Need to change parameters by ticking boxes on page in model

I’m new to SketchUp so I don’t yet know it’s more sophisticated capabilities. I searched quite a bit about spreadsheets and Excel, etc., and couldn’t find what I’m looking info on. Maybe I don’t know what to ask for.

I have some kitchen cabinets. They come in about 8 colors and have options like toe-kicks and different marble tops.

What I’d like to do is put a chart in the file that stands beside the cabinets. It would have ‘tic boxes’ for each variation the user could choose. If they tic the ‘Toe-kick’ box, the layer or tag for them is turned on in the model.

I’m looking for a very simple way for users to drive the variations without having to know to go to ‘Outliner’ and tick the eyeballs, etc. This is something that is doable in Unreal Engine and is very handy, but Sketchup is not as full featured as UE.

But, maybe it is possible with some coding. Is it?

SketchUp has Live Components. Go to this page, click Configure, and try the many settings on the left:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/a99f086a-29db-4ab9-8b8f-fcc25b774737/Outdoor-Kitchen-Cabinet

Would that approach do for your cabinets?

Colin, thanks for the fast response. That in fact would work nicely for me. I actually wanted that configuration panel to be an image standing next to the cabinet in the viewport, but that may not be possible.

The reason I wanted it to be in the viewport is so it would travel with the downloaded file. I think the Live Components only works when it’s being configured in the Warehouse and is connected online. Am I making the correct assumption there?

So, yes, the Live Components functionality will work for me. Now that I know about this functionality and its name, I’ll go search and learn how to configure it.

Thank you very much…

Fortunately, your assumption is wrong! If you find that same model while inside SketchUp, you download it, and do the configuring inside SketchUp. The panel is still a separate window, but the component is in your scene.

The process of making Live Components isn’t simple, and isn’t really anything like SketchUp. This is the page where you make them:

http://creator.trimble.com/

There is a Learn section in the upper right of the page. There is a lot to learn.

What you can often do is take an existing live component and load that as a starting point, to see how the settings were achieved. Then change the content to yours, and using the old model’s technique for showing the parameters.

Thanks Colin. Yes, I did independently find the link you shared and I’m not timid about learning it. Maybe in the future it will be more user friendly, but at least it exists and it will be interesting to explore. I like your idea if using an existing one as a base and then try to modify it to fit my needs. Thank you.