(TRICK) To re-enable skp file preview

driven

It creates an observer that causes SketchUp to save a jpeg image of the current view each time you save a file.

You'll probably get some grief about using the ~/User/Library/ path, but I use both without issue, you just need to be careful that all supporting files/folders are in the same Folder for other plugins.
however, I had to run from console the first time, for some reason, now it just works it.

@unknownuser said:

Second, I wrote a little QuickLook generator, also attached,
Steve
nice works well, but I'm also on ML...

I'll have a play and see if there are any issues, other than moving the .skp without the .pv.jpg, maybe a support folder with the plugin?

cheers
john

slbaumgartner

@driven said:

@slbaumgartner said:

It creates an observer that causes SketchUp to save a jpeg image of the current view each time you save a file.

You'll probably get some grief about using the ~/User/Library/ path, but I use both without issue, you just need to be careful that all supporting files/folders are in the same Folder for other plugins.
however, I had to run from console the first time, for some reason, now it just works it.

@unknownuser said:

Second, I wrote a little QuickLook generator, also attached,
Steve
nice works well, but I'm also on ML...

I'll have a play and see if there are any issues, other than moving the .skp without the .pv.jpg, maybe a support folder with the plugin?

cheers
john

Hello,

I have a habit of putting things into ~/Library born of times when I shared a system with others and I didn't want my tweakings to mess up theirs. Other than that, there is no reason you can't put these files into the /Library folders instead.

You may have needed the console action to get the system to notice the generator. Other than qlmanage -r, I don't know what events cause it to check for new QuickLook generators.

If you move the skp without the .pv.jpg you will lose the thumbnail and get a Trimble logo instead (nothing I did, it just happens) until you copy the image too or save the file again. Not sure I understand what you mean about the support folder - create some separate, fixed place where all the thumbnail images go instead of the same folder as the skp?

Steve

driven

@slbaumgartner said:

Not sure I understand what you mean about the support folder - create some separate, fixed place where all the thumbnail images go instead of the same folder as the skp?

Steve

yes, could even be a dot files so it's hidden, point the QL generator at that... now I think of it some of my other QL have support folders with them, so you could install both at same time and place. completely separate from the ruby and the .skp
john

slbaumgartner

@driven said:

@slbaumgartner said:

Not sure I understand what you mean about the support folder - create some separate, fixed place where all the thumbnail images go instead of the same folder as the skp?

Steve

yes, could even be a dot files so it's hidden, point the QL generator at that... now I think of it some of my other QL have support folders with them, so you could install both at same time and place. completely separate from the ruby and the .skp
john

I get it now. I'll look into this. It will require revision of both the ruby and the QL plugin so that they look at the same folder, which will have to be in a well-known location so that it doesn't depend on how someone installed the generator (esp ~/Library vs /Library). Maybe a hidden folder in your home directory?

Thanks
Steve

driven

~/.QL_SU/*.pv.png would be my first choice, that's probably best, no permision issues if I want to add titles etc... to the image or even add the image as the file icon with applescript.
john

slbaumgartner

@driven said:

~/.QL_SU/*.pv.png would be my first choice, that's probably best, no permision issues if I want to add titles etc... to the image or even add the image as the file icon with applescript.
john

Of course, there is a tradeoff: if the thumbnails are placed there, you can forget to delete one when you delete the associated skp file, causing abandoned thumbnails to accumulate in a hidden place that Finder doesn't normally show you.

I'm trying this out. The Ruby part was easy, but I confess that the Objective-C part is forcing me to learn more about the Cocoa framework suite than I expected. It may take me a while

Steve

slbaumgartner

@driven said:

~/.QL_SU/*.pv.png would be my first choice, that's probably best, no permision issues if I want to add titles etc... to the image or even add the image as the file icon with applescript.
john

OK, try the attached instead of the previous versions. I used ~/.QL_SketchUp just to be more explicit. Using these, your skp files can be scattered anywhere and the QuickLook should still work. Just remember. per my previous post, to delete the thumbnail if you delete the skp!

Steve

the QL generator

the ruby plugin

Efrado

@aerilius said:

Great!
Now we have work-arounds for everyone (and it's up to Trimble to raise their product).
You can get nice transparent previews (as in this video) if you temporarily disable ground and sky
and set the option :transparent => true.

