Guidelines?

[martinwahlberg]

I'm looking for information on how you are supposed to use the live linking feature, what your workflow should be and what operations in Keyshot are supported and so on. Is there any documentation like that?
I'm thinking about model duplication inside Keyshot, if that's supported while still keeping the live linking enabled, how to handle or "think about" model sets, how materials should be handled, when make patterns can or should be used, when to use Keyshot configurator, when to use components from Sketchup and so on. Are there situations where stuff can get lost in the process?
If I use geometry view to do some separation of faces or use rounded edges feature what will happen when I do other changes in Sketchup?

I go back and forth between Sketchup and Keyshot all the time and do all my modelling (so far) in Sketchup but want to be smart in my use of Keyshot with all its capabilities. I have however found that when I tried duplicating geometry in Keyshot that geometry was lost when I at a later stage updated some geometry in Sketchup and hit that plug-in live link button. It all makes me a little confused on how I should use the software.

If anyone has a do's and don't's list or anything on this subject I would love to hear it.

[Josh3D]

Hi Martin, good questions. We don't have anything specific about LiveLinking workflow, but that's a good idea. The LiveLink will update the model instance brought over. If the scene tree or geometry is modified, the link will likely be lost. I'll try to put together some better specifics on this.

[mattjgerard]

In my working with Cinema 4D and live linking, its been an all or nothing affair. Once I start to mess with the geometry , moving , duplicating, importing stuff directly into KS rather than cinema, that LiveLInking link gets very fragile and for the most part becomes unreliable at best. This is totally understandable, as the live link (as far as I can tell) is only one way. from the host program to KS. Once you change the layers, organization or geometry inside KS, it messes up all the references to the external project.

My workflow so far has been to get the scene as far as I can in Cinema4D, then kick it over to KS. If I have to make any changes to the scene, I'll try as hard as I can to do it back in Cinema and use the UPDATE function. But, sometimes I get a bit punchy in KS, and edit the geometry to fix some normals, or duplicate a part or something, and then I have to commit to doing most of the work in KS. If I need to add anything from Cinema, I'll do the work, then just use the EXPORT function in the Cinema Plugin to kick out a bip of just what I need, and import it into the KS project. Live LInking is then done for.

For the most part, I'm OK with that, its just how I work. I'm not disciplined enough to always go back to Cinema and make my changes. If I was working in a CAD program with a single object, I think it would be an easier workflow to stick to.

[martinwahlberg]

Thanks for your replies Mattjgerard and Josh Mings. It means a lot, hearing about how you use it.

A list of what is officially supported or "maintained" through the livelinking feature would be much appreciated.
Should I look upon it as a strict one way function or are there certain operations I can do within Keyshot without losing structure within the file or geometry? Basically the answer to the following question would be very useful:
What Keyshot-specific operations or modifications are lost when I push the livelink plugin-button in Sketchup?

Also, if possible, some pointers on how to do smart modelling and building a good file structure within Sketchup to prepare for optimal use in Keyshot would be great. For example, should I use Sketchup components or is it better performance wise, or in any other way, if I create duplicated objects in Keyshot instead? Can I make smart use of Sketchup-layers in some way in Keyshot? and so on.

[guest84672]

Here is the manual for the SketchUp plugin:
https://luxion.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/KP/pages/38561667/Sketchup

LiveLinking will continue to work until you start messing with the structure of the file inside of KeyShot. KeyShot will then throw up warnings. This includes regrouping, or splitting geometry.

If you need to do regrouping, or split geometry, then go back to the modeling software and do it there. Breaking out a surface is as simple as assigning a different color to a surface, and then transfer the geometry back to KeyShot.

Duplicating, patterning, moving - none of this breaks Livelinking.

KeyShot keeps layers, groups individual, and individual colors just like you set it up in SketchUp.

[martinwahlberg]

Thanks thomasteger!

That clears it up a bit.

There are still a few things I haven't really understood or haven't had the time to try.
Will do more testing.

Keyshot seems to track what geometry is deleted within Keyshot. I found a way to bring that geometry back by adding a new model set. Livelinking on affects the active Model set, right?

If you've got any other tricks or tips for working with Sketchup and Keyshot please leave a comment here or get in touch any other way.