Origins
SketchUp was created to be a 3D modeling program that is powerful, but easy to use. Most people think it was originally created by Google, but actually, it was first brought to us by @last Software, a tech company co-founded in 1999 by Brad Schell and Joe Esch. With an original release date in August 2000, Schell and his team developed SketchUp as a 3D modeling tool for architects, designers, and filmmakers.
After the successful launch of SketchUp, @last wanted to allow people to be able to place the models they’ve created in SketchUp into Google Earth. They collaborated with Google to develop a plugin for Google Earth, to allow people to geolocate their models in Google Earth.
Google SketchUp
As a result of the collaboration for the Google Earth plug-in, Google was so impressed with the work of @last software, they purchased the company in March of 2006.
In an interview with the Daily Camera, Schell stated, Sketchup’s 2004 sales were $5.5 million and growing. We can only imagine how much Google paid up to purchase @last Software. It kinda makes me wish I had invented something Google wanted to buy from me. But a man can dream, right?
After the acquisition, the 70 employees from @last kept their jobs, but in return became employees of Google.
Trimble SketchUp
In 2012, Google sold SketchUp to Trimble.
Versions
@last was selling Sketchup for $495, but Google wanted to make Sketchup available to anyone so they released it for free. On December 14th 2007, Sketchup 6 was released.
A Pro version of Sketchup was still available for $495, which included more exporting and importing options, and the introduction of Google Layout, the answer to creating 2-D presentations of your 3-D models. But the main functionality of the software was identical to the free version.
Google has released a total of 6 maintenance updates for this version, and stopped supporting this version in March 2010.Sketchup 6 updates can still be downloaded from Google’s website.
Version 7 was announced on November 17th, 2008, and brought with it the introduction of dynamic components. Dynamic components was a big leap for Sketchup, allowing models to have properties assigned to them. These properties can change many aspects of a model on the fly, making your model interactive.
Sketchup 8 is the most current version of Sketchup. Released September 1st, 2010, it includes many refinements and some new features. The Pro version includes the “Solid Tools”.
