You’ve set up the model so that none of the scene properties except Camera Location are saved with the scene.Since those are properties LayOut needs to determine how to display the viewport, they need to be saved with the scene. In the Scenes panel tick the boxes for all of the Properties to Save. Then save and send the file to LayOut. It’ll work then. You should also create a proper scene instead of using “Last Image Export”.
In your file:
Set up correctly:
Of the things Dave points out that are not set, it’s the Style and Fog one that leads to the crash. If you check that box and save the model, it will send to LayOut ok.
We have that fixed, and the next update from us would not crash even if you haven’t saved the style with the scene.
Brilliant, thanks, and I’m quite sure I would have struggled to intuit this without your help. Good that, as Colin says, a fix is on the way. I now have a new issue - the imported model is horribly blurry - I was hoping to be able to change some of the lines to a thinner stroke, or make them dashed or a different colour, but they’ve come in quite pixelated. Is there also a simple setting that would avoid that (presumably in Layout since I guess the skp itself is not blurry)? Maybe you can get an idea from the attached picture…
it’s normal behaviour in softwares like layout or indesign. in order to make your work easier, it’ll show you lower definitions of the actual things.
if you go to the documents properties, in the render subsection, you can change the on-screen resolution to high. it’ll look better. or you could switch it to low so it looks worse but it’s faster.
if you need super clean and sharp lines, you could also select your viewport and in the sketchup panel on your right, switch from raster to vector.
Yes, however you should still have the properties saved with the scens so the viewports in LayOut have a fixed reference. If you don’t, the LayOut file will constantly change scene properties as you work between SketchUp and LayOut.
@ateliernab has address your question about the sharpness of the viewport in LayOut.
I removed the large white rectangle in your model and edited the style to have a white background. In LayOut I rendered the viewport as Vector and this is what I see. Crisp and clean with no caffeine.
Thanks - I’m getting quite disheartened now - I have used the free version of Sketchup for years without any problems, designing house rebuilds and all sorts, but I’m new to the features in Pro and it’s pretty bewildering. I did what you said - I think - deleted the large square (which was only there to get rid of the ugly default background colour), set the background to white, but it still imported with a sort of ugly beige background into Layout. It’s way past midnight and I’ve had enough - I’ll maybe try again tomorrow. Thanks int he mean time for
your help (you and the others who chimed in).
Hah! I thought I’d have one more go before turning in and I found the “Background” button hiding in the Layout Sketchup Model tray - clicked it off, set to vector and everything looks fine now. Except I’m now going to redo the drawing because its not precise enough. By the way, I realize that producing “Rotring” drawings is a very simple application for Sketchup, but I tried a bunch of alternatives today (free or trial versions) and none has the sheer versatility of Sketchup. You would not believe how difficult people can make it, and they all seriously miss the guide feature that Sketchup has - incredibly useful and very much missed when not present! Goodnight all and thanks again!
I’ll guess you didn’t update the style after editing it.
Turning off the Background in LayOut is another way to manage it but as I indicated with Scene Properties, I think it’s best to manage the background color in the style.
I presume that’s a hobby for you, then? There’s a lot of capability with the desktop version and LayOut but you do need to learn to use it all correctly. Don’t get disheartened. It’ll come.
Yes thanks - I started using Sketchup nearly 20 years ago and I’ve been pretty happy with what I was able to do with the online / free version up until now. The desktop / Pro version is quite a step up, and I’ll need to spend some quality time with some tutorial videos, although the purpose that I now have for it is much simpler - I just want to produce high-quality footprint plans of French cathedrals - this in connection with my retirement hobby. See my intermediate post in the thread - I think I’m on the right track now.
Like anything, learning how to really use the tools well pays off in ease of use and imporoved quality. It’s worth the time up front learning how to use SketchUp and LayOut properly. It’ll save you time as you ware working through your projects and make the process more enjoyable because things will be predictable.
