Paul,
To learn more, how to generate 3skeng compatible groups & components open the 3skeng client, click on the tab “tutor”. Hover over the three grey vertical lines on the right side and click on the play button. This will open a window with an overview of all tutorials. See the lowest section “Advances use”
Regards,
Sebastian
Hi Paul,
that’s a long wish list for this Christmas 
But… Valves are already part of the library.
Do you know, that you can insert 3skeng connectors such as flanges, threaded fittings, clamp ring fittings etc. in a component and make so your own components working with 3skeng? All functions, such as connect, edit, list and label will than work with your component in the same way than with 3skeng components.
Sebastian
thank you for your positive feedback. We also receive regular feedback from 3skeng users. Many additional libraries have been published in 2013 and further libraries will follow soon. We appreciate all user feedback very much which feed direct into the development process.
You are right: the 3skeng website need some polishing. However, once the software is installed in run stabile and speed up the generation of engineering models remarkable. We currently invest in development of function and libraries. A new website and also a new setup process will follow.
@unknownuser said:
I have recently had to model an entire project using Revit and needed to model every single item that wasn't in the generic collection (pretty much all of them) and it took forever. With the libraries bought today I managed to model an entire plantroom in around an hour! Fantastic.
Regards Sebastian
@bob james said:
@raineysky said:
Bump. Sigh
.....
When I tried it there was only metric units so it was, unfortunately, of no use to me.
I reallycould use it for my facility models.
Hi Bob,
if you activate "click here to add 3skeng libraries..." it will open a window which show you all available libraries. Imperial sizes are available for imperial C-PVC, imperial PFA, imperial Steel, imperial stainless steel, and imperial ductwork.
Numerous imperial standards can be used in conceptual mode.
Regards, Sebastian
Frederik,
the website 3skeng.com is up and running. I opened the website and everything is looking good. Can you please describe the difficulties you have?
Regards, Sebastian
Frederik,
FYI: 3skeng now including a tool to generate rectangular ductwork. New libaries are also available since today.
Regards, Sebastian
@kielly said:
This is very frustrating but 3Skeng does not want to load correctly. The darn tools menu doesn't expand and it wants a registration every time we start up on two different machines. Any idea's why.
Kielly,
your internet connection need to be compliant with the synchronization process demand. For further information please have look on the lower section of the 3skeng Q&A page: http://www.3skeng.com/en/support.htm
The activation process needs to be completed. Please look to all folders (including the spam folder) of your email inbox at the point you expect the email from 3skeng.
You need to install one 3skeng tool (currently only "pipe") if you use 3skeng the first time. Complete the process of installing the tool from the “my 3skeng” section in the 3skeng client. The pipe tool can be used for a period with full functionality for free.
In case you have a purchased license and setup a new computer you just need to use the same email address you used for the first activation on the new computer. The database will then synchronize and restore the latest status on your new computer.
Regards
Sebastian
Frederik,
thanks for the positive feedback. The label and list tool was also very high ranked on our internal whish list and we use these functions a lot in our actual engineering projects.
Further libraries will follow step by step. The 3skeng software architecture does currently not allow to upload own libraries in the database. The purchased libraries will be maintained automatically.
However, you can place 3skeng detail connectors in your own components to make them 3skeng compatible.
Regards, Sebastian
Frederik,
We started to send out the email notifications. Further notifications will follow soon. If you activate 3skeng 2 with the same parameter you used for your first purchased 3skeng release. the 3skeng client will replace the evaluation status with the purchased status.
Regards, Sebastian
If anyone had problems to synchronize the 3skeng database please download the latest setup which should fix the problem...
Howard and Frederik,
thank you for the positive feed-back. Yes we are working on a new release which will have a function to generate bill of materials and the pipe diameter is one of the properties shown in the list. The ability to change a pipe diameter is also on our internal whish list but not yet part of the upcomming release.
The most important new function is the ability to use actual components with real dimensions. Here a short preview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TWb5Na_Ytw
3skeng 2.0 is now available.
