The manual says that the “Scatter Objects” As option is only available for “built-in presets”.
“Scattered objects as” is available for built-in presets. It lets you choose between Proxies and Full Geometry.
- Use “Proxies” if you use Thea or Vray as render engine. This will load proxies that link to external *.mod.thea and *.vrmesh files. These objects are much lighter and faster to render. (We are in the process of preparing the proxies for more render engines)
- Use “Full Geometry” if you use any other render engine, or none at all. These objects are high-poly and quite heavy, so use them with caution.
Indeed, when I save my own preset, I only get the option to “Render Only” or not. I use Thea and the scattered objects in my preset are made inside Sketchup but have Thea materials applied. Am I missing out on any optimizations or functionality by not having the Scatter Objects As Proxies option available in this case? Or does ticking the Render Only box essentially do the same thing? My loaded preset renders fine - that is, the Thea material is there.
I’m confused, because when loading a built-in preset, BOTH Proxies AND Render Only are options - this suggests that there is some additional functionality to be had by checking both Proxies and Render Only. But perhaps this is because Proxies only applies if you have .mod.thea files available. In which case, my question is: I know how to convert my .skp component to a .mod.thea, but how can I get my mod.thea objects into my custom library? And if I do, will I then be presented with the Scatter Objects As Proxies option upon loading? This seems important if one is to, for example, build up a library of carpets (lots of geometry).
Thanks, and sorry for the long question.