Serial acquirer Trimble continues to assemble a construction engineering BIM portfolio. SketchUp extendability is considered a major asset.
By Randall S. Newton
The KMZ export option is available with SketchUp Shop but not SketchUp Free. Google Earth will open KMZ files. Somehow trimble connect and the 3D warehouse just.
- So Trimble 3D Warehouse is reducing access to SKP versions download from the web browser, when you click the download button now you will only see 2018 to 2014 versions, plus the DAE and STL formats, although DAE format can be used for import on lower versions, Sketchup V8 and V13 users are forced now to either to upgrade to the newer versions of Sketchup or find a way to convert files to.
- Bring 3D models to life on Android phones and tablets using SketchUp Viewer. Navigate and present your own SketchUp projects, or explore the millions of free models in 3D Warehouse for FREE!.
Trimble (Nasdaq: TRMB) announced today it is acquiring SketchUp from Google. A sale of the popular 3D drafting tool has been rumored for weeks, but it was widely assumed the buyer would be Dassault Systèmes. This is Trimble's third acquisition in 2012. The deal is expected to close no later than June 3o, 2012.
Trimble is best known as a provider of GPS technology, but for the past five years it has been assembling a wide range of companies and technologies to build a portfolio for built environment data usage. It already owns a variety of products for field data models, project management, structural engineering, and network/utility construction and operations. In a statement, Trimble says the SketchUp acquisition will 'enhance our ability to extend our existing market applications including the cadastral, heavy civil, and building and construction industries.'
SketchUp has both an Application Programming Interface (API) based on Ruby for program customization and a Software Development Kit (SDK) in C++. Having ready-made programmability will make it easier for Trimble, its distribution partners, and third-party developers to create new applications and for Trimble to integrate SketchUp into its wide range of products.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed; the purchase price was described as 'not material' to the company's revenue. 'Not material' is a specific financial term, meaning the acquisition was no more than 5% of the acquiring company's annual revenue. If Trimble paid Google 5% of its 2011 revenue, the purchase price would have been $90 million. If so, Google more than doubled its initial investment in SketchUp six years ago; analysts at the time speculated Google paid @Last Software anywhere from $15 to $45 million for SketchUp. CAD industry analyst Brad Holtz, CEO of Cyon Research and host of the annual COFES conference, notes there were 30 million downloads of SketchUp in 2011. Put a value of $3 per user and $90 million seems like a reasonable ceiling for what Trimble paid.
SketchUp currently claims 2 million active users per week, based on their ability to track how downloaded copies are used. On an average week, between one-third and one-half of those active users are running SketchUp Professional, which retails for $495. As one SketchUp employee says regarding market presence, 'If Autodesk or Bentley is there, so are we.'
Why Trimble? Why SketchUp?
Trimble seeks to be a leader in Building Information Modeling (BIM). Most BIM software companies approach the market from the architecture side, but Trimble is assembling its BIM portfolio focusing on construction. Skyrim web series. Trimble says its BIM focus 'is on the deployment of integrated solutions for the contracting community, with enhanced use further in the construction process including BIM to Field.' It further defines BIM to Field as 'extending the design data created in the office down to field level systems for precise delivery of design and construction elements.' Trimble will likely use SketchUp to tie together the various loose ends that have come with acquiring so many products so quickly.
Trimble Google Sketchup Free
There was considerable hype when Google acquired SketchUp in 2006, hot on the heels of Google's acquisition of Keyhole, the creator of Google Earth. The vision was for an army of SketchUp users to populate Google Earth with realistic models of buildings across the globe. While that has happened to some degree, it stopped being of keen interest to the Google mother ship a long time ago. Giving SketchUp a new home within a BIM company—one that is wholly devoted to built assets and digital data—should give the SketchUp team a new sense of mission and enthusiasm. Perhaps the hiring office Autodesk opened recently in Boulder, Colorado—SketchUp's home town—won't get as much traffic as Autodesk planned.
Trimble Sketchup Free Version
The basics - what is add location, what does it do?Welcome to Add Location!Add Location is a map based service that helps you geolocate your models. It effectively applies latitude and longitude coordinates to your model so sketchUp and other applications can simulate where the model would be located. This is a requirement for performing accurate sun and shadow studies. It's also useful for setting up your model for exporting to a format that can leverage geolocation.
In SketchUp, you need an Internet connection to access three important features:Add Location3D WarehouseExtension WarehouseIf you're having trouble connecting to these features or an error message appears, the subarticles in this section point you to solutions that may fix the problem.
Previewing a SketchUp model in Google Earth is great way to see how your model looks in the context of its surroundings. You start the process in SketchUp, where you optimize the model for viewing in Google Earth. Because Google Earth and SketchUp models can both use a lot of your graphics card's processing power, your model needs to be as light as possible. When your model is ready, you can preview your model in Google Earth directly from SketchUp. All it takes is a single click!
With SketchUp's Shadows feature, you can make your model cast a basic shadow or see how the sun casts shadows on or around a geolocated model. When you're casting real-world shadows, SketchUp's calculations are based on the following:
If your model is geolocated with the Add Location feature and you want to display it in Google Earth, you may need to take a few extra steps. Here's a quick overview of the tips and tricks that help your model looks its best in Google Earth:
Does the terrain that you want to model exist somewhere outside your imagination and in digital form? Hurrah! You can just import it!Well, sort of. Also, after you import terrain, you usually need to edit it. At minimum, you likely need to clean up the imported data by reducing the number of faces to improve your model's performance, tracing contour lines, or a few other tasks covered in Editing and Fine-Tuning Terrain. But for now, enough of the sour details.
