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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    SketchUp

    Score7.5 out of 10
    N/ASketchUp is 3D modeling software with an emphasis on usability. SketchUp is a Trimble product.

    $119

    per year

    Unreal Engine

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/AOriginally designed in 1998, Unreal Engine is a game engine designed to build games of all type, with sharp graphics and control, using the C++ language.N/A
    Pricing
    SketchUpUnreal Engine
    Editions & Modules
    Free
    $0.00
    per year
    For Schools (free with G Suite or Microsoft education account)
    $0
    For Students
    $55.00
    per year
    For Educators
    $55.00
    per year
    Studio for Students / Educators (Desktop version)
    $55
    per year
    Shop
    $119.00
    per year
    Pro
    $299.00
    per year
    Professional
    $299.00
    per year
    Studio (Windows only)
    $699
    per year
    Studio
    $1199.00
    per year
    End User License Agreement for Publishing
    Free
    5% of royalties after gross product revenue exceeds 1M
    End User License Agreement for Creators
    Free & Royalty Free
    Custom Licenses
    Contact sales team
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    SketchUpUnreal Engine
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    SketchUpUnreal Engine
    Considered Both Products
    Trimble
    No answer on this topic
    Epic Games
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    96%
    Would buy again
    23 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    22 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    92%
    Happy with the feature set
    22 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    89%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    17 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    95%
    Implementation went as expected
    18 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    SketchUpUnreal Engine
    Small Businesses
    Autodesk Maya
    Score9.2 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Navisworks
    Score9.5 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    Navisworks
    Score9.5 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    SketchUpUnreal Engine
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (47 ratings)
    9.2
    (2 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.5
    (14 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    SketchUpUnreal Engine
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Trimble
    SketchUp is great for individually studying options for building design. It is an awesome conceptual tool to be able to quickly model and manipulate a building to study different designs. It is not good for complex geometries, especially curves. Surfaces have a hard time registering and cutting into one another. It also eventually needs to go into Revit to be more realistic as it is not good as a documentation tool
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epic Games
    It's really well suited for experiential uses. Sure, games are made with it, but I'm guessing that more non-gaming assets are being made with it than anyone realizes. It's a fantastic post-production for 3d modeling tasks. It's fantastic for fast nearly photo real rendering. It's almost as good at rendering truly photo real assets now that Path Tracing is becoming mature. It's fantastic for creating background and matte plates for video and film production. There are few things that do that as well as it can. It's not well suited to modeling the initial 3d object so you really need to have something to build the 3d assets in. Hard asset modeling and creating is the one area that it's lacking. But, even if it never rises to the level to compete with 3ds Max or Maya, etc., that's ok, because it's just another tool and it does what it does so well, that modeling deficiencies can be overlooked
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Trimble
    • Quickly exploring solutions in 3D: We get a lot of "what if" and "what would that look like" questions. While hand-sketching and hand-drafting can be fairly quick, SketchUp allows me to quickly create 3D and 2D views of a detail or solution, change dimensions and materials in a flash, and show a client or installer the plan in minutes.
    • Creating professional design documents in LayOut: Projects of any scale need good documentation. Using a combination of SketchUp and LayOut, I can create a Design Intent Set, plans for permitting, a set for mechanical trades to mark-up, etc. Having clear, appropriately-scaled drawings with dimensions or notations is a must, and we don't always have the time or budget to get an architect involved!
    • Using live files to guide discussions: Not all clients are "visual" people, so opening their model and orbiting around their space in real time has been extremely helpful. Clients and trades enjoy the perspective views so much that we often include them in the full-sized drawing sets to give a good "overall" view of the project intent. For complex or tight spaces, sometimes un-rendered plans and elevations just aren't enough!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epic Games
    • Achieving proper depth effect of the background layer
    • Walkthrough videos of any given layout can be easily prepared and made more immersive
    • Creating the most detailed 3D models
    • Takes very little time to produce the required renders depending on the complexity of the input
    Read full review
    Cons
    Trimble
    • Ability to import Revit files and libraries.
    • Ability to export true curved vector linework. There are some workarounds, needs to be refined.
    • Create an OPEN MAPS connection. Since the split from Google, the source for high-quality aerials is limited.
    • Ability to dock all menus to the master window on a Mac
    • Ability to develop dockable menu trays on a Mac
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epic Games
    • The modeling tools are getting better but have a good way to go to really be intuitive
    • They are trying to bridge the gap between coders and artists and have done well but more needs to continue to happen to enable users who have little experience writing code to be able to use it effectively. It's not that this is a "room for improvement" thing per se, it's just that more of it needs to be done and I think they know that and are on it.
    • It's so powerful, it's difficult to find anything else that needs improvement. It's kind of mindblowing what it's capable of.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Trimble
    We typically wait a few years in between renewing, as even older versions are powerful tools for modeling, and we make sure the amount of feature changes are worth the re-investment.
    Read full review
    Epic Games
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Trimble
    It is very user friendly and easy to learn. It's simplicity allows for a low learning curve so more people can learn it faster. The downside is that most schools are no longer teaching it, so many younger professionals come out of school not knowing it and knowing more complex software and they have a hard time "dumbing down" their skillsets
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epic Games
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Trimble
    Sketchup is so intuitive; I can't recall ever looking for official support. However, there are many user forums online that can answer more questions. The usefulness of the online forums is, however, tempered by the fact that there have been many versions of the software under different ownership and support regimes, and thus finding the right information for the right version of the software can be a challenge.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epic Games
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Trimble
    We have not evaluated any other competing software to this one. I heard about this software from a friend who teaches how to use it. She showed me in just a few minutes and I was HOOKED. I saw immediately the possible help it would be to my business. Thank you.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epic Games
    Despite the fact that the Unreal Engine user interface took some getting used to, it was rather simple to navigate once we got the hang of it. Furthermore, Unreal Engine offers unrivalled flexibility and fine-tuning tools. Twinmotion has a slightly complicated UI as well, but the number of options for personalization and fine adjustment is limited
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Trimble
    • It's good in the sense that you can quickly make a drawing and speeds up the design process. Not sure how to quantify that from a ROI perspective.
    • Also, good for editing an image after the fact. We can easily add a dimension that was forgotten in the original image.
    • Allows team members to understand a design easier than on other software platforms.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Epic Games
    • It's helped a tiny studio like mine to compete with larger and more financially sound studios.
    • It gives me another product from which I can derive a revenue stream.
    • Unless you are publishing a game for sale or a packaged product, UE is free to use and tinker with. You can use it to build something amazing to use in your portfolio which in turn can help you sell your skills.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots