I have a question about releases. Assuming a future release is to my liking and I am working with a client: Is there a way I can be assured that release will always be available to me? In the past I have asked that question and I’ve gotten a response that reflects Veras policy, like when they generally deprecate earlier versions or something like that.
But focusing on the user, who needs to know they can depend on a certain result; is there a way to accomodate that, that I can be assured of use of an earlier version? It would be important the version be unchanged. Because several times in the history of Veras, with a new release, I have been suddenly unable to get the results I got in an earlier version, and am sort out of business until a another more successful release comes along.
This particularly applies I guess to the web app, for which you only get one option, the newest. I started using the web app exclusively when the line weights became too light in the preview pane of the Sketchup plug-in. But with advent of releases 1.7 and 1.8, I haven’t been that happy with the results I’ve gotten in the web app, and you have no other choice there, cannot access an earlier version.
So I am stuck on three counts.
Cannot use SketchUp plug in because of line weights in preview pane.
Not getting results I want with releases 1.7 and 1.8.
With any other kind of rendering program, like a real time rendering program, you would know that you could get the same results in three months, six months as today. But since ai-powered rendering is still being developed, I am asking you to work around the uncertainty and the changes by offering to keep older versions, that may have worked for you, active, both in plug in and the web app. So that you always have a version available that has worked for you, that you like. Important for planning, and employment.
I understand your concerns about Veras’ release updates and deprecation policy. Veras is not a traditional desktop app, but rather a hybrid desktop-app, which means we need to consider additional security measures when releasing new versions.
While earlier releases might be deprecated, we do offer the option to switch Render Engine versions, which can help you maintain compatibility with previous versions. This flexibility allows you to choose the best version for your specific needs and workflow.
Regarding your concern about being able to depend on a certain result, I understand why it’s essential for your work and planning. While we can’t guarantee that earlier releases will always be available and we can’t keep older versions indefinitely, we might consider offering specific releases as “legacy” or “stable” options, allowing you to work with a version that has worked well for you in the past.
Regarding the web app versioning, we are looking at a way at building a standalone desktop app of the web app that could be versioned as the plugins are versioned. This would be a Windows desktop app, not available for apple devices.
We’ll continue to take your feedback into consideration as we move forward, and thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas with us.