They have said publicly that this goal will remain, along with the free version of Sketchup. At the very least, we will always have Sketchup 8 and a strong community of independent developers. Their focus has always been on creating “3d modeling for the masses”. However, the core development team, which first published Sketchup as a startup company called is sticking together for the move to Trimble.

So far it’s hard to say if Trimble also shares this interest.

What made Google and Sketchup such a good fit, though, was their shared interest in making software accessible and user-friendly. And Sketchup is ripe for mobile device and GPS integration, which Trimble seems more than capable of developing. Their knowledge of 3D laser scanning could bring exciting features. Trimble’s experience in engineering and construction software could help bring some richer BIM-type elements to Sketchup. I had never heard of Trimble before the announcement of the sale, and what I had learned of them didn’t immediately offer much relief.Īfter some processing, though, it seems that the sale makes some sense and could actually be good for Sketchup. It’s comforting to know a tool you depend upon heavily is under the care of a giant benevolent overlord like Google. We use Sketchup a lot so this surprise contained a fair amount of fear and anxiety. So it was a big surprise to learn of the Trimble acquisition. Google also continued strong development of the software with tools like an enhanced geo-modeling tools and (the admittedly awkward and ready-to-be-improved) Layout.Īfter this long, Google and Sketchup seemed to be together for the long haul. It’s been six years since Google acquired the program from Software and, though it didn’t seem like an obvious fit at the time, Google integrated Sketchup quite well into its empire with the 3D Warehouse and Google Earth/ Maps. We’ve now had a few days to let the news of Sketchup’s sale to Trimble sink in.

Trimble skp