2010-06-02, 03:33 PM
Well I have had sketchup installed for the last 7 months......Still runs free........ So There is no 8 hour trial for the the free version......And as for the PRO version...the only real difference I can tell between the two is the ability to export in to other file formats like OBJ DXF .X ect. And boy do they charge ya for it........199.00 to be exact,,,,,, Google justifies it by saying the plugins used are third party and they need the Dough...If that IS the case then that is reasonable... What ever the reason, You can export in DAE in the free version, if while the models made on Sketchup look kinda bland in sketchup....They look awesome if you spruce them up...... I found a really good grandfatherclock I want to use in Mytrosia.......... it looked pretty bad in sketchup.......... and was super high poly...... but after some tweaks , it now way less than a tree.and looks AWESOME........ I am just bummed I did not make it from scratch.............Anyway and to answer your question. NO you dont need skethup installed to use the models prebuilt, however making your own models is superfun..and Sketch up is HANDS DOWN the easiest modeling software EVER to learn..... I mainly posted this because Ben said he had not added his trees yet, and since he used blender anyway, The warehouse has over 2 thousand different low poly trees ready to import............Only wish I had known about this MONTHS AGO when I spent HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS on Damb TREES............ Anyway.........just thought it might help some folks out...........Happy modeling............ML