I bought S4U's Export Scenes and it is extremely uneven in its function and now I can't get the licensing to work. EXTREMELY frustrated and disappointed.

The licensing scheme from the start was funky and now it won't work at all. Not a good user experience.
This is the really helpful error code I get:

Sorry! Error Active.
error

What does one do with a response like this?

Wasted my money.

Yes the whole licensing for corporate users is a huge issue. I work for a company which is one of Sketchup's largest user bases and for us this process is untenable/unsupportable. Most users are not allowed administrative access and individual buying is not desirable and is frowned upon from an IT Asset management perspective.

Additionally receiving separate emails for each one is another less than ideal means of dealing with the licenses.

LOVE the products, the licensing process for these great products is far far far less than ideal, don't even get me started on S4u and that calamity of licensing which is effectively useless.

Thanks

Karl

@unknownuser said:

We are discussing how to handle bulk licensing/sales and should have some more info next week.

@Rich O Brien

FYI your PayPal processor wouldn't accept my corporate card for payment.

Unfortunately it won't load on my Mac OSX latest version of SU, below is the Load Error screen:

Error Loading File /Users/kmead/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2014/SketchUp/Plugins/mult_dim_tool/multiple_dimension_tool_loader.rb
Error: #<LoadError: cannot load such file -- inputbox>
/Applications/SketchUp 2014/SketchUp.app/Contents/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:45:in require' /Applications/SketchUp 2014/SketchUp.app/Contents/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/lib/ruby/2.0.0/rubygems/core_ext/kernel_require.rb:45:in require'
/Users/kmead/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2014/SketchUp/Plugins/mult_dim_tool/multiple_dimension_tool_loader.rb:8:in <top (required)>' /Applications/SketchUp 2014/SketchUp.app/Contents/Resources/Content/Tools/extensions.rb:197:in require'
/Applications/SketchUp 2014/SketchUp.app/Contents/Resources/Content/Tools/extensions.rb:197:in load' /Users/kmead/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2014/SketchUp/Plugins/multiple_dimension_tool.rb:17:in register_extension'
/Users/kmead/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2014/SketchUp/Plugins/multiple_dimension_tool.rb:17:in `<top (required)>'

Thanks, hope this helps you get to the next iteration.

Karl

I use both for work. SU is like bringing a knife to a tank fight, there is really little comparison. Although you can use SW to make quick models they are a mess and are very difficult to rework. Where it is incredible is getting to the exact thing you wish to produce that is very complex and requires high precision between them all.

SU can do many things, including making files that can be 3D printed just like any other 3D CAD program. SW does not own this domain in any way, lots of students may use it as well as those who work for well heeled companies but if you are not doing complex assemblies with critical relationships, it's not worth your money.

I print and machine parts from both programs, they look identical when they are done regardless of which program they are drawn in. Autodesk has a suite of free programs you can use to make files for printing you may wish to try.

A well drawn part in SU will print just fine, you need to ensure its a solid to not have problems. Use the least geometry possible and you will be much happier.

Congrats Chris, I am happy the team is continuing to choose very talented and driven individuals to fill out their staff.

I hope you enjoy Boulder.

Karl

I guess our cohort who suggests that a man of firmness and virtue (I wonder if a woman could possibly be such an individual?) didn't take the time to watch the videos of the college students attempting to do just that and failing miserably. A few of them appeared to be of real firmness and virtue. Even the young lady who acquitted herself remarkably well failed to really have an effect on the situation.

I grew up in a very rural place in northern New England and used to hunt for food. When I was a hunter, the fish and game department rules for semi automatic weapons were that they could not have more then five rounds in the clip (or have a clip that held more than 5 rounds). I never needed more than two. Why anyone would argue they need a twenty/thirty etc round clip for any weapon used for hunting is beyond my understanding. If you can't take it down in under five you need to spend a lot more time at the range.

Sadly in this case no amount of gun control legislation would have solved the problem of keeping this individual from getting a weapon: he had no record of any kind to keep him from successfully getting any weapon he desired. Had he been properly treated for his mental illness he would have been much less likely to have felt the need to perform this heinous act and his mother would have known she had to keep those guns locked up, as all guns should be, away from the mentally infirm. Appropriate treatment would also have generated a record/paper trail that would show up in a proper background check keeping him from easily getting such a weapon.

Ultimately we will try and treat the effect and not the causes of this and all those other tragedies. Gun control is one of the answers, as in not having military grade killing tools all over (AK47 M16 etc related weapons).

Taking proper care of the mentally ill which requires not only a change in the care, but a change in the social attitude about such care, so those who need it will receive it, is a critical action on a national and state level to solve. This is not only a legislative change but a social engineering change so people who are clearly not normal or "right" need to be assisted by their families and the communities they live in, not leaving them to molder in homes or their apartments to descend into a madness the rest of us cannot understand or control.

One could consider reading this to understand one of the base issues we have in the US.

Lack of adequate mental health care is a big part of why we have the tragedies of late, one can point directly to changes that came about during the Reagan administration. At the time, I was working for a police department as state after state dumped their mental health facilities occupants into the street, we went from not having any homeless, disoriented or otherwise individuals on the street to many. We are now paying the real cost of deferring appropriate care for the mentally ill.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/16/i-am-adam-lanzas-mother-mental-illness-conversation_n_2311009.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

My wife and I know of which this woman is speaking, having a child who is outside the norm can be a terrifying experience with little means of getting them the help needed.

