There is good and bad news (with work-arounds). COLLADA is not a good format for exchanging a CAD file. It doesn't recognize layers, so everything will be on layer 0. It doesn't recognize groups, blocks, or components (I'm pretty sure). And everything becomes triangulated, so a lot of architectural files will need clean-up. But if all you are doing is bringing in a floorplan to kick off a project it isn't too bad (if you have an exporter from you CAD to COLLADA).

The good news is that you can run more than one version of SketchUp on the same PC or Mac. It doesn't force you to uninstall older versions, so you can keep 7 to open a .dwg, save the .skp, then open it in the new version. One extra step in the workflow to keep using a free product.

But it will be interesting to see what workflows people develop here.

If you can't get that to work you could try opening the .skp in DoubleCAD XT (free), and save it as a .dwg. If your 2D views are saved as scenes in the .skp DoubleCAD will create a paper space with viewport for each scene preserving layer visibility settings, view, and 2D or perspective camera properties. It might accelerate getting your design into AutoCAD.

-- William

I created an identical .skp and opened it in DoubleCAD then exported to .3ds and got exactly the same geometry.

But when I grouped each face and exported to .3ds I got exactly what you call showed as your expected 26 faces.

-- William

Is the structural engineer from Pisa?

Great lighting and environment as usual! This might be a fun model to render in a portrait view to emphasize the height.

I know that we'd like to do a Mac and even Linux versions, but right now there are no concrete plans for that. The DoubleCAD video was shot on a Mac running DoubleCAD under VM Fusion because several of us working on DoubleCAD use Macs too, but clearly a native version would be better.

-- William

@gaieus said:

free/eval versions such as (for instance)

• Podium (eval size limit: 640x480)
• IDX Renditioner (eval size limit: 500x500)

Just an FYI, but you got those backwards.
It's Podium 500 x 500
IDX Renditioner at 640 x480

Not that it makes too much difference.

-- William

Sorry I didn't join in on this over the weekend, but my internet went down (made for a great weekend actually).

@ Ken: sorry for whatever happened with the support issue. If you need support and have trouble like that again just PM me here or post on http://forums.doublecad.com and I'll make sure you're taken care of. Sounds like you're happy with TC16. Your DC problems are odd though -- I haven't encountered them.

@ Linea: thanks for the compliments and support.

@Jim: regarding Xrefs, it is only one-way. You can't Xref the DoubleCAD file into SketchUp. But it is 2D CAD designed for documentation, so typically you wouldn't want to do that unless you wanted an elevation or something that you could bring into Layout for a presentation.

Also, creating an Xref is only in the PRO product. If you have an Xref in the drawing you can open it and update it in the free version, but can't create new Xrefs there.

I'm not sure that the Xrefs are the most powerful aspect at this time. We're adding a lot of functionality to them to make Xrefs more robust. I believe the "drafting palette" functionality that we've done in the PRO version is perhaps the best time saver. It is a feature normally found in MCAD products for sectioning and documenting mechanical parts, but we've taken the concept and extended it to surface models like .SKP for architectural elevations, floorplans, sections, and more.

Thanks for the thread here, and thanks for the interest. We really want to move rapidly in development, and are listening carefully to what people say, so thanks too for comments and feedback.

-- William

Thanks for the Mac vote...

By the way, I forgot to pointout that the Webinar we did was recorded and can be viewed here for those interested: http://www.doublecad.com/Products/DoubleCADXTPro/ProFeatures/FileInteropampXrefs/SketchUpWorkflow/tabid/1455/Default.aspx

Just click on the videos tab. The first half shows how DoubleCAD XT handles .SKP models, and the second half shows a bit of additional PRO functionality.

• William

@unknownuser said:

Has anyone out there been able to compare GoToMeeting directly with WebEx...

We've done a number of Webinars using WebEx, and some smaller 1:1 work with GoToMeeting. Both are quite functional and you probably won't see much difference until you start doing larger group meetings, recording, or using dial-in services instead of VOIP.

