Maybe you could add these ideas to your google sheet.
More Options HOW I want a tag to be visiable: Hide / Show / Show grayscale / show transparent, etc. Check Vectorworks for that - they are doing an awesome job with it. Advantage: No “Double-VIEWPORT-Layouts” where people layer several ALMOST IDENTICAL viewports on top of each other just to make one grayscale and one in color.
Allow to control the outliner from Layout just like you did allow for the tag-manager. BOOM! Now I can show and hide Groups, Components, etc. This would be an absolute dream
Maybe allow to “isolate” Groups/Components with one click. Often enough it’s not that big a hassle to get the overview of model right as a layout but it’s getting that ONE Detail, that ONE Element. You cannot do that at tne moment unless you have a scene set up for that and setting up such a scene is tiresome at best, especially if you have like 100+ parts you want to detail.
Some automation to set up the most standard view-ports. (Top, Bottom, Left, Right). I am looking at Solid-Works - it’s an absolute breeze here to set up the standard views - takes seconds. In Layout not so much. You can make a copy of a top view change it to right view and your model “disappears” because the elements you want to see are “somewhere to the left or right of the view port” good look hunting.
Just allow for Extentions. Your community will fix Layout in now time.
A lot of posts here mention how other software can do specific things better than LO. It seems right that developers should have an eye to what the competition is achieving and try to replicate the better ideas where possible.
I can’t help wondering to what extent LO and SU could be combined to create something akin to the combined ModelSpace and PaperSpace of Autocad. Besides only needing one software package, it would help integrate things like scene making. Scenes are really a part of the presentation process and therefore properly LO territory. But as things stand, you have to create them in SU before you can display them in LO.
I realize this would alter the business model but it must be possible to allow activation of advanced features within a package only to Pro users. Also, I would not want it if it compromised the flexibility of LO, such as its ability to draw in other drawings or images. None of this would be easy and would mean a radical redesign of a lot of what exists. Still, one can dream…
This was in the features request thread 4 years ago … as I said then, I was using Powercadd 20 years ago when this was possible. Text handling generally in LO is really basic and very frustrating.
Though I must say - I actually LIKE the way Sketchup and Layout are separated. Because it enables something incredibly unique. I enables you to
a) combine multiple Sketchup-Files into one Layout-File
b) create multiple Layout-Files from one Sketchup-Files
c) Swap Sketchup-files in Layout-Files - incredible cool when working on different versions of the same project.
That only works because these programs are separated. I’d say: let’s keep that.
Ugh, I happen to be banging my head against Layout’s mind numbing slowness this morning, staring at the beachball for 30 seconds at a time just trying to switch between pages, we all know the drill. A potential speed workaround occurs to me…
How about an option either in SketchUp Model viewport rendering drop down, or in the export options dialogue to export all viewports as Vector or Hybrid, without changing the display rendering?
I need to export in Vector, but if I render the working file in Vector or Hybrid the workflow grinds to a depressing snails pace waiting for constant re-renders. So, like many others, I believe I leave all viewports set to raster or keep the auto rendering off until I am ready to export. Then I run through the file and reset every viewport to Vector or Hybrid (takes forever, is there a way to batch switch rendering for all viewports in a file?). Then, a week later when it’s time to modify the file for the next design iteration I have to run through the whole multi page file switching all the Viewports back to raster just so I can work with the file, then switch back again for the next round of output. Does anyone have a better method?
A great modification for me would be a simple check box for “output as Vector” but leave working rendering in raster. Then I would never have the wasted time or frustration of switching viewports rendering just to output then switching back again to work. Sure, I would have to wait a long time for the export process as Layout re-redered each viewport to vector in the background, but thats way less than my current method.
I have been suggesting this too.
I currently bit the bullet and use Vector rendering only when the export (for instance to a DWG file) requires it. Otherwise I can make do with Raster rendering set to High resolution (300 DPI). I use Low for Display quality.
Cannot agree more. Without constant upgrades to my hardware, LO lag causes the entire SU process to be unusable…Without selling projects to my clients, i have no reason to use SU…without LO, my clients can’t understand the project proposal…
My other big criticism, I want to be able to put together an entire set of construction documents in one file, just like every other software package. Currently, I can do that on smaller projects, but on larger projects it needs to be broken up into chunks to make Layout more usable.
I would love this to be expanded, I use scaled drawings for every project to supplement the SketchUp model. Such as showing new and existing, demolition plans, etc. I use scaled drawings to create details as well, but it is quite cumbersome compared to other softwares. I try to do all details in 3D.
Not really, Paul. In SU, you have set points such as Endpoints, Midpoints, etc, all of which can be used to pick something up by. LO knows very well about such points but forces you to start by moving a silly hand symbol to identify which point you want. And then the rotate handle is somewhere else in space entirely. We have all got used to it but it’s bonkers when you think about it. If you were setting out to design companion software for SU, surely you wouldn’t do it like this?
Sure in SketchUp once you invoke the move tool you can hover about to highlight an endpoint or midpoint then you have to click to select that point if you then want the object to snap somewhere.
I like to actually select the object I want to move rather than have the move tool hovering about highlighting objects under it.
In Layout you would select the object to move but of course unlike in SketchUp you have to pick the up gizmo and move it to the point on the object that will snap somewhere… sort of the same but you are having to manually pick the point.
Is the gizmo difficult to see sometimes - yes, and it’s annoying.
Is there room for improvement - yes certainly!
But I don’t have any problems in the different modes of operation between SketchUp and Layout.
Yes I also always select the object first before invoking move or rotate.
But I guess one could not use the select tool (much) and just invoke move or rotate and hover about highlighting snap points or anywhere on a face or edge…
