Sketchup prehistory
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I first heard of SketchUp from DataCAD LLC when SU first came out; they sent a demo CD, with an introductory rate to DataCAD licensees. SU was VERY basic then, a bit too basic to be of any use. I didn't buy a license until the end of version 3, when I saw a noticeable improvement.
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Memories, memories
I was there at the start with V1. I had been playing around with quite a few 3D programs but still took a weekly scour of the Net in search of that elusive 3D program.When I initially stumbled on SketchUp I thought it looked a little unprofessional and childish but decided to give it a try anyway. After just jumping in I was able to produce a textured model of a small cottage in less than and hour without even reading the tutorials. I was jumping around the place! My wife and kids thought I had lost it!
While attending the 3D Base Camp in Boulder I got a tour from Jim Holman, one of the original @Last Team. Jim showed me the original @Last office and the rear rickety annex that housed the computer that hosted the forum. Its a wonder that we are where we are today but as they say, cream always rises to the top
Mike
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I got to download and try SU in 2003 when v. 3 came out. About 15 minutes convinced me that this is a must-have...
Anssi
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I don't think it's too much to say that Sketchup has made my career in many ways. I now do everything in 3d and the quality that it can output has won me lots of jobs. This was from someone who tried Autocad and hated it so did everything by hand very laboriously. I then kept searching on the web like Mike and after trying out lots of 3d software (Archicad, Revit, Allplan, Softplan, Design Workshop...the list goes on!) I didn't find any of them worked intuitively.
One day I came across SketchUp version 1 and downloaded the trial and finally found found something that worked in a commonsense way but frustratingly was only licensed for purchase in the US at the time. I then nagged Tom Wyman at @last and they managed to licence me a copy in the UK and I haven't looked back. Whilst a lot of the original staff like Jim Holman and Tom have left I remain optimistic as those that are working on the software are still committed to improving it. I still keep an eye out for new software but so far, almost 7 years later I still haven't found anything that comes close to its speed and ease of use.
Kenny
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I've been using Sketchup since version 1. I paid for a license at version 2. Ahh I'm having a trip down mamory lane.....
The basic premise of the software is so simple and still core to the programs success.
a line is a line....two connected lines connected together are just two lines...but three lines...the magic third line connected together creates a closed loop and blammo...we now have a surface....all manner of magic is now possible. We can extrude that surface to form a 3 dimensional object...we can move an edge to alter the shape of that three dimensional object....etc. The simplicity of the notion that a surface is just a series of lines, arcs, etc that enclose a plane is still intact. We can paint the surface with a material, we can cut holes into that surface, etc. Once you master the simplicity of the program and realize that your task is to define borders that enclose a plane to create a surface then you can model anything possible.
Now each successive version of Sketchup has added new tools and visual capabilities and surface modeling abilities but the core of the program since version 1 has remained the same.
The beauty and power of the inferencing engine is the programmers way to harness the power of the computer to essentially allow the user the ability to "sketch" or interact with the data in the computer in a way that was revolutionary. I'd wager to say that 75% of what I do on a daily bases with Sketchup can be boiled down to maybe less than ten actual tools or program functions. With a three button mouse and the ability to zoom and pan and rotate the view all simultaneously with out thinking about it allows the user to keep his eyes on the screen and his or her mind on the task at hand and not the computer hardware in front of themselves.
Sketchup has in fact allowed me to take my thoughts out of my head and present them to clients in real time. It's indispensable.
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What ever happened to Jim Holman anyway [and the rest of the original SU crew for that matter - do you think any are still with GoogleSU?]??
I've been working with SU since version 1.3 - early 2003, and I must say that I am concerned about the direction the program is headed. If find that I still use the program everyday, but that I seldom use any feature/tool that post-dates version 4. My experience and feeling is similar to Phil Radar (see above).
As for some interesting history, some of the old folks may remember a program called UpFront from Alias software which I believe was the precursor to SU. Now there is a relic - but one that showed the promise of 3-D sketching on a computer for us non-techies.
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Hi guys,
Tom is still with us. If you want a good run-through of our company history, have a look at the SketchUpdate archive on the web: http://www.sketchup.com/?id=7
happy new year!
john
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I'm still in touch with Jim as a private citizen. There is no one quite like him. He was a steady reassuring presence on the old SketchUp Forum and a prompt and thorough tech support guru. I miss him a lot. He was the anthropomorphic embodiment of SketchUp for me.
