0:01 Let’s now insert a SketchUp model.

0:04 Normally, prior to inserting a model we’d want to spend some time in SketchUp to make sure the model is set up properly and organized with groups, layers and scenes…

0:13 But for this lesson, we're just dive into inserting the model first so we can understand how LayOut works with model references...

0:20 …which will help inform us as what we need to do to our SketchUp model to keep things linking and updating correctly.

0:27 There are two main ways to get a model into LayOut.

0:30 As we’ve already discovered in the Getting Started lesson, the first method is export straight from SketchUp.

0:37 We do this by going to ‘File/Send to LayOut’.

0:41 We’re then prompted for a template and after choosing one, there is our model.

0:46 The second way is to insert from within LayOut. To do this go to ‘File/Insert.’

0:53 Unlike SketchUp there’s no prompt asking us to differentiate between different file formats, so just navigate to the only model provided with the exercise files and click ‘Open.’

1:04 Now that we have a model linked, we can explore the ‘SketchUp Model’ settings.

1:09 We have two main options to choose from…‘View’ and ‘Styles’.

1:15 Starting with ‘View’, this is where we get to choose how we want to display our model in 2D paper space.

1:21 If your model has no scenes saved in it, then what’s typically shown is the ‘Last Saved View’ from the last time you closed and saved SketchUp.

1:29 We can manually change the view at any point by double clicking into the model viewport, which activates the model reference for live rotating and panning.

1:38 Once inside the viewport, we can right-click and open up some additional camera and scene settings.

1:45 We can also choose to toggle our shadows on and off as well.

1:49 Though if you want to can change time of day for the shadows, you can do that back in the SketchUp model window.

1:56 For the next few exercises, we’ll need something more precise than a manual rotation can provide…so let’s explore some different view and scene preset options.

2:07 With the model viewport selected, start by changing the scene to ‘Ortho’ and then to ‘Top’ so that we have a typical plan view.

2:14 Now we can also choose from any of the side views in order to show our model in elevation.

2:20 Now that we’ve switched from perspective to ortho, we can give our model view a scale as we can’t scale it if it’s in perspective.

2:28 With the viewport selected, pick ¼”=1’ from the scale dropdown... and that’s it.

2:36 We can change the scale at any time by choosing a different scale from the dropdown list.

2:42 Remember that we explored how to add custom scales in the LayOut’s preferences if a scale you need isn’t already provided.

2:50 Now that we’ve set a scale, we may need to adjust the size of our model viewport on the page.

2:56 We can do that this by dragging and adjusting the bounding box as we would any shape.

3:01 If we want to preserve the scale when changing the viewport, which we do, make sure the ‘Preserve Scale on Resize’ box is checked.

3:11 Now when we adjust the viewport we know that we’re still working to the scale we just selected a moment ago.

3:16 Now when we adjust the viewport we know that we’re still working t o the scale we just selected a moment ago.

3:19 Let’s continue exploring the model settings window by going down to where it says ‘Rendering.’

3:23 Rendering in LayOut refers to the conversion of your 3D model geometry to a 2D format.

3:29 There are three options to choose from...

3:32 First is ‘Raster’, which shows materials and preview’s faster but pixelates as you zoom in.

3:40 Next is ‘Vector’, which displays crisp, scalable lines as you’d expect to see when working in Adobe Illustrator...but swaps SketchUp material textures for solid colors.

3:51 Vector rendering may look the cleanest but note that it can slow down overall performance depending on how complex your model and scenes are.

3:60 The third option is ’Hybrid’ which displays raster textures under vector lines and edges.

4:10 We’ll want to keep things optimized and running quickly for now so stick to ‘Raster’...