Hi, I am using Sketchup and Layout in Pro version for professional use in a company. The point is to get my colleagues to use Sketchup as well so we are about to get more licenses. I am currently preparing our files to be able to work in common with files on our internal network. The problem is that I want to add the new location for our templates and scrapbooks in “Layout preferences” but the “browse for folder” window that opens doesn’t offer the link to the network. Any idea about what to do? Thaks in advance Martin
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It’s a bad idea to work directly on files that are not on your computer’s hard drive!
If you must use the companies network, download a file to your internal drive, open it for working, save to your internal drive and finally upload to the network…
Most of the people who come here with files that cannot be opened have opened/saved directly from/to:
- network drive
- external drive
- USB stick
- cloud
- internal drive, in a “live synced” folder
A better solution is to use Trimble Connect. It’s part of your subscription and has unlimited storage.
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A virtual drive maybe would help. (Onedrive, Dropbox)
@bmaxim please read my post.
Don’t use the cloud for opening/saving files directly!
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Thanks for your answer 
I didn’t think about the using Trimble connect that I actually have but I haven’t used yet, I will explore this proposition coming from “Tweenulzeven”. Martin
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Thanks for your answer, I haven’t used Trimble connect that I actually have but haven’t used as I was working solo so fare I will explore, thanks!
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If you look at “This PC” in the list, do you see the network drive? I don’t have a network drive to show but all of the available drives are shown on my end.
As @tweenulzeven points out, it isn’t wise to work on file saved directly to a network or cloud location. But once your users open a template from the network drive they can save the project file directly to their own internal drive. If it needs to be saved to some network location they can copy it to that directory. If they need to work on a file from the network drive they should first copy it to their internal drive first.
Trimble Connect is a good option for saving backup copies of SketchUp model files but at least currently doesn’t do LayOut files.
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Thanks! I will indeed explore the Trimble connect solution to see how fare I can go with it. On an other hand, the Network that appears on the browser window list doesn t lead to our company files… So I am also checking the issue with our IT dpt. But thanks for answering:)
Again, Trimble Connect is good for SketchUp files but doesn’t support LayOut files so it’s not a solution to your original question.
BTW, I would suggest making a resource “packet” of folders for things like common LO templates and scrapbooks as well as SketchUp templates (you can’t change the location of SketchUp templates anyway) components, materials, and styles. Then instruct the users how to download those resources to their computers and install them in the default locations. This would make those resources available to them even if the network is down or if they are using the computer remotely without a connection to the network.
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Yes, seams to be the best solution. I was dreaming about Template and Scrapbook files that could be used directly for the all team as I use them myself on my own PC but it appears to be a bit more heavy in a team.
I just have to think about how to organize the files in the simplest and clearest way to install good work habits and a good work flow from the beginning
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I think that’s a very important part of things and it often gets missed. This isn’t just related to SketchUp and LayOut, either.
On that topic you have a great opportunity to teach them about dealing with both SketchUp and LayOut files that will make things easier for them and result in less time spent screwing around. Probably off-topic for this thread, though.
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I use Trimble Connect for templates. I upload the files to a Project in Trimble Connect and sync them to a local folder. You can sync each computer in your company ensuring that cloud overwrites local folders.
The local folder is the one I point from SketchUp templates.
That lets you have more than one computer with the same templates, materials, etc.
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Also check this thread:
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Thanks, I will check out that thread, I have a lot to learn about Trimble Connect. I think that the Sketchup universe is as any tool, it has the functions it has been created for and then come all the possibilities born from the creativity of the users. That’s why a the forum is so important as it is the space to share different experiences and ideas.
FWIW, the shared network location should work for the Templates/Scrapbooks and Pattern Fill Images which can be set in Edit > Preferences for LayOut, even with VPN-tunneling. There isn’t much data traffic since these files are usually not that big and it is a one-way traffic.
It should also work for SketchUp file locations. It’s when files starting to grow and the data traffic needs to go both ways when it starts to get troubling. (Eg. Autosave/Save, trying to open the file by someone else, etc)
That’s why it is not recommended to use external file locations for the Working files.
As for the templates of SketchUp, it is best to create project-specific files (BIM-manager!) with all the needed settings (Tag-folder,Scenes, etc) and might be already split (eg. A Site.skp with Buildings as components to be relaoded)
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In a corporate environment where the blurriness of cloud gets distinctly foggy, one could use a symlink (symbolic link) to have all the computers point to that one file which could be locked by an owner of that drive.
We have a strong back bone and fast wifi so running files directly off a drive really isn’t a big deal.
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