SketchUp 2016 Wishlist
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So many wishes by so many people, and it seems, mostly for their own particular needs which I do respect, but if a poofteenth of these wishes were to be granted, SU would be ruined.
IMHO, SU gains its strength from it's simplicity.My wish is that Sketchup becomes more intelligent to my needs, that it learns my way of creating and anticipates my wishes. (Which it does already to a certain degree. IE: draw a line at 422.5mm and then draw another, it will snap to 422.5mm initially. I love that).
I frequently design and prototype commercial furniture. And of course I use many common panel and timber sizes.
Wouldn't it be great if SU learned my use of panels and timber and popped up options as I worked. Not very different from inference really. EG; I'm sizing a rectangle to about 90 x 32mm. Instead of having to type that dim, SU snaps to it, I look at it and decide 42 x 90, move my curser up, voila, snap to 42mm. ThenSU might say to me: "You seem to be doing a fair bit with these dimensions and views, would you like to save these various parameters as a template?".
Wouldn't it be great if Su told me: "You drew something very similiar to this model several months ago, would you like to review it? ( Not so useful for me, I never repeat myself)
Wouldn't it be great if SU noticed that my mouse and keyboard work was getting clumsy and suggested a break?
Wouldn't it be great if SU was an AI?
Wouldnt it etc,
I've only just started thinking on this approach to a betterer SU... my scruffy words about SU and AI integration. Would love to hear other thoughts on SU's possible future along these lines.
Baz -
@baz said:
I've only just started thinking on this approach to a betterer SU... my scruffy words about SU and AI integration. Would love to hear other thoughts on SU's possible future along these lines.
Bazthe tricky bit with introducing this type of fuzzy logic(?) into sketchup might not be so much with the fact that user specific numbers / actions are stored or remembered.. i guess that part might even be the easy part.. the tricky part (as i see it right now at least) is how the data is then re-presented to the user..
sketchup is -> pick a tool and enter the parameters for this usage of the tool.. alternate usages of the tool is controlled by modifier keys.. we don't have lists etc to pick from in the UI..
but if sketchup were to recognize i generally draw rectangles constrained to say 5-6 different sizes, how would these then be presented to me as a choice? as a list maybe? scroll wheel cycles through the measurement box? i think those may be the two ways to do it without radically changing sketchup UI itself..
anyway, i guess my questions is more of-- assume the logic engine was in sketchup, how is the best way for the user to interact with the data? because in many ways, it might be more of a hassle than benefit to sort through.
that said, i definitely think we'll be seeing more of this type of stuff in the future.. i just think the UI needs to be designed from the ground up with the capability in mind as opposed to taking an existing UI and trying to patch the function on top of it.
but yeah, if i'm a carpenter/framer and i'll be working with standard framing materials, it'd be nice if sketchup(etc) could recognize this and automatically offer solids corresponding with the material sizes.. or arrays at typical spacing (15.25" for the first move then 16" o.c thereafter)--- then further, if i'm doing more customized stuff, the application could learn my ways and customize itself to handle the situations i may often encounter.
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@jql said:
1 - Dynamic components UI Revamp;
also maybe a way to create geometry within a DC.. like AddLine(pt1,pt2).. or AddCircle(center, radius).. or PushPull(surface,distance).
that'd be sweet.. not really sure how it would work but i suppose the developer recommendation would be "hey dude, just learn ruby instead"
edit
or maybe a way to interact with things already in the model.. like-> select a surface then do this to it.. instead of the surface needing to be the dynamic component itself. -
@jeff hammond said:
that'd be sweet.. not really sure how it would work but i suppose the developer recommendation would be "hey dude, just learn ruby instead"
Then why not ditch DC's altogether and join forces to create an Ruby GUI wich would allow Sketchup Users, wich are people of geometry and sketches, to relate graphically to programming. Instead of writing up software or pilling up formulas, we would draw the relationships between functions, geometry and data...
A node aproach? A mindmap aproach? A Schematic aproach? An aproach like the constraint software above?
All of them connected? I'm I talking nonsense here?
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@jql said:
I'm I talking nonsense here?
heck no.. grasshopper like capabilities in sketchup would be awesome and i imagine very popular.
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/summon Jolran
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ho hum... sure wish I could save Styles on my Mac.
