How will the switch to subscription affect you?
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A bit of speculation of what could happen...
IF YOU DECIDE TO KEEP YOUR CURRENT PERPETUAL LICENSE:
-You can wait until November 4th to update your M&S plan so you can have every new release until November 4th 2021... But I bet they'll release SketchUp 2022 AFTER November 2021, so you will be stuck with SketchUp 2021.
-The 3D Warehouse will keep updating the file formats of existing models for no other reason than to force people to upgrade SketchUp. Eventually you won't be able to download and open files from the 3D Warehouse. (EDIT: I see they offer a Collada file option, so I might be wrong on this one)
-Developers of plugins and integrated renderers will eventually stop supporting SketchUp 2021.
-Schools will start to think twice about teaching SketchUp, so it will start to lose market share a few years from now.
-The loss of market share means you will need to convert your SketchUp models to other formats before sending them to other professionals.
IF YOU DECIDE TO SWITCH TO A SUBSCRIPTION
-After the first year for $120, you'll find yourself paying $300 a year.
-If you don't use SketchUp every day, you might not the able to justify the expense, stop paying for the subscription, and thus you'll be locked out of decades of your own work.
HOW THIS MIGHT AFFECT ME
I design and sell house plans on my website, http://www.arqui3d.com. I sell both 2D files (PDF, DWG) and SKP files. I tell my buyers that they can open SKP files with the free viewer, but that they need to hire an architect if they want to make changes.
The change to subscription means SketchUp will be less popular in the future and I'll need to provide maybe Collada files together with SKP files. But what worries me is the possibility that renderers such as Lumion and TwinMotion might stop supporting old versions of SketchUp. If they're smart they will keep some way to import SketchUp 2021 files manually for the foreseeable future.
WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN
Most users will keep their perpetual licenses. When they start to receive files in incompatible versions, they might eventually add a SketchUp Shop subscription on top of this so they can open newer files. That, or it will become standard practice to always save in older SketchUp versions before sending out files.Another possibility is that the web-only SketchUp Shop might eventually become the "standard" version most professionals use. Kids these days do everything on the web, anyway, and having your models on the cloud would make it easier to collaborate. However, this would pretty much kill the business of plugin developers.
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My clients don't care what product I use to create the content as long as I get it done in a timely fashion and it meets their standards. Software subscriptions are just part of the cost of doing business in the same way rent for office space and utility costs are. It will be added into my fees just like rent and utility costs.
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Ecuadorian you should correct the spelling to 'buy'.
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@dave r said:
My clients don't care what product I use to create the content as long as I get it done in a timely fashion and it meets their standards. Software subscriptions are just part of the cost of doing business in the same way rent for office space and utility costs are. It will be added into my fees just like rent and utility costs.
... which are good and reasonable points of view - the entire workflow in my department is "tailor-made" and adapted to the SkUp workflow - for example an often spoken or often heard "blender then" is no solution for me...
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@hornoxx said:
the entire workflow in my department is "tailor-made" and adapted to the SkUp workflow - for example an often spoken or often heard "blender then" is no solution for me...
Yes. And in mine. Compared to the alternatives, SketchUp is still way more affordable for me.
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Miguel has raised a couple scenarios, one that this may hurt the overall acceptance of SketchUp and another that users may hang onto their perpetual license and patch together an existence within SketchUp.
I wonder, since I own an "perpetual license" now whether or not I buy a subscription, do I still have use of this current perpetual version? Or does the subscription mean my current software can be terminated by Trimble?
For me, I need to keep using SketchUp and I believe I will want to anyway for years to come. I am not too concerned about the version, but don't want to be stuck paying more later if I need the upgrade due to changes in my computing environment. Also, I may not like it, but I can afford to pay more than double.
I think I would not like it if the internet "control" of the subscription changes my experience of SketchUp. I've accepted many things about the program, based on just that "scrappy" character that makes if feel personal (with my plugins old and new), like a worn and dinged tool that remains rugged and familiar, but still versatile and adaptive.
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well for me
(and me alone. you have your opinion, I have mine. I respect yours, you better respect mine)
I'm out. sorry, I'm seeing too little development for too much cost, this was the year I was going to go Pro...
things that will probably get quoted at me?
cloud storage. don't use it, never will, useless.
sketchup for web? since I use a desktop, why would I use "for web"? useless.
VR Modeling? until we have proper tactile feedback... useless (plus the cost of setup!)
Layout? I'm a Modeler. never opened layout, no use for it at all. useless.so. for me, moving off my current version (2017/16 make) is not gonna work is it? they've not actually added anything that adds to my toolbox have they?
in actual fact I should get off my arse and learn blender... that I see a future for.
