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Trouble Shooting/ FAQ/ Tips

A. Trouble Shooting

SU Podium V2 will not run on SketchUp 6 or any SketchUp version prior to SketchUp 7. Mac version will require OS-X 10.5.x or above. The V2 engine is multi-threaded meaning it will take advantage of all your CPU core's. You also need a reasonable amount of RAM to hold 3d scene data. The more RAM you have, the more complex models you can render. For Windows there is both a 32 bit version and 64 bit version of SU Podium V2. For the Mac, SU Podium V2 is a 64 bit application.

Note Windows users: 64 bit version will not run on any version of Windows that is 32 bit. So be careful of what version you install. 64 bit version will take advantage of any memory above the 4gb.

Installation requires administrator status

    You need to have a user account that has is an Administrator (Windows) or your account to administer your computer (Mac) to successfully install and license SU Podium V2.

After installing, SU Podium V2 is not in my SketchUp plugins menu

    There are usually only three reason why this will happen:

      1. SU Podium V2 was not installed correctly. (In some rare cases, SketchUp was installed in an unconventional location.)

      2. Windows 32/ 64 bit OS (does not apply to Mac users). You installed a SU Podium 64 bit version on a Windows 32 bit OS.

      3. You are using a Free SketcUp program and need to activate the plugins menu.

    1. Not installed correctly.

      Mac

      There are three SU Podium V2 versions for the Mac. One is for SketchUp 7 and one is for SketchUp 8 and one is for SketchUp 2013. Make sure you download the correct version for your SketchUp Mac. If you downloaded the wrong version, click here to download the correct version.

      Windows

      For Windows there is one version for SU Podium V2 for Google SketchUp 7 or 8 and a separate install for SketchUp 2013.

      The default install location for SU Podium V2 for SketchUp 7 and 8 is \program files (x86)\google\google SketchUp 8\plugins\. Change this location to ..\google sketch Up 7\plugins\ if you are installing for SketchUp 7. It's best to simply change the 8 to 7 instead of using the Browse button in the installation.

      If you accidently use the Browse button to change the SketchUp version, pick \google sketch Up 7\ folder and not \google sketchUp 7\plugins\ folder because there is a possibility that the install will create a sub plugins folder within the plugins folder.

      Rare case - Google SketchUp is not in the C:\program files\ or C:\program files (x86) folder.

        If Sketchup.exe is not in the c:\program files or c:\program files (x86), SU Podium will not show up.

      You may find that for some reason on your Windows computer, SketchUp was not installed in c:\program files or \program files (x86) folder. To check to see where your sketchup.exe file is located, go to your Desktop, right click on the SketchUp icon, choose Properties from the context menu and select Shortcuts to see where sketchup.exe is located. If it is not in the \program files (x86)\google\google sketchUp \ folder, reinstall SketchUp so that it gets installed in the default location. You may need to consult with your IT person regarding this.

    2. Windows 64 or 32 bit versions.

      Make sure you are installing the correct Windows version. If you want the Windows 64 version of SU Podium V2, make sure have a 64 bit Windows operating system. The 32 bit version will work on any Windows version. If you install the Podium 64 bit version on a Windows 32 bit OS, Podium will not load in SketchUp.

    3. SketchUp Free users - make sure plugins menu is activated


      If you are using the free version of SketchUp and do not see a Plugins menu in the SketchUp pull-down menu area, go to SketchUp Preferences, click on Extensions and turn on all the Extensions. Then reboot SketchUp. This action will activate the SketchUp Plugins menu which is needed for SU Podium.

I downloaded the wrong version. What should I do?

    Click Here to download the correct version. You will need your V2 license code.

OOPR or Podium Rendering Manager will not run or crashes - Win/Mac

  • Also read the tutorial on Process Scenes, OOPR, reducing model size, and using Podium Tools.

    • OOPR is Podium's Render Manager. It is invoked automatically after you click the Render icon and while the Processing Scene dialog is displayed. Once Process Scene is completed, OOPR starts the raytracing/ global illumination/ anti-aliasing, process. Make sure you have the most current version of SU Podium V2. Go to item #8 to see how to download the most current version.

    If installing the most current version does not solve the problem see below:

  • Podium Options (Settings), Geometry Caching is interfering - Win/Mac

      • Try turning off Podium's Geometry caching. The feature is located in the Podium Settings (options) in the Environment tab.

