AFAIK). I mostly only use the functions that are in the free version however (at least for my professional work - of course I open LayOut almost daily but only to answer questions on the forums). So do as the others suggest above - use the free version until you really feel the need of tzhose extra pro functions.
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Import/Export 3D formats?
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That was mentioned above, Thom (I guess - just vaguely as "export functions"). Apart from the latest changes when dwg import was stripped from the free version (but added as a plugin), all the import formats are the same as those of the Pro.
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personally if i had the choice to make again i'd get the free SU then buy moi3d for nurbs and import/export capability and awsome nurbs modeling to compliment SU. also buy a copy of twilight. now you have SU, moi3d, and an awsome renderer AND a couple hundred bucks in your pocket!
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thank you all. My company is an interior design firm and we use sketchup mainly for modelling interior scenes and use Twilight render to render the scenes. We will be doing a lot of furniture modelling. Such furniture has quite a bit of free form. So Rocky is "MOI3d" is the way to go?
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that's a question that's tough to answer. it depends on your experience/style of modeling. you may know that nurbs modelling requires different techniques to SU so you may have to learn all over again. it also may be as simple as sticking with SU and purchasing the SDS plugin (subdivide and smooth - $22) http://www.smustard.com/script/SubdivideAndSmooth (watch the videos). i would suggest check out SDS, then if you need to look further download Moi3D demo http://moi3d.com/download.htm and also Bonzai3D (more of a solids/poly modeler (they call it hybrid))demo http://www.formz.com/products/bonzai3d/bonzai3dVideo_320.php?startMovie=Interface_320.flv they have great videos by the way. it never hurts to explore your options at this point.
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Thanks Rocky. I will explore those options you've mentioned. I have the SDS but for some reason, it is harder to use than I expected. Perhaps I haven't use enough to control those tools.
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@unknownuser said:
I have the SDS but for some reason, it is harder to use than I expected.
yeah, for you and me both. it does take a certain mindset.
please let us know how things are going while you decide.
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