Sketchup Shop

[Kev]

Was wondering if anyone here subscribes to sketchup shop. As far as I can tell it is a web based system but wondered how good it was. As much as the Pro version looks good I am not sure I can justify the £235/yr subscription. Only really work part time now and so this is a big spend for a dozen or so jobs a year. That said do need some version of Sketchup as find it invaluable. The free version just doesn't cut it anymore and is always crashing etc now its not supported.

Any views from anyone that subscribes to shop would be great. Do you find the web only approach a pain in terms of saving and retrieving drawings. Can you still import drawings to documents etc. Also anyone who uses pro would like to know your views on this as well.

Many thanks

Kev

 

[J-G]

The free version just doesn't cut it anymore and is always crashing etc now its not supported.

That's not my experience. I still use the totally free V2014 on a daily basis - not as a commercial enterprise though - and it does everything I ask of it but I've used previous versions since at least 2008 probably before.

My biggest project is a very detailed drawing of my property amounting to a 110Mb file which includes electrical wiring and plumbing which I use to plan improvements/repairs.

 

[MikeK]

I'm using the free SketchUp Make 2017 version on a Late 2009 iMac and a Mid 2009 MacBook Pro without any problems. Both computers are at their end of life for OS updates, so when they fail, I will replace them with new models and reconsider which CADD program I want.

 

[Kev]

The Make 2017 free version does still work for me but is getting more buggy I have noticed and more so since I have updated onto a new laptop (windows). Will just tend to crash and delete what you have been working on. Guess I am thinking I need something more reliable and assume at some point the free version will just give up the ghost.

 

[J-G]

The Make 2017 free version does still work for me but is getting more buggy

That makes no sense. For any program to 'get more buggy' would mean that it is self modifying and that simply doesn't happen. If it works then 'it works'

I have noticed and more so since I have updated onto a new laptop (windows).

If you have changed to Windows 10 and cannot turn off updates then there is a slim possibility that a Windows .dll file may not perform in quite the same way - and Mick$oft couldn't give a damn if your older programs are affected - but that is a rare occurence.

Will just tend to crash and delete what you have been working on. Guess I am thinking I need something more reliable and assume at some point the free version will just give up the ghost.

I suspect that you have something fundamentally wrong with your Windows installation -- You do know that SketchUp has an [AutoSave] facility along with creating an .skb (backup) file at each [Save] ? so there should be absolutely no reason for you to lose work.

Even if for some weird reason you do have a crash due to circumstances I can't guess at (other than a power cut) there is no way that SketchUp would execute a routine that 'Deleted' files from your hard drive - and I cannot see any reason to even think that ANY working program - particularly commercial offerings - would 'Give up the ghost'.

 

[Sandyn]

That makes no sense. For any program to 'get more buggy' would mean that it is self modifying and that simply doesn't happen. If it works then 'it works'

Windows update commonly cause problems with existing programs.

 

[J-G]

Windows update commonly cause problems with existing programs.

It doesn't make any program develop a [Delete files on HDD] routine!

I don't allow Windows updates unless a new program demands that I have a specific one. This is more difficult with Win 10 but it is sometimes possible to 'undo' an update.

 

[Sandyn]

It doesn't make any program develop a [Delete files on HDD] routine!

no, but it crashes in such a way that it doesn't close the files/update FAT etc, so it often causes loss of data.
I still use win 7, so no update problems any more

 

[jimmy_s]

Bricscad Shape might be an option for some?

SketchUp® to BricsCAD® Shape - Free 3D Modeling Software (bricsys.com)

 

[J-G]

no, but it crashes in such a way that it doesn't close the files/update FAT etc, so it often causes loss of data.

The only way that you could lose work in that way was if you had a power out at the precise time that an auto-save (or manual save) was part way through it's process which would be damned unlucky.
The first thing that auto-save does is rename the oldest existing backups, adding _1, then writes the new file as Autosave_ + the existing filename still leaving your last manual save as it was with no modification to the FAT. Only when you do a manual [Save] does it create the .SKB file by re-naming the last manually saved file before writing the new file.