I started using SketchUp in version 2 as a basis for architetural illustrations. I had intended to do watercolours using manually drawn plan projections but realized it was insanity when inexpensive 3D modelling software was available. I wasn't going to touch AutoCAD and I searched for and found Design Workshop. It was free and I started with that. I was introduced to 3D concepts such as "snapping" and so on but Design Workshop drove me crazy. It was cumbersome and imprecise but it was on that forum that someone suggested that Design Workhop had fallen behind and there was theis new SketcHUp that was the future. In fact at one point John Bacus of the post previous to mine, appeared on that forum and defended SketchUp re some allegation and I contacted him. I was afraid that the 8 hour demo wasn't sufficient for me to run into some the problems that I had encountered with Design Workshop and I was mistrustful. He granted me an additional 8 hours. I was totally hooked. For me, the very best part was that I was able to print out my view on tiled sheets withy margins that allowed me to tape them together to transfer onto a large sheet of watercolor paper. I especially loved the feeling of the old forum. There really were some great intellects present and I learned so very much from those folks. We ended up with a Corner Bar where we all chatted about all manner of subjects and got to be "friends". Many of us met in person at 3D base camp. It was a giant "love-in" of geeks united. I loved it. Won't forget it. Won't forget the amazing camradery of the old forum and the feeling of being involved with SketchUp crew directly. They were a very involved group and we users all felt so much part of the organization that it was a very bitter pill to swallow when they became "corporatized" (is that a word?). Any way things move forward and evolve and change and we must acclimate. I still love Google SketchUp but there will always be a special place in my heart for those 4 special years of my life when I was part of a unique community.
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I though I had read that Tom had left, apologies Tom! Whilst Sketchup might have improved a lot since version 1, I can't say the same for my memory.
Kenny
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this is pretty of topic, but hopefully there is a quick answer.
How come you moved to a new forum?
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Hello to all and a Happy New Year! I don't post much but follow the forums regularly. I started using SketchUp in March 2001 at version 1.37 I was working on a weekend for a presentation on a project which I needed to present sketches the following Tuesday. I was using a couple of programs at the time to generate 3D models, but they were a bit cumbersome in that you had to input every coordinate point - not much use when you are still conceptualizing. I wanted to present perspectives from two or three positions, so I thought I would scan the internet to see if there was anything that could help me. I think my search may have been "perspective sketch software". Anyway, I came upon the SketchUp website, saw that there was an 8 hour trial - not demo but full program - and thought I would give it a try. I downloaded the program and thought maybe I would get a chance in 8 hours to learn to navigate the interface and get a "feel" for the program's capabilities. Well, in the trial period I not only learned the interface - oh so beautifully simple and intuitive - I also built a simple but useful model of my project from which I could print out orthogonal and perspective views for tracing over for my presentation sketches. I was so excited I purchased the software as soon as my trial period ended that weekend. Then on Monday, the deadline gremlins struck. For some reason I couldn't open the model I had worked on that weekend to make my prints. I called SketchUp for tech support and was put over to Jim Holman and explained my predicament. Jim asked me to e-mail to him the file I couldn't open and he would look at it. I sent it right away. He called me back that afternoon and said that they were able to salvage the file( something had gone awry in the header or something like that ) and he was e-mailing the file back to me. I got it and was able to make my prints and my deadline. Believe me I was sold right then on @Last and SketchUp. Oh, as a postscript, the software I had been using for 3D was FastCad 3D and Virtus Walkthrough Pro. Anybody on the forum ever used either of those?
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I started on a late version of SU4 while doing ca a work on another project that was winding down. I was lucky enough to sit next to a guy that was demonstrating it use to a group of people in a huddle. I saw the pushpull command and istantaneous shadow and I went nuts! The rest is history. When I talk about SU I always feel like I'm doing a commercial. I could not understand why no one else in my office was excited as I was at the time. Learning sketch up got me excited about architecture or just pure design again. It also inspired me to learn other programs as well. Thank God for SU!
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@remus said:
How come you moved to a new forum?
These forums that we are now at are unofficial forums created by Coen and his team for the benefit of all of us. These forums are relatively recent but they carry on where other forums left off. You may have seen postings about 'transfers'. Those are recent transfers from the initial version of these same forums.
