You really don’t have to use Scenes to control model views in LayOut, but sometimes it is more convenient to do so. This is especially true if you are doing lots of complicated showing/hiding between model views.
I think the problem for many folks right now is that some, but not all, of the things you might want to control in LayOut are available. You mention:
- Orbit: full camera control in LayOut.
- Style: partial control in LayOut (select a Style, but not edit the selected Style)
- Camera Option: full contol over Orbit, Pan and Zoom; cannot control FoV in LayOut
- Shadows: full control over date/time and ability to toggle Shadows on/off; cannot control lightness/darkness in LayOut
You can make these changes in LayOut without breaking the update link. Assuming what you want to update is the model’s geometry. Sometimes having only some control is worse than having no control over a set of attributes?