Sketch up going subscription only

[Paul F Franklin]

If you go back and review the release notes for older versions (and the current version), you will see that trimble has been quite active at supporting and improving sketchup and related programs.
Perhaps it doesn't seem like it because many of the new features and function have been in things like Layout and Style editor, things that many casual users don't use a lot. They have also made major improvements in the Ruby and C APIs that are used by the folks developing extensions.

I actually like that the basic interface and functionality has remained fairly stable. With very few exceptions, it does everything I need and I much prefer that they not clutter it up with a zillion little things that very few people ever would use, just so they can say they are improving it. There are many, many, useful extensions available for special tasks (like generating dovetails and rounding and chamfering edges, etc.) and I can load them and use them as needed, and get them out of the way when not needed.

I'm not a huge fan of the subscription model, but having been in the software development business for most of my career, I understand why most vendors are moving to it. I'm happy to pay a few hundred a year for sketchup pro; I easily get that much value from it.

[Chris Fairbanks]

Chris, is this an answer to my question about the LibreCad program Lisa mentioned? From a quick search it appears be 2D only. I haven't heard of it but I'm interested in user experiences.

JKJ

John, I meant the reply to Joe's note but somehow clicked on yours. I just edited the post Thanks

[John K Jordan]

John, I meant the reply to Joe's note but somehow clicked on yours. I just edited the post Thanks

Ah, and rats, I was hoping for voices of experience.. Maybe you have time to download and learn LibreCad and post an in-depth evaluation?

[Bryan Hunt]

For those of you no happy with the direction of SketchUp, Fusion 360 is free for the hobbyist. If you go to YouTube and search for Fusion 360 and Lars Christensen, he does an awesome job at explaining the tool.

[Lisa Starr]

John, I don't use it, but I do believe LibreCad offers 3D (Isometric) features

[Joe Jensen]

I use the free version for sketches as I find it quicker. Fusion360 is superior and free if you do under $100K of revenue a year. I have designed several parts for 3D printing and it's robust.

it’s the web only version and is extremely limited, slow/clunky and support no plug-ins. For me it’s either the 2017 maker or learn something new. No way am I going to give them that much money for no new features. Like others have said if they were like adobe I would easily do a $10 a month package if they kept the thing updated but they have shown they cannot do that.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Same business model as the drug dealers, give you some free samples, get you hooked, and then start charging.

[Eric Arnsdorff]

OnShape is a nice option. I've used a number of professional solid modeling and 2D packages. OnShape was started from some guys at SolidWorks and it is pretty easy to get started.
I also like that I can pull up my models on my phone or any computer at anytime. The only downside is the free version requires public access to the files but I'm not doing any proprietary work on it. I have other options for that if needed.

[Pete Staehling]

Ah, and rats, I was hoping for voices of experience.. Maybe you have time to download and learn LibreCad and post an in-depth evaluation?

I did a quick look and LibreCad looks interesting for a guy like me who made his living for a lot of years using and programming for 2D AutoCad. Folks designed 3D stuff using 3 view drawings on paper for a very long time and later electronically long before real 3D modeling was available. I'd actually go so far as to argue that for a lot of what I would want to do it is an easier way to go. That may just be because I spent a lot of years doing things that way so my brain is now kind of wired that way.

It has been quite a while now since I actually worked in CAD I moved on to other IT jobs and then some web programming before retiring so my cad skills are rusty to non existent. That said LibreCad looks familiar and I was able to jump in and draw some simple stuff pretty easily so it must be pretty AutoCad like.