Hey there folks.
I have a layout file which crashes whenever I open it. When I did my last version of it, I was able to use it and export it to pdf, but when I’ve tried to go back for further edits, it’s crashing out. No bug splat. I assumed it was a hardware issue, but have now upgraded my laptop, and the same issue is happening. I went into the sketchup model and replaced some of the components with simpler alternatives, but still no joy. Advice very much welcome
I’m still looking at your file (it hasn’t crashed LO on my PC) but I see a number of things that might be problems. You’ve got quite a number of unused refrences in the file. Did you start from an older project file? There have been reports from others of crashing when they’ve started a new project from an older one.
Before purge
After purge
I also note that in once case there’s a reference to the backup .skp file, the one with the ~ in its name.
That’s generally not a good idea because you wind up with two separate .skp files to manage that really ought to be the same and it adds unneeded bloat to the LO file.
When I opened your LO file the viewport on the Maste Plan page is blank. There’s also no scene name or rendering type shown in the SketchUp Model panel. This is definitely weird.
The last time I saw this situation the user wasn’t saving the Camera Position with the scene but updating the scene to include the Camera Position fixed it. I can’t tell exactly which scene you intended to have there. Do you know?
Actually, as I go through the LO file I’m seeing the blank Scene field for more viewports. I wonder if @adam might have a minute to look at your file and see if he can identify the issue.
The file is very slow due to the large .skp references.
Dave is typing and may have some good ideas.
I looked at the files inside the document, and they seem ok. One oddity though, you have a model named ‘Tile faced raised bed with floating bench~’. The ~ tells you that it’s the backup copy of that model. SketchUp will continue to delete the backup copy each time you save the main model file, and that could lead to issues with the associated viewport in LayOut.
I see Dave has some ideas, and shows that some models are missing.
The Missing message isn’t really anything to be concerned with in this case. That occurs because the reference files are located on the OP’s computer and LayOut on my computer can’t access them. It would certainly be a problem if they showed missing on her computer.
Thanks for looking into this. I’ll check out the link that refers back to the backup file rather than the original one.
You’re welcome.
It seems that the backup of the Floating Bench is no longer used so you must have removed any viewports that were tied to it. Purging the file of unused references made the backup of the Floating Bench file go away.
Yes, it was created from another file. I created v1 and then copied before applying changes for v2. I’m trying to keep an audit trail of changes, but happy to take on board advice on how better to do this in SKU. I usually do the same with the models, where I name them v1, v2 etc and then relink the layout file for v2 to keep it all up to date. I’ve had a few clients roll-back their requirements once I’ve drawn up their latest idea!
There are a number of .skp file references that seem to have been purged which made me wonder if it you had started out using an older project as a template. That’s generally not good practice and for a number of users it has caused corruption in their projects.
Instead of copying before creating a v2, just open v1 and do a Save As to create the file with the v2 name. Relinking to the v2 .skp files is a good practice. Make sure you purge unused files though. Same as purging unused content from SketchUp files, it’s important to keep things clean.
Do you have an old template you’ve been using for your projects? Was it created from an older project?
I use a blank template, with a dummy ‘trgd.skp’ model as reference which is just a couple of boxes and a tree.
I can’t even naviagte to pages around the document. Is it a Mac thing?
Are you then relinking that .skp file with your project file?
I’m not sure if it’s a Mac thing or specific to your Mac. Your file is very slow on my computer but I have been able to switch to different pages. My plan is to go through all of the used .skp references to see if I can streamline them and perhaps improve performance in the LO file.
I will say that in the one file I’ve opened so far, there’s an awful lot of geometry which slows things down considerably.
BTW, purging the unused stuff from the LO file reduced its size by more than half.
Your skp file has 30 million edges.
I just took one side of the hedge and created a lowpoly version.
Comparing them, the one you used has 350000 edges, the one I created has 7000 edges.
7k vs. 350k
Normally, even if you were to only use the .SKP file, it’s advisable to create it as light as possible. However, if you want to also introduce it into LayOut, where you present 2D, you should use lowpoly, 2D objects where possible. And in the case of vegetation, even more so.
Thanks for the advice folks. I’ve replaced some of the plants with lower poly alternatives, and reduced it to 12 million edges. Still big I know, but I’ll be very mindful of this for the future. This particular client wanted a photorealistic look to the model, and it was one of the most detailed I’ve done to date.
Nope still can’t get into the layout file. When I open it, it just hangs. The file size is smaller just by purging, and the SKP file is smaller too, but it just can’t seem to update it. Any suggestions? A tiny ‘quick edit’ has eaten days of frustrating troubleshooting and I can’t send anything back to my client 
As soon as you see ” __million edges” you are in trouble - especially in layout.
If photo realism is the goal you don’t want to be handling the plants in SketchUp - quite frankly SketchUp isn’t very good at it.
A dedicated renderer like v-ray or Enscape for placing plant objects would be less problematic
Is your layout crashing (bugsplatting) or is it just loading (spinning wheels and unresponsive to more inputs)?
Hi Adam,
I’m only just moving into the photorealism, and as a sole trader who doesn’t often have clients who want this, V-ray or Enscape is outside my budget. I dabble in Twin Motion but it’s extremely time consuming and slow, so prefer to offer the best I can within SKU.
It’s just spinning wheels and unsresponsive. The previous version works just fine, if a little sluggish. Unfortunately most of my edits between versions was in Layout, so I don’t wanto have to redo them.
If it’s spinning then that’s basically it loading/working - the size of the model means there is a lot of work for it to do before you can see anything.
It’s quite possible if you left it alone for as long as it takes (might be minutes, it might be hours) then it will come to life.
I guess what would be useful would be if you were able to break the link between the SketchUp model (which sounds like you’ve made too complex) and layout . So you could remedy the model and keep your layout data intact.
You may be able to do that by opening the layout file as a zip file ; then deleting the .skp file inside that is being loaded.
You could then simplfy the SketchUp model further and then relink it
Importing highpoly vegetation from 3D Warehouse does not ensure photorealism, it only complicates your workflow and gives you problems like the one you have now.
I imported a screenshot of your project into Gemini AI, told it what I wanted to appear in the image and it generated these two pictures for me on the spot.
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for Gemini AI from your model
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from Gemini AI
Looks great, but the problem with AI generated is that it only produces a one off image and there is little control over the content. If they want a tweak, i cant just go in and edit it. For example, it’s added in some plants right in front of one of the garage entrances!
Of course you can change it. I just told it I wanted some plants and that was it.
I didn’t sit down to draw on the image where I would like the plants and what height and volume they should have, I didn’t detail anything, because that wasn’t the idea.
Anyway, your model is way too heavy with highpoly vegetation that doesn’t bring you any benefit. And the fact that you’re sending it to LayOut should have created it lowpoly from the beginning for that.
https://we.tl/t-zsR7w2jKONyci9iz
I don’t know if this will be of any help to you. I’ve managed to delete out the main large Sketchup File, ending in Masterplan v1_4339 from your layout file and it now opens fine (for me at least)
If it works and you can open it, perhaps you can re-insert the file or copy any changes to a previous version.
Edit: As a side note, if you delete the component “Box Shrub” from your model it reduces the edge count by over 17 million!
Each box shrub has 355,000+ edges and you have 48 of them in your model.