This was a tricky issue for me that i could not find full documentation on so i am sharing here. Method 1 is particular to LUMION, Method 2 applies to SketchUp. Please feel free to comment with any other suggestions/links etc.
Thanks,
Bob

SketchUp - Paint faces of model with materials based on their layer & "Color By Layer" import to Lumion

Problem:
You have a model (ie.Revit export) that has NO MATERIALS on any faces but has objects/faces separated by layers from CAD, Revit or other program.
You need to materialize or paint faces of model with materials and want to use the layer designations to assign the materials easily.

There are 2 methods that I have verified.

Method 1: IN LUMION -- Just import the model to Lumion “as is”.

• If you do not need to have materials assigned in SketchUp and just need to assign and manipulate materials in Lumion you can:
  • Prepare your SketchUp model by changing the settings in LAYER dialogue to “COLOR BY LAYER”
  • Save your SketchUp file and import into Lumion as normal
  • Lumion v6.0.1 and above will assign materials in Lumion based on the “COLOR BY LAYER” settings of the SketchUp model.

Method 2: IN SKETCHUP -- Use a script to Paint faces of model with materials based on their layer.

• If you need to work with materials in SketchUp, then do the following to materialize faces based on layer designation:
  • Download -- layers_materials.rb -- (Script By: Didier Bur) to paint faces with layer color:
    Layers Materials: http://rhin.crai.archi.fr/rld/plugin_details.php?id=219
  • IMPORTANT! After loading script, you must first run “CREATE MATERIALS FROM LAYERS”
  • Then, run “PAINT FACES FROM LAYERS”

--
Additional Information:
LUMION forum discussion:
https://forum.lumion3d.com/importing/sketchup-color-by-layer/

From PeterM -- One of these might do what you are looking for (have not tested myself):

1. Create Materials from Layer Names: http://www.renderplus.com/wp2/wk/Create_Materials_from_Layer_Names.htm
2. Visit SketchUcation.com: [Plugin] Convert DWG Layer Names to Materials: http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36715

thanks for looking. was just curious. i am creating some standard sketchy styles for the firm and was looking for some interesting watermarks to try.

Duh...silly me. Of course its a Prairie Dog!! It was late in the day yesterday. No offense to your barking buddy in repose.

That is a nice edge effect. Ill see if i can get to the bottom of this issue soon.
thanks,
Bob

i cant help but notice that your squirrel seems to frequent the same Haberdashery as ThomThom. Coincidence?

hahaha! i didnt put the two together...you are THE David R!

Nothing came in for watermarks at all. there are none attached when i look through the edit settings.

Great work btw. Very cool. I have some cool ones i made years ago with some nice watercolor backgrounds, texture overlays, etc that i should probably share. Is that site the best place to share styles and things like that?

thanks,
bob

its called SCRATCH. i dl'd from this site:
http://www.sketchupartists.org/2012/05/styles-collection-2013/
(towards bottom of page)
But the watermarks didnt seem to come witht he style for me for some reason. was initially what i was interested in.

Interesting that you dont have the problem anymore. i have never run into it until now. Maybe i should try updating drivers, etc and report back.

thanks,
bob

yes. max texture, not acceleration. i uncheck max texture only, purge styles in model, then select the ones i want to use and turn max texture back on. very very strange. i like to use max textures all the time.

has anyone ever submitted this as a bug to Trimble? or is that useless??

thanks,
bob

this works. the style i tried to use HAS to be purged as you mentioned though. Then i can load it after the purge.

i have the exact same problem in SU2014 and SU2015 on two different machines, 1 is an Origin PC with a NVIDIA TITAN BLACK, the other is an MSI laptop with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX880M . I had always kept the max texture setting check marked, now i will have to keep toggling as you suggest.

So strange that these edges suddenly lose their definition and appear to be fat, wide, blurry lines...makes no sense.

your work around works for me, but boy is it a pain.

I had trouble even finding a reference to this issue but certainly glad i found this post.
Thanks guys!
Bob

FYI
i just read that the quotes are needed if you have any spaces in the path.

I have had many cases where i use a photo for photomatch, get geometry placed during the design process and realize that some of the photo needs to be changed in photoshop to look proper in SU.

So, for example, photoshopping out a line of trees and making it look like new grass in that area would be a change that i would want to re-import into SU. The method above works in this case for me.

this worked for me. You guys are alright

Thanks!!!
Bob

sketchucloud sounds interesting. i hope it comes to light soon. my only question about the bundle was would it work with scripts from other sources. a while back the answer was no. maybe this new approach addresses that.

thanks,
bob

Dave, is there still an issue with that not working with plugins from other sources?

@box said:

One small thing to note, Plugins from other sources won't be included in Bundles. It can only recognise ones you have downloaded through the Sketchcation tool.

there are several threads on this issue now and i just realized i never posted my solution to using dropbox as a source for plugins to enable synchronization between multiple machines.

I figured it out shortly after our conversation here and another post, so thanks again guys!

THE COMMAND THAT WORKED FOR ME in cmd.exe

mklink /J "C:\Users\rachristman\AppData\Roaming\SketchUp\SketchUp 2014\SketchUp\plugins" "D:\Dropbox\SketchUp Resources_SU Plugins\Plugins"

I am not sure if /D did not work because i was linking from to d: but the /J did the trick. FULLY OPERATIONAL mklink, directory junction, is reading the plugins folder from my drop box as soon as i open Sketchup 2014.

