A new home for SketchUp
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Good evening, Kriss!
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Hey everyone,
John and I were sitting together for most of the day, so I've been plugged into the dialogue here, and I have to say that the inspiring part of working with the SketchUp team is that threads like these echo beyond these forums. We're definitely encouraged by the confidence you all have in SketchUp, and we also understand the skepticism around this news. Ultimately, it's up to us to show you why we're excited for SketchUp's future. To wrap, I wanted to share a comment that was left on our Facebook wall, because it has really resonated with our team today:
"I think part of this worry is that users could be afraid that this move is really to compete than to innovate. Just remember those numerous plugins by your biggest fans. And because of these fans, your software has the be ability for complex modeling, BIM, rendering and animation. So, in a way it is limitless compared to the $3,000 drafting programs! Now that I think about it, what makes SketchUp so unique is that it has nothing to do with technology, it's community. People work so hard on new plugins because they believe in your software, they even offer to help and inspire newcomers. This is pride, and I recommend your team lets that become your navigation as SketchUp develops further. Good luck!" -- Christopher Vela
Mark
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Excellent.
The complex plugins are still horribly slow on my relatively new Asus G74. Maybe now this new company can advance the plugin API and make plugins faster (compiled?). The Sketchup plugin developers have done so much with so little. Now perhaps they can do a lot more with a lot...
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I hope this means that SketchUp will finally be ported to run on the Commodore 64. There's a huge community that's been waiting for it. For decades. We're getting old.
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if I could offer one piece of advise on making this transition, from the user point of view, be a welcomed one.. it would be to make sure all the license transfers and whatnot go smoothly.
it's probably one of those weird situations when someone has to do a lot of work in order to create something that more/less goes under appreciated or unnoticed by others but if that work wasn't done, it's gonna be gripefest2012.
(or hey, maybe google just loads up the license hard drive and ships it over to trimble and everything stays the same.. ha. I don't know how this stuff works)
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I really think that the next step has been long overdue for Sketchup, i just hope this is the right one, good luck to the Sketchup team
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A sensible, balanced evaluation from TechCrunch.
I can see the move as perfectly logical...a GIS company buying a software company that can build geopositioned 3D content. After all, FormFonts models pretty much exclusively in SU, for SU users, yet who did we do a deal with a couple of months back? ESRI...a GIS company, probably better known for its software than Trimble which at the moment seems to deal mainly in hardware...which has to run on software, when all is said and done.You also have to ask yourself what were the alternatives? Dassault? They'd probably have killed it off or come up with some weird SU-3DVia love-child. Most of the other big boys are owned by Autodesk...no thanks. Then again, it could have remained with Google.
Who can put their hand on their heart and say that development under Google has been everything they'd wished for? Change is always scary...but it can offer some great opportunities and makes for an interesting ride. -
@solo said:
Base camp and October fest need to overlap.
From what I saw at Boulder you did pretty well at overlapping it anyway
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@unknownuser said:
@mark h. said:
I wanted to share a comment that was left on our Facebook wall, because it has really resonated with our team today
I will feel more comfortable if we will have a better contact with the whole SU team. It looks Google haven't allow you to talk to us as openly as you wanted to. Will it change under Trimble wings?
I really hope so - from what I understand, thing where more open in the days of @Last.
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@mark h. said:
I wanted to share a comment that was left on our Facebook wall, because it has really resonated with our team today
I will feel more comfortable if we will have a better contact with the whole SU team. It looks Google haven't allowed you to talk to us as openly as you wanted to. Will it change under Trimble wings?
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I was glad as soon as I read this. So long as all current functionality remains, if more advanced stuff gets added what's the problem? I've never used trimble gear, although know a land surveyor who does
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Euh...Trimble ?? SketchUp for linux ??...ok I left...
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Are people really going to walk away from SketchUp before they even see the direction it's going?
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@thomthom said:
Are people really going to walk away from SketchUp before they even see the direction it's going?
Neah...it's just fear talking.
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Some people are on the edge of moving this could be the push they need. I am however hopefull my only issues with sketch up are performance related and high poly support. This is surely a given now they are entering the pro market. I do fear for the free users however who may eventually be dropped. Googles do no evil was a good thing. Has Mr Bacus mentioned version 9 anywhere, it has to be in development right ? I'm guessing it will be launched under the trimble banner and then they will start producing their add ons.
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@chedda said:
Some people are on the edge of moving this could be the push they need.
Push for what? There is no clear indication to what this involves. Why abandon ship before it's sinking?
I understand cautious - I am. But saying goodbye already now is just rash.@chedda said:
I do fear for the free users however who may eventually be dropped.
From the announcement it seem clear that there will remain free SketchUp version.
@chedda said:
Googles do no evil was a good thing
Well, do no evil doesn't mean they do just good.
How much enhancement did SketchUp get during the Google era vs the @Last era? Thing did for sure slow down - at least for those that didn't have that much for the integration with Google's mapping services. In terms of modelling tools, Solid tools for Pro was about what SketchUp got while Google managed it. Google is a might large company - but that doesn't mean all their projects are on unlimited budget. Also observe the amount of information that came from the SketchUp developers during @Last vs Google.
Just say, while I am a Google fan, they aren't automatically the best thing.@chedda said:
Has Mr Bacus mentioned version 9 anywhere, it has to be in development right ?
I wouldn't expect such announcements during an acquisition. They will need to re-group and re-plan. The game just changed. Observe what happened to V-Ray for SketchUp and V-Ray for Rhino when ChaosGroup acquired ASGVis - their planned roadmap had to be revised.
@chedda said:
I'm guessing it will be launched under the trimble banner and then they will start producing their add ons.
There is what I hope it will be - as addons - as plugins. So SketchUp remains lean and simple. A core platform we can build our own software on.
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A smart move would be to tidy up what work has already been done on SU9 and release it ASAP in order to dispell the fears of the user-base and show that Trimble has a progressive attitude to the development of SU.
They can then take their time and leave any major changes and Trimble integration until SU10.
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Without deviation from the norm progress is not possible. - Frank Zappa
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Indeed a bit scary this change.
But on the other hand, I worried about SketchUp's future within Google.
With the focus on "core-business" these days, the investments in SketchUp would have at least diminished to a bare minimum.I don't really know Trimble, but I believe their "vision" for BIM is O.K. from what I have read about Tekla.
I am also really glad it's not Autodesk!!!Good luck to the SketchUp team, and I agree "keep the focus on user-prowdness"!
Untill now I always tell anyone that SketchUp is the most fun piece of software I've ever used
I hope to be able to say that a year from now!Jan
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