I'm an architect by day (like real buildings), and sketchup is used really heavily in my field, cuz it just works. The problem with more advanced software is that with large teams, you'll get different people working in different ways and if 1 person doesn't conform to the standards, it screws up the organization of the entire project. You can't really screw anything up in sketchup since it's so simple. Also, Import and export between other programs works really well also, which is key. Components/blocks and whatever associations are often preserved.
Someone please fix 3d software. Max is 15 years old and Maya is close to that. Any new 3d software that makes things simpler and faster like Sketchup is a major improvement. I'm a 3d artist at a video game company and using Max feels like I'm in a wrestling match. I have to beat through Max's buggy tools and antique UI to make it do what I want.
It's not new. I saw Sketchup demonstrated at SIGGRAPH 12 or 13 years ago, when I first heard about Maya too. At the time I thought Sketchup-style UI would take over the industry. Possibly it hasn't because of this:
In a previous lifetime, I worked on SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs for the PSP and PS3. Designers created levels in Sketchup before the artists prettied them up in Maya and Photoshop.
Looks like Naughty Dog uses a similar workflow and asset pipeline.
Did you have problems with SketchUp generating messy topology?
That's been the typical argument I've heard from artists against using it in production.
When I say "in production", I mean to generate data that is read into a game engine (and thus needs to meet stringent constraints), as opposed to data that is used to generate non-simulation images (e.g. concept art).
Use of Sketchup is actually really common in games nowadays. It's an asset for a level designer to know how to use it, and a lot of tools pipelines have importers which will pull Sketchup data directly in to the game.
Really? Do you know of any companies that have admitted using Sketchup? Hadn't really heard anything at GDC the past few years (besides Google giving copies away at their booth).
I work at a major developer-publisher and we use Sketchup for mockups of levels. It's not part of the official level design pipeline but in the conception phase it's better than 2D sketches or plans. Also used: Lego and papercraft.
I don't know any that have talked about it in public but in general, companies are getting better at using off the shelf tools rather than building everything in house, if they can. Baby steps, but it's still progress.
I used to work in video games and yes we used it for level design and initial import in to 3DSMax. The artists then built an optimised geometry to match.
Designers love it as they can get exactly what they want and artists love it because they do level iteration with high poly difficult to manipulate levels.
Good to see a great tool like this getting some well deserved publicity. It is most definitely my tool of choice for architectural work of any kind. I have been using it for this purpose since before @Last was acquired by Google, so I had to pay for my licence at the time, but it was (and still is) well worth it.
I imagine that if you use it for professional purposes you still have to pay, Pro version that comes with, for example, ability to export to other formats, costs around 500$.
My brother had an internship at a nuclear power plant and used Sketchup to model the new reactor core head (just for fun, you know). The rendering itself blew everyone away, but I think the fact that he did it in just a couple hours was really impressive as well.
That was my first thought when I saw the 3D printer article the other day. Between that printer and SketchUp, there isn't much the average Joe can't print.