Regards Sebastian, SHK
Could you fix the problem? You can define the number of segments the first time you use the Pipe tool.
The new release on http://www.3skeng.com has a settings menue with the possiblility to define the number of segments.
Regards, Sebastian
We proudly present 3skeng Pipe Conceptual!
The new plugin is now available. It was quite a hard piece of work to shape the software user handling until we reached the point where we had no more idea how to make it faster and even more user friendly.
It took longer then expected, we spent more then calculated… but this seems to be the nature of software development…
At this point, we want to thank you guys for the big amount of positive and constructive feedbacks in this forum and via email which kept us both, highly motivated and focused on our way to finishing this first professional release of this software.
We tried hard to keep the price as low as possible. In relation to the relatively small user group and to the costs of other piping software, we think we reached a quite good target. Believe us: The project is still a relevant entrepreneurial risk and a possible return of invest is far in the future. But: Your feedback, our motivation and our ideas drive us to continue and develop further tools which will make 3skeng to a strong engineering plug-in for SketchUp.
Another good news: We decided to expand the duration for the free version until April 2010. We expect that a fraction of the users who have tried 3skeng Pipe LT decide for the purchasable release, which has quite valuable additional tools and functions.
If you like the software, it would be great if you tell this your colleagues and friends
Check out the new software at http://www.3skeng.com
Regards, Sebastian
@Bob (Watkins): It is our target to roll out more and more functionality and develop with 3skeng a powerful engineering tool. HVAC systems (first industrial and later domestic) will be one of the main focuses of the functionality.
Some more comments regarding the pricing as you asked earlier: The numbers of users for an engineering software based on SketchUp are very limited. It seems that most of the professional users working with the traditional software packages like Autodesk MEP, Microstation, Solid Works etc. even in the conceptual phase. We hope more and more engineers will discover the beauty of fast conceptual design with SketchUp. The pricing of 3skeng must consider the current situation. We ensure 3skeng will give all professional users a lot value for their money and the time saving potential in their daily work will result in a fast return on invest.
@John (JClements): Thank you very much for your post and the offer to get us in contact with the piping engineer in your company.
We are currently in the realization phase for the 3skeng engineering version. There is unfortunately not to much room for changes and additional features for the coming release. I hope for your understanding in this point.
We actual work to implement as much as possible the feedback we received including your comments on page 2 as well as the feedback from Jean Lemire and Howard Leslie (Thanks also to you both) and numerous emails.
The option to use pre-selected centerlines would be without any doubt very useful but the implementation in the actual concept seems to be a too big challenge at this moment for us (i.e. How to create a smart user interface for pipe diameters after reducers or reducing Tees?).
The new pipe function in 3skeng engineering will again focus on conceptual design. The main usage will be piping space arrangement and the fast generation of conceptual piping models. New functionality will help a lot better to draw a pipe from “A” to a specific endpoint “B”. The implementation of a T into an existing pipeline will work much smarter and it will be possible to generate eccentric reducers. An editing function will allow to modify generated pipelines as shown in the movie on 3skeng.com.
It would be very interesting to talk to you and your colleagues. Our main engineering experience is in the field of semiconductor and solar cell manufacturing Fabs. Drain systems and waste water treatment are also required in this field but for sure not in the same extend like in your designs. I will contact you via PM.
@Mike Lucey: We are unfortunately currently not in a position to publish a price for 3skeng engineering. I hope for your understanding.
The idea with the free license for users in this forum who gave us all the valuable feedback is very good. We will contact them as soon as the development has reached the beta release status.
Thank you also for your ideas regarding the 3skeng business model. We will discuss your input in our team.
And thank you very much for the “The Daily CatchUp” offer. We will contact you via PM.
Dear All,
In the past two weeks I unfortunately did not visit the SketchUcation Forum as we are really busy with our 3skeng software development tasks.
