It’s here at last, the free version of Google Sketchup that we’ve been waiting for ever since Google bought the company and made available a free Windows version.
Some interesting things to note, though. It’ll run on Panther, for one, and the minimum hardware spec is 400MHz, 128MB, and a 100% OpenGL-compliant video card.
If spend money on the pro version, you’ll be able to export at higher-than-screen resolution, export in all the most important 3D formats, export .mov and .avi walkthroughs, and get two years of email tech support.
But the core functionality - the stuff that lets you draw anything you can think of - is there for everyone, for free.
As someone who downloaded the trial version many years ago, loved it, but as a hobbyist couldn’t possibly justify spending hundreds of dollars on a license, this free version is very nearly a dream come true. I wrote to the Sketchup guys at the time, suggesting they consider a “Lite” version for people who wanted to “doodle” in 3D. Thanks to Google, that’s exactly what I’ve got.
is it univeral?
No it is not universal..Maybe that will come in later revision as this is an application bought by Google, so who knows what state the code is in..Sketchup never really adhered to any OS guideline..
Sketch up is perfect for the hobbiest, the retired couple that wants to add on a guest room for the grand children, and some professional uses. however I've found that it lacks the capabilities and tools to model more complex objects that higher end software allows. sketch up is a great stepping stone for the person who plans to move on to the next level.
Very weird/poor installer. It wants admin privileges to install (why??) but doesn't have an option to authenticate. And of course the Admin account doesn't have a direct login.
Weird installer indeed. It wants admin privileges because the installscript.plist file's "Require Admin" key is set to "TRUE". This can be changed:
- mount the installer disk image (double-click the Google Sketchup file that you downloaded),
- view the contents of "Double Click to Install Google SketchUp" (right-click the file and select "Show Package Contents"),
- navigate in Finder into Contents and then Resources folders,
- open installscript.plist in Property List Editor (if you have the Developers Tools) or TextEdit,
- search for "Require Admin",
- edit its value to "TRUE",
- save the changes.
The admin account isn't the root account, so it does have a direct login. Admin privileges are needed to install Google Sketchup in the Applications folder.