The latest version of LO I can use is 23.0.418. In earlier versions I didn’t have these issues (not sure when it changed, probably a couple updates previously):
—When editing a viewport, the tool defaults to the Move tool. I have to manually select Orbit, which used to be default. Since Orbit changes to Move with the push of a shift key, it is the more useful default.
—When I shrink my view, the page moves to the bottom of the screen and stays stuck there. If I enlarge I can’t center the page without using the slider on the right side of the screen, the scroll does not do it. It is much faster to use the scroll, and I can’t get an accurate impression of the page layout if I can’t see it surrounded by gray. Likewise, this didn’t happen previously.
— Often when I duplicate a viewport by option-dragging, then switch Scenes, I have to press Reset to get the new view. Why not change as the Scene changes, like it did before?
Other issue:
—I’d like to have my preferences stick to new drawings in dimensions and type of view. I would prefer 1/4" increments and vector drawings, for instance, and they are 1/64" and raster. As I write this, it occurs to me that I should try setting up a template this way to see if they stick in the new template.
When you choose to modify scene properties such as the Camera properties you’re describing, you are telling LayOut you don’t want to use the properties set in the scene. This is not something that was new with LayOut 2023. It’s been that way since you could modify scene properties in LayOut. So if you override the Camera properties for a viewport, they will stick when you copy the viewport even if you change scenes until you reset the viewport.
Modifying the Camera position in LayOut sets you up for a huge mess if you are adding dimensions and annotations in the viewports. Better practice is to avoid moving the camera in the viewports altogether. Set up the scenes in SketchUp to show the model as desired and use those scenes. If you decide later that you need to move the camera, do it in SketchUp, update the scene or create a new scene and the update the reference in LayOut. All of the “issues” you report will be eliminated and you’ll also eliminate other problems and save yourself a great deal of time.
I’m not modifying scene properties, Dave, I’m changing scenes. The properties I’m looking for, such as camera position, visibility, active layers, etc. are inherent in the new scene. Yet I have to press reset to get it to change. This did not happen three versions ago.
OTOH, if I edit a scene in LO and change camera position, occasionally I must resize, otherwise everything stays the same when I close the edit. Camera position and size are the only things I edit.
Bear in mind, that I am limited to last year’s version because of my OS.
What you wrote, and I quote below, says you ARE modifying the scene properties. Or maybe overriding is a better word.
Double clicking onto a viewport to orbit, zoom, or pan the camera modifies/overrides the Camera properties for the scene. If you weren’t modifying/overriding the scene’s camera properties there’d be no Reset button in the Camera section of the SketchUp Model panel and selecting a different scene would show the change in camera position to the selected scene.
It used to be that the scene would be shown in the SketchUp Model panel as modified. When LayOut was changed to allow more control over the viewports, they split the scene properties up into the categories you get now. It used to be that you’d end up resetting ALL scene properties when you selected a new scene. Now each scene property category can be reset independently of the other scene properties. This is very useful for things like tag visibility, dash styles for tags, and style settings for the entire viewport.
You really should not need to move the camera in the viewport or otherwise override the scene’s camera properties.
Actually, Dave, I’m talking about something different:
-select a viewport in LO
-option-click-drag to duplicate
-change the scene
——>then I have to press Reset to see the different scene.
As to the editing, I’m amazed you can set a scene properly in SU. For me, I have to approximate what I want, usually a couple different perspective views; then in LO I work them onto the page. I change position and size, then often have to tweak the exact perspective view to get the one that looks best after I see how they relate. I really can’t see it until I’m composing the finished page. SU only gives me one view at a time, and without the framing of the paper in LO I really can’t tell if I’ve nailed it or not.
I’m not sure what your output is, but for me it is usually a sales drawing for my customer. I do the typical orthogonal views with dimensions, so we both know what I’m talking about, but the first page is perspectives to really convey the feeling of the piece and make the sale. I typically do two, but sometimes more, on the first sheet of the presentation. If I can nail the feeling of the piece there I generally get the commission.
