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Thank you all for the information you shared, I appreciate it!
One last question: Is there a plug in that will convert each SU rectangle face into two triangles? SU -> Collada -> Blender didn't work very well because Blender wanted two triangles instead of SU's one face.
I have >20 years of Sketchup Make experience and have made over 1800 models. Until now Make has met my needs very well.
Now I'm looking at several changes:
And have a couple of requirements:
I am not keen on learning Blender unless it is my only path forward. Am I in a hopeless situation or will SU 2025 work for me?
Thank you for the information.
As I expected there is nothing I can see in the Pro version that I know I would use. Maybe the DEM data but its a real corner case as I routinely 100km DEM data in each project. I can do crude tweeking as absolutely needed but the idea of fine tuning feels like a workload that's too much. Perhaps there are some plugins of use to me but not the product itself.
I use SU Make 2016 with a custom export plug I must use. I am 100% content with SU Make 2016; I have never seen any feature in any version of SU Pro that I thought I needed. Perhaps I'm wrong tho.
I could use Blender but I really don't like how it all works.
My SU work is recreating Downtown Chicago in 1947 for use in a simulator running streetcars and the L around the Loop. Everything is based on Sanborn Fire Insurance maps and photos.
Some recent work: https://www.elvastower.com/forums/index.php?/topic/35844-a-couple-downtown-shots/
And with source material: https://www.elvastower.com/forums/index.php?/topic/35582-oelerich-berry-hanchett-paper/
I assume SU Make 2016 won't work on Win 11, correct?
What am I going to have to do and is there anything in particular in the Pro version that might make me think the price is worth it?
Would anyone here tell me if any version of Windows Make will install and run on Windows 11?
Assuming no... will the current version of SU Pro save in SU Make 2016 or earlier? I have a couple of critical plugin's that do a special export process that I rather doubt will work in a current version and so I'd like to know if I should try and keep my old WIN 7 machine alive to keep that one function alive.
TIA.
I'm going to give it a try but before I do a question or two. I want the AI to write code that pops up a window that will accept two ints. The first is used to search/match a specific database field assigned to faces and when there is a match to plug in the second int as a replacement value.
My question is this: Do I need specify anything so the search is performed on all faces... those in components, groups, and all others?
I've been asking ChatGPT lots of questions; Most of it's answers are reasonable, but not all.
Tonight I asked it if it could code in Ruby. It said it could and offered an example.
I then asked if it knew the Sketchup API. Again it said yes.
This may open the door for implemenation of some new plugin functions.
ChatGPT can be found at https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt/
Registration is free. The app is often busy; I find queries late at night are alwasy answered promptly.
I recently acquired two 4k screens and was running them in span mode in UHD resolution -- one very wide screen.
Then I fried something in the video card and for now I'm able to boot my PC into 1 monitor, HD resolution (I consider that considerable progress, BTW). The problem is all of the SU trays I use are lost in deep space, thousands of pixels to the right of the working screen and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get them to come home again and appear inside the SU window frame.
I've tried closing and reopening them, opening other trays, iconizing the app, dropping everything to the windows toolbar... nothing works.
Any suggestions? I am running SU Make 2016.
I use Sketchup 2016 and have a couple thousand models. Will the current version of SU from Trimble successfully save as 2016? Read 2016? I need both on account of a 3rd party game exporter that works for SU 2016 and earlier versions.
How about save as or export something compatible with Blender (too many problems w/ .dae to use that).
What about installing SU Make (2016) on a new PC? IO want to build a new PC sometime in the next 6 months (assuming I can find the necessary parts) and my use of SU 2016 is essential to my hobby. Will a new install pass muster w/ Trimble?
@box said:
The query tool might be what you are after.
https://extensions.sketchup.com/extension/94cdac27-351a-45c6-9059-ea71d72dcc41/utilities-tools
Yes, I use it often.
What I'd like is the output of the query tool to stick around just like the output of the text tool does.