THE PROCESS:
i had "successfully" created a symbolic link in cmd using mklink, however the tutorial thread i used had differing syntax. it took a while to determine that i had to use BOTH the existing path AND the new path in the mklink command as well as using "" around the paths. this was not mentioned in this post:
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15%26amp;t=40866 (this post did not work for me)

so i found some other references concerning the syntax:
http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/149054-symbolic-folder-linking.html

i will also share the info i came across while attempting this

windows file junctions and symbolic links:
http://devtidbits.com/2009/09/07/windows-file-junctions-symbolic-links-and-hard-links/

Symbolic folder linking - Windows 7 Help Forums

Hello, I need a bit of help with creating a symbolic link between two folders. I tried mklink but it gives me incorrect syntax error. In windows 7 of course. I have one empty folder, C:\\link\\empty f

(www.sevenforums.com)

links description:
http://devtidbits.com/2009/09/07/windows-file-junctions-symbolic-links-and-hard-links/

syncronize two windows folders in real time:
http://superuser.com/questions/65524/how-do-i-synchronise-two-folders-in-real-time-in-windows-7

there are several threads on this issue now and i just realized i never posted my solution to using dropbox as a source for plugins to enable synchronization between multiple machines.

i have it listed in detail here:
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=323%26amp;t=58948%26amp;p=569678#p569678

there are several threads on this issue now and i just realized i never posted my solution to using dropbox as a source for plugins to enable synchronization between multiple machines.

i have it listed in detail here:
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=323%26amp;t=58948%26amp;p=569678#p569678

wow. there are several threads on this issue now and i just realized i never posted my solution to using dropbox as a source for plugins to enable synchronization between multiple machines.

I figured it out shortly after our conversation here, so thanks again guys!

THE COMMAND THAT WORKED FOR ME in cmd.exe

mklink /J "C:\Users\rachristman\AppData\Roaming\SketchUp\SketchUp 2014\SketchUp\plugins" "D:\Dropbox\SketchUp Resources_SU Plugins\Plugins"

I am not sure if /D did not work because i was linking from to d: but the /J did the trick. FULLY OPERATIONAL mklink, directory junction, is reading the plugins folder from my drop box as soon as i open Sketchup 2014.

THE PROCESS:
i had "successfully" created a symbolic link in cmd using mklink, however the tutorial thread i used had differing syntax. it took a while to determine that i had to use BOTH the existing path AND the new path in the mklink command as well as using "" around the paths. this was not mentioned in this post:
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15%26amp;t=40866 (this post did not work for me)

so i found some other references concerning the syntax:
http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/149054-symbolic-folder-linking.html

i will also share the info i came across while attempting this

windows file junctions and symbolic links:
http://devtidbits.com/2009/09/07/windows-file-junctions-symbolic-links-and-hard-links/

Symbolic folder linking - Windows 7 Help Forums

Hello, I need a bit of help with creating a symbolic link between two folders. I tried mklink but it gives me incorrect syntax error. In windows 7 of course. I have one empty folder, C:\\link\\empty f

(www.sevenforums.com)

links description:
http://devtidbits.com/2009/09/07/windows-file-junctions-symbolic-links-and-hard-links/

syncronize two windows folders in real time:
http://superuser.com/questions/65524/how-do-i-synchronise-two-folders-in-real-time-in-windows-7

Thanks Olishea. I always try to "draw over" when i can for things like foreground lamp posts, etc, as i did in the image posted at top (the outdoor seating area is new) but no matter what it seems you are correct... the better final product will always need to be rendered and comp'd in PS to get things just right. Excellent masking tutorial link, btw. thanks for sharing.

I think what i have been looking for is possible if a renderer allows the use of the custom background image, which most should. That way, the same image that was used for PHOTOMATCH can be used a background image and hopefully avoid the need for masking and comp'ing when doing quick photomatch exercises.

i am still on the look out for a quick render package that will just render the model and the photomatch photo natively.

Shaderlight looks interesting. Hope to test that out as a quick solution when not using Lumion.

Thanks guys!

Bob

This is an old post, but i am hoping one of you fine gents might be able to steer me in the right direction. I have been looking for a quick way of rendering SketchUp PhotoMatch views within Sketchup via a rendering plugin. I cant find any that will SEE the PHOTOMATCH background. Any ideas of a package that will render everything together?

I have been using this compositing method above also but want to avoid photoshopping if necessary to save time. These photomatches are the only thing i cant take care of in Lumion(really needs a photomatch feature), so its usually a quick, down and dirty thing...but i would like to do better, faster.

I used to use Kerykythea alot, which will import the PHOTOMATCH if i remember correctly... its been a long time and im not sure i want to get back into Kerykythea since it has not been moving forward at all in development.

I usually just end up exporting directly from sketchup, like this, but i would really like to render it even if its a so-so render solution for Sketchup...just to be able to get light and shadows, etc on photomatches.

any advice welcome.
Thanks,

Bob
rachristman.blogspot.com

Well Well, calstock! Thanks for specifying that here.

It turns out i have always typed in "x10" to make multiple copies not knowing that "10x" will work the same way.

AWESOME!

BTW, decided to look for a utility to PRINT my shortcuts and found this old one. works well. plan to pay more attention and make more shortcuts.

printkeys.rb
https://sites.google.com/site/jimfoltz/my-sketchup-plugins/print-shortcuts