    Anti-virus or fire wall program conflict with OOPR - Win/Mac

      Some fire wall or anti-virus programs have been reported to conflicts with SU Podium V2's Podium Render Manager (OOPR.exe). The symptom will be where the OOPR dialog will open but nothing seems to happen. Try running a very simple model in a new SketchUp instance such a a model of a single cube. If OOPR will not run, most likely reason is something on your computer such as a firewall or anti-virus program is blocking OOPR. Turn off your fire wall or anti-virus program temporarily to see if Podium will complete it's rendering process.

      • Windows - a common firewall in Windows 7 is the standard Windows firewall found in the Control Panel. Turn this off. If you have a different firewall, please try turning it off.
      • Mac - a common firwall in Mac OS X is the Mac System Preference Firewall found in the Security and Privacy menu. Turn off the Firewall.
      • Anti-virus programs have been know to throw up "false positives" when OOPR gets invoked and can be known to block OOPR. Try turning off your anti-virus program temporarily. To be safe, disable your internet connection while you do this.
      • If the above items do not work, you may need to use the Generate command and manually. Please read this section of the Help page and use Generate to render your model. If this works, this indicates that there is a program external to SketchUp that is probably blocking OOPR. Please contact support for suggestions.
      • The Processing web page. This web page also discusses similar issues and maybe some help.

      License manager not running (full version only)

      In rare cases, you may not be able to activate the Podium V2 license because the License Manager will not display inside SketchUp. There is a possibility that the license manager is unable to run due to interference with a firewall or anti-virus program.

      You can run the License Manager manually so that it will create a license file.

      For the Mac - Go to Macintosh HD\Library\Application Support\Google SketchUp 7 (or 8)\SketchUp\Plugins\SU_Podium_V2\programs\ and right click OOPR and choose Show Package Contents.
      Then click on Contents MacOSand open SU Podium License. Now enter the your serial number from here. A license file will be created and saved.

      For Windows do this - Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google SketchUp 8\Plugins\SU_Podium_V2\programs\. Double click on the SU Podium License file. Enter your V2 serial number. A license file will be saved to this folder.

      Now open SketchUp and run SU Podium V2's rendering. If there is continued problems, this may be due to a permissions problem where the license file can not be read or due to Anti-virus program interference.

    OOPR crashing - Win/Mac

      If SU Podium V2 has been successfully installed and licensed and you are finding OOPR frequently crashes, there could be several reasons for that. Most common reason would be that there is not enough computer memory to render you particular model. Please try rendering one of the fairly simple models from this page first to determine if memory may be the problem. Click Here to go to the Sample model page. Contact Support if this problem persists.

    Where to download the most current version

      If you are using the full version of SU Podium V2 and want to download the most current update click here. Please note that this page is only for SU Podium V2 license owners. It's a good idea to uninstall the previous version of SU Podium V2 before installing the update. Mac users - Please take a look at the Install section of the Help page to see how to do that.

    I have the full version but I can not change image resolution size

      If you have a full license of SU Podium V2, make sure you re-start SketchUp after activating your license to get out of trial mode.

    Blank dialogs in SU Podium V2

      A few Windows customers are experiencing a situation where the SU Podium web dialog boxes of materials, lights and options, appear blank or white.

      SketchUp Pro uses web dialog boxes for some of its user interface. The Component Options dialog is an example. Web dialogs are fantastic for developers because they can run on both Windows and on the Mac. On Windows, the web dialog box settings are controlled by the Internet Explorer settings. SU Podium uses SketchUp web dialog boxes for the Options, Materials and Lights user interface. What happens to some Windows users is, the Java Scripts that are to be executed when the web dialogs are invoked, are blocked. If you experience this problem, you will probably find the same issue in SketchUp's Component Options dialog box as well and in other non-Sketch Up programs.

      This is not a SU Podium specific problem but is related to Internet Explorer security settings. Sometimes the security settings are set in the Windows registry.

      We are unable to duplicate the problem on any Windows (XP, Vista, Win 7) computer in Cadalog, Inc.'s office so we think it is a relatively rare occurrence. However, there is a discussion about this on the SU Plugins Forum here - blank web dialog problem

      You can also read about similar problems occurring in SketchUp here - blank web dialog in SketchUp

      The work around is this - create a new Windows User Account. Make sure it is an administrator account. Log out and log back in using this new User Account. Restart SketchUp. This seems to reset the registries. This work around has worked in very case we have encountered.

    I have lost my SU Podium V2 license and/ or my Podium Browser license.

      There are several ways to find your license assuming your computer has not crashed and you have not deleted all your email receipts.

      1. If you purchased your SU Podium V2 or Podium Browser license from www.suplugins.com, look for the email receipt that was sent to you. This has your license information.

      2. If you purchased from www.suplugins.com's Webstore, go to webstore.cadaloginc.com. If you created an account with a user name and password, login to your account. Your license information is in your account.

