So today Layout started refusing to link to an SKP file. I got the SKP file linked, however any updates to that SKP file aren’t registering, so I know the link is broken. Plus when I go to Document Setup it shows that its not linked because its red. Also and probably related, I’ve been copying old Layout files, and then relinking to the new SKP file I need because several updates ago my custom title block templates disappeared and I haven’t re-built them. I’ve tried re-linking via both Document Setup AND via the SketchUP model tab.
Can you share the LayOut file and the associated SketchUp file so we can see what you are working with? There’s probably a logical explanation.
Also, where are your SketchUp model files saved? Are the saved on the internal drive?
I keep them all on my hard drive.
MOOSE AIR INDIA v03 FINAL.skp (7.6 MB)
Here is the SKP. The Layout is 19MB though, so here is a WeTransfer link to it: WeTransfer - Send Large Files & Share Photos Online - Up to 2GB Free
I’m looking at your files now. Could you show a screen shot of Document Setup>References with the window wide enough to see the entire path of the SketchUp model reference?
BTW, I didn’t know there are moose in India.
I ended up getting it to link by removing all punctuation from the file names. So I can’t show you how it looked. The company owner’s name is Mousseau, so Moose Exhibits. We’re just doing their booth. This punctuation thing is weird, because it isn’t impacting files I do for another company where I also use punctuation in the file names.
What was the punctuation that you removed?
I figured that out looking at the LO document. I was a little disappointed to not see a moose standing in the exhibit. 
I went ahead and relinked to the .skp file you shared. I did this in Document Setup>References which updates all of the viewports tied to that model in the document. Is it possible you were relinking using the Relink button in the SketchUp Model panel or by right clicking on the viewport and choosing the Relink option? If so, that would only relink the selected viewport, not all of the viewports in the document.
I noticed that on the last two sheets, the viewports show the Camera properties have been overridden. If you copy a viewport that has had the Camera overridden and then change the scene, the Camera properties won’t update. Here, for example, the viewport is set to show Scene 14 but you’ve overridden the camera properties.
Scene 14 looks like this in the SketchUp model.
After restting the Camera for the viewport, it reflects what Scene 14 shows.
You can update the model reference all day long but scene properties you’ve modified in LayOut will continue to rule over the ones in the scene until you reset them.
If you want the different elevations of the arch structure, create scenes for them in the SketchUp model instead of changing the Camera in LayOut. I’ve done that here.
By the way, it wouldn’t hurt to purge unused stuff from your SketchUp model. I did and got rid of this much unused stuff.
That reduced the size of the SketchUp model by more than half.
It would also be a good idea to make sure you are using tags properly. All edges and faces should be created and remain untagged. Only groups and components should be given tags.
With proper tag usage there’s really no need to drag out copies of the elements to create scenes of just those parts. You can do that from the main model and just choosing which tags are visible and which aren’t. This would make your model management easier, too.
Here’s the updated LayOut file. I did nothing to any of the viewports except on the last sheet. The embedded SketchUp file has been purged but it doesn’t include the untagging of the edges and faces. You can get that SketchUp model from LayOut by right clicking on a viewport and choosing Open with SketchUp. Then use Save as … to save it out into a folder.
MOOSE AIR INDIA GBTA24 v 03 FINAL dr.layout (14.9 MB)
Here’s the .skp file with the tags fixed.
MOOSE AIR INDIA v03 FINAL dr.skp (3.1 MB)
On the purging things, I purge my bigger models more than the smaller ones. Once they get above 30MB usually, the smaller ones its never really a problem. Now on to me trying to re-link things.
SKP is always trying to go here to look for the file I’m linking, and I always use the Document Setup method.
And it keeps not linking, as shown here:
I had it relinked this morning after I took the underscore out from in front of MOOSE RELATED. I’ve also dropped the period I usually do between the v and the version number. It worked for that one update, but then I had to go back into the model and make a change and the link dropped again.
Its weird because this hasn’t cropped up in the models/layouts I do for another company. I literally have an underscore in front of every file name and it works fine.
Could my original Layout file be a problem? Should I just junk it and start over. At this point I’m burning time trying to make it work, when I still have another revision cycle where I need to map in graphics for the walls.
My suggestion is to keep all of your model files cleaned up no matter how big they are.
It’s odd that LayOut is opening its own file when you want to relink. It shouldn’t be doing that. I wonder if @adam has any advice on that. On my Windows machine when I click on Relink it opens first to the folder where the LayOut file is saved. In the case of your file, it was saved in my Downloads folder. Clicking on Relink opened to the Downloads folder where your .skp file is also saved.
I think it might be the layout file at this point and I’ll start again. Somehow a couple versions ago all my custom title blocks got lost. They just disappeared from one edition to the next. So I got in the habit of reusing old files and re-linking. But I guess today might be the day I waste rebuilding them. Life was so much easier in the hand drafting days.
Your custom templates may still be on your computer. When you update to the next major version it installs as a separate application. The default location for the custom LayOut templates would be ~/Library/Application Support/SketchUp/SketchUp 20xx/LayOut/Templates. They don’t automatically get copied to the Templates folder for the new version. You can copy them from the older folder to the new one, though.
We’ve seen cases in the past where doing this can create problems so it’s generally not advised.
In some ways, yes.
It might be that the whole path is exceeding a max number of characters (eg 256)
Try renaming a folder with less characters and then use the dot v3 version
Did you try deleting then ’/‘ in the folder name(s) / file names for this project? The only special character that I allow myself to use in any file or folder name (I’m also on a Mac) is ‘-‘. I do not use spaces, periods, punctuation except ‘-‘ within any folder or file name and if I receive files from a client I will rename them if needed.
As an aside -
Everyone has their own naming system, but at some point naming things like ‘final v10, really really final this time I promise’ will lead to madness.
Personally for the most part I use ‘Save a copy…’ in SKP when I start to make changes that might initiate something becoming a new version. This then saves a copy in the background (with a new name) and I keep working within the file.
My most recent file is always ‘ClientInitials-ProjectName.skp’ and when I use ‘Save a copy…’ in SketchUp I add a date or descriptor - so something like ‘ClientInitials-ProjectName-50x50Booth.skp’ - this way I know I can still retrieve old versions, but I never have to guess which file is really the most current - it is always the file without notes / dates / final / etc.
Also I am strict with only using ‘-‘ in my file names and folders and no other special characters. This keeps things clean and easy to organize. And my regular clients are all designated by 2 or 3 initials, and all related files have those initials at the beginning. This keeps me from having longer and longer file and folder names.
My project files are organized by year, then subfolders for clients (typically businesses) and within these individual project folders named as above. Within the project folder is ‘reference’ for photos and things I get from the clients and ‘archive’ which I move all old versions / etc.
This has made keeping my LayOut links and all documents easy to find and keep current.
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