I created a collection of 73 scale figures, get the folder when I do a search in the Component panel, but only the first 12 pop up in the component panel, and there is no way of scrolling to the next set of 12…
OK … blame it on me … you (we) have “created a monster”!
But in reality, that monster was here in the room all along … maybe it’s just waking up?
I, for one, have learned some interesting things about Trimble Connect from this discussion. It makes me look at LayOut a bit differently … Trimble may be gradually, but purposely “obsoleting” LayOut in favor of their “next big thing” (TC)? Could they be trying to wean us off of LO by simply not improving it?
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Yeah,it would seem I need to check out Trimble Connect. Never even looked at it before.
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I think you’re seeing conspiracy theories by now.
Layout isn’t exactly stalled. Every release addresses it at least a bit. 2020 most striking work was with a layout and Tags. TC isn’t the answer for the solutions people require around here.
The point I’m trying to make is that it might be developed to become that solution if we help figure it out.
It’s a great resource that SketchUp users are neglecting.
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Well I don’t know anything about TC. I’ll be checking it out today.
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Oh yea I know, the monster was having sleepy time.
Apologists if that offends you less, Paul…
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I used to use Layout a lot but rarely ever do. it is just much easier to hard-key dims and notes in another doc. Even tonight, i am trying to use it and the mouse scroll for the most basic image is so ridiculously slow. its barely a serious program. And yes, i use layers, components, smart modeling, etc. Look at Blender. . . each one of their updates moves that program leaps and bounds ahead. I used to love sketchup. It crashes all the time and no matter how smart you make your model, it just cannot seem to handle real-world applications without some serious mental gymnastics. There is always that one old-timer who makes tables who is like, “well, if you do these million things to your model, then the single table leg that you are working out shouldn’t slow your machine down.” I don’t know how anyone could argue that it has gotten better, in comparison to all the other software out there.
Sketchup and Layout are exactly where they have been for the last 10 years. Im rooting for it, because i love using it, but most likely i will make the switch to Blender / Vectorworks. I have to imagine it’s probably a cultural issue. A lot of organizations struggle with leadership and innovative culture. It’s hard. Having worked in places that have had similar struggles, i feel like i recognize it a bit.
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Layout has improved every so slightly over the years. For us it is usable enough since 2021 that we have completely integrated it into our workflow - though it feels ALOT more snappy on Mac then on Windows. Core-Problems of Layout aside I always feel the easiest “FIX” for the program would be to reduce the amount of times one needs to jump back and forth between Layout and Sketchup in order to achieve something by allowing more flexibility as to what I want to show from a Sketchup-File.
This is often our biggest struggle - to “get the Sketchup file just right” so that Layout shows what we want it to show. Complex Scene/Outliner/Tag setups where I always need to keep in mind - ok if I change this - will this mess up my Layout?
So my proposal is: Give us EVEN MORE OPTIONS in the “Sketchup-File” Section of Layout. Being able to show/hide tags and changing the document style from there already is a HUGE Time saver because it reduces the amount of scenes I need to set up like crazy. Now let’s continue down that road.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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Just allow for Extentions. Your community will fix Layout in now time.
So with these 5 improvemens plus some general speed improvements the program would already improve workflows like crazy.
Ok - back into the salt-mines. Got to finish a 28 page layout-document. Deadline’s today… 
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Loved your feedback.
@AK_SAM , I think it’s time you shared your list of ideas you had for layout improvements, the ideas you mentioned you have written down.
@medeek , any thoughts to share on layout?
I’d like to chime in a bit here:
I think it’s important to always see things from all angles. I can’t say I’m always great at doing that, but I do try.
I think this “petition” could possibly make some people feel like we are fighting a losing battle. I don’t think however that is the right mindset, even if that’s what some people interpretted by my original post for this whole thread. The point to the post was that I am frustrated, a lot of users are frustrated, for obvious reasons, reasons I discussed in my original post comment here at the top of the page…
For me, I just read a very insightful post and the place I started reading which I found very interesting was in the photo I’m attaching here firstly from a comment by @chippwalters . After reading his comments, I then read a comment below his about 5 or so comments down, by @DougO who apparently used to work for trimble. I think reading there comments is helping me to see more of the angles on this whole discussion - particularly on how another program like blender compares to sketchup and layout and the efforts that trimble puts into their products for sketchup and layout through the eyes of a previous employee… Hearing their points of view on the two topics was really interesting for me and opened my eyes a little bit. I definitely love sketchup and layout, (mostly sketchup), although I am quite happy with a lot of layouts capabilities, there are just some things missing and have seemingly been around for way too long in layout and even in sketchup in some cases (the reason I made this petition).