That’s not different. You are copying a viewport in which you’ve already modified/overridden the scene’s Camera properties. Unless you reset the Camera properties in the new viewport, your override is still in effect so changing to a different scene will not change the camera position. The same thing applies if you override other scene properties like tag visibility or style. The new viewport will show the same settings unless you reset them. This is the way LayOut has worked for a few years now.
I’ve never had a problem with that. Very rarely I might go back to SketchUp and tweak the position of the camera for a scene but I have never found a need to modify the camera position in LayOut.
I do a variety of things with SketchUp and LayOut. I create documents to show to clients with perspective and orthogonal views, too. I also create shop drawings for furniture and other projects. There’s architectural stuff, plans for machine shops and other types a manufacturing.
I’m just trying to save you some time and effort but I get the impression that’s not really wanted so I’ll stand down.
I get what you are saying now— Any modification, such as checking Orthogonal, changing LO views from Front to Side, or actually editing the image; and I need to reset the viewport.
I came here from SU & LO Version 8, where this was not the case. I find it inconvenient. Eventually I will get used to it, but it is still an extra step.
BTW, I am very happy to have my workflow streamlined. Unfortunately, I do not have the skill/prescience to set up my scenes better in SU. Hats off to you if you can, but it is beyond me, and believe me, I try each time. I need more context and I don’t get it until I’m actually working on the page, with other views adjacent.
Coming from Version 3 of LayOut, there are a whole lot of changes. When you get used to them you get familiar with them I think you’ll find the entire process is easier and faster. I can manage with many fewer scenes than I needed back then, for example. There’re much better options with dimensions, auto text for labels, and so on.
Really? Since version 3 of LayOut (which is what you used with SketchUp 8) hyphens are automatically added to architectural and fractional dimensions. The dimension text is automatically placed outside of the dimension line with a leader when the extension lines are too close for the size of the text. Or the dimension arrows will automatically be placed outside the extension lines. You can see examples of those things here. Dimensions can also extend across viewports.
In LayOut 3 you would have to manually add hyphens and leaders and change dimension arrows. I did a whole lot of editing of dimensions until those features were added.
Auto Text are text objects that automatically fill. Labels have auto text fields you can select. This shows placing a new label. The existing labels with the component name and dimensions is auto-filled using the component’s description. That description text is automatically and instantly created in the SketchUp model.
In this case I could also have a label that shows the scene name or, since I anchored the leader on an edge in a component, the length of the edge. If I’d anchored it on a face, I could get the area of that face automatically.
You can also create auto text fields for other text blocks. Page numbers, page names, dates, custom fields, etc. In one of my templates I have the following auto text fields.
When I start a new project on this template I just into Document Setup and fill in the fields I need to fill. I don’t have to unlock layers and double click into text boxes to edit them.
I don’t need to create scenes with different styles or with different visible tags (layers) in SketchUp. In SketchUp 8 or any version before one of the previous couple, I would have to create separate scenes to show hidden details, for example. And in a version like SketchUp 8 you would need to manually draw in dashed lines in LayOut for hidden features if you needed them.
The two scenes in the SketchUp model show the left and front elevations of the chest with the drawer in place. With tag visibility control I can choose to show the chest without the drawer and the drawer without the chest. And with the option to give tags dash styles, I can show and dimension hidden features. With stacked viewports using the same scenes but with different tag visibility and styles, everything is covered. When the client comes back and tells me that the drawer needs to be 1/4 inch deeper than I was original told, I only have to edit the model in one place and update the reference in LO. The hidden features and the dimensions update automatically. No correcting dimensions, no redrawing dashed lines, just update and go.
If you wanted to show, for example, different door styles in a case piece, in SketchUp 8 you would need to create different scenes to show the different styles. Now, you can have the different door styles in place and just switch which tag you want to show for a given viewport. There are a lot of ways to leverage the capabilities you have now. This just scratches the surface.
