Since updating to SU 2025, transparent materials seem to burn through the model. The image shows my window glazing and water, and these materials are behind other surfaces. Sometimes it will reset if I go to another tab, but not always.
What happens if you switch to the Classic graphics engine in Preferneces>Graphics?
I tried that, but I need the ambient occlusion feature. A colleague of mine has the same issue on a different system, and with various models. It seems to be tied to the 2025 upgrade.
What is their graphics card?
2025 has different graphics card requirements. Have you made sure the drivers are up to date?
What graphics card are you using? Your forum profile is surely out of date since. Surely you aren’t still using Windows 7. Please update and complete that information.
Info updated. Sorry about that.
Thank you. No need to apologize. It happen when you haven’t been around the forum frequently but that information is helpful to us when we’re trying to help you.
So things to try: Go to the nVidia site and download their latest drivers to install. Install them and then do a cold reboot of your computer and check to see if that helps.
Another thing to try is to turn off Metalness and Roughness under Automatically Enhance Materials in Preferences>Graphics and Shaded using Textures not Photoreal Textures. Does that change anything?
Out of curiosity, how far is the model from the origin?
Can you share the .skp file so we can try it on a different machine to see what happens? Likely your model is larger than 16 Mb so to share it you would need to upload it to a file sharing service like DropBox and share the link. If you don’t want to make it public, click on my name and then “Message” and send the file or link in a private message.
Thanks, Dave.
I updated drivers recently, but check them anyway. They’re up to date. I also have the Metalness and Roughness unchecked.
The model is near the origin.
I’m happy to share the model with you privately. It’s ~35 MB, so I’ll get a Dropbox link to you.
1 Like
how many screens are you using ?
I’ve seen this a couple of times, while using my laptop + external screen + a tv (screencopy) + teamviewer, as if I was asking too much from my 3050rtx (whaaaaat? noooo!)
it only happened while opening several SU files, in general to show something, and only on some more complex files (talking geometry here, not weight)
1 Like
Dave, let me know if you get the Dropbox link. I’ve never shared a link without an email address before.
1 Like
I have a workstation laptop; pretty stout. I dock it with two 24" monitors. It may as well be a tower, as I never use it without being at my desk at the office or home.
1 Like
ok, now, if you disconnect the two extra screens (or even just one), does it still make the weird effect ?
my laptop is a gaming one, and it’s pretty sturdy too, but like I said, sometimes I ask too much of my GPU all at once and the transparent materials appear on top - even just for a brief moment. every machine has its limits I guess 
it’s not constant, I can spend a whole week teaching without having the ghost, then I’ll have it happen 2-3 times in a single day.
it’s not a situation that I can easily reproduce at home, so it’s a bit tricky to report as a bug. but if on your end, we start seeing similar behaviour (and conclusions) it’s good.
The new engine (directX12) is more beefy than openGL, therefore it needs more support from the GPU. it would be valuable to see if there is a “breaking point”
Is there a difference if you set the Transparency Quality in Styles tray>Edit>Face settings to Nicer instead of Faster?
I wonder if an ancient “Shadow strings” issue has resurfaced.
Thanks, I’ll try unplugging one of the monitors the next time it happens.
I’ll see if I can document a breaking point for you.
Hmm. I changed my window glazing opacity from 60% 10 100%. I kept my water at 56%, to see if they varied. So far, it’s stable. Interesting. I’ll stress-test it a bit more.
Okay, the water, at 56%, had the same issue, but the windows that I changed to 100% remain good. I changed the water to 100%, and it too resolved itself. Here’s what’s weird: I then changed the water to 50%, and it still good. Perhaps SU doesn’t like 56%.
I have your model open and other than orbiting the camera to approximately the view you showed, I’ve done nothing to it. This is what I see.
Is the file you shared from after the edits you made to material opacity or style transparency?
The main difference is that I have a different graphics card than you do.
I have multiple displays but SketchUp is on the primary.
Nice house, by the way. Are you building it for me? 
The file you received was before editing the materials.
Thanks. This is being built on a ~1000 acre cattle ranch in Florida. There’s a one mile view from that porch balcony to the tree line. Half the time water, the half it’s a praire.
I think what you are seeing must have to do with the graphics card/drivers. I wonder if @colin can suggest settings that might fix it.
That’s pretty cool. I hope the snowy background is not a regular occrrence.
There was a problem that I thought was already fixed, where ambient occlusion artifacts would show through walls, but only at certain times of the day. Try changing the Shadows time to other values, and see if that changes anything.