Hi,
AERILIUS,how and where do i have to place the "UnityPreviews"to get the results showed in the video?
I am on macbook pro.
Thanks.

filipeefilipe

Guys,
I have the same problem. I haven't the preview of sketchup files. Do you find the definitive solution? My computer: Win 7 - 64bits - SU8. I don´t want install mysticthumbs. Plese help me. Thank you.

kalu

I have Sketchup Pro Mac osx and I have not preview of the files, all the files look the same and drive me crazy, can someone explain If exist any walk around? Thanks.

whiterabbit

If anyone is using adobe software (I suspect many of you are) it is possible to see previews of .skp files in Adobe BRIDGE.

Bob James

@whiterabbit said:

If anyone is using adobe software (I suspect many of you are) it is possible to see previews of .skp files in Adobe BRIDGE.

CS6 Bridge. And you can just drag and drop from Bridge into SU 2013 or 2014.

charly2008

Hi,

On my Mac, only icons in the Bridge are displayed. I am a beginner with the Mac. Do I need to adjust anything?

MarkoAntonije

Havent read through all the posts, but one solution to see previews is to run Sketchup, go to : File -> Import. Change "type of file" to .skp and preview all your files by selecting your file in that window.

baz

Now here is a curious thing... in my mail client- Thunderbird- if I browse to attach an image to an email, voila! all my skps are displayed as thumbs!
How does that work?

BTW Marko, thanks for the inadvertant tip, I hadn't realized that one could import a model that way. I usually open a new instance of SU and copy/paste from there.

Aerilius

Sorry to reveal it, but actually there is no magic about the thumbnails. One does not "need" SketchUp or other special software to generate thumbnails, but every file saved by SketchUp already includes a ready-made thumbnail.

The only obstacle for displaying the thumbnail is that you have to know at which position in the binary skp the thumbnail starts. Windows Explorer and many other programs don't know the position, and doesn't search for the thumbnail.
Software that shows thumbnails either has a compiled list for how to get the thumbnail for specific filetypes (Mystic Thumbs) or maybe seeks through the file to detect if there is somewhere an image that it could display.

For Explorer32bit SketchUp ships already an extension that tells Explorer at what position an skp file contains a thumbnail. I have no idea what holds SketchUp back from doing this for Explorer64bit, I doubt it requires porting the full SketchUp and its 3d engine to 64bit.

thevzitor

CaniViz have just released a new version of their CaniVIZ 3D_Preview which allows mac users to see previews direct in the Finder ! The software is not cheap but... when you have thousands of files it can be worth it.
Otherwise I discovered that Clawmenu can also read the previews on skup files on Mac. It is free on the Mac Appstore.
Best to all

sketch3d.de

@thomthom said:

@borgman said:

I have tried the Seperate command with Windows 7, but alas, it doesn't work. Has anyone come up with a solution for this rather annoying problem already?
Nope. They changed something between the Beta and the RC so explorer.exe always spawn the 64bit version.

%Systemroot%\SysWOW64\explorer.exe /separate /e, {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}

should do the trick under W7 x64.

Norbert

Aroundthebend

@slbaumgartner said:

@driven said:

~/.QL_SU/*.pv.png would be my first choice, that's probably best, no permision issues if I want to add titles etc... to the image or even add the image as the file icon with applescript.
john

OK, try the attached instead of the previous versions. I used ~/.QL_SketchUp just to be more explicit. Using these, your skp files can be scattered anywhere and the QuickLook should still work. Just remember. per my previous post, to delete the thumbnail if you delete the skp!

Steve

Thanks Steve...it works for me.
I put the .rb in 'Macintoch HD/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/plugins' and the .qlgenerator file in 'Macintoch HD/Library/QuickLook' folder.

The 'Cover Flow' and 'Icon View' images now look great. Nice and clear. The icon view images have a 'turned down page corner' which distinguishes from other file types. The 'Quick Look' image matches the 'Icon View' image but small in size with its File Name, Size (MB) and Last modified date.

I found I had to re-save my Sketchup files i.e.: 'Save As' and remove the tick for 'Custom Icon' so the new preview image would be shown. If I didn't it would shows the original (duff) SU icon in all views except 'Quick Look'

thanks
Andy

Aroundthebend

@charly2008 said:

Hi,

On my Mac, only icons in the Bridge are displayed. I am a beginner with the Mac. Do I need to adjust anything?

Charly,

to create a file thumbnail in SU you have to 'Save As' and tick the 'Custom Icon' and then save; over writing your original file. This icon is a snap shot of the view you have on screen at the time of 'saving as', so choose your view first! To update the icon you need to 'save as' again! This works on SU 8 on Mac OS 10 and Windows XP & 7.