# When and Why to render model **URL:** \ **Category:** LayOut\ **Created:** [May 29, 2021, 12:11am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153 "2021-05-29T00:11:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![matsu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@matsu](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/matsu)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 12:11am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/1 "2021-05-29T00:11:08Z")
Hi guys. I have had some warning signs pop up. One I believe was a unrendered something ( sorry, daaahhh) . Is rendering in layout about the same as saving? I read DaveR talking about view ports and the way they update each other. So when and why do you render? thanks for any help, didn’t find much on a search… Correy ---
**Author:** ![JimD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@JimD](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/JimD)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 7:18am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/2 "2021-05-29T07:18:32Z")
Render in Layout is not much different than having an option to Refresh, or Redraw what’s being shown on the display (i.e. computer monitor). I’d say it’s main use is to get Layout to update any changes that take place whenever a user switches between the various Styles that can be assigned for any given viewport. There might be an interesting way to use the Render option, but if so, we’ll need to wait for someone else to come in share what that might be. You’ll suffer no real harm in using Render any time you want,… But I would not confuse it with the standard Save Option. Render is not going to write the file to disk, like the Save function does. ---
**Author:** ![simoncbevans](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/simoncbevans/32/15904_2.png) [@simoncbevans](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/simoncbevans)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 8:11am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/3 "2021-05-29T08:11:11Z")
Rendering has nothing to do with saving. Rendering is how the model gets represented. When you first import a SU drawing into LO it will be raster rendered. The good thing about that is that it is quick and dirty and imposes low demands on the system. So manipulating the LO drawing is easier, especially on low power computers or complex drawings. But you get jagged lines and it isn’t great for final output. You are likely to want to use Hybrid or Vector rendering for that. Although there is a link between the LO viewport and the SU drawing, it is not dynamic. That is, when you change something in SU, it won’t automatically update the LO viewport. You have to invoke that manually. A lot of this is because LO is unable to take advantage of advances in computing power achieved in recent years. There is a lot of pressure in this forum to see LO upgraded to something that is as impressive as SU itself in operation. ---
**Author:** ![DaveR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/daver/32/7601_2.png) [@DaveR](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/DaveR)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/4 "2021-05-29T18:27:52Z")
> [@simoncbevans](#): > > Although there is a link between the LO viewport and the SU drawing, it is not dynamic. That is, when you change something in SU, it won’t automatically update the LO viewport. You have to invoke that manually. Except if you open the SketchUp model file from LayOut. Then when you save changes to the .skp file and go back to LO, the viewports will update automatically. ---
**Author:** ![simoncbevans](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/simoncbevans/32/15904_2.png) [@simoncbevans](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/simoncbevans)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 7:25am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/5 "2021-06-01T07:25:38Z")
Really? As I always use Send to Layout, I guess I never saw that. ---
**Author:** ![DaveR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/daver/32/7601_2.png) [@DaveR](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/DaveR)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 8:16am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/6 "2021-06-01T08:16:21Z")
> [@simoncbevans](#): > > As I always use Send to Layout, I guess I never saw that. It doesn’t really have anything to do with Send to LayOut. It doesn’t matter if you send to LO or insert the model via LO’s File menu. You can open the SU file by right clicking on a viewport and selecting Open with SketchUp. If you do that, LO watches for the Save in SketchUp and updates the reference. It’s the same for text, spreadsheets, and images if you open them in their default applications from LO. ---
**Author:** ![simoncbevans](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/simoncbevans/32/15904_2.png) [@simoncbevans](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/simoncbevans)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 10:08am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/7 "2021-06-01T10:08:22Z")
Are we at cross purposes, Dave? Here’s my standard workflow: create model in SU; use Send to Layout to get model into LO; edit drawing in SU (often still open); revert to LO and have to invoke update manually. I guess it would be different if you had already created and saved the drawing files, then opened the LO drawing, and then invoked Open with SU. ---
**Author:** ![DaveR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/daver/32/7601_2.png) [@DaveR](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/DaveR)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 11:36am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/8 "2021-06-01T11:36:57Z")
No Simon. We are not at cross purposes at all! Your work flow is fine. I’m just telling you that you don’t _have_ to manually invoke the update after editing the SketchUp file _if you open the SketchUp model file from LayOut._ If you go back to edit a LayOut file you were working on last week, for example, and find you need to edit the SU model you used in the project, open it from LayOut, make the changes in the SketchUp model and save. Then go back to LayOut. The updates will be done automatically without you manually invoking them. You can certainly continue manually doing it as you have been. Just don’t tell others that it won’t automatically update the viewport. It _can_ do that. ---
**Author:** ![matsu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@matsu](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/matsu)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/9 "2021-06-01T18:09:23Z")
Hi Guys, thanks for the answers. I did notice that sometimes it was automatically updating when opening from LO. Thanks for clarifying what was taking place! And as far as saving and updating… Example, in field of my model I do a doodle , it’s Layer 0, I make a layer for it and then it seems I need to go scene by scene to shut off that layer in the layers I don’t want it to show. Once you have 25 or more scenes it’s laborsome. Is the only way to shut something off across all scenes is to manually go one by one? And then Save? Thanks for the help. Correy ---
**Author:** ![DaveR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/daver/32/7601_2.png) [@DaveR](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/DaveR)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 6:12pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/10 "2021-06-01T18:12:20Z")
Hi Correy, > [@matsu](#): > > make a layer for it and then it seems I need to go scene by scene to shut off that layer Yes. There’s a [plugin available in the Extension Warehouse](https://extensions.sketchup.com/extension/5fe151f4-aefe-4dcd-b37e-c0766caaa6e4/auto-invisible-layer) that when activated creates layers/tags that are hidden in all existing scenes. Make sure you are leaving Layer 0/Untagged active and ALL edges and faces keep Layer 0/Untagged. Only components and groups get layers/tags. ---
