SketchUP 8
-
I'm disappointed, mainly with the lack of improvement on the high poly issue.
I like the idea of SU as a platform and I wouldn't like to see it become another multifunction, expensive program. I'd prefer to buy the plugins I need and not have to pay for a lot of stuff I don't need.
But as a platform the size limitation is a real problem. I can't bring most of my models in from modo.
Disappointed or not, SketchUp is a great value, but the size limitation really has to be dealt with.Almost anything can be dealt with by a ruby now but if you can't open the model, all the plugins in the world won't do you any good.
-
@marian said:
What we actually need is a new outlook regarding the communication between users and developers, not just these discussions once or twice every two years, but something more permanent and open.
Precisely!
-
I do not have to repress Susy, I recognize the good will of John to come here to respond to users but it's pointless, after all, is almost three versions (since version 6) that Google does not meet the demands of users and PRO only adds things that are not requested directed to the GE .... I think we are being disrespected because we ask, ask, explain, and yet, nothing ....
A developer team is here is nice but ... then comes the version 9 and he'll be here to do what they're doing today, saying he does not think necessary that the sketch has just what we call ....
Let's create a new program, RevolutionUp
HUgs!
Sorry for my english!
-
@pmolsen said:
It used to do it after a few hours of editing. It now does it constantly from the start and with all models and makes the program totally unusable. Every time I pan, zoom or rotate, the whole model turns grey and takes about 3 seconds to return to normal. Restarting SU does not help.
Which is new to SU8? SU7 worked better?
How large is this model you refer to?
The reasonw hy it happen after a few hours could be because your computer has less resources available then, then when you started your modelling session.
I notice when I model throughout a day, a model can take much longer to start to degrade in the beginning that towards the end of the day when I've had many apps running. -
@thiago luz said:
Let's create a new program, RevolutionUp
You say that as it's an trivial task...
What I wonder is, if so many people have given up on SketchUp, why are they still using it? Why not move on to an application with a toolset that fir their needs?
-
This thread is getting a bit ridiculous. I'm following it to evaluate whether I should upgrade.
But the whingeing is getting to me. Stop whining & opinionating, start providing actual facts about how the new version operates, IF you have actually used it.
I've been using SU since 5 & Pro 6, and earned something of a living courtesy of it. The things I need to do are usually there somewhere, or someone smarter than me has created a ruby script to do it. And these smart people "gifted" code that I've been able to leverage many times over.
Google Earth functionality was the "killer feature" for me. Go-to-school videos showed me how to colour these.
My only complaint was that Google briefly abandoned the user community ... which then provided this wonderful forum which is usually not a nest of whining.So its not Google OR the community, its Google AND the community. And I'll probably upgrade
-
-
Word or warning - if this discussion isn't kept civil and without personal attacks it might very well be the last time we get such direct feedback. Keep your heads cool people.
-
@thomthom said:
@thiago luz said:
Let's create a new program, RevolutionUp
You say that as it's an trivial task...
What I wonder is, if so many people have given up on SketchUp, why are they still using it? Why not move on to an application with a toolset that fir their needs?
Thiago, Jeff Hammond made a really good suggestion to all those who want a "more powerful SketchUp", by switching to Bonzai 3D. Then you wouldn't have to devise a new production team, because AutoDesSys already have you covered!
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=30586&start=165
-
@unknownuser said:
lol
i used this one simple video to send to the homeoffice showing a site we're planning for and immediately received approval to upgrade to su8.[flash=660,405:37ppn41u]http://www.youtube.com/v/TRcNgLDk7OA?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&border=1[/flash:37ppn41u]
Jeff what did you do in that video that you couldnt already do in SU7? Am I missing something here?
-
@jbacus said:
@unknownuser said:
Personally I think a better fix, at least in the case of exporting images, would be to have the ability to determine the thickness of SU's linework. I find personally that because a line is always 1 pixel thick I end up having to export very large images even if (especially if) I don't need that much resolution. I'll end up exporting a very large image and then reducing the image size in photoshop. Other than this reason, I'm not sure why someone might need a SU image to export at more than 4,000 pixels (between poly counts being limited and texture resolution limits I can't imagine what benefit you'd get).
You should try rendering images in LayOut instead of SketchUp. Layout gives you the ability to change the line weight of the drawing prior to export so that you don't have the problem you're describing.
john
.Layout works ok for still images (although it would still be nice to do it within SU w/o the extra steps). However, this doesn't work for animations where you're exporting hundreds (thousands) of images. I've had to export animations as large as 3,000 px wide just to end up with a 720x480 animation. Luckily, SU animation export is a matter of hours and not days but if I could export 720x480 instead of 3,000x???? it would still save me a couple hours of export time for a short animation which is a lot in the production world.
-Brodie
-
@cadmunkey said:
Jeff what did you do in that video that you couldnt already do in SU7? Am I missing something here?
For one , I never left sketchup. Two, received a color image. But the main thing is when I turned on hidden geometry at the end. If I imported terrain for that site in su7, it'd be divided into 3 sections along the short side leaving me with 300x300' squares of land. 8 gets the terrain more detailed and accurate and it's actually a usable feature now.
