Fequently Asked Questions

On the Mac, Keyframe Animation 1.9.2 seems to always be compatible with SketchUp 2018.

On Windows, version 1.9.2 might not be compatible with SketchUp 2017+. If it's not, the plugin will tell you when you try to activate it. If you can activate it, then it's compatible.

Keyframe Animation 2.0.12 is compatible with SketchUp 2018 on both platforms.

It is there to remind you this is a free trial, and let you know how much time is left. After you register a license serial number, the dialog will quit nagging you.

When the free trial expires, the plugin will be disabled, until you register a license.

You can open the dialog, and view your free trial and license status, via the menu item, Plugins/Extensions > Keyframe Animation > License Info....

All SketchUp plugins have access to your computer's file system. That is usually true of any software you install.

Keyframe Animation reads and writes to files below the SketchUp Plugins folder.

That location is usually C:\Users\YOUR USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\SketchUp\SketchUp #\SketchUp\Plugins on Windows.

And Library > Application Support > SketchUp # > SketchUp > Plugins on OSX.

If your objects are not moving, here are some steps to diagnose the cause.

• Check if the Play Button is toggled off. It is turned off by default when SketchUp opens.
• Toggling Play on only enables movement. The objects don't actually move until you select a scene, or run the slideshow animation.
• Make sure it is a group or component. Loose Geometry can not be recorded or animated. Use the Entity Info window to check the type (context menu right-click > Entity Info).
• An object will not move if there is no position data saved on the scene for it. Click the Select Button to see which objects have positon data saved on the current scene.
• If the object still doesn't move, maybe the position saved is the same as where it's at already. Try moving it somewhere else, and then select the scene tab. It should move back.

To record a subgroup (subcomponent), select it first, then click the Record button. Usually, the easiest way to select a nested object is with Outliner. The other way is to open the objects that contain it by successively double-clicking on them, until you can select the nested object.

You can animate any subgroup or subcomponent. The parent can be either a group or component, it doesn't matter.

SketchUp animates all the properties that can be saved with scenes. Camera Location, Style and Fog, Shadow Settings, and Section Planes are interpolated during the scene transition. Hidden Geometry, and Visible Layers are toggled on or off at the start of the scene transition.

It animates objects. Keyframe Animation interpolate objects between scenes by translation, rotation, scaling, reflection, and inversion. Whereas, SketchUp animates the properties saved on scenes: camera location, section planes, etc. Version 2.0 plays nice with SketchUp's built-in animation of all scene properties.

If you are creating an animation where the camera does not move, leave the Camera Location box on each scene unchecked. Then SketchUp won't save this property with the scene, and won't move the camera during the scene transition.

Version 2.0 plays nice with all the scene properties, including Hidden Geometry and Visible Layers. You can use those scene properties to make anything appear or disappear on a scene.

Yes, you can record the position data for the new objects, and update the position data for old objects, for any scene. When you click the Record Button, it overwrites the old position data.

Yes, the position data is stored in the model. In version 2.0, the position data is stored with the object itself. So, if you copy and paste the object from one model into another, the animation will follow it -- as long as both models have the same scene names.