OTOY Forums

HI Otoy

Can some one pleas explain to all us octane / SU users what is going on???
What is the plan for future development of the SU plug-in???
What is the time plan???

We all know that the SU2015 plug-in is not working 100% and do not include all the features that are available. Many still go back and use the SU2014 plug-in, that are more stable.

We have all paid money for the plug-in and expect to get a stable and well running software, with great support.

Pleas let us all know....

I'll be more explicit: I want my money back for SU plugin or discount for Modo plugin.

I must say that I am also very disappointed. We spent a lot of time on it during the beta testing phase and I had great hopes for the plugin.

I think the problem is the development model. Paul, who does the plugins for Revit and about six other products, is focused on doing plugins, and he does it exceptionally well - both development and support. Fuzzybro is now in full time Otoy employment. It seems like he is pulled off SketchUp whenever they need him elsewhere. He is clearly a very good developer and I am sure Octane will benefit elsewhere from his talents. But SketchUp is left in the dust.

SketchUp is by far the most used 3D application in the world. Granted, it may not be the most used 'professional' 3D app, but by sheer numbers it's got the greatest reach. Trimble has also been doing a good with SketchUp and the fact that it is now a 64 app means a lot (warts and all). I had great hopes for Octane for SU. If I were Otoy I would take a good long look at their SketchUp development strategy, and give it some love.

Seeker

OTOY you need to answer our questions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are many that want to know what is going on and what is the plan and time line??????

!!!!!ALL OTHER SU + OCTANE USERS!!!!!
Pleas help by replying to this post so we can get OTOY to act to this, we all are in the same boat here and we need to stand together.

Sure we need to know what is the future of the plugin. 2015 is not unusable but it has a lot of problems. I just close and reopen SU to reload properly. It seems they left the development in the middle. Maybe they prepare a new octane version or something, but a 2.21 compatible plugin for SU2015 would be nice for now

I don't see the meed to make so much noise here, latest built for SU is based on 2.13 release.
Could You please say what changed so much that You could not work?
Couldn't You just export the scene & use Standalones (as You have that) funtionality to finish the work by leveraging those missing features?

These realeases from time to time have some bugs.. - developers could give only v1, v2 with nothing in between..now You got in between releases, maybe not all, but still want more..- I doubt that majotity of users use every single new feature that comes out..

SU was not considered profesional application (but aimed at hobyists) though it came to market & been adopted by some less knowladgeabble architects 'cos it has very easy learning curve - just pick and go. To claim that it is so important in the market..- well I would realy doubt (but maybe some users have facts to base that). I do agree that some users managed to use it in a way that make Your jaw drop, but still..

There are plenty of other plugins that are not so fast updated too..if You want to get new features as fast as possible, use standalone.

Developers at OTOY are working on different projects at the same time & that's the case with Fuzzy here - there are other features that comunity wants..

glimpse wrote:...been adopted by some less knowladgeabble architects 'cos it has very easy learning curve - just pick and go.

Glimpse, you are not an architect and you may be missing the point for that reason. Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "less knowladgeabble" architects...? The very fact that architects could start using the software instead of relying on the typical "max man" in the corner (who always seems to be overworked), is pure magic. I have been using SU for more than 10 years and it still forms part of our workflow in the office.

The fact is that SketchUp has been, and still is, massively important in probably the majority of architect's design workflows the world over. It has been a game changer for many. Octane for SU holds lots of promise for many architects, furniture designers (many of whom have also chosen SU as their primary design tool) and others - not just hobbyists.

The idea is not to 'make noise' as you put it, but voice our opinion - that's what this forum is for, right? It does not mean we disrespect them or dislike them. Sometimes the developers respond, sometimes not - that's Otoy. Small team with a priority list and a mission. But defending them blankly when people voice their concern over a product they paid for, like you do, is not helpful. If you have no problem with the SU plugin, good for you.