The link to the discussion I’m referencing is here:
Blender Discussion - #10 by Peter_B
Below you can find the comments I’m mentioning above in the attached photos below.
A huge thank you to everyone pitching in there thoughts so far. I and we are pushing for change and I feel somewhat confident that this is a good push for the community and trimble. To me, no matter how wise someone is or developed, we all need a push once in awhile to get back into alignment. To me, this petition is that push. I will keep everyone updated at the top of the post with the 
post updates found at the top of the page.
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Great initiative but:
You’re right, but I don’t think it can really make a difference. It’s a matter of state of mind. There was a good one to begin with, but over time people and ways of thinking changed, unfortunately not in a good way.
This phenomenon can be observed all around us, the love of a job well done has disappeared to make way for the lowest price. And business leaders are no longer people who come from the base business, but “top managers” out of schools who no longer have their feet on the ground and who do not learn anything from ancestors.
The world is changing and this outcome is typical of our time.
I welcome this initiative, however, because if it leads somewhere, then I will resume paying, which I stopped when they introduced the “annual subscription”.
For now, I’m trying to find another more serious software …
Good luck !
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This thread is derailing from software request to ideology.
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Heres a list! You may want to review and spell check - and embellish it before posting it.
Some of the improvmenet suggestions may take some explaining (which I dont have time for); They are mostly interface improvements that have been identified as opportunities for improvement from my 20 ish years of use of Adobe and preparing Architectural Concepts, urban planning and landscape design.
Really I think the creators of Layout could do a lot worse than basing the interface on Sketchup with some of the editing tools that you find in InDesign.
This is a simple CSV file:
Layout Improvements.zip (5.1 KB)
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It really looks as if Pandora has been burgled.
In the interests of balance, I would just like to say that, despite its shortcomings, Layout is in many ways admirable. It is a bit like AutoCad’s Paperspace but much more powerful. Not being the same as the drawing file, you can bring in multiple drawing files, deal with annotation separately, insert image files, etc.
There are lots of little things I think it might do better but the elephant in the room for me is speed. This major shortcoming was highlighted by developers when they introduced the “blank box” when moving windows. Not in any way WYSIWYG but a built-in workaround acknowledging that the software is not man enough to display dynamic moves in the way it once did. It was effectively going backwards in order to move forwards. I am glad they did it, but only as a temporary sticking plaster.
There is also some discussion here about Trimble Connect. It is not a facility I have much explored so I may have misunderstood it. I thought it was aimed at project management and group sharing, all related to the glacial move of industries towards BIM. Seems to me that is a separate thing from how information is displayed and presented.
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for those who wanna read,
Your classic license should work forever
please, start your own thread and take the post of @DougO in consideration (clearly, you haven’t read it)
complete nonsense, the viewer apps are…viewers, not modellers
Again, read the post by @doug0. Besides, which company doesn’t want customer data, are you for real?
Actually there are three ( Connected, Constructable and Content Enabled) and they are transforming the way the world works, as a true disruptive company, instead of following trends and keeping things ‘the way they where’
Trimble is always very open in which data it collects and received the Global certification:
https://connect.trimble.com/ISO-IEC-27001-2013-Certification
Classic license holders can use the promo to get onboard
You still can
FWIW, the data is secure and as mentioned, they received the Global certification and they are totally open in what kind of (meta)data is being tracked, besides that, not all customer projects will be worth watching…
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I don’t use blender for modelling because:
- It doesn’t have inferences as powerful and accurate as Sketchup’s (even with plugins)
- It doesn’t support sections and section cut faces
- It doesn’t have an as nice component like feature as SketchUp.
- It doesn’t support Layer organization.
- It doesn’t have Layout.
I love Layout, I hate Layout.
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Blender is very cool. On some stuff it’s amazing. I just think Sketchup is better for what I do.
That’s why discussing Layout is such an important thing and that’s why discussing alternatives is a viable path for discussing Layout. There are alternatives but my biggest problem is that most will force me to give up on Sketchup.
EDIT: @trampy I was responding to a post you made about Blender, but I don’t see that post anymore.
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