I don't agree at all. SketchUp is so much faster and more intuitive to use than anything else, that certainly for architecture - its core market. I'm not sure that anyone can argue that it isn't a professional tool. What did we have before it came along? Lightwave, Rhino, AutoCad, Microstation, Archicad, Blender, 3ds Max? Usability and intuitiveness of these things aren't close.

The difference between the free and Pro version is importers for other professional software, which is much more difficult to use and costs many time more. Simply importing geometry into SketchUp from these other programs because it is so much easier shows why it is a 'Pro' tool.

I have been using SketchUp since V2, and from V3 onwards, I haven't used anything else for 3d. I guess that's because I don't do much modelling of curved or organic forms though.

And regarding bugs, well the shadow thing is definitely irritating, but not a deal breaker. All software has bugs. My copy of VectorWorks 12.5 crashes almost daily. When I try to upgrade it to (hopefully) fix the problem, the upgrade aborts with the helpful message "Server says, Huh?" To make matters worse, the UK tech support guy didn't believe that any company would release software with such a stupid error message. That is supposed to be Professional software as well.

I agree with you about one thing though - Google should pay up or develop their own fix. Let's face it, it's not like Google are exactly strapped for cash is it?

I tried that, didn't work for me.

Fryrender is another unbiased (i.e. physically accurate but slow as f***) renderer rather like Maxwell, Indigo and Luxrender which gives absolutely fantastic quality if you can afford to wait.

Luxrender is one of the more obscure render engines that some of you might not have heard of. On their website (http://www.luxrender.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=1) there is a vote for support for the next modeller format. Currently SketchUp is in 6th place with a pathetic 660 votes compared with 3ds Max which is in the lead with over twice as many. I'm sure that some of you will be able to influence this a little

Luxrender, like Indigo is free and open source BTW. It has OS X and Linux versions.

I spend most of my time in SU adding detail and refining ideas. I go straight from pencil sketches to 3d models. I use it to try out different design options, and also work out construction details.

I use components extensively, so that constructing a building in virtual form is more like building it in life. Then when I have to texture and render, the fewer components I have to configure, the quicker everything else is. I develop fairly detailed 3d models which I take into Vectorworks to take 2d drawings from. This works quite well, as I can get 2d sections, plans and elevations from my model. SketchUp is now pretty much pivotal to the way I work, and I probably spend as much time with the 3d model as I do with 2d drawings.

For me SketchUp is a design tool that allows me to explore 3d design in a very intuitive way, and communicate the design with clients. I can keep adding detail and changing things until the client is happy. I feel that I want to show the client the proposals in a reasonable amount of detail so they are confident that they know what they are going to get.

I have a large texture collection, so this sort of thing doesn't take up too much time for me. I have quite a few Ruby scripts which I use a lot. Pipe along path, chamfer edges, point at centre, group centre, Podium and some others. The things that take the most time in SketchUp for me are things like making windows, doors and curtain walling. I haven't found any decent scripts which automate these things well enough for me yet.

I have been tempted to buy LightUp, but the inaccuracy of the realtime rendering spoils it a bit for me. It looks like a very cool app though!

I really need a plugin which enables me to do environmental modelling for buildings at early design stage. I am playing with EnergyPlus at the moment but it's not really usable yet. At the moment this sort of tool would be the single biggest timesaver for me, and would probably have the largest influence on my work. The most interesting thing about LightUp for me was therefore the possibility of lighting analysis - that would really be useful!

Actually this is one of the SU things I really hate on OS X.

Even when the previews are displayed, they are ugly and too small. What's with this funny little curled piece of paper with a pin in it anyway? SU files don't match the default OS X format for either documents with or without a preview. The non-preview kind of matches, but is a poor, crude substitute.

Image files have thumbnails, so why can't SU files have thumbnails without this curled piece of paper thing?

Definitely a 'could do a lot better' for V7 IMO.

I have just found this little gem of Didier's and am going to test it on a rapid prototyping machine with quite a detailed SketchUp model. I hope the resulting geometry works well, I'll post results.

I swap files between PC and Mac all the time, and I have seen no problems so far.

Didier, I'm happy to try to modify this script, but first I need to know how to decrypt it.
Could you possibly give me some more information and I'll try it.

Pity TBD is somewhat occupied just now, else I'm sure he would look at it

What about Didier's heightfield generator script here:- http://www.crai.archi.fr/RubyLibraryDepot/Ruby/em_geo_page.htm
The documentation is here:- http://www.crai.archi.fr/RubyLibraryDepot/Ruby/Heightfield_gen.pdf

I tried it because I wanted to generate a rippled water plane, but couldn't get it to work at all. As they say however, "your mileage may vary".

I am using this at the moment. The latest version is 0.9.4. Make sure you are using this one. It is still beta software, so bugs and crappy documentation are to be expected. The later the version you use, the more likely it is that bugs will have been fixed.

I haven't had the same problems are you are having though, but I am experiencing different ones. To be honest I don't think the plugin is ready for proper use yet. There aren't enough material/surface definitions, and some basic functionality is missing at the moment. To start with you can't duplicate zones, which means that creating zones is time-consuming and prone to inconsistencies. You also can't edit certain basic properties like model elevation and zone names. That said, this app needs people to work with it to improve it. There is an e-mail address for feedback, and I guess that should be the first source of assistance. One of the biggest problems for UK users is the lack of free weather data for use with E+. It costs GBP330 for weather data for just 1 zone, which is just ridiculous.