The brief history of the SketchUp Forums is as follows: @Last, the original developers of SketchUp, only sold SketchUp online and at trade shows. They created a very basic forum to allow users to help each other and share ideas about SketchUp. That started back with SU version one just before version two was released. Those forums had steady growth corresponding with the growing popularity of SketchUp. Over time several sub-forums were added including a Gallery allowing users to share their work. @Last intentionally kept the forum features very minimal and it did seem to make it easy for new visitors. Initially there wasn't even a registration requirement. For the first couple of years there was no moderation either. As the popularity of SU grew it got to the point that @Last realized the 'community' that had developed could look after itself. Several active users (myself included) became moderators but the reality was not much moderation was needed. At one point some users broke off and created their own more moderated forum. That was the Push/Pull Bar forums. It originated to have more design-oriented forum. Its founders had been critical that at the official forums everyone was too 'nice' and that the level of discourse on the designs behind the SketchUp images was almost non-existent. They created an alternate community to suit their needs while the original forums continued on meeting the needs of the rest of us who participated.
After Google acquired @Last the old forums had to migrate to a new server and upgraded forum software. That change lost most of the old stuff or at least linkages were broken. Registration became a requirement too. Life went on. The big hiccup came when Google released the free version of SketchUp. That really bothered many forum users and some decided they didn't want to participate any more. Their fear was that the community would get swamped with thousands of new 'free' version users. They thought we'd get buried in 'How do I make a box' question. It never happened. Membership did grow but it seemed most new sign-ups were more interested in reading the tips and getting inspired than actually participating.
The next big change was Google eventually decided that they should migrate the forums over to their Google Groups system. That was a shocker for many. Most users who had grown used to 'forum' systems found the idea of switching over to the 'Groups' approach a big step backwards. Some users felt it was time to say goodbye, some were willing to give Groups a chance, and others like Coen said some alternative was necessary. Coen created the forums here at his SketchUcation.com website. Many of the old forum users made the leap and the community started over. This new SketchUp user's community has continued to grow. We have also been seeing the gradual participation of more Google employees. They recognize the importance of this community.
Regards, Ross
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To make what Ross says a bit more precise, Coen had created his forum (unfortunately with a beta version of phpBB) about two months earlier than Google announced the migration to the Google Groups some time mid May last year (you can see some drop in the post stats after it happened there). Also you can see that most of the members there are now members here (as well). Until then there were hardly more members here than about a dozen or two.
Now as for this latter "transfer" of SCF (that is happening now), it was needed because the beta software Coen used had a lot of (mainly security) glitches and it turned out that it was not compatible with the final stable release we are using now. The transfer was badly needed and the sooner the better.
Fortunately Google (and the SU Team) realised (more exactly have always known) that the human resources that accumulated here are so valuable that they haven't abandoned us and (I hope) there isn't any inimical sentiment in either party now. We help them with finding glitches, coming up with "wishes", the ruby scripters giving ideas for further development - and they are also here to help us (and I also hope that they even enjoy being here).
And last but not least, the majority of the beta testers are also here...
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Thanks Csaba.
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I only wanted to clarify that because I didn't want Coen to seem to have made some "contra-Google" actions or what. He just simply offered his existing place for the existing community.
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thanks for the in depth replies, it's all jolly interesting. Before i'd just assumed that you'd moved purely because the old forum software was getting a bit old!
Just to add a bit, i prefer this forum to the google groups 'forum', its a lot easier to use and it never feels as swamped down as the groups, basically, good job on the forum!
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I remember being absolutely giddy when SU 3 came out and we could have individual surfaces have transparency....wohoo no more exporting two views one with all surfaces opaque and one with all surfaces transparent in order to get an exterior view where you could see through the windows but not the walls...I remember staying up all night "playing" with the software like a kid at Christmas.
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As for Google Earth and SU (hope this isn't too off topic), the Kmz and Collada SU exports make this easy. Commercially though, providing a Google Earth building modelling service is tricky. There are 2 significant obstacles that I hope Google will eventually address;
- Most clients wants to see their properties appear instantaneously and permanently on Google Earth, the 3d warehouse route does not guarantee this, if your model is approved, it can take months to show up on GE and then it is only in "the best of 3d warehouse" layer, it may never appear in the default building layer. Google want quality but surely the easy way to get quality is to make the modelling service commercially viable. Second Life, Twinity, Virtual Earth allow instant upload.
2.Google Earths policy on what is classed as unacceptable advertising is unclear. I cannot find out if it is acceptable for a 3d building to have a corporate logo on the side of it.
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