SketchUp 8 M2 is out!

[Chris Fullmer]

They might have underestimated how many of us have SketchUp installed on multiple machines on the same network and occasionally have it open on more than machine.

I'm guessing it works the same way on network licenses? We've got quite a few network licenses at work, but sometimes there are more of us using it than we have licenses for, and it just reverts to the trial. Looks like that won't be the case anymore? It doesn't happen too often for me, but occasionally.

What I do get more often than not is my IT team messes up my server license location and I go for a few months not being able to access the license server until they can find time to straighten it out for me. Now though, I'll be stuck unable to open SU? I'll have to do some testing on this.

[halroach]

@unknownuser said:

Advanced Camera Tools are now installed by default, so they no longer require a separate plugin

I hope this will retain the ability to still use the old "film & stage" plugin which works so much better.

I mostly use film and stage to create cameras for scene position information, and for copying cameras between models for easy scene transferring.

I actually tried out the "Advanced Camera Tools" plugin when it first came out and it kept messing up my scenes every time I wanted to create, move, remove a camera. The idea behind the advanced tools was good, but it really messed things up... maybe an option to disable automatic scene creation would have helped. I can't put my finger on what was bugging me most then, but I am sure to install M2 sometime soon, and I'll update you guys why it was so difficult to use. Has anyone else had any problems with that?

[pbacot]

@unknownuser said:

here's what i get when i try to launch on another computer:
[and my only choice at this point is to close sketchup.. i.e.- i can't use it]

[attachment=0:3hp71n8o]<!-- ia0 -->screen 2011-12-01 at 8.30.16 PM.jpg<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:3hp71n8o]

i got it too. no network. SU crashed when I first opened it. Then I opened and got that notice. I waited a bit and opened again and OK so far.

[Chiefwoodworker]

I just installed it and was really disappointed that the Print functionality is still broken. The biggest problem is in printing to scale. For some reason SketchUp insists on printing white space. Unless you minimize the white space in the window it will print on multiple wasted pages. In addition, if you are using metric mm in the scale side it sometimes, though not always, insists on changing the scale to suit inches. For example, if I enter 1 mm for "In the printout" and 100 mm for "In SketchUp" everything is fine until I change focus away from the Print Preview dialog box at which time 1 is changed to 25.4 and 100 is changed to 2542.2. The 25.4 obviously represents 25.4 mm in 1". The 2542.2 is supposed to represent 2540 mm in 100", but where the extra 2.2 mm come from who knows. Multiplying 25.4 by 100 shouldn't be too hard for SketchUp. Still, the biggest problem is SketchUp's insistence on printing white space. Why it can't calculate a bounding box for the objects in the window and use that is a mystery to me. But this problem plagues every new user to SketchUp and it has been there since day 1. Will it ever get fixed?

That said, I am a huge SketchUp fan.

[jeff hammond]

@chiefwoodworker said:

I just installed it and was really disappointed that the Print functionality is still broken.

hey chief.. you have suPro so maybe save some headaches and do your printing via layout?

[Krisidious]

great time to install fresh and start over with a blank plugin folder.

[jbacus]

@unknownuser said:

now, i can only have sketchup open on one computer at a time ?? unless i install both free and pro on all computers??

It sounds like you may be using a network license, not a single-user license. You'll need to change some things about your configuration to use SU8M2. Please drop us a line here for more information.

john
.

[jbacus]

@unknownuser said:

...and I'll update you guys why it was so difficult to use. Has anyone else had any problems with that?

I'd be keen to hear why you prefer the old "Film & Stage" plugin to the new "Advanced Camera Tools" as well. We think the new version works better than the old one, of course

john
.

[jbacus]

@chiefwoodworker said:

The biggest problem is in printing to scale.

LayOut is the better solution to this problem and it contains many tools that will help you print more effectively to scale.

john
.

[Krisidious]

did I hear someone say plugin installer?

[jeff hammond]

@jbacus said:

@unknownuser said:

now, i can only have sketchup open on one computer at a time ?? unless i install both free and pro on all computers??

It sounds like you may be using a network license, not a single-user license. You'll need to change some things about your configuration to use SU8M2. Please drop us a line here for more information.

john
.

hmm..you know, it's been quite a while since i bought pro but you might be right re: the network license.. i actually bought 3 licenses at once (from @last) but two were for windows and the third (mine) is mac.. i always assumed mine was a single-user license since it was a different OS but my user name is "<company name> -User 3"..

my su8 upgrade email says this prior to listing the SN

SketchUp Pro 8 Commercial License for OSX - 1 Seats

does that means i have a network license instead of single user?
[fwiw, one of the licenses 'home base' is in florida, one in denver, then mine in NYC.. i haven't talked with them yet about this but i assume they're going to need sorted out as well ]

but yeah, i'll mail you guys privately to get this sorted..

[ken]

DAMN

Well here goes a Friday wasted on this upgrade.

