@Fredo
Thanks for the response.
Maybe just a little bit more explanation: All I want to do is animate the output of a simulation. This output might look like:
t0=100 t1=110 object=crane1 x0=10 x1=300
t0=100 t1=120 object=crane2 x0=20 x1=200
t0=110 t1=200 object=spreader1 z0=100 z1=10
t0=120 t1=130 object=container191 location=(10,20,40)
Just to give an example.
Would there be any way to interpret that kind of info (format totally discussable) and animate it with Animator/Sketchup?

I am completely new to Sketchup, but it seems that Animator might be a good starting point for what I would like to realize.
I have discrete event simultion of a container terminal written in Python (with my salabim tool). There I can do 2D animations. My idea is to interface either the code or a file with actions (crane moves, spreader, lowers, container is placed, ...) with Sketchup.
Is there any possibility of interfacing Animator with 'the outside world', preferably with an API, but a file is also acceptable. Does that involve Ruby programming.

Any advise is welcome.