I have a long list of questions and suggestions to send to the development team. Hopefully it will be of some help. I really hope this will develop into something truly valuable for everyone involved in building design.

[Edit: v0.9.4 is causing lots of bugsplats for me, so it might not be worth 'upgrading' if you have an older version.]

Any chance of either posting a version of the video we can view on OS X? I get a codec error in Quicktime using the WMV plugin. No Xvid for the Mac AFAIK.

There is one critical thing that you have to consider when writing manuals, and that is the the type of person reading it. I have found on the SU forum, that most people (and depressingly, students seem to be the worst of all) just don't read anything. Unless something is completely intuitive, and I haven't seen that yet, there will always be questions, and that is where manuals/tutorials come in.

I like video tutorials, they are effectively the same as someone showing you how to do something. As we are all visually orientated, it's much easier to learn this way. However, for rendering, you really need the facility to stop the tutorial during the render process and resume afterwards. If I knew how to do this, I would create video tuts for V2, so if anyone has any information in this regard, I would be grateful if you could pass it on.

We still also need printed documentation though. Sometimes certain users (obviously the type that do actually read) do want to sit down and really understand how things work, and this is where a comprehensive manual is good. We obviously need to strike a balance between the 'Getting Started' type guide and an in-depth tutorial. I guess ideally we need both.

To get back to the point of the thread however, we clearly don't want to give out a date for V2 whether it is for closed beta, open beta or general release, find that there is a tricky problem, and then disappoint everyone with a delay. The longer you wait, the more annoyed you would get.

Simultaneous PC and Mac release is scheduled, but at the moment all my v2 testing is done in VMWare on the Mac. The information that has already been posted is about as much as you are going to get. There is a render with the V2 engine on the Podium forum, but don't get excited because it doesn't really show off anything other than blurred reflection, which is rather nice

@unknownuser said:

My comment back to clients like that is this:

Quality, Speed, Price.....Pick 2!

Scott

I love this! I'm going to use it a lot I think

I too am getting OS X Leopard SU instability and lockups. Mainly due to using the pushpull tool - I think. The fact that people are still posting about this 5 months after you uploaded your fix, leads me to believe that the latest updates haven't fixed the issue. I'm going to try it and see if things improve, even though my issues don't seem to be the same.

Thanks for the time you have spent on this inio!

As wmanning says, in Europe yes, but it depends where, and it actually has to be in Europe. I assume there is a clue in the thread title.

Somewhere central and fairly inexpensive would be perfect. Belgium/Netherlands/France/Italy all good. Outside Europe, no. I have nothing against other places, it's just the travel costs.

Excellent news. I have wanted something like this since v4!

The latest version of Podium supports soft (diffused) shadows, unlike earlier versions. There is no way to change the sunlight implementation, but if you want the shadows even softer, you might be able to position some transparent geometry in front of the sun. I haven't ried it, so I'm not sure if it will work. Might be worth a try though.

@ilay7k said:

Konstantine(aka mentor) use lsystem(onyxtree4max and Houdini) made such http://www.3dmentor.ru/3dcenter/branch_grow_01.mov

This looks fantastic, but it doesn't look like they are for SketchUp. I'm sure someone could implement this sort of thing though. We have some spectacular complex plugins, it's a case of one of the ruby gurus getting inspired to write one which builds trees though I guess

I'm pleased to hear Mike uses a 'Hackintosh'. There is a lot of information on the internet, but this sort of thing needs a lot more publicity IMO. There are also reports on the net that someone is running the tiny new Asus eee-pc with OS X.

There is no doubt that Mac hardware is way more expensive than PC hardware. I am aware of the arguments that Mac hardware is often of a higher specification, but fundamentally it is way overpriced, and even the most devoted Apple advocate would be hard pressed to argue against this. I bought a MacBook Pro, and it cost 30-50% more than an equivalent Windows laptop of similar capability. However it is so much better-designed and nicer to use. From the backlit keyboard, slot-loading DVD writer and tiny PSU with its magsafe connector, to its battery life, compact size and light weight. The Mac Pro machines don't seem to have this same detail design superiority, so I wouldn't have any hesitation at all in using PC hardware for a desktop machine. In fact with one of the excellent Silverstone cases (http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_contents.php?pno=ml02&area=usa) and a Micro ATX board with a Core 2 quad CPU, your system won't lose much in terms of style either.

It is true that Apple's licensing forbids installation on non-Apple hardware, but seriously, if you have legally purchased some software, who is to say how you can use it? You are not violating any genuine moral principles (like stealing for example) just taking issue with the wording of the agreement. It is arguable as to whether you are harming Apple's interests in running Leopard on PC hardware, because although they are suffering by not selling the hardware, they are benefitting by selling their software, and from an increased user base.

So in short, when I repair my spare PC, it will be running OS X Leopard.

Alpha 3 is being tested internally, but there is lots of work to do. I can't elaborate on timescale though I'm afraid.