**Author:** ![matsu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@matsu](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/matsu)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 6:28pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/11 "2021-06-01T18:28:37Z")
Thanks Dave. You are a wealth of info. ;^) And in general for saving, when a change is made on a LO page should you automatically Save it before you move to another Page? THX ---
**Author:** ![DaveR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/daver/32/7601_2.png) [@DaveR](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/DaveR)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 6:30pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/12 "2021-06-01T18:30:15Z")
Thank you! > [@matsu](#): > > And in general for saving… Well, it’s like my old Jewish grandmother would say about chicken soup, it couldn’t hurt. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![simoncbevans](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/simoncbevans/32/15904_2.png) [@simoncbevans](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/simoncbevans)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 8:19am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/13 "2021-06-03T08:19:07Z")
> [@DaveR](#): > > You can certainly continue manually doing it as you have been. Just don’t tell others that it won’t automatically update the viewport. It _can_ do that. Fair enough. I stand corrected. Is there a reason it has two different ways of operating depending on your approach? ---
**Author:** ![PaulMcAlenan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/paulmcalenan/32/211206_2.png) [@PaulMcAlenan](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/PaulMcAlenan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 8:39am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/14 "2021-06-03T08:39:24Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever used send to Layout Simon. My Layout templates have a pre-inserted viewport that links to a holding SketchUp model (a cube). When I start a new Layout project I right-click the viewport and relink the model reference (or go to Document Setup\>References). As Dave says, I always open the SketchUp model from Layout if I need to edit it, so that Layout automatically updates. ---
**Author:** ![simoncbevans](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/simoncbevans/32/15904_2.png) [@simoncbevans](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/simoncbevans)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 8:48am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/15 "2021-06-03T08:48:01Z")
One of the beauties of this forum is finding out how other people do things. One gets so set in one’s ways, that you tend not to think outside the tramlines you have set yourself. I guess the Send to Layout feature is what seduced me! My workflow tends to be: Create drawing in SU; When ready Send to Layout; Notice idiocies; Go back to SU and correct; Return to LO and update; Rinse & repeat. Which means I tend to use the manual updating method. But if I update a drawing set after having finished and filed it, I do then to go to the LO file first, if only because it makes sure I am updating the right SU file. I guess the advantage of having a manual refresh is that yo don’t have to wait for LO each time you make a small tweak. But that’s the theory and very unWYSIWYG. In practice, I tend to refresh at each tweak to see the effect. I guess if LO were faster, there would maybe be no point at all in having a twin method. But until that happens, I’m going to try your way. ---
**Author:** ![PaulMcAlenan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/paulmcalenan/32/211206_2.png) [@PaulMcAlenan](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/PaulMcAlenan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 8:56am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/16 "2021-06-03T08:56:32Z")
> [@simoncbevans](#): > > I guess if LO were faster, there would maybe be no point at all in having a twin method. But until that happens, I’m going to try your way. My models tend to have minimal colours and are frugal on textures which I guess helps towards my speedy Layout experience ---
**Author:** ![simoncbevans](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/simoncbevans/32/15904_2.png) [@simoncbevans](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/simoncbevans)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 8:59am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/17 "2021-06-03T08:59:27Z")
And, perhaps more crucially, a Windows environment? ---
**Author:** ![MikeWayzovski](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/mikewayzovski/32/98346_2.png) [@MikeWayzovski](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/MikeWayzovski)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 10:55am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/18 "2021-06-03T10:55:31Z")
FWIW the ‘Send to LayOut’ option was purely a marketing thing to get more people to work and explore LayOut, IMO. Now that a lot more people using it, it kind of backdrops and people complaining that it doesn’t work fast. Might be related to OpenGL whereas other CAD software uses DirectX. You simply don’t want to have a 3D drawing with all the leaves of the vegetation in a construction document, what do you tell the gardener, ‘I want this leave to grow exactly as drawn!’ Who’s checking ? 🙂 I also do not use the Send to LayOut, have LayOut open all the time. In fact, I think I am not gonna bother opening SketchUp at all, I just start a new template in LayOut with a ‘dummy’ SketchUp model inside and open it from inside LayOut, then do a ‘Save As’ 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![DaveR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/daver/32/7601_2.png) [@DaveR](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/DaveR)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 11:01am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/19 "2021-06-03T11:01:11Z")
> [@simoncbevans](#): > > Is there a reason it has two different ways of operating depending on your approach? When you open the reference from LayOut it knows you are potentially editing the reference. and is keyed into watching for the changes. Like Paul, my templates have a pre-inserted SketchUp model with some standard viewports established and I relink to the SU model for the project. I do the same for the spreadsheet that appears in the documents, too. And then there’s a bunch of title block text setup as Auto Text. While I’m in Document set up relinking the .skp and .xlsx files, I edit the Auto Text. I don’t even need to unlock the layer the title block is on. ---
**Author:** ![PaulMcAlenan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/paulmcalenan/32/211206_2.png) [@PaulMcAlenan](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/PaulMcAlenan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 11:09am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153/20 "2021-06-03T11:09:13Z")
> [@DaveR](#): > > my templates have a pre-inserted SketchUp model with some standard viewports established and I relink to the SU model for the project even better! [Next page](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/when-and-why-to-render-model/166153.md?page=2)