Google Sketchup 6 Released
Amit Agarwal reports that Google has released version 6 of its 3D modeling software, the free Google Sketchup and the not-as-free $495 Google Sketchup Pro (which is a free upgrade for purchasers of most previous paid Sketchup versions). While the new version still does not have support for Windows Vista (curious, with Vista coming out in a mere three weeks), it does have a bunch of new features.
The coolest new feature has got to be its ability to create a 3D model from a photograph. While I won’t be able to test this out (the Vista thing, again), it is obvious how much easier and convenient the program can be if you can take a picture of your house and start with that, saving a lot of time in the beginning of your project. Other new features include themed styles, watermarks (for branding or logos), atmospheric haze (for realism), 3D text, and more natural native support for Google Earth and the 3D Warehouse.
There’s more info on the new features at the Sketchup website, which is currently unavailable. You can still download the software from Google, though.
Am I the only person who thinks Google bought Sketchup, at least in part, so people would accidentally write “Google’s Ketchup”?
Heh, which reminds me of that joke in Pulp Fiction about the tomatoes.
Comment by Steve Bryant | January 9, 2007
Can’t believe a popular and respected blogger admits openly using a pirated vista. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Comment by Anon coward | January 9, 2007
Hey anonymous coward,
Windows Vista Beta and Release Candidates have been available for quite a while for testing purposes. Everyone was free to download a pre-release version and try it out, being supplied with an installation key by Microsoft and validating the install once you were lucky enough to get it to run. Before Vista’s release there was no point in having a pirate version. I actually think it was difficult to have a pirate version at all.
I’ve tried Sketchup on Win Xp and tried to install it on my Vista test machine only to get a cryptic “Operating system not supported” message. Trying to run it in compatibility mode only allows install and then crashes on first load. Bizarre.
Comment by Ed | January 22, 2007
I installed it on my vista machine just fine, just have to mark the install file as compatibility mode xp-sp2, then when it’s installed mark the exe as compatibility mode xp-sp2, worked fine for me.
Comment by itsamemario | March 21, 2007
you can get it to run on vista easily just google search it it also depends on which graphics driver you have installed. i had to run sketchup in compatibility with 98
Comment by matt | July 20, 2007