      3. If you have SU Podium V2 running, go to the License option in the SU Podium V2 pull down. This will display your license.

      4. For Podium Browser go to the Ruby Console and copy and paste this in the Ruby Console: Sketchup.read_default('Cadalog/SU_Podium_Browser','LicenseKey', "")

      5. Your last resort is to email support@cadalog-inc.com to ask someone to find your license. This can take days so please be patient. no

    B. Known issues and common questions

    Back to TOC

    Known bugs as of April 2012

      1.Instanced Components with the same texture bug and render black or distorted

      If you assign texture to a component and then flip or mirror that component, Podium V2 will render the component's textures black or in a distorted fashion. The solution to this bug is to explode one or all of the instanced components. You can turn the exploded geometry back into a component after exploding it. We recommend that for now, use Copy+Rotate SketchUp command instead of the context menu Flip command.


      Distorted textures in a group that was mirrored
      Work around is to explode one of the groups

      2. Hidden LEM cast backwards shadows of their own light

        For this reason using hidden LEMs in tight interior scenes may not be ideal.

      3. Omni Light decimal value is rounded off to the nearest whole number in PLS dialog

        If you select an omni light group (point light) from inside SketchUp or using SketchUp's Outliner and then open the PLS (Podium Light System) dialog, the light power value is often rounded off to the nearest whole number even though the actual power value might be a decimal. If you notice this, select the omni light group again from either the SketchUp space or Outliner. Upon the second selection, the correct decimal power value will be displayed. (Omni light group will appear <light-point ##> group.) This may seem like a bug but it is not.

      4. Version 2.10 bugs have been fixed. Please download Version 2.11 from the Version 2 page.

      The following were the Version 2.10 bugs

      • There low quality anti-aliasing occurring when rendering some SketchUp scenes using Version 2.10. This low quality anti-aliasing bug was introduced with the anti-aliasing material property.
      • Version 2.10 - Podium renders blank if you stop or interrupt OOPR

      5. Creating .skm textures with Podium properties will cause SketchUp to crash

        If you create an .skm file from a .jpg or .png texture inside SketchUp that has Podium properties applied to it, when you insert this .skm from the SketchUp Materials dialog, this action will crash SketchUp. Tested on SU V8.0.1175 and PDM V2.11.130.

    Imported images do not render or render black

      If you import images as is in SketchUp (File, Import), the images will not render or render black. You should either import the images as textures or explode the images after it is imported.

    Textures on reverse or back side faces

      There is an issue with textures that are assigned to the back side of a face and then are exposed in the model. Podium V2 will render these textures inversely. To avoid this problem, make sure exposed faces are front side and not back side.

      How can you tell which face is front side and which is back side? There are a couple of ways to find out.

      SketchUp 7 and 8 has a nice tool that will turn off textures and display only the monochrome color of all the faces in the model. In SketchUp the normal or front side of a face is a light tan color and the back side is a darker, usually blue color. Using the monochrome icon in the Face Style tool bar, you can see which face is blue or back side. When you find the blue or back side faces, right click on them and use the Reverse Face option. You will have to reapply the texture to the front side face.

      The other method is to right click on the face and pick Entity Info. You will see two image panes in the Entity Info box. The left side is the front side. The right is the back side. Which side is the texture on?

    How can I save the rendered image into the folder I want?

      If you are seeing a line in the Podium Render Manager (OOPR) that reads, Total Time 00:xx:xx, it means the image was finished and saved. As a default, the image is being saved in the same folder as the where the SketchUp model is.

      If you want to change the folder where the image will be saved, use the Custom button in the Podium Options dialog box. Click on the Browse button to change folders.

      If you are still unable to save the rendered image to a folder, try creating a folder on your primary drive (for Windows, C:\, for Mac under your user name). Make it an obvious name such as c:\images.

      There are reported problems saving images in folders with names that are more than 32 characters in them. This is a Windows only problem. SU Podium will ignore the folder name and save the image to the default SketchUp model folder location or to a temporary folder. Make sure your designated folder name has less that 32 characters in it.

    Changing light value in an omni grid, light fixtures and point lights

      To change the light power of any point/omni light, click on the light group in the model or use SketchUp's Outliner and select the light group. The light group will have a name such as <light-point-2#x>. Once the light group is selected, pick the Podium Light System icon from the SU Podium V2 tool bar. Change light values here. Keep in mind you can use decimals values for omnis such as .25. There is a bug in Version 2.9 and 2.10 in that initially the power value that is displayed is the closest whole number to the actual value. Simply select the omni group a second time and the correct power value will display.

