SketchUp - Interactivity

Following is a brief discussion regarding various aspects of the design-time experience of using the plugin.

In General

One of the first things you may notice using the plugin is a general absence of what may be referred to as the action > confirmation paradigm. This is commonly seen in applications when you change a setting, and before being allowed to continue working, are asked to confirm whether you would like the change to be committed.

Rather, actions you execute in the plugin take effect immediately; there is neither any need to confirm the change, nor to update the state of the document. The need for confirming such changes is handled through the provision of a generalized undo/redo system, which is implemented on a per-object basis in the plugin (per-object here refers to the fact that each page in the Scene Manager  manages its own individual undo/redo list).

The effect of all of this is that it is not possible to render a scene with 'stale' settings; since changes to settings take effect immediately, you simply change the desired parameter and then render. If it turns out the change did not accomplish what you intended, simply undo the change to return to where you were before.

Of Materials

By default, plugin materials also interact actively with the SketchUp scene, when their applicable Link to Application options are enabled. Changes made to a material's color are applied to the color of the SketchUp material to which it is associated. Conversely, color and texture changes made via SketchUp's material editor are reflected in the plugin material, as they are made.

Of Environment

The plugin responds to changes in SketchUp's environment automatically. Specifically, always retrieves the date, time of day, and any scene rotation from SketchUp's own settings.