I am more a mapping/GIS person than a modeler, but I am a casual SketchUp user. The recent acquisition has sparked a number of conversations, among users and non-users alike. A colleague of mine mentioned his personal belief that SketchUp does not have the architectural cojones necessary for full production work. His opinion is that SketchUp is a fine tool for preliminary drawings and presentations, but AutoCAD is necessary to produce the kind of drawings needed to actually construct things in the real world.

My question to you all is: Is my colleague right about this? I don't personally believe so, but I don't possess any first-hand knowledge I can bring to the table.

And if my colleague is incorrect, can any of you point me to any links that prove it?

I'm thinking "Google Ozone".

Frankly, I don't think much of SketchUp's handling of materials on any level. I've gotten to the point where I only use them as 'placemarks', which I replace using another program (in this case, Bryce):

• Terry

@krisidious said:

politeness is an art-form over there

Really? It certainly doesn't show.

@honoluludesktop said:

Aren't apps. on the cloud slower then those PC based?

The answer to that question is (as it often is): it depends. On the machine and the app. In most cases, if you have an up-to-date machine on an average connection, a desktop app will perform faster (and probably better) then a cloud-based app. However, if that up-to-date machine is on a blazing fast connection, the cloud apps may very well perform better. Alternately, if you have an older machine on an average connection, it will perform much better running apps in the cloud.

We just moved into a new house. My wife and I both have our own offices upstairs, but we decided it would be nice to have a laptop downstairs - just to check our email and to occasionally look something up on Wikipedia or Imdb. The predictable response would be to go out and purchase a netbook. Being who I am, I dusted off an old Dell Inspiron 600m and installed Jolicloud (now Joli OS, I think). I have to say, I am very pleased. That old dell couldn't even run XP very well, but running a cloud-based OS makes it a Spring Chicken again (because it's connection speed is good).

Don't discount the cloud. While I'm a long way from switching over to the cloud completely, it does serve a purpose.

• Terry

Umm....

If you download the model, rather than loading it directly into SU, the 3D Warehouse window persists.

@honoluludesktop said:

In the past, I could not understand the the problems people had with adapting Acad files to SketchUp. Broken, non planer, etc. Incorrect joints between lines, multiple lines in one line, untrimed lines, etc. were almost nonexistent with my own Cad drawings. With my client's Acad drawing however, I spent a day and a half

I think this pretty much hits the nail on the head. The problem isn't with either program - unless you count the fact that humans use them. You can't expect everyone to produce the kind of quality you do.

@dave r said:

Try this: Go to the Shadows settings. Tick the box for Use Sun For Shading and set the Light slider to the left and dark slider all the way to the right. Or you may have to play with them a little.

Hey - thanks, Dave. Worked a treat (although I did have to 'play with them a little').

• Terry

Can we get an image? I'm not really clear about what you're asking.

@thomthom said:

@tpstigers said:

Here's the problem with AutoCAD: it's designed by and for American engineers, a group of people who refuse to adopt the Metric System but insist on working in tenths of feet.

Which tells you just about everything you need to know about translating measurements from SU to CAD.

They are not the only ones. Everything internally in SU is inches...

Actually, I have no problems with inches. It's tenths of feet that drive me crazy.