Expert Tips From SketchUp 3D Basecamp 2014.

Matt DonleyBooks, Extensions, News, Sketchup Tutorials, Tips & Tricks

Do you feel like you’ve missed out on the SketchUp 3D Basecamp 2014? I’ve just returned from teaching my first live class at Basecamp, and in this article you’ll learn some of the tips I’ve picked up from the best SketchUp gurus in the world.

If you’re a SketchUp geek like me, 3D Basecamp is the place to be. It is held on a bi-annual basis, and you’ll find some of the best SketchUp users in the world at the conference.

During the opening presentation by John Bacus, SketchUp Product Manager, we learned about the new SketchUp model viewer for the ipad, available here, a new Ruby Debugger plugin, and an extension that can process 3D point cloud data from Trimble 3D scanners.

The conference is made up of a number of presentations and instructional sessions, including some hands-on classes as well. I had the honor of being asked to teach an “Introduction to LayOut” 3-hour class, based on my book, SketchUp to LayOut. It was the first time I had taught live, in person, to a large audience. I was nervous at first, but once I started, everything just fell into place.

Sketchup 3D Basecamp 2012

Matt DonleyNews, Tips & Tricks

I am currently in Boulder, CO attending my first ever Basecamp conference. We just finished the first day of the conference, and I wanted to give a run down on what happened at today’s events, and share some of the announcements made at today’s session.

Trimble remains committed to the Sketchup community


Ever since the acquisition of Sketchup by Trimble, there has been a ton of speculation over what their intentions were in taking over the software. Today, we got to hear from Sketchup Product Management Director John Bacus and Trimble Vice President Bryn Fosburgh about the acquisition and their plans for Sketchup.

One thing is very clear. Trimble remains committed to the Sketchup community and plans to continue offering a free version of Sketchup. However, there were some hints that in the future there may be greater differences in the functionality of the free version when compared to the Pro version. But don’t expect any major changes any time soon.

Trimble plans on continuing to develop Sketchup as a leading 3D modeling program, with more attention given to the architectural community. But at the same time, they want to expand upon their existing support platform enabling third party developers to create specialized plugins and extensions. They also plan on using Sketchup as a platform for their existing specialized 3D modeling software packages, as well as allowing Trimble to expand into additional markets with other specialized 3D modeling software.