Improvements since Trimble Takeover

Al Hart

I am looking for opinions and/or informed opinions about changes in the SketchUp community since Trimble took over in 2012.

I remember an announcement at SketchUp basecamp at about that time that SketchUp was logging about 3,000,000 users per week. Do you suspect that that number has been going up or down. (and/or do I remember it wrong?)
SketchUp Free (Make) is no longer available for commercial use. Do you suspect that they are getting more Pro users because of that change?
Have you seen more of a marketing push by Trimble to promote and sell SketchUp since Trimble took over?

4. I used to argue that about 1/2 of SketchUp users in the architectural world also used SketchUp for 3D modelling. Do you think this is in the ballpark and/or do you think the ration is rising or falling as time goes on?

I used to argue that about 1/2 of SketchUp users in the architectural world also used AutoCAD. Do you think this is in the ballpark and/or do you think the ratio is rising or falling as time goes on?

What else do you think has changed since Trimble took over?

pbacot

What do SU users (the other half) use SU for if not 3d modeling?

Al Hart

The question should have read:

I used to argue that about 1/2 of SketchUp users in the architectural world also used AutoCAD. Do you think this is in the ballpark and/or do you think the ratio is rising or falling as time goes on?

In particular, in 2009, we surveyed a bunch of SketchUp users and asked "What 3D Modeling / CAD systems do you use?"

The answers were:

SketchUp Pro 44.45%
SketchUp Free 52.44%
AutoCAD 41.18%
Revit 13.80%
Rhino 5.64%

(They were allowed to choose more than one)

This led me to believe that almost half of our clients use SketchUp Pro, and that a good proportion of our clients used AutoCAD or Revit as well. Leading me to believe that a lot of AutoCAD users also use SketchUp for their 3D models.

pbacot

I'd guess much more than half architectural users still use AutoCAD.

Al Hart

"I'd guess much more than half architectural users still use AutoCAD."

We're trying to say that about half of the SketchUp architectural users also use AutoCAD.

Unfortunately, we often make our assumptions about the world while sitting in our bathtub (meaning completely uninformed).

One of the assumptions we make is that the vast majority of architects in the US are well established with AutoCAD - and that most of them have move to Revit, but that quite a few are using SketchUp for 3D modeling.

But that in other parts of the world where architecture is just emerging, many "new: architectural firms are just starting our with SketchUp, and out using AutoCAD at all.

As I say, this is an almost opinion with no information to back it up.

pbacot

I doubt that most US firms are using Revit. It's expensive and an expensive change-over, too much for firms that don't really need BIM, though slowly they'll migrate to something like that. Even those that use Revit whole-building models may be still using ACAD for details and such. But this is from my own bathtub... I don't use either.

Alan Fraser

@pbacot said:

I doubt that most US firms are using Revit.

Autodesk seems to think they are...and that they need a sketchuppy finger-painting app do do all the preliminary stuff with before actually committing the design fully to Revit.

Have you ever seen anything so visually similar to SU without actually being SU? Adesk are obviously worried.
http://videos.autodesk.com/zencoder/content/dam/autodesk/www/products/FormIt/Images/overview/formit-360-overview-video-896x504.mp4

pmolson

@pbacot said:

I doubt that most US firms are using Revit. It's expensive and an expensive change-over, too much for firms that don't really need BIM,

This was also my thoughts for years, but I am definitely seeing a move by small residential and light commercial firms here in the midwest united states to move to Revit. The cost issue was lessened when they introduced the bundled Revit lite suite that comes with 2d acad and revit lite. Pretty reasonable cost. I think when I purchased it a couple years ago it was around 1200 bucks.

Revit will never be Sketchup and sketchup will never be Revit. I think they can both exist for different reasons.

p

JQL

Revit will never be Sketchup, you got that one right for sure. Sketchup starts as a simple and intuitive software.

However Sketchup could eventually be a Revit competitor. That is only a matter of wanting to deveop the right plugin. Plusspec claims something along this line right? (Not quite there probably, I wouldn't know.)

I believe it would be a matter of choice for the trimble team, but I bet they prefer to keep SU within a wider scope as a modeller, than try pursuing Revit...