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@jeff hammond said:
the tricky bit with introducing this type of fuzzy logic(?) into sketchup might not be so much with the fact that user specific numbers / actions are stored or remembered.. i guess that part might even be the easy part.. the tricky part (as i see it right now at least) is how the data is then re-presented to the user..
Couldn't the rapid advancement of 'personal assistant' tech like 'Siri' add a lot of functionality?
"Hey Sketchup, draw me a table like xxxx.skp using same material and timber specs, but change the width to xxx, depth to xxx and the height to xxx. Oh, and update xxxx.layout as a new file with this drawing."
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Copy+Paste this in the Ruby Console +<enter>
UI.openURL("file:///#{Sketchup.find_support_file('Styles')}")
It opens the SketchUp default 'Styles' folder.
Is that where you are saving your own Styles [inside a subfolder] ?
Also check that the parent 'Styles' folder has FULL read/write permissions for you [all]... and that those permissions settings trickle down to apply to the whole folder's contents...You can save your own Styles on PC and MACs...
I can't imagine what you are doing wrong
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mine are saved to my
/Users/johns_iMac/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2015/SketchUp/Styles/SubFolder
I believe SU makes it when you save the first one, if not make your own in there...
For actually making them, I find having the double window the easiest, edit in the top window, update, then right click the 'in one' and 'Save As', I'm fairly sure it has always worked on mac...
john -
@pbacot said:
It's seems I never could. You have a Mac. I thought it didn't work on Macs. Nothing gets saved except empty collection folders. I make up new styles each job, if they aren't in my template.
try it like this: (or some combination of this
there's really not a direct/simple/obvious way to do it)
(these aren't in order necessarily.. the numbers are just used to correspond with what i'm typing)
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push the expander which opens another browser below
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push that to create a new collection (i put mine in ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/SketchUp201x/SketchUp but you can put it anywhere.. or-- you can just add to existing collections if you like but they'll be overwritten when upgrading sketchup)
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This is where the new styles will be saved to.. in #2, i created a new folder called 'MyStyles'.. now in this browser, i've selected that folder
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drag & drop the new style you've created in the model into this folder (like what the arrow is showing.. drag from the top then release into the bottom white space).. and it will save as a new .style.
edit
was typing this as john posted above.. see, different methods ..i think it's more confusing than necessary. (same goes for the material browser) -
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@baz said:
Couldn't the rapid advancement of 'personal assistant' tech like 'Siri' add a lot of functionality?
"Hey Sketchup, draw me a table like xxxx.skp using same material and timber specs, but change the width to xxx, depth to xxx and the height to xxx. Oh, and update xxxx.layout as a new file with this drawing."
i don't doubt that type of stuff is coming eventually.. like your examples along with just requiring less explicit instructions from the user.
"hey skiri, draw a 9' radius sphere with the top third cut off" (for example).. instead of what we'd have to do now to achieve this volume.
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Thanks I've tried it all over the years. I'll do the ruby search. Don't want to hi-jack the thread.
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Sketchup:
Better layer management as in this Layer Panel plugin by jiminy-billy-bob. Does exactly what is needed but has bugs and is not currently being worked on.Layout:
Components
Plugins + ruby API
Improved autotext: Create formulas re-using data from other autotext tags.
Layers as for sketchup above. -
I am at a loss to understand why when navigating in Sketchup you are suddenly navigating trough heavy mud with the mouse and getting muscle burn with the ineffectual center wheel but as I grab my 3d Dexion "mouse" with my left hand the mud is gone and easy navigation returns. Surely this is an issue with the mouse/SKP navigation if the issue disappears with another navigation interface
Surely this can be fixed in 2016 -
@frederik said:
@jql said:
I don't like the fact that:
- All commands are different in LO than they are from SU (we are so used to SU why reinvent the wheel in LO?)
I agree 110%...
The commands should be the same...All in all that's a really great list, Joao...!
Ditto, JQL / Frederik... I scratch my head as to why Layout functionality does not mimic SketchUp in everyway possible??? Maybe beacuse the way it started was quite amateurish but has really developed into a solid companion... although a little way to go.
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Shadows that respect PNG transparency would be great - I presume I'm right in saying we don't have that yet ?
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@calstock said:
Shadows that respect PNG transparency would be great - I presume I'm right in saying we don't have that yet ?
Good idea. And some other improvements in png if the system (openGL?) allows: eliminate halos that occur in some instances. Stop StyleMaker edges bleeding through png "solid" parts. These would all open up some possibilities in SU native rendering.
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