One tip however is that if you have SketchUp and another 3D application open and are recording at the same time, it is best to always minimize the applications that are not currently in use. If you have to windows open we've seen some performance issues and from time to time WebEx can lock up. Minimize, then enlarge the other and no problems.

-- William

Rather short notice, but we have started running Webinars on DoubleCAD XT and XT PRO. Wednesday, June 10 we'll be doing one on SketchUp to DoubleCAD XT PRO workflow. It will be at 8:30 am PDT (GMT - 7). We'll add more sessions to our calendar including some afternoon sessions to cross over with Asia/Pacific region morning hours.

View upcoming events, and sign-up here:

http://www.doublecad.com/Support/LearningCenter/Webinars/EventsCalendar/tabid/1403/Default.aspx

Hope to see you there!

• William

Regarding DoubleCAD or SketchUp having DWG 2010 compatibility, we both use the DWG from the Open Design Alliance. Our (IMSI/Design's) CTO is the chair of the ODA, and he assures me they are working feverishly to finish it. Once the ODA has the DWG 2010 libraries, it is up to us and Google to update our products to incorporate that version. So it could be some months still before the first version is implemented, and there is no telling in what timeframe Google plans to make their update.

The good news is that Autodesk updates the DWG only every 3 years, so this isn't an annual event.

And are you sure there isn't an option in Revit for DWG 2007 format??? That just seems bizarre to me.

-- William

Not much of a video really...

Now that the AIA Expo is over, and we release our v1.1 this week, I'll see what I can do to show more. We do a pretty good job with SketchUp, but know that there are huge opportunities to improve. So we'd love input from this group.

Thanks,
William

Hi Bob,

DoubleCAD XT Pro has SAT, IGES, will have STP soon, among many other formats. The free version doesn't support ACIS solids, so it is a better companion to surface modelers like SketchUp than solid modelers right now.

-- William

There is no scripting language implemented yet. We will be creating a published SDK and then implement scripting. We have been having lots of discussions about that: whether to do LISP, Ruby, Python... If we implement LISP it might be nearly impossible to make it very highly compatible with existing AutoLISP scripts, so that makes us hesitant to implement LISP. We're still taking input if you have suggestions and opinions!

I've got to admit that progress is slow... I've had a lot of recent hardware problems, resolved only after a format

Also we are a late entry in the AIA Expo2009 coming up in two weeks in San Francisco (booth 739 if you're coming -- just down the aisle from Google and Autodesk), and I've been tagged with creating the booth, etc. So I apologize for the delays. We've been swamped with work recently. I'll try to get on it though as soon as I can.

Bob,

Sorry about the lengthy price stuff. Probably just a little overworked lately, sorry Cadwald if I came across too touchy.

Obviously dropped the ball on the videos. Should have something in a few days.

wm

@cadward said:

...Please compare sale price with sale price.
Amazon clearly sells it today for $559 (just checked). I call your statement being a little deceptive, hey but thats a well accepted advertising strategy...and a lot of companies do it. (just being honest)

...I meant no disrepect to you personally...Just want to know the facts.

Thanks for that last part, the feeling is mutual!

That said let me try to answer a bit more regarding price comparison and being "deceptive." (Hopefully this is read in the academic spirit in which I write it.)

Regarding the first part quoted above, it is too difficult to compare sale price to sale price when the prices change daily, apply to one reseller location for one version, in one geography. Hopefully each potential customer can see list vs. list and see what is the best deal that they can get on either product. It may be online, or it may be tossed into a bundle with other products coming from a VAR.

I checked Amazon today. The special I mentioned yesterday for $679 is gone. Today's price is actually $859 for last year's LT. The $559 price you mention is for the Upgrade SKU from LT06/07/08 to LT09. (Same price for the LT 2010 upgrade on Amazon.) See attached images. Amazon can sell at these prices only in specific markets, and the prices do and can change daily (as in the last 24 hours).