Thank you for the answers.
I did get a peek at the store and could not find what I hoped was there -- something that would record the XYZ as text of any vertex. The Text function will do that for an exposed vertex but not one inside a group or component.
I use SU Make, 2016 and can no longer access Trimble's extension store. Did they turn it off to those of use still using Make or am I looking at a different sort of problem?
I still use SU Make. I have never had a need for the extras that come w/ Sketchup Pro and see no sense in paying such a high price for features I do not need. I make freeware game content and my peers think I make high quality 3d models.
I would have been happy to pay for SU Make but Trimble never asked.
And so my participation in this forum has dropped substantially.
It was my unde5rstanding that your model's file was stored at Trimble, not locally. Is that incorrect?
Profile updated. I use Make 2016.
I won't use Free because I will never use any outside site as a sole repository of my files. Backups? Sure. Distribution? Sure. Only place? Never. Given I have 7000 .skp files (many of which are quite simple), this matter is pretty significant for me.
Even the idea of exporting them as as collada files for the purpose of porting them elsewhere is too much to consider.
This begs the question of whether Trimble can shut down all the versions of Make.
I've never had a need for any of the Pro features and would be happy to pay $100-200 for another version of Make, a product I use almost everyday (for hobby purposes0.
Anything like this thread that indicates Trimble is ending something gets me very worried.
Anyone know what their position is regarding Make, other than the obvious that it is not part of their go-forward plans?
Well they could do something to break most/all of the plug-ins and write equivalents for the core program. That would get people's attention. Doubtful it would generate any good will and whatever money it brought to subscriptions would end as soon as people learned a replacement program (out of spite).
The truth of the mater is the software business is hard. You can make big bucks at the start of a product life-cycle but as time goes on more and more people have every function they need and see no reason in particular to upgrade. The revenue stream dries up and thast's that.
@kaas said:
@roidsan said:
"SketchUp Make isn't getting any younger. We've stopped updating SketchUp Make"
I think this should read "You're running a 2015 version of SketchUp and we want to move you over to something that you will have to pay for."
Its a valid remark if you're making money using Make. For hobbyists, who are happy with the 2015 technology, its pestering.
So apparently old Make(s) got an update to display this new splash screen without you knowing it?
IIRC I started w/ SU "Make" with SU 6. I use 16 now (there were some issues w/ my plug-ins with SU 17.
Very happy it was a free program all of those years.
Now... should I but Pro? Nope. It doesn't give me anything I value. Should I buy it on the expectation it will eventually provide what I want? Very doubtful. Being able to add color to lines hasn't been added since SU 6. Being able to select faces w/o materials hasn't been added either. Being able to manipulate textures in the same way you move lines or faces, nothing there either.
Sure, most of this time it has been in Google's hands but as best I can tell Trimble is doing even less with the code. So when I see the splash screen about Make isn't getting any younger what pops into my mind is what has changed in this product at any time I can now recall that would persuade me to pay big bucks for it? Not a thing. OTOH if they had asked for $60-$100 for each new version I might have forked that over a couple of times to upgrade the installer (that's what usually goes south when the OS changes). 2X-3X that for a subscription? No thanks. Doesn't do anything I need and hasn't added anything I wanted.
Subscription licensing usually means two things: there is not enough money coming in from new purchases which is usually caused by (2) there are no new features worth the development cost relative to new revenue, typically because the software does almost everything that people need. Take a look around... how many of us are still using old versions of MS Office and are perfectly happy with what we have?
This is the post-life stage of software, the time when vermin companies like Computer Associates (not Broadcom) sink their fungus tendrils into the corpse and suck out whatever nutrition (money) can be had by going to subscriptions and counting on companies not wanted to deal with the cost and loss of productivity that comes from moving over to new software..
Stick a form in it folks, SU (at least on the desktop) is done. Whether there is a
"new" cloud based product or not is up to Trimble -- and they're not telling, which usually means really bad news for the current product offering.