I’ve never touched the unlink button in Layout so I’m just wondering… would unlinking the reference file make Layout run faster?
No. Well, maybe slightly when you open the LayOut file because LayOut won’t take the few microseconds it spends comparing the embedded versions of the file with the reference files and alerting you that they don’t match, if they don’t. While you are working on the file, though, it’s no different.
Keep in mind that if you unlink your files, changes to the originals won’t show in the LayOut file unless you relink to those original files.
You can make things faster by keeping the reference files lean and clean. The most common problems seem to be users overloading their SketchUp files with unneeded detail and allowing their files to become bloated.
Thanks. Hmm. I try to keep in mind the polygon count of anything I bring in from the sketchup 3D warehouse. I thought it might like, take a screenshot of whatever image it gets from the model, which I figured would have to make Layout run faster. Is there anything like that? … Although I guess I could see complications if you totally removed the model and then did need to make a change later on. sigh
You could explode the SketchUp viewports which would convert them to images. Of course as images they won’t be linked to the SketchUp model file so changes to the model will not update the LO file. If you do that you might as well export images from SketchUp and insert them into the LO file.
As for stuff from the Warehouse, take the time to import it into a separate SketchUp file so you can inspect and clean it. Very often you can gut those components and get rid of unneeded detail without adversely affecting the component’s appearance.
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The simple idea of importing things from warehouse to present in Layout is a terrifying one, to me.
I would avoid it at all costs, unless you really really need it and you know what you’re doing.
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Following on what @DaveR says.Exploding on vector format will take some time but will allow fast dimension afterwards. It will break the link from SketchUp though, and will be hard to revert.
Why? I do open them in a separate file and get rid of whatever I can. If I need a generic “dishwasher” or “broom” I find the warehouse to be a lot faster than trying to draw a decent looking one. Sometimes the polygon counts are too high so I end up drawing things myself anyway, but sometimes they’re pretty low. Have you had a bad experience with this or something?
There can be good stuff available in the Warehouse but you need to look at it closely to make sure it’s not going to cause you issues.
Here’s an example of a component grabbed at random from the Warehouse. It’s a cooktop designed to mount in a small cabinet. the one on the left is the one from the Warehouse. It has a fair amount of unneeded detail. I spent some time cleaning it up to make the one on the right. The original is around 3.5 Mb while my cleaned up version is 346 Kb. That’s better than a 90% reduction in file size.
Added into a kitchen model, mine still has more detail than it probably needs. It certainly doesn’t need the sides that would be hidden under the counter top.
I expect I could have modeled something suitable in less time than I spent gutting this one.
Exactly.
Those knobs… They seem to have more faces than most house projects I model.
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Yeah. I didn’t really do anything to reduce them in my cleanup but they certainly could be reduced.
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I know. And not knowing the full scope of what they are going to be used for it’s impossible to tell what to erase. You took care of the least minimum that was needed to clean it with no harm being done for most scenarios.
Those knobs would probably be killer on closeup renders even if they would kill Layout on a technical drawing.
As Sketchup users we have the right to bash in Layout but what’s interesting is that they would also kill any other BIM modeller I know of.
I have 1068 apartments in the highrise I an doing… a simple box component is all I can afford… actually it is all I need … I always ask myself would I have drawn that detail back in 1970… if the answer is no… why draw it now! horses for courses
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You know you’re a niche case. Max I did was 250. Most people here model for rendering, for what I’m aware.
Yes I know, but nevertheless the principle applies… knowing the appropriate amount of effort for the return value… most users have little regard for that and the impact their sloppy work has on everyone else downstream… that is assuming their information can even flow downstream!
PS… grumpy after have spent hours coverting a REVIT file back into a usable SU file 
Sometimes the logo on the appliance is more geometry than the rest of it.
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Haha… yes so true… one of the first things I go for…