Thanks for the reply!

As an update, I bought the Mac mini and currently have it connected to 3 x 4k displays.

Looking at the GPU usage graphs, I've been able to reach about 80% of the limit of the Integrated UHD 630 with SketchUp alone, and using maximum texture sizes.

The only thing that's maxed out the GPU so far has been the screensaver I use.

I can orbit large models easily, but there's a slight delay when I stop orbiting, and before the textures load. It doesn't orbit quickly with the textures still visible - it changes to solid colours.

For the moment, I'm going to keep with the integrated graphics as this computer seems almost silent, but if I decide to buy an eGPU, I'll update this thread to show the comparisons.

This is with the 2018 i7 Mac mini, 6 core, and 64GB Ram - running SketchUp and Layout 2020

@dave r said:

I would like to see a filter to eliminate the models/components that are poorly made and need work to be usable.

This.

How about sharing the file so I can see what you are working with?

You're welcome and you are right. If you use layers and scenes correctly in SketchUp you can easily employ stacked viewports to give you even more control.

AFAIK the viewer used to be payware (bought a licence myself back then, for Android) but the licensing was changed it is now free.

I was thinking of pdf reduction, which (I guess) is trickier.

@pixero said:

Well...the most annoying thing is that they are trying to force us to go into subscription.
Hiding away the permanent license where barely anyone can see it.

If you've been keeping up with your annual maintenance and support, it doesn't matter because you would get the Classic license anyway. They've only added another option for new commercial SketchUp users to get into SketchUp.

A few years before I retired from my last job I got a SketchUp Pro license to use at work. Due to the price and the way my employer's purchasing system was set up, I had to go through a process to get a purchase order created and an account established with Trimble before I could get the license. If the subscription option had been available I could have paid for it with my corporate credit card. Instead of taking several days and involving several different people in Purchasing (which added to the cost of the license) I could have had the license within a minute or two of completing the form on the SketchUp site and the corporate credit card bill would have been paid automatically.

Thanks! I didn’t realise I could use the precision symbol in that way. I’ll check out the text tool as well

@box said:

I'm surprised nobody has asked where the multi pushpull tool is that they must have used in the second gif.

You are so dedicated to every tiny detail we missed. 👍

Perfect, thanks!! 👍

I completely forgot about "Print to PDF"!

It'll be interesting to see how that effects file size!

There's also the Reduce Polygons function built into Artisan. However I agree with Dave R that you should try cleaning up the model first.

Otherwise the Blender option is pretty good even with complex geometry. It has the added benefit of retaining UV mapping too.

Thanks!! Didn't realise I had auto save turned on in Layout (I've always had it disabled within Sketchup).

Have now turned it off, as I prefer to manually save using a keyboard shortcut at specific points when I'm working.

If you wish to control units for areas independently from the model unit, and use 2D Label to assign the text to faces, then you can have a look at FredoTools::ReportLabelArea.

ReportLabelArea - Labelling.png

@jakemm said:

Update: Ok, it looks to be that because it was a simple model, that's why Sketchup got confused.

Once I'd started adding some internal walls, everything magically worked as it should do!

Without seeing it. That's what I figured. You can always just add a temporary flat roof or something. SU doesn't know a house from anything else. It's really just set to find some sort of negative space it seems.

I suppose that you say Vray for SketchUp ... ?

It's maybe not the same price! ( * 6-7 ) 💚

I am not sure it makes seven times better images ? 🤢

Vray is not known for its facility of use...

Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed reply!

It's a real shame Sketchup hasn't fixed this error in years, but good to know I've got a workaround I can use for the moment 👍