Posts made by Derek Edison

I'm seeing copy-paste between models is broken. Options to paste and paste-in-place are grayed out for me. Deal-breaker.

I posted this in the Trimble forum and it was recommended that I post it here so I would get notification of any developments:

Is there or will there be an option for corporate customers requiring many licenses to purchase a corporate key or perhaps blocks of licenses? Managing individual licensing per user account is a nightmare for IT admins. PayPal is also a non-starter at a lot of businesses.

I see that there is another payment processor in the works but I don't see anything specific to bulk licensing which is really our issue. I can work around PayPal if I have to. Any information about future plans is appreciated.

@rich o brien said:

Does EPS even support transparency?

EPS is postscript so no.

Export the model to DAE to get the texture. It appears that it's the same texture for both colors so just double click the tag color in the Tag tray to get the RGB values for each color.

If this is Pro and you have groups or components in the model, you can right-click one of them in the outliner and choose "zoom selection" to possibly get you in the neighborhood. Don't know about the online version.

Textures.com has some decent free stuff.
https://www.textures.com/browse/plain-tiles/35905?seamless=1

@ntxdave said:

Again, for these interim releases, will my current license info work?

Have other Classic users received an email? If so, I wonder why I have not received anything.

2019.2 just installs over the top of earlier 2019 versions. My 2019 SN and authorization code works.

@ntxdave said:

Probably a dumb question but when I check for an update in SketchUp (I am running Pro with a Classic license) it says I am up to date but I still have 19.1.17. Why does it I am up to date?

I also have not received any emails about the new release.

BTW: I just checked my email and I received the email about the updated license last year on July 16. Have not received anything this year.

If I download this version, does it require a license update if I try to install it?

I haven't seen the in-app check work since version 2017. 2018 still reports it's the current version.

@justintse said:

Yep - licensing costs are why that's a subscription only feature

https://forums.sketchup.com/t/announcing-new-features-to-sketchup-2019-and-layout/99189/18

I think the jury is still out on this one. In theory I could still import as much data as I want with the tool as is. It's just painful to do it. If I were a talented developer I might even be able to code a tool that tiles things in automagically.

I'm curious to know what this actually does. Can anyone under subscription test this feature out and answer some questions for those of us with classic licenses?

Is the imagery better or is it just more grainy Digital Globe stuff? Does it stitch all the photography together or tile it? What does it do with the terrain? Is that stitched together or does it come in tiled as separate groups? Are the edges matched?

Thanks in advance!

And so it begins for classic license holders...

"Large Area Imports for Add Location. Lucky news for you subscription holders! This new feature is only available for SketchUp Pro and Studio subscribers."

Here's the AutoDesk/ Adobe playbook if you forgot. We're now on step 6.

@derek edison said:

1. Decide to push your customer base to a subscription model to increase and guarantee revenue.
2. Bundle your "flagship" product with other low selling or low cost apps/ services to increase perceived value.
3. Price your new subscription offering at half the perpetual license cost to offer easy entry but higher returning revenues past 3-4 years ownership vs. perpetual licensing.
4. Convert software development to a rolling release model. No need for major updates unless there is a disruptive competitor in the market.
5. Market your perpetual license customers to get them to switch over to subscription with "special one-time" offers to convert.
6. Make owning perpetual licenses progressively more expensive/difficult and keep any substantial new features as subscription only. Do not reveal any future plans for perpetual licenses. Rely on FUD to move them over.
7. After about two years or so cancel perpetual licenses to force the remaining hold-outs to subscription. Grandfather special subscription rates on on former perpetual licenses and then increase costs until there is no difference anymore.

I don't know anything about trueSpace but I don't think SU will understand the coordinate base that you are coming from. A workaround I sometimes use for imports is to draw an element like a square at 0,0,0 in the source application and include that with each export. Then just line up all the squares in SU and delete when you are done.

Got a reply finally. They don't know why. It's been forwarded to the 'appropriate teams'.

This is just a heads up to those of you with classic licenses you have set to auto-renew:

They don't.

I had 4 of mine set to auto-renew last week and I let them go to see what would happen. I had to renew manually the day after they expired. I double checked email archives to make sure these were on auto-renew and confirmed my billing profile is set up properly. Messaged support to inquire as the disposition of two more set to renew in May and they replied that they were set to 'off' and I would have to renew manually. No reply when I asked why this happened.

@web said:

I was wondering: with all the dissatisfaction expressed here and elsewhere over SketchUp’s recent past performance and their apparent direction for the future, how many of you are seriously considering transitioning to different software?

We'll ride out the perpetual licensing as long as we can but I'll start looking at alternatives soon so I have a plan before it goes subscription only. We'll make the call then.

@numerobis said:

@rv1974 said:

What irritates even more are those 'Sketchup sages' with fairy tales about "no need for new features because people have diffrent needs".

Yes, i noticed that too.

I suspect they are just protecting their mealticket. They don't want Trimble to poach their existing paid extensions or develop new features so they have more opportunity to develop more.

@kaas said:

It all depends of course how long they will keep the classic license.

I would give it 2 years based on what I'm seeing compared to what happened with Autodesk. This seems to be playing out closer to that than Adobe. If you didn't go through the Adobe & Autodesk subscription transitions this is the basic playbook:

1. Decide to push your customer base to a subscription model to increase and guarantee revenue.
2. Bundle your "flagship" product with other low selling or low cost apps/ services to increase perceived value.
3. Price your new subscription offering at half the perpetual license cost to offer easy entry but higher returning revenues past 3-4 years ownership vs. perpetual licensing.
4. Convert software development to a rolling release model. No need for major updates unless there is a disruptive competitor in the market.
5. Market your perpetual license customers to get them to switch over to subscription with "special one-time" offers to convert.
6. Make owning perpetual licenses progressively more expensive/difficult and keep any substantial new features as subscription only. Do not reveal any future plans for perpetual licenses. Rely on FUD to move them over.
7. After about two years or so cancel perpetual licenses to force the remaining hold-outs to subscription. Grandfather special subscription rates on on former perpetual licenses and then increase costs until there is no difference anymore.

Adobe is done.
Autodesk is on step 7.
Trimble is on step 4. Step 5 has already been mentioned over on the official form as a "customer loyalty" program.

@applemango85 said:

I need to read the sketchup site but I guess that means if you get a 1 year m&s you don’t get to keep version 2019 (or other) once it runs out?

Click through the classic license link. Still $120 annually to keep your perpetual licenses. (for now)
They are definitely following what Adobe and AutoDesk have done. As a company that has transitioned through both, my advice is to hang on to those perpetual licenses as long as you can!

Edit: By that I mean pay the M&S every year. Don't let it lapse or your TCO goes up by 2.5x

Release notes:
https://help.sketchup.com/en/release-notes-0

Back up. Looks like we are moving to a subscription model for Pro.

I also see a link for a "classic license" (perpetual) so no worries I think.

Down for everyone according to https://www.isitdownrightnow.com/. Extension warehouse was in maintenance mode earlier. Think this might be it.