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so balance what I posted above, if they worked on the following -
Proper / improved Import/export options
better handling of larger poly count models
UVmapping in Native
taking advantage of new display techok then I'd be paying a sub. but dashed lines, changing one word in the UI, minor point bug fixes and fascination with Layout, for me at this time is not cost effective...
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I had a response to the latest news here:
https://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=72586#p661101
The TL/DR of it is, the value of SU in my work/workflow isn't worth the cost. There are better tools that fit in my workflow. Nothing against SU, it's an amazing tool and a great value to many.
I will say that SU has been the most meditative modeling tool I've experienced and it became my daily morning creative routine. ATM it still is a part of that routine, I just need to push my projects into a more advanced workflow.
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@joe wood said:
Ecuadorian you should correct the spelling to 'buy'.
[attachment=0:4fflanvr]<!-- ia0 -->1 Buy.png<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:4fflanvr]
Thank you!
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Subscription change everything between Sketchup and users community.
Your work is not your own. If you stop your subscription, you can't access to your file. Trimble increase prices, reduce service and benefits (for example, we have lost functions as Google earth and Google street view).
We have minimal shamed updates to charge clients each year as changing the name of the layers to "tag" or empty group ! : ))
I can't remember another example of shamed updates in the software industry !
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Don't forget the $120 fee for dashed lines year before last
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I've been a SKP using since the old @Last days (2002 or there abouts. V2!) I even went to the first basecamp in Boulder back in 05!
I don't wanna sound like an old'"Back in my day. . ." doofus-- but really...back then it seemed like the Mission of sketchup was just to be a simple, intuitive and easy to learn modelering program that pretty much anyone--from kids to architects--could download and start using in about 1/2 hour.
Sketchup only really took on higher levels of sophistication because of a community of wizards out in the world developed the plugins for differnet missions. Google and Trimble didn't seem to give a heck or a darn about developing it into anything more, so the idea of these high subscription fees seems ludicrous to me. IT seems to me that Trimble is looking to basically kill sketchup--(death by a million lost users!) rather than support it.
Luckily i have a work situation where subscriptions can be paid for but for a long time I carried my own license and it was working fine for me. but when i retire, in a few years, and still want to do some modeling as a side gig or for fun. . . Sketchup might just be a fond memory of an antiquated old kitchen appliance that will be probably get replaced by a new blender.
I don't suppose there's any chance of @Last buying it back?
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In fact we were told that Trimble was going to use SU to develop a NEW BIM system (iirc). Years later and nothing yet.
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We have 2 users at the University I work for, myself and a PM/Architect. He has already asked me about going forward. I am our dept's (Planning and Construction) "IT guy" as well as Asst. Dir. of Space Allocation. We can afford this price increase but I'd like to see something in return from them in the 1st year for this more than double jump.
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Answer to the topic question: it won't affect me, I already stopped upgrading and am holding on to my 2018 perpetual license for as long as I can.
I too am a bit concerned about the warehouse models not being available in older versions of SU as time goes on. I appreciate the Collada option, maybe that's all we need to make sure models continue to be backwards compatible.
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How will the switch to subscription affect you?
The little I do use SU for these days will get less and less, the days of excitement and participation are over, just look at the developers, remember when every week we had new and exciting plugins? now? not much at all.
The innovation has stopped, the product has reached the peak of what it can on it's limited core, now they are milking every cent from it.
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@solo said:
The little I do use SU for these days will get less and less
What software have you switched to?
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@solo said:
The innovation has stopped, the product has reached the peak of what it can on it's limited core, now they are milking every cent from it.
I agree that currently it has reached an end of the road as it exists. It does have potential but it needs to be given a chance to grow and I don't see that being under Trimble. Honestly, I think AutoDesk could, with their army of engineers, take SU and mature it into a great 3D/CAD platform. I know this is NOT a favorable option to many as I see the "hip" hate of AutoDesk on these forums ALL too often. Sorry, I've used them since '89 and knowing AutoCAD has kept me employed for decades.
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@glenn at home said:
@solo said:
The innovation has stopped, the product has reached the peak of what it can on it's limited core, now they are milking every cent from it.
I agree that currently it has reached an end of the road as it exists. It does have potential but it needs to be given a chance to grow and I don't see that being under Trimble.
I concur with you and Solo that SU development has long since plateaued and there is unlikely to be any significant advances, given the current combination of product management and ownership.
However I also think the AutoCad hate is much like the Adobe hate — mostly well-earned
No doubt that AutoDesk has great CAD engineers, but I would much rather see SU move to someone like Robert McNeel & Associates (Rhino) where the company philosophy is a lot closer to AtLast's originating intention.
Not that either move is ever going to actually happen!
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