I want to answer the open questions as follows:
1) Problems to install 3skeng on a MAC
We are sorry if there are problems installing 3skeng on a MAC. Please send us your feedback to support@3skeng.com so we can help to solve the problem. Please note, that 3skeng for MAC is only available for OS/X and SketchUp 7.
2) Pricing after October 2009
To develop professional software is a relevant investment. We have and we do spend a lot of engineering and software development resources into the 3skeng project.
Our intention to release the free version of 3skeng was first to receive user feedback which will help us to align our software development targets and second to learn about the size of the potential user group which need such a piece of software.
The current status is, that we have received a lot of positive feedback and good ideas, also via the SketchUcation forum – Thank you all!
Regarding the potential number of users we learned that we need to be patient and need to spend effort and money into marketing and advertisement. But in the moment we have to concentrate our full energy into software development.
As in almost every software development project we are fighting with the complexity of unexpected problems. The required time and spending is much higher then planned, the earnings are currently zero. Believe me: This project is a relevant entrepreneurial risk!
All this learning is part of our price calculation. As we are in the middle of the learning curve we are currently not able to define a final price. The 3skeng user group are SketchUp Pro users working professional in the field of engineering with focus on piping systems. We promise to set a reasonable price which will ensure a fast return on invest for our target users.
The pricing will also be subject of the extend of the functions we achieve to implement in the first commercial release of the software. To increase usage value of 3skeng we plan to implement the placement of connectors such as flanges in the workflow, offer a pipe-elbow element which allow to reach much easier a defined piping end point and make the integration of T-pieces in existing pipelines a lot easier. The SketchUp-like user interface is always our highest development target.
3) Should this post be kept in the forum or should it be moved to quarantine?
It seems, that this post is in the middle of a more fundamental discussion. The pro and con arguments are all comprehensible.
Here is our view:
Information about a new software can be valuable for this forum even if published by the author.
It would have been so easy to ask a friend to place this post. I thought it is much more straight forward if I post myself with my real name open and honest.
An information, how to solve a problem with an available product can be a lot more helpful then a faked 5 star product review initiated by the product manufacturer. This is not our marketing style and I hope this will be tolerated in this forum.
If the product is good, I am confident an independent forum member would refer to 3skeng sooner or later. To start this post myself was an acceleration task as we need urgent a better understanding if it is worth to invest into the 3skeng project.
The feedback in this thread is so valuable for us also as we have currently no relation to anyone in this forum.
On the other hand I understand the business model of SketchUcation. For sure is work and is cost money to run such a forum.
If this forum support new upcoming projects, the companies behind will spend in advertisement as soon as they are confident, that their business model will work.
As currently the 3skeng Plugin is for free and as there is no third party advertisement linked to 3skeng there is actual no possibility for any return on invest.
Mike, thank you for your email with the link to the advertise pricelist. Please give us room to breath and time to develop our first commercial Plugin for SketchUp. As soon as this product is ready and we find capacities for marketing we will advertise on Forums.SketchUcation.com!
I would appreciate if my answer is satisfactorily for you and you do not move this post into quarantine.
Regards, Sebastian, SHK
Today we published the MAC version. We are very interested, how many of you are working with a MAC...
Best regards
Sebastian
Thank you for your answers, suggestions and positive feedback. Yes, Josef Leibinger is part of our software team and he is dong a great Job.
We have very interesting functions (flex, editing...) on our roadmap. We are working hard to convert our prototypes into products "ready to publish".
Daniel,
please make sure, your length snapping under "Model info>units" is using a value bigger then 00000.
This should solve your problem.
Regards, Sebastian
P.S. we could fix a problem at the mail server. All email addresses ending with @3skeng.com are now up and running.
thank you for all the positive feedback
We work hard on the release of 3skeng conceptual. It will have a lot more features and possibilities then 3skeng pipe free including some of the whishes above.
We will consider your whishes and ideas and try to implement as much as possible in the comming release.
Sebastian
this may help some people who need to generate piping systems in SketchUp: