hi. will there be a light version (or maybe even a free version like google offers) for those of us that are hobbyist users and don't make any money? it makes me very sad i cant afford this.

@unknownuser said:

i dunno, when i hear these types of complaints, i basically read them as 'please bloat the hell out of the most widely accessible 3D software available'

just using your lathe.rb example -- i have no need for a lathe tool and i'd rather it not be standard in sketchup.. now do that with the thousand or so other plugins out there and see what a mess you're creating?

just a rough guess is that maybe 10% of all SU users actually have a plugin installed and use it. If i just picked up sketchup and was faced with 100 tools/functions beyond what is currently there, i'd be way turned off and probably seek out another 3d app (which i'd be just as turned off about).

that's the beauty of sketchup -- it's simplicity (and even then, it's still sort of complicated and requires a certain commitment to learn).. it's a great introduction for people into 3D land and can either act as a launching point into other more complicated apps -or- it's current tools can be fully utilized for many full-scale professional jobs.

keeping the plugins separate allows for full on customization of the app once you learn the base SU or realize the need for a certain operation not included in the original install.

i agree with Jim when he says "Let the SketchUp people continue to focus on improving the core, and let the community develop the tools, and provide feedback."
if anything, maybe they can provide more for the writers to work with or some sort of standard checklist/debuggers/installers to help the scripters put out fully functioning cross platform plugins in an easier to obtain method..
but honestly, i don't think SU in general would be at all improved if it came standard with say 'soap skin&bubble'.. i do think it would be greatly improved if higher poly counts were allowed though.

i think you called ME out. yeah theres A LOT of plugins to acquire. and its overwhelming. you make me feel much better when you say, requires a certain commitment to learn. cause i think of sketchup as a totally 'can do no wrong' software. when in reality, its DOES have a learning curve. realizing this gives me room for error and understanding that its going to take some time before i can completely grasp sketchup and also its plugins. i need to do some serious reading. note solos sig...

@solo said:

I dunno guys, there are definitely two sides to everything.

On one hand I agree that our ruby guys are SU's greatest asset and without them many of us would already have moved on to other apps by now. They not only have given us tools that we wished for from the @last guys but also the Google guys, they kept SU fresh and new. Here at SCF they are also our greatest asset as they generate many new members as well as returning ones looking for new ruby's, updates and even requesting scripts.

But on the other hand lets not be too harsh on Google, they are trying and they are listening. There is no way they can completely please everyone all the time. The last update which was completely free (very important point) took a lot of work from many dedicated professionals. They firstly had to consider what they can achieve, what the market wants and also what their company direction demands and come up with a product that could make everyone happy, not easy, but I think they did a sterling job.
We asked for speed... we got it, we asked for back button...we got it, we asked for Layout dimensioning...we got it, we asked for UV tools...we never got it yet, we asked for 64 bit support...we also never got that yet. But do you not see they did try? and they still are trying, they are present on this forum, they answer questions, they help with issues...they are listening.
I'm fortunate and honored to be part of the beta team and I really wish y'all could see the effort they put into fixes, problems, new solutions, supporting the ruby guys that we all love (yes they too respect these guys and will go out of their way to help where they can, in the last release they were very active in making sure that the update supported all the cool plug-ins we have grown to love, many of our ruby guys are also beta testers and they have a great working relationship with the Google guys)

not to stir the the pot, but i really think your being FAR to friendly to google. they don't deserve that friendliness and customer loyalty. but if your happy with google and where googles taken (or not taken more likely) sketchup, then thats cool. but it seems there are quite a few 'unsatisfied' customers.

@jim said:

Let the SketchUp people continue to focus on improving the core, and let the community develop the tools, and provide feedback.

by the looks of it, the only core i think sketchup the developers could improve is an apple core. they could design a better apple in sketchup

@xrok1 said:

@jim said:

Didn't we just have a fairly major update to SketchUp and Layout with some great performance increases and new features? Some of the features were requested from their users. This shows me Google is interested in improving SketchUp at the core level, and that they are listening to what their users have to say.

Let the SketchUp people continue to focus on improving the core, and let the community develop the tools, and provide feedback.

Major update! if you consider a back button and a new set of bugs major then yes. LO could be stand alone upgrade anyway and i don't think the majority uses it anyway. maybe they should have spent the time on SU instead of that building maker joke thingy.
a major upgrade to me is; Bender, extrude lines, FredoScale, TOS, Booleans, SDS, Profile Builder, FFD, SoapSkin, SketchyPhysics, Lathe, SliceModeler, Zorro, Weld, SmartPushPull, JPP.... just to name a few, pick any one . this community has upgraded SU more in the past 6 months than the last 6 years of SU. IMHO the last major upgrade to SU was the sandbox.

Align, thanks for getting me started!

Escapeartist, with that strategy they should stop developing their search engine, OS, chrome, earth...

anyday xrok1. ive always made people/companies accountable. im known for that, and i speak the total truth. major update in 7.1 thats very funny

if google doesn't want to invest r and d into skectup, then they really should stop pretending that they do, google doesn't know the incredible potential they have to revolutionize the the architectural/3d design industry. and its obvious, that nobody can make them see different. cause if they could, sketchup would be where bonzai 3d is (without bonzais crap interface and ergonomics of course) they really should just make sketchup open source where sketch (because its becoming more obvious with every crap update that they have lost interest and don't really care) would would surely grow into a much more powerful app.

@escapeartist said:

I also might add that SU would likely not be free or so inexpensive relative to other systems if Google spent a lot more time and money on improving it. I'm sure that the people that paid for it would like to have more improvements and advancements in the software for their financial contribution, but again, that would make costs go up. For those of us that cannot afford to purchase it, it's the community's fantastic contributions that make the software what it is for everyone today, and at no additional out of pocket cost for those who did pay for it.

I'm afraid you can't have it both ways - either you get an advanced, fully featured package at a cost; or you get a simplified package for "cheap" and try to figure the rest out yourself.

JMO

i see where your going, but remember googles a multi billion dollar company. they would loose nothing by making skecthup an advanced app and keeping it free. after all, the architects would pay, and the hobbyists would play

i should state, im not trying to troll/flame and i apologize if it sounds that way.

hi i wanted to create this thread after downloading the lathe.rb tool which is just amazing. after downloading this plugin, and being completely amazed, i thought about the follow me tool. and how awful it is, how it creates total geometry messes, and i realized, that google is totally living off the backs of the bruised!

this pisses me off, because im seeing all these wonder plugins, and then looking at what google is doing with sketchup and its completely appalling in every way shape and form.
you have guys like fredo who completely reshape the concept of sketchup and what it can do, even creating, scale, which does what dynamic components do.

why is it that google can do no work at all or rather what amount to very little work in improving sketchup, and guys like fredo improve sketchup with every new plugin? does google even care anymore? doesnt seem that way... i think its sickening and just want to state my disgust and call google out. rant over.

thanx for this awesome thread! i give it a 10