How to make Sketchup run faster

In this article I will share some quick tips and tricks (other than the ones you find in the official Sketchup help page) to improve the performance in Sketchup and make it run faster. 

 

1- Purge the your initial file:

When you start a new model delete the Sketchup guy and purge your model from Window> Model info > Statistics > Purge unused , you will save your first few kilobytes :) , this will erase the default component and delete the bunch of materials in your model that may confuse you later.

2- Edit the Default Style:

Deactivate the edge profiles from style window (Window>Styles> edit tab untick profiles), this option will make your Sketchup slow if you leave it ticked, and you will notice Sketchup keeps rendering the profiles while you zoom pan or rotate.

Untick profiles

3-Adjust the Auto save option:

Deactivate Auto-save, as it will cause some hangs and lags, Sketchup will stop responding esp in mid action = risk of punching the screen. Don't forget to save from time to time, or if you want to keep the auto-save just increase the time to 30 mins or so.

Adjust the Auto save option

4- Always work in Monochrome mode

Work always in monochrome mode, leave the textures, styles and shadows to the end, you will save a lot of RAM in here, esp if you are using large JPG textures.

Monochrome mode

5- Always Save in Wireframe mode:

Always save your model in Wireframe mode, this way you are 100% sure that you will be able to open it the next time and very quickly no matter what size it is!

Wireframe mode

6- Use the official Sketchup SKM materials:

Use the original Sketchup SKM materials, these materials are very usable, light, and tile-able download links for Winodws and Mac available here.

7- Use Low Details:

Use low details on curves and lofts, so before creating your 3D components or using the follow me tool, make sure you are using the right amount of details on your 2D shape and your path, you can increase or decrease the number of segments/edges of an arc or circle by doing right click > entity info : type in the desired value. 

(in case Sketchup won't update the new value just try to decrease or increase by increments, +/-3 or +/-6 values should work).

Controlling the level of detail is essential for very large scenes, especially if you are going to export to other 3D file formats as .3DS or going to render your Sketchup 3D scene externally in software like Lumion. 

8- Watch your file size:

Watch your file size, I mean 3dwarehouse! a sofa with 25mb file size is not a good idea, you may download un-purged models that contain groups instead of components, duplicate materials, that will mess up with you Sketchup scene and end up with a heavy 200 megs file that won't open...download first inspect, repair if required then copy/paste into your Sketchup scene. 

 

9- Fix and repair your Sketchup model:

Fix and repair your model from Window> Model info > Statistics > Fix problems, these kind of problems are not necessarily visible but can mess with your Sketchup scene, and may increase the render time in case you are using Vray.

Fix and repair your Sketchup model

10- Save as the lowest possible version and Zip:

Finally, if you want to email or share and upload your file online, save it as an old version (preferably Sketchup V8) and zip it, you will save lot of space.

More tips to save your work before any crash in this article 5 Quick tips to avoid a Sketchup Bugsplat and save your work