Finally, your comment about developers at Otoy working of different things at different times and that there are 'other features the community want', is actually the very point I was trying to make earlier. What about what the Sketchup community wants? Should the plugin developers not be able to focus on the plugin they are developing? This is where FaceOff has clearly demonstrated how well this model works. There may be other examples where full time Otoy employees developing plugins has proven difficult, I don't know. But SketchUp is clearly one of them.

Best,
Seeker

I will speak for myself, as a not very demanding user. SU is one of the best modelers available I know for architecture. I also use archicad a lot, but IMHO sketchup is faster for 3d (it can't create good floor plans but it's irrelevant here). 3ds max is a joke of course. I don't know about 3d industry in general, but for architecture it's Top.

So a good renderer inside SU is a good thing. 2015 is a lot faster than all the other versions. It's not that bad to have an octane version running inside it and not having to go back and forth all the time. After all TIG exporter for standalone was good too, without the additional cost. It would be pleasant if someone could inform us about future updates,

Seekerfinder wrote: Glimpse, you are not an architect and you may be missing the point for that reason. Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "less knowladgeabble" architects...? ..

Seeker I do use SU for quite a while (before it was bought by Google) since my studies (Engineer Architecture). I've started to use it it like my other friends, because it was simple & fast..till this day it sit on my laptop & it's one of those programs that let's to block spaces very fast (especially if You use regular+3d mouse). ADDED: by "less knowledgeable" I refer to those who would like to make architecture&design instead of messing with CG & visualisation.. (who know less technical stuff..)

The idea is not to 'make noise' as you put it, but voice our opinion - that's what this forum is for, right? It does not mean we disrespect them or dislike them.

correct me if I'm wrong, but development & RC builds are not meant to be so stable..-they do have features that might be not fully implemented..& if You're in production it advisable to use late stable release. Think that was mentioned at least few times in forums.

What about what the Sketchup community wants?

that's the point, do users want all the latest & greatest features? do they really use them all? Maybe it's better to have less frequent updates, but more stable?

what leads us to the point: if You really want bleeding edge features, You already have them in StandAlone application. Because of the way OTOY runs their business You should have Standalone application if You use SU plugin..& plugins have export feature that let's You put scene in Standalone. With that being said, You can use any new feature (if You need it so badly) brought to Octane with ease, it requires simple export.

not meant to start mess here, just pointing out a way around, a possibility if some haven't thought about it =)

glimpse wrote:that's the point, do users want all the latest & greatest features? do they really use them all? Maybe it's better to have less frequent updates, but more stable?

Fuzzy's last post was 22 Dec 2014. Almost 2 months ago. That is a far cry from 'the latest and greatest features'.

Smicha moved to Modo. I am considering a similar move. Granted, it's partly because I need more animation features but you need to realize that SU is getting more and more powerful, while retaining its user-friendliness. That's a rare combination and one that Autodesk has been reportedly jealous of. The point being that SU is no longer a micky mouse application. I use for instance Trimble Scan Explorer extension right inside SU with point cloud data - it's a powerful tool. Not to mention the sculpting, animation, physics and a zillion other extensions.

We recently designed a product (soon to be released), solely in SketchUp, rendered with the Octane plugin. And now? We have to either stick with 32bit on a complex model, or move to another application. Why should we be put in such a position.

Consider for a moment that, for the first time - at least for us - a render-plugin is strongly influencing, even determining which modelling app we use - not the other way around. It's almost like it's 'modeller plugin' not 'renderer pluging'. Octane is too important for us now to ignore it's effective integration in the tools we use on a daily basis.

I should make it clear that I do not think this is Fuzzy's fault. I think Otoy's teams are spread too thin. Where's Brigade? Where's cloud? They have a huge user base - my stats are probably out but I think they gained about 30K users in the last 6-8 months. That's 30%!

Great team, great products, mysterious business model, questionable resource management. You know what I think? I think they're underestimating their own product's potential.

Seeker