-
I was just about to say something similar, before the terrain that came from GE was useless and I had to use SDS to get it smooth, now I can get a color image with a higher quality mesh and even export into Vue with minimal tweaking.
-
@cadmunkey said:
@unknownuser said:
lol
i used this one simple video to send to the homeoffice showing a site we're planning for and immediately received approval to upgrade to su8.[flash=660,405:2ccvl0e5]http://www.youtube.com/v/TRcNgLDk7OA?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&border=1[/flash:2ccvl0e5]
Jeff what did you do in that video that you couldnt already do in SU7? Am I missing something here?
he got double the accuracy of the elevation data,
he got a color texture on it,
he got to determine the exact rectangular cut he wanted.
he was also able to search for and retrieve the data without ever opening Google Earth -
So the mesh is now alot more accurate. Thats great I will give it a try. I have used land meshes before from google earth but I find that they tend to be a couple of meters out here and there once I get a proper site survey data thru at a later stage.
I am getting SU8 btw, paid for upgrade by my client. Just wish the UV tools were improved natively, not via ruby scripts and increased polygon support. I guess most of us are expecting great things from sketchup without paying an exorbitant price, maybe a little unfair on the SU team I dunno. -
Bought and paid for my upgrade yesterday.
I'm using LayOut more and more, so the minor tweaks there are welcome.
Solid tools are also welcome.And I really like the new 'back edges' view. Seems to be quicker than XRay in many situations.
I do like the new 'Get Location' feature. I've only done 1 grab with it... but might make workflow a bit easier.
Overall seems a bit speedier than 7.xx? that I was running, but I can't back that up with facts.
I don't do much rendering aside from simple materials and sketchy output that I'll fotosketch... so for me - anything that speeds up native SketchUp processes and makes walkthroughs / Layout / etc. easier I like.So far the few plugins I use are up and running, with the exception of the SimLab 3d PDF exporter. Getting a runtime error on it.
On the griping about 8 issue:
-
Personally I think SU should move to an open platform model.
-
Keep the base program simple, with modules, rubies, plugines, etc. easy to use and to customize for each niche / industry. (and a central app world type model for distributing - might be a way to integrate Google checkout with 'certified' plugins. PRO might be base + architecture pack or base + rendering pack or base + landscape pack.
-
LayOut - its underated, and sometimes a bit underpowered - but has some nice potential. I am starting to do construction docs with SketchUp and LayOut - so speed boosts in LayOut would be huge, as well as smarter tools for cutting and detailing sections in my SketchUp models). Split it off from the modeling portion of the program, so my above idea might be base sketchup + architecture pack pro(plugins, tools, etc.) + LayOut = $495.
-
Avoid bloatware and feature creep! I have AutoCAD and a host of other programs that I can use to work in a bloated, non intuitive program if I want. I like that in SketchUp there are basic tools that are fairly easy to use, and I can tweak those basics with rubies / plugins.
-
Is Stylemaker necessary? I wonder what the user base is for it. I'd rather see it be phased out and resources devoted to other concerns within the main program.
-
Dynamic Components... such promise. Any chance there will be more meat here, with easier (and more elegant) to use toolbar / palette access?
-
-
I was initially quite happy with the improvements - maybe because my expectations were rather moderate and because I was happy there was something new at last..
I was especially excited about the new 'back edges' because I like using SU for NPR. I had tried to get something like back edges by overlaying normal and X-Ray imagery in photoshop. Back edges could take the process to another level. BUT... it seems like you can only use the back edges in the Default Styles. In all other styles it's disabled. And nothing about back edges in Style Builder, so you cannot design your own back edge style.
If something in the styles department is changed one would at least expect it to be fully implemented. This looks like a first simple tryout of a new function. Since it's all part of the same render engine it should not be that difficult to implement it in all styles and design some extra hidden line styles for the existing styles? After all these years, even the 'competition' styles haven't changed, and no new styles were added. So I'm not disappointed about the new functionality - that's how SU works - but rather about it's shallow implementation.
Is there a roadmap for Back Edges mr. Bacus?
For me it's not so much about the lack of new functions (we have rubies for that), but about the poor implementation. Dynamic Components in 7 - great idea, questionable implementation - and now back edges in 8.
-
I'm coming to this thread a bit late, since I'm usually in LayOut Land. We love ruby just as a lot of you do, but it's not for everyone. Just as Apple can easily see that their top crashes are Flash-based, we in QA see ruby crashes, and to quote Bono: "uno dos tres catorce". And there are probably a few on the top crash list sprinkled between tres and catorce. That's OK for some of you, in exchange for the power you get, but just like trying to get your older relatives to adopt Linux, you may find that it's not for everyone. Just be considerate of others opinions, and we'll keep trying to listen to yours.
b
-
I must say that I am still experiencing serious errors in part and layer management, which I would very much like to cleared up at some point please.
-
@pitrak said:
Is there a roadmap for Back Edges mr. Bacus?
As a matter of policy (both Google's and before that @Last's), we won't comment on unreleased features or future directions for the product in any but the broadest possible terms. I recognize how much you'd like to know what's coming next, but we need to preserve a quiet space in which the team is free to experiment with projects that may not work out. Software development is more like painting than manufacturing, and you're better off in the end if we're free to be creative.
john
.
Advertisement