SketchUp

SketchUp Publisher's Description:
Anyone who loves sketching by hand but finds using CAD cumbersome or frustrating will appreciate SketchUp's unique approach: Instead of requiring users to learn a vast, complicated set of commands SketchUp combines a compact yet robust tool-set with an intelligent guidance system that streamlines the 3D drawing process. The result is an interface that supports a dynamic, creative exploration of 3D form, material and light without requiring large investments in training and support.

What's new in this version:

* When doing really detailed drawing with the Freehand tool, SketchUp previously could crash. This crash no longer occurs.
* SketchUp could crash if applications like Macro recording tools were running at the same time SketchUp was running. This crash has been fixed and applications like Macro recording tools should no longer conflict with SketchUp.
* On XP machines, if a model was saved to a shared folder, other remote users could lose their ability to access it and would see an “Access denied” error. This issue has been fixed.
* When printing to the Acrobat Distiller with a print quality of “Large Format”, SketchUp previously crashed. This crash has been fixed.
* After undoing a radial copy and typing data into the VCB, SketchUp sometimes crashed. This crash no longer occurs.
* SketchUp could crash when saving a model in the middle of copying a component or group. This crash has been fixed.
* When the Paint tool was interrupted by clicking on the Orbit tool, it was possible that SketchUp could crash. This crash has been fixed.
* If the Orbit tool was activated in the middle of pasting an object, SketchUp could crash. This crash no longer occurs.
* When multiple text items which had different properties (e.g., different fonts) were selected and Entity Info was open, SketchUp crashed on the Mac. This crash has been fixed.
* When a component was edited and its contents deleted, SketchUp could crash if the component was immediately selected in the Outliner dialog. This crash has been fixed.
* When typing array commands after rotating objects (vs. rotate copying them), SketchUp could crash. This crash no longer occurs.
* Previously, on PCs with specific ATI graphic card configurations, SketchUp could crash when hardware acceleration was turned on. This crash no longer occurs.
* When installing SketchUp 5 for the first time on Mac OSX 10.4.4, Fast Feedback is now turned on by default. Previously, Fast Feedback was turned off by default for all NVIDIA/ATI Tiger machines due to display issues related to Apple’s OSX 10.4.3 release. The 10.4.4 OSX update fixes the 10.4.3 issues allowing Fast Feedback to be turned on by default. Note: on NVIDIA based Macs, a few tools (e.g., Offset and Axes) can still leave display artifacts under OSX 10.4.4. If these artifacts are bothersome, try moving all dialogs off of the SketchUp drawing window.
* When stamping a surface into some complex grouped Digital Terrain models, SketchUp could crash. This crash no longer occurs.
* Previously, when an edge was flipped using the Sandbox Flip Edge tool, the attributes of the edge (e.g., color, layer, smoothness) were lost. This issue has been fixed.
* Previously, SketchUp could crash when copying and pasting materials with names containing Japanese characters. This crash has been fixed
* SketchUp Viewer on the PC used to come up with Hardware Acceleration turned off by default. The default now is for Hardware Acceleration to be turned on if the PC can support it.
* Some links were broken in the Ruby documentation. These links now work.
* The following importer issues have been addressed in this release:
* When importing 3ds files containing only 2d line work, SketchUp could crash. SketchUp no longer crashes in this case.
* When an image insert was cancelled by clicking on the Orbit tool in the middle of the insert, SketchUp could crash. This crash has been fixed.
* Exporters
* The 3DS, OBJ, FBX and XSI exporters on the Mac could get into a state where every time you exported, SketchUp would appear to hang. This issue occurred if, in the Options dialog, the "Units" drop down was opened but was not changed. This issue has now been fixed.
* When exporting to DWG a model with duplicate pages names, SketchUp could crash. This crash has been fixed.
* When exporting to DWG a model with invalid arc data, SketchUp could crash. This crash no longer occurs.
* On the Mac, after exporting models with textures, SketchUp could crash on exit of the program. This crash has been fixed.