A few other prices today, April 1, 2009, for AutoCAD LT 2009:
Amazon.co.uk UK £1,652.69 (US $2,380.70 at today's exchange rate)
and LT 2006 for £600! (US $ 864.30 not eligible for upgrade)
Amazon.fr French market: EUR 1.846,70 (US$ 2,441.71 today.)

Is it deceptive for Autodesk to list the product at $1,200 when one of their resellers has a lower price? I don't think so. We have no intention of being deceptive.

Our latest effort has been to compare to an LT 2010 upgrade. Their LT product includes a couple of great new features like PDF underlay, better Xref support, and DWG2010 support. For most users it will be a choice of the upgrade price vs. our price. For that we decided to match the official upgrade price through May 23: ACLT2010 for customers with LT 07-09 at $575 vs DoubleCAD XT Pro to anyone at $575, or DoubleCAD XT for $0.

We appreciate Autodesk too btw. We hope to be a companion to AutoCAD (much like AutoCAD LT is today). We compete with them but being just a couple of miles down the road they have some of our old employees and vice versa.

-- William

Sorry I missed this earlier. A few clarifications on IDX Renditioner...

Imported images render fine without being exploded, as long as you don't have alpha channel transparency (our big missing link at the moment).

Materials applied to groups or components, included nested groups/components render accurately without exploding. Therefore it supports dynamic components. That's one of our big workflow plusses.

Another + is supporting all material changes made in the SketchUp material browser.

And the good news: all three apps are making it easy for architects to start rendering without having to learn much of anything!

Thanks,
William

If you want to use the model directly rather than as an Xref, there are two things to note about the .skp to .dwg when dealing with units and scaling. First, the DWG format does not include model units: it is a unitless system. It isn't a problem in the SketchUp export. A line of 15m comes into AutoCAD as 15 units. You need to ensure that your model space units match those of your SketchUp model.

Second, if you are dimensioning inside a viewport in paper space, AutoCAD dimensions the physical size on paper and doesn't automatically handle the viewport scaling. For that they have implemented Annotative Dimensions (since AC08 I think) as a work-around. Get the units right in model space, scale the model if necessary (be sure to scale all hidden layers too), then set up your annotative dimensions and all should work.

(You could also try opening the .skp directly in DoubleCAD XT do your dimensions there, then save as a .dwg and complete your work in AutoCAD too. Just an alternative work-flow.)

William

@cadward said:

This all sounds good....but in the comparison chart the price for a seat of AutoCad LT is listed as $1200.00...while the price of DoubleCAD XT is listed at 695.00. You can purchase a seat of AutoCad lt 2009 for $559.00...check amazon.com. Bashing AutoDesk and Microsoft have become popular...They produce tools...if you don't like them.....don't buy them....use the one that produces the results you require...
I'm just saying that if you are comparing prices.....how bout a little honesty.

Cadward, please don't take this the wrong way, but I just noticed the last line of "how bout a little honesty" and I felt I had to respond. I certainly don't think it is dishonest to provide a comparison of list price to list price. With promotions, incentives, rebates, and bundles, prices for their product can be lower for a period, or in some markets higher still. You mentioned an Amazon.com price which is a new promotion level as LT 2009 is now technically downrev. You couldn't get that price two weeks ago.

The US $1,200 is the list for AutoCAD LT in the US. In other countries it can often be much more expensive. Notice that the this blogger points out that LT is 1,700 Euros in Guinea (http://lac-conakry.blogspot.com/2009/02/doublecad-xt-un-logiciel-de-cao-gratuit.html) which is MUCH more than US$1,200. Prices vary...

The AutoCAD LT upgrade price is $575. Today on Amazon.com I did see LT 2009 on sale for $679. For us to track each promotion in each market is just too difficult. We quote our own price at $695 list, but that doesn't count our promotions either.

Today, on the Autodesk.com web site the price of AutoCAD LT 2010 is listed at $1,200. We're not trying to mislead anybody.

No hard feelings, I just wanted to clear the air on that one. I hope you enjoy the software and profit from it!

William