One will find there are already several on the Warehouse. One of which looks very soft indeed.

Save as is there, you just need to re add it:

(www.cultofmac.com)

Mac How-To Guides Articles

TUAW's Mac How-To Guides simplify this process, offering a wealth of resources to help users of all skill levels maximize their devices.

TUAW (www.tuaw.com)

We have a Makerbot and several high end 3D printers at work and have no issue with printing exported STL files from SU. In the case of the Makerbot the software gives you plenty of choices of how you want to print the part as do our high end systems.

You can download the Makerbot software for free to check out the features.

Karl

I also have a Samsung I am extremely happy with. It is a 23" monitor which displays at 2048x1152 pixels which is great for use with SU with all the its sub windows open. It is clear, sharp and accurate.

Most monitors out there right now are 1920x1080 which is the current BluRay standard resolution which is why some of you are seeing the pixels on the 27" monitors, they are skimping on the pixels on these large monitors.

Apple's current large monitors are 27" and offer 2560 by 1440 pixels, others offer similar but they do get pricey (but compared to the 22" Cinema displays I bought 12 years ago they are way cheap).

We'll start seeing some really high resolution displays later this year, akin to the ones they use to look at Xrays and other high resolution images. Higher resolution and quality is worth every penny you spend on them over the years you will have them. ( We still have two of the original 22" Cinema displays working just fine in our studio as secondary monitors, a pretty good value over time)

At Art Center he was one of the many influences on our sketch style for industrial design. I still have some of the books showing his sketches for Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back and I think one of the others.

The Greebles will never end, especially so since we have them in Sketchup!

Generally for simple things it is much better to remodel the parts (such as a column or other basically simple object) in SU. They will have much less geometry, will likely look better within SU and will take up much less disk space (file size will be less).

Most imported models I deal with have way too much geometry for what they are being used for so I remodel them. Often my models look much better than the original did in the originally authored file.

Karl

@solo said:

@unknownuser said:

I walk happily on a sidewalk chatting with a friend and then I stop at a red light . Of a sudden I get a cloud of cigarette smoke right into my face.

Yet you are happy to breath in the fumes from passing cars....

Ironically, some modern cars output cleaner air than they are taking in.

There is a very big difference between having smoke blown into your face and getting down on all fours to have vehicle exhaust blown onto you. One is a choice and the other is forced upon us.

In my case I am happy to not live in a big city where the forced consumption of vehicle exhaust is a constant feature of life on the street.

@mike lucey said:

OSX

Mac OSX for the win...

Masterful, Mr Lucey, just masterful

I find it amazing how willing we are to tolerate a situation where some products are so unreliable. If our cars were that unreliable we would be up in arms. Aahh well so it goes.

Good luck with resurrecting your computer.

Here in Michigan (one of those fifty states we have) they outlawed smoking in nearly every public building, to include for the first time bars and restaurants. Oddly enough sales improved as those of us who stopped going out (to avoid smelling like an ashtray after coming home) started frequenting bars once again.

Across the pond I am sure you will suffer for a while but eventually when you do have to suffer a place where people do smoke you will be amazed and likely disgusted that its allowed.

I have only used SU with a Mac, the only rubies I have trouble with are those that utilize MSW specific features that are just not available for a Mac (MSW Explorer etc) or the writer of the ruby made a call that just doesn't work with Safari for example.

All rubies go into the Google SU folder which is located in the Library folder at the top level of the hard drive: Hard drive: Library: Application Support: Google Sketchup 8.0: Plugins or Tools depending on what the person who wrote the ruby intended.

A bit more involved maybe than installing them on MSW but it works the same.

As for the menus, they can be arrayed where you want them, I have them on the left as most monitors are wider than they are tall so I have more working room than a thick tool bar across the top allows. It may be a function of what I am working on I suppose.

I would be sure to download the latest versions of each of your preferred rubies rather than trying to drag them from your windows backup.

Hope that helps.

Karl

For mobility and utility, the "notebook" style computers are the best for doing both. The bummer is they are not as inexpensive. The Macbook Air is the strongly prefered solution at my workplace. Light, instant on, able to display and model on but very easy to tote around. A netbook comes nowhere close to the same utility, had one and it wasn't enough to actually do what I needed and was way too slow to really be useful. I ended up bringing my laptop instead.

Although tablets are not there yet from a brute number crunching standpoint, they will be soon. The iPad is faster than the old Mac Pro G5 2ghtz machine I used to use all day long when I first started using SU. The issue is less the power and ability but the marketability of an app and the real opportunity to make money off an app. Look how many really good 3D apps exist for PCs, not many really compared to many other software areas, when there is volume there are going to be solutions.

The other issue is interface. If you have tried Alias's Sketchbook Pro, it really has a great interface which works well with a tablet, less so on a PC unless you use a Wacom display. There may not be a great tablet 3D modeler now, one year after tablets finally hitting the mainstream, but give it another year with a wide variety of units available and there will be.

I will be picking up a tablet soon to be able to quickly go through a presentation or set of working drawings on site, being able to access, display and send something immediately without having to wait or carry more than I need is worthwhile for me. The more so when I travel and can only really do email and minor work anyway...carrying a pound of instant on equipment beats the 8+ pounds of laptop and ancillary gear a laptop requires.

Tablets are not ready yet, but it won't be long.