[Gideon Osei]

It seems whenever we place SketchUp files into a 2020 Design, 2020 will crash. If it doesn’t, it seems extremely laggy. Is anyone else having issues with importing SketchUp into a KIT file? Is there a trick to using the files? Are there any other similar plugins we can use to avoid SketchUp, aside from the 2020 cloud?

[Mike Langensiepen]

Sketchup files can be problematic and the options have been discussed in this forum a fair few times. Here are some options to minimise the issues (note these are my personal suggestions only).

Don’t download the Sketchup files from within 2020 – do it from a normal web browser.

Because there are often many similar items, pick ones with smaller file sizes and low polygon counts.

Make sure you download 2015 format or earlier (2016 may work now as well).

Use the free copy of Sketchup and change/add standard textures to items. Often a Sketchup file will cause issues because of missing/incorrect textures. I use the oldest free-standing Google version which is still available if you look around but the latest web based version should work as well.

Organise your sketchup files locally and test them before using in a drawing. Any which slow down 2020 too much or crash 2020 should be discarded.

Ask for help in the various forums (here and the independent Delphi and Facebook ones) if you can’t find a specific shape you want.

Make contact with a Sketchup expert (I use fiverr.com) who could help with making/changing a specific shape for you (relay the criteria). Fiverr people are cheap.

Hope this helps.

[Neil Wilson]

Hi Gideon,

2 things about sketchup items.

First, 2020 does not create sketchup items.  They are created by the sketchup user community.  As such we have no “Quality Control” over the items.  Incorrectly created or excessively large (by size in kb) items can cause issues with the software.  I have seen anything from a pendant light that looks good in sketchup but when brought into 2020 hangs upside down so that the light is on the ceiling and the chain hangs down into the room to items that will turn the work area blue and corrupt your design.  If you need to use Sketchup items in your design it is always a good idea to test the item in a blank design before placing it in your live file.

Second, sketchup items can be very memory intensive.  The wall of text below is what I call my 32 bit speech and hopefully it will explain some of the limitations of our current 32 bit architecture.

Out of memory issues are an ongoing concern with 2020 that they are working hard to resolve.  The Issue arises from the fact that 2020 Design is still a 32bit application.  As a result of that Windows will only ever assign about 2.5 GB of RAM to the program.  If 2020 has been open for a long period (3-4 hours), If there are multiple designs or multiple renderings open, if you modify mouldings or countertops, if you import Items from Sketchup or use imported textures, etc… the memory allotment fills up and you will start to get these errors.

To avoid the error the first thing to do is make sure you are on the latest version of the software.  They made some changes in version 11.8 and higher that have a positive effect on memory management.  If you have been working in 2020 for 3 or 4 hours save what you are working on and then close and reopen the software.  Make sure you have the latest driver for your video card.  Newer drivers are generally more efficient than older drivers.  Other things you can try is to limit the size of your designs.  If you usually layout the entire ground floor of the house, try to limit it to just the kitchen or bathroom you are designing instead.  Limit the number of items imported from Sketchup.  2020 has no control over the quality of the items generated in Sketchup and as such some of them will cause issues with the software.  The same with importing textures.  Imported textures are much “Heavier” than textured pulled from the catalogs and can cause the out of memory issues.

If you do get the memory error or the failed to save error one thing you can do to save the design is to select everything in the design.  Use the mouse, hold down the left mouse button and lasso the entire design.  Once everything is selected go to the home tab and select copy.  After you select copy, close design without saving the file.  Reopen 2020 and then go to the home tab and select paste.  Left click on the floor plan to drop the design back in.  This works because when you do a copy the design goes to the Windows Clipboard that is in a different memory space than the 2020 program.  Closing and reopening the software clears the memory cache and so you copy the design back in to a clean space.

With the release of our 64 bit version later this year many of the current memory related issues should cease to exist.  Personally I’m really looking forward to it.

Neil