I’m currently using SketchUp to create 3D visual assets for my Texas Roadhouse menu website, and I’ve started running into several technical issues that are affecting both my modeling workflow and the final web presentation. The project includes detailed 3D food models, table layouts, and interior-style elements that are used as visual components on the site. While SketchUp has been great for rapid modeling, the file performance has degraded significantly as the project has grown, especially when working with multiple high-resolution textures and grouped components.
One of the biggest issues I’m encountering is severe lag when orbiting, zooming, or editing components. Even relatively small edits such as adjusting a material or moving a grouped object—can cause SketchUp to freeze for several seconds. I’ve tried purging unused components, reducing polygon counts, and disabling shadows, but the performance improvements are minimal. This is particularly problematic when refining models meant to represent menu items, since I need to make frequent small adjustments for visual accuracy.
Another challenge is related to texture mapping and scaling. Many of the food textures (such as steak surfaces, bread textures, and sauces) appear correct in SketchUp but become distorted or misaligned when exported for use on the website. Some textures stretch unexpectedly, while others appear blurry despite being high resolution. I’ve checked UV mapping and ensured textures are properly sized, but inconsistencies still appear after export, especially when using different export formats like OBJ or GLTF.
I’m also experiencing issues with component instances not updating consistently. When I edit a component definition such as a plate or menu card some instances update correctly while others remain unchanged or partially updated. You can click this URL. This creates confusion and makes it difficult to maintain consistency across multiple scenes representing different menu layouts. I’ve verified that components are not accidentally made unique, but the behavior persists unpredictably.
Exporting models for web use has also been problematic. File sizes are often much larger than expected, even after simplifying geometry and reducing texture resolution. When these assets are imported into the website, they negatively affect loading performance and sometimes cause rendering glitches. I’ve tried different export settings and extensions, but I’m unsure which options best balance quality and performance for web delivery.
Overall, I’m trying to determine whether these issues stem from SketchUp limitations, modeling habits, extension conflicts, or export settings. If anyone has experience using SketchUp for web-based visualization especially for menu or product presentation I’d appreciate guidance on best practices for performance optimization, texture management, and reliable exports. My goal is to keep the Texas Roadhouse menu website visually rich without sacrificing usability or load speed. Sorry for long post!