      For the Omni Grid, find any one of the light groups using SketchUp's Outliner and change the light power and all the other light groups in the grid will update. Omni Grid consists of a main Group--->Individual Component-->Light Group. The components are instances of each other. Outliner is the best way to pick the light group in the Omni Grid. The light groups are nested within the main group, down 2 levels.

    When I select a material, it does not show in the Podium Material dialog

      If you select a texture that is on a curved surface, the texture's name will not appear in Podium V2's Material dialog box. Select that specific material from SketchUp's Material browser (Windows) or use the SketchUp material selection (eyedropper) tool. This is true for textures that are on a back side (reverse side) of a SketchUp face as well. If you select the material in question by using the eyedropper or by selecting it from SketchUp's material browser (Windows only), the material will be displayed in the Podium Material dialog.

    Quick way to control sun/sky brightness

      Unlike SU Podium 1.7.3, the dark slider in SketchUp Shadows setting has no effect on SU Podium V2 rendering. But there are several ways to control the overall sun and sky brightness. Here’s a quick introduction.

      One thing to keep in mind is SU Podium V2’s Physical Sky (in the Options/ Environment tab). As a default, Physical Sky is off but if it is on, it will simulate sky turbidity and depth. Podium will only render Physical Sky when it is turned on AND when SketchUp Shadows are on. When Physical Sky is on, the sun intensity and exposure sliders in the Environment dialog are the most effective way to change sun light. Changing the sun’s angle by changing SketchUp’s time of day is also effective.

      Your choice of SU Podium Presets will also effect sun/ sky brightness greatly. The default preset or default.pps is created with no specific environment in mind. It is the fastest preset. However, if you are rendering an outdoor or exterior scene, use one of the exterior presets. You will be able to control the sun and sky brightness more effectively. The interior preset is a very bright preset and is intended for interior scenes. For more information about presets and for customized presets, please go to the Preset web page.

      Physical Sky has a sky color gradient that you can not control. The color will depend on the time of the day that your SketchUp shadows are set to. If you don’t like this effect and/ or want to have control of the sky color as well as additional control of sun light, do the following:

    • Turn off Physical Sky in the SU Podium Options/Environment dialog.
    • Go to SketchUp Styles and then to Background. Turn off Sky. Darken the color of your background.
    • Use one of the Podium Styles from the SketchUp Styles dialog (make sure Physical Sky is off)
    • If your SketchUp Shadows are on, change the time of day of month so the sun is at a different angle.

    Black Rendered textures - several reasons

      There are several reasons for black rendered textures.

      • One common reason for unexpected black textures in rendering is this – LEM light property that is on a material that is on a back side of a SketchUp faces. If LEM (Light Emitting Material) is applied to a material which is on the back side of a SketchUp face, the material will either render black or not at all. Click here to read about checking back side and front side faces in SketchUp.
      • Textures on reverse or back side faces. Please see here - Textures on back side of faces.
      • Another possible reason for black textures is because of the instanced group/ component texture bug described above. Please read here.
      • 3D Warehouse models. Some complex models from 3D Warehouse have been created in non-SketchUp 3D programs with textures that Podium has difficulty rendering. Simple solution to this is to explode the imported component so that the textures get mapped to specific SketchUp faces.
      • Textures with bad extensions, vector based or double byte names. If you run the SU Podium V2, Tools, Analyze Model program, it will reveal if any of the textures in your SketchUp model have potential problems. These textures may render black. One problem is imported textures that have no extension name. Another potential problem is textures that have not been converted to bitmap textures. These would be .pdf or .psd textures. Another potential problem is textures with very long names or double byte names.

    Two point perspective issues

      SU Podium V2 does render two point perspective camera views (2PP). However, if you navigate the camera in 2PP and render again, Podium render's the previous camera position and renders that view. To deal with this, if you are going to change your camera position, go back to perspective view, change the camera position and then invoke 2PP. Then render. The key is to use perspective view to change the camera view before invoking 2PP.

    Other known issues

    a. Support for large or complex models. Even with the Podium Rendering Manager, models that are larger than 800,000 faces may crash. Limitations on memory use means that some models will not render because the system will run out of RAM. Use the Windows 64 bit version of Podium V2 if you have more than 4 GB of RAM.

    b. The rendered results are dependent upon the preset chosen. Some presets are configured for different types of scene and will produce strange results on others. You may need to experiment to find the best preset.

    c. Podium V1.x lights will not work in V2 due to differences in the way the 2 render engines work. The V2 light fixture library is included in SU Podium Browser which is installed with SU Podium V2.

    d. Blurred reflection and refraction, will slow down the rendering process.