I still use win 7, so no update problems any more

I do have one PC running Win 10 but don't use that for anything important. Most of my work is done on two PCs running Win 7 but I still have two running XP. I've never allowed auto-updates on any PC other than the Win 10

 

[Sandyn]

Yep, It's Windows, No point speculating what might cause it, the OP might not even have auto-save enabled. without all the details we are just guessing.

 

[deema]

Are you wedded to Sketchup? There are a number of free cad platforms to choose from. I personally would choose Onshape after I reviewed what was around after Fusion 360 stopped the free full version

 

[Kev]

Hi Deema

Wouldn't say I am wedded to it but find it easy to use and have always used it I guess. Will have a look at Onshape not heard of that one. Did try fusion 360 on a free trial but couldn't get on with but that's probably just me and being used to Sketchup.

 

[J-G]

Did try fusion 360 on a free trial but couldn't get on with but that's probably just me and being used to Sketchup.

Not just you - I did exactly the same. Fusion 360 is no where near as intuitive as SketchUp.

 

[pils]

FYI I still use Sketchup Make 2017 without (major) problems on windows 10. Very rare crash. Autosave works irritatingly well (it's a bit slow).
@J-G is right about Fusion 360
Both Onshape and BricsCAD may be good but they're expensive.

 

[J-G]

Autosave works irritatingly well (it's a bit slow).

I don't think it 'Autosave' being particularly slow - SketchUp's [Save] is slow - but then most of my .SKP files are quite large

 

[Speaker]

Was wondering if anyone here subscribes to sketchup shop. As far as I can tell it is a web based system but wondered how good it was. As much as the Pro version looks good I am not sure I can justify the £235/yr subscription. Only really work part time now and so this is a big spend for a dozen or so jobs a year. That said do need some version of Sketchup as find it invaluable. The free version just doesn't cut it anymore and is always crashing etc now its not supported.

Any views from anyone that subscribes to shop would be great. Do you find the web only approach a pain in terms of saving and retrieving drawings. Can you still import drawings to documents etc. Also anyone who uses pro would like to know your views on this as well.

Many thanks

Kev

Hi, I use sketchup make 2017 on a Windows 10 machine and found it started crashing on a regular basis.

it seems that sketchup make doesn’t play well with “cloud storage“ - as soon as I changed the “save“ location to a local drive (c only, all the crashes stopped.

Don’t know if that is relevant to your problem but in my experience these snippets of information usually come in useful.

Tony

 

[J-G]

Hi, I use sketchup make 2017 on a Windows 10 machine and found it started crashing on a regular basis.

it seems that sketchup make doesn’t play well with “cloud storage“ - as soon as I changed the “save“ location to a local drive (c: ) only, all the crashes stopped.

I do have 2017 installed but prefer 2014 and I make a point of always avoiding any 'external' storage so I can't speak directly from experience but it wouldn't surprise me to find that cloud storage was problematic - I certainly hadn't considered that as a possibility.

If by 'drive (c: ) only' you mean that you only have a single partition, it may be worth you investigating a 're-partition'. I always create at least 3 partitions - C:, D: & P: - C: is only used for the OS ie. no data is ever stored there, D: is where all Data is saved be it images, documents, music etc. & P is where all programs are installed. This means that if ever there is a need to re-install the OS no data is ever compromised.

If you have plenty of space on your drive C: you can easily 'shrink' the volume and free up space to create a drive D:.

Don’t know if that is relevant to your problem but in my experience these snippets of information usually come in useful.

Thanks Tony - yes I agree - I certainly wouldn't have thought of 'The Cloud' being an issue in this regard.

 

[pils]

I don't think it 'Autosave' being particularly slow - SketchUp's [Save] is slow - but then most of my .SKP files are quite large

oh, it's just one my irritations...always seems to 'autosave' just when I'm trying to do something really important.
can you beat 240MB?

 

[J-G]

can you beat 240MB?

Can't even manage half of that 110 is my biggest.