1. After installing I now have a major grayed out context menu. Desktop, Win 7 Home Premium. Which I did not have before this upgrade. Note, don't have gray out problems with laptop, Sketchup M1, Win XP.
2. Can't run on two machine at same time. Wish to run on both machines when I come back from working remote. Now I can't do that.

On side note, if I have Sketchup M2 open on the desktop, and try to open Sketchup on laptop M1, it will open on the laptop, however it operates strangely, drawing a line with the pencil doesn't work right away, there is a delay in drawing the line until you select another tool.

If I have Sketchup M1 open on the laptop, then try to open Sketchup M2 on the desktop, it indicates you have more than one running and will shut down.

Check my license, Single-user.

3. Tried to re-install older version, M1 on desktop as I have a project to get out. However I can not re-install Sketchup from an older version over a newer version.

So big question, if I remove Sketchup M2 from the desktop, write down my pro license number, can I re-install the older version and use the old license number. Need to get back to work.

Ken, peeved at myself for doing this install when I had work to be done.

[ken]

OK, I am back to Sketchup V 8.0.481 M1. Grayed out context menu gone.

Now back to work.

[jbacus]

@unknownuser said:

my su8 upgrade email says this prior to listing the SN

SketchUp Pro 8 Commercial License for OSX - 1 Seats

does that means i have a network license instead of single user?

I'll leave it to the Sales gang to get you sorted out officially but it looks to me like you have a single-seat network license, not a single-user license. Fill out the form I referenced above and we'll get to you as soon as we can.

john
.

[Chiefwoodworker]

@unknownuser said:

@chiefwoodworker said:

I just installed it and was really disappointed that the Print functionality is still broken.

hey chief.. you have suPro so maybe save some headaches and do your printing via layout?

I teach the free version of SketchUp in addition to using the Pro license for my own work so Layout is not a general solution. I can't tell you how many students trip over this problem and are put off by it. I know how to work around it but beginners don't. Here is an email that I got just this morning.

"joe.
i have now been trying for a total of more than 40 hours just to print to scale. i have tried hundreds of different combinations of scales and measurements on 3 different computers.writing down every detail as i go.. there is no pattern in the times it will print to scale and the times it wont. it is just random. i have no choice but to try another way all together. can you recommend another program that i can send the images to to continue my work elsewhere?

thanks"

This is a problem Google should correct. I don't understand why, after 8 versions, they haven't addressed it.

[jbacus]

@unknownuser said:

1. After installing I now have a major grayed out context menu.
2. Can't run on two machine at same time.

Hi Ken,

Glad you were able to get back to a working state in time to finish your project. When that's through, I think that we can probably troubleshoot the problems you reported.

1. Some things about the Ruby API did change to support plugin installers. Grayed-out context menus are typically a problem with one or more of the scripts you have installed.

2. Sounds like you may have the same issue wrt licensing as Jeff– if you have a network license (even a "single seat" network license) you'll have to make some changes to your configuration. Fill out this form and we'll get back to you as soon as we can with additional info.

3. Not sure why you'd be seeing a lag with either tool activation or drawing a line. If you can get me more information about that I'll see about getting you some specific troubleshooting help.

john
.

[Chiefwoodworker]

@jbacus said:

@chiefwoodworker said:

The biggest problem is in printing to scale.

LayOut is the better solution to this problem and it contains many tools that will help you print more effectively to scale.

john
.

See my reply to Jeff Hammond on this issue. LayOut is not a solution for those who do not have a Pro license which most of my students do not. Besides, a bug is a bug and should be fixed, especially if it has been around for 8 major version releases and numerous maintenance releases. This just isn't very professional of Google and its SketchUp team. But I will live and use SketchUp anyway ;<)

[jbacus]

@chiefwoodworker said:

I teach the free version of SketchUp in addition to using the Pro license for my own work so Layout is not a general solution.

If you're teaching SketchUp to students, an 'Education' license may be the best solution. SketchUp Pro is available for cheap (sometimes free) to schools, teachers and students. Are you teaching in a context that makes you eligible for that program?

john
.

[jeff hammond]

@jbacus said:

I'll leave it to the Sales gang to get you sorted out officially but it looks to me like you have a single-seat network license, not a single-user license. Fill out the form I referenced above and we'll get to you as soon as we can.

i contacted sales via your link.. fingers crossed
thanks for the help!

[Chiefwoodworker]

@jbacus said:

@chiefwoodworker said:

I teach the free version of SketchUp in addition to using the Pro license for my own work so Layout is not a general solution.

If you're teaching SketchUp to students, an 'Education' license may be the best solution. SketchUp Pro is available for cheap (sometimes free) to schools, teachers and students. Are you teaching in a context that makes you eligible for that program?

john
.

Hi John,

I teach at local community colleges and woodworking schools. I don't know if that qualifies me for an Education license, but I will look into it. Thanks for the heads up.