Now that one can import DWG files would be nice to import block as a component as well in LO. …besides DWG factor I believe this features would improve production and speed in LO.
Thanks,
Fernando
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Can you import them and put them in your Sketchbook?
Yes, I did that but still, a group and the point of having a component is using instances of it and very easy to update/modify in bulk…I’m asking for a feature like SketchUp or AutoCAD and I think is necessary as well because of the direction that LO is taking.
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I moved your thread to the LayOut Features Requests area where it belongs.
I’d love to have the scrapbooks scrapped and have proper components just like in SU. Edit one and all updates. The scrapbook system is just like having a separate file open at the same time and copy stuff from it. It’s not a real library where the things you insert are anyway linked back to their source.
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The ‘stuff’ can be references, thus can act as a ‘component’ library similar to the component library of SketchUp.
A LayOut file is nothing more then a bunch of references to all insertable content, eg images, .skp-files and spreadsheet files.
Yes, mostly used to copy-paste little LayOut-drawings or annotations, but if filled with the right stuff, can be easily relinked to another reference:
If the right reference is edited, all will be updated…
here is the file:SketchUp Scale Figures.layout (1.2 MB)
What you copy from the scrapbook is a group, and not even the kind of group SU has that stores its definition separately and can be instances. There is no reference back to the library.
The group can contain references to models, image files and text files but that’s another thing.
What you copy, depends on what’s in the scrapbook, so it can be be all kinds of stuff: lines, text, groups viewports, images etc etc
what you are importing is a viewport then you have to explode them to be used as lines…it’s not a real solution to work around what is needed in my opinion…components and outliner for LO is what we need.
architectural details can have a lot of components and would prefer to see them with outliner rather than see them in the references dialog window.
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what you import, depends on what is inside the scrapbook, yes, it could be a viewport but also a table, line, text, png, jpeg, pattern etc, etc , all insertable content. (in the gif I imported a viewport ,but also a .png)
Don’t get me wrong, I see the need for a LayOut ‘entity’ which would have similar behavior like a component in SketchUp, but:
I would not call them ‘Components’ because it is confusing: A saved Component is a (little) SketchUp file and the way we import SketchUp files into LayOut is through a viewport, which already exists.
To extend this terminology, one could see the new LayOut ‘entity’ as a small Layout-File, so it might as well be called a ‘ScrapBook’(Or Scrap-Page, or Scrap etc.)
Then, it would only be a matter of updating the reference of the LayOut-file (Or ScrapBook).
Plus one, also for a ‘entity’ info panel
To me it is obvious it should be called Component in LO too as it would be the same thing as in SketchUp, an embedded document of the same type as the document it is embedded in. Editing one instance would edit all in the same document (extremely useful if you want consistent symbols throughout the drawings), you could save it to an external file, load it from an external file and reload it from that external file.
This could be very useful for cooperating on projects, or just to keep large projects organized. One person could work in a LO document that represents a specific drawing. Another person could, at the same time, create a layout composed of several individual drawings. In SketchUp you can already do this by having one person working on one model, e.g. a building, and another person at the same time working on a composition where said model is a component,. e.g. a whole neighborhood.
In my view the current scrapbook system was a mistake. Instead of listing all LO files in a specific folder it is based on one single LO file being opened as a scrapbook. What you do is virtually a copy paste, not an insert that retains the path to an external file. Also the current design prevents you from easily adding own content to a scrapbook as you would have to manually rearrange it to make space for your new stuff, you cant just save a new symbol (file) to the scrapbook folder and have the list update automatically as you can do in SketchUp. It is illogical and inconsistent.
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In my view it is not complete, yet.
No, it is not. Each is a different one (Cars,Arrows,Colors etc.), folders can be added, too, through preferences.
No, the path to an external file is also inserted (of course, for now, only viewports, tables, .png,jpeg, eg all that is referenced), you can also change the reference from .PNG to a .SKP or whatever insertable content you choose.
Two more advantages, compared with SketchUp component libraries:
- A notice when a reference file is edited (By a colleague
) when opening a file.
- More intuitive built of library: You can set up a collection (basic LayOut-file saved as scrapbook) and add different items of the collection as a page. (Scrapbook>Edit) Because LayOut keeps track of references, everyone in the team would benefit.
Is it not a matter of 
?
In a way, the LayOut-concept is superior to a SketchUp model : It is a collage (or) a variety of file-types, compressed in One
It’s great LO shows a dialog when referenced file have been updated aznd I’d like a similar feature in SU too but it still DOES NOT keep a reference to what you insert from the scrapbook. You can’t reload if the scrapbbok is updated. You can’t edit all instances of the same object taken from the scrapbook all at once. It retains references inside the viewport and images you insert but not to the source of the inserted object itself, only its child objects. You might just as well keep a “scarpbook” LO document open as another tab and copy paste. Under the hood that is all what the scrapbook system is, a small frame for showing a separate LO document.
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Scrapbook needs to be more robust…Maybe when you import a component could ask you if you want it embedded or it’s reference…If it’s embedded really act like a component where any modification is only affected inside the document and if it’s attached you have to modify the source to be reflected in your document.
Besides that, I think and I posted before that it should bring layers and visual arrangements as well.
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Hey Flino, try disabling your plugins one by one. When you find the plugin that crashes Sketchup you should contact the developer. I assume one of your plugins is not compatible with Su 18
I am with Eneroth… I think LO conceptually became a mixed metaphor
Fundementally, LO should have followed closely as a 2D equivalent of SU, use the same concepts, terms, interfaces, actions etc etc…
Its adoption would have been much quicker and easier for all of us…
Yes LO has some great capabilities but boy it frustratingly different.
We are all used to blocks [components] whatever you want to call them in Autocad… and SU
We all know how to use them and when…
We need the same simple powerful implementation in LO,
called the same name ,
operated the same way,
with all the same powerful attributes we have in SU component,
it is just a 2D equivalent!
its almost a no brainer and I am puzzled as to why it is even a discussion
Hopefully we will see it SOON
This would be the last nail in Autocad coffin
Hell, TRIMBLE could even market it separately for free and finally blow the Autocad to Hell!
PS - Nevertheless big thanks to the SU Team
as 2018 Layout enhancements are bringing the interfaces together and
hopefully this approach will accelerate
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I have my maintenance service for Autodesk products but for the last year and a half I have been using SU+LO to replace Revit and Autocad and trying to keep tight all my workflow around SU…I hope LO gets more features to say very loud F.U Autodesk.
you can definitely replace the Autocad with Draftsight in the interim
my license is for the whole suite so I’m looking to replace 3ds max…Autocad, yes Draftsight is a good option…Revit, I don’t care anymore…I hope SU + LO get better faster
Would this also imply that 3D viewports should not be allowed in 2D LO components ?
(Think about the problems that multiple viewport reference chains would have on LO workflow and organization.)
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