April 04, 2023
Sketchup is one of the world's most popular 3D programs used in many professions such as architects, interior designers, civil engineers, game developers, stage arts, and design. Its simple and cute interface makes it very easy to learn. But have you ever wondered where it came from?
Although many users think that Google created Sketchup, the software was actually developed by another company and then offered to users.
In 1999, Brad Shell founded a technology company called @Last Software. As soon as he established the company, he and his team started a new project. Their main theme was a 3D software. The goal was to create a 3D software that everyone could easily learn and use (3D for everyone). They released their first version in August 2000.
At the A/E/C SYSTEMS Fall 2000 exhibition hosted by Digital Media Net, Sketchup won the Best New Products or Services award and was later featured on www.digitalcad.com and www.aecnewsroom.com. Digital Media Net described Sketchup as follows:
SketchUp from Last Software was driven by the increasing need among design professionals for a more intuitive and accessible 3D modeling program. SketchUp is an interface where the user draws the edges of the desired model in 3D space and the software "fills in" the shapes to create 3D geometry automatically.
After Sketchup's successful promotion, @Last Software started developing a project for Google Earth, a popular program, to allow users to send buildings drawn in Sketchup. The Google plugin yielded very successful results. Buildings painted with Sketchup's "Photo Match" began to adorn Google Earth.
As a result of the collaboration for the Google Earth plugin, Google was very impressed with the workings of Last Software's software and bought the company in March 2006. After the acquisition, the company's 70 employees continued their work, but became Google employees in return.
@Last sold Sketchup for $495. However, Google wanted to make Sketchup available to everyone, so they released it for free. On December 14, 2007, Sketchup 6 was released for free.
The Pro version of Sketchup, which included more export and import options and the introduction of Google Layout to create 2D presentations of 3D models, was still available for $495. However, the software's main functionality was the same as the free version.
Google released a total of 6 maintenance updates for this version and discontinued support for it in March 2010. This acquisition was a turning point in promoting Sketchup. In 2012, Google transferred the software to Trimble, a company that serves the BIM industry.
Source,
https://www.iqt.org/last-software/
http://logos.wikia.com/wiki/Trimble_SketchUp
https://mastersketchup.com/history-of-sketchup/