Daylight for Sketchup FAQs

• The installation is valid for Sketchup 2017 or new versions and works on Windows 7, 8 and 10.
• Right-Click setup.exe and Run as administrator. Installation with .msi will not install other dependencies correctly.
• Change the Sketchup Year on the textbox as required. Leave exactly one Space between Sketchup and the Year and don’t leave any extra spaces after the year.
• Follow rest of the steps and leave default values for any options.

• The installation is valid for Sketchup 2017 or new versions and works on Mac OS 10.10 or newer
• Right-Click MBSDaylightForSketchup20xx.pkg and Open with Installer.
• Follow rest of the steps and leave default values for any options.
• Then install the Mono framework dependency.
  
• Uninstalling the plugin
  •  There is no single uninstaller available.
  • The below folders can be deleted to remove the Daylight for Sketchup.
    • /Library/Application Support/MBS Software/Sketchup Daylight
    • /Users/username/Library/Application Support/MBS Software/Sketchup Daylight [replace username with the actual user name]
    • /Library/Application Support/Sketchup 20XX/Sketchup/Plugins/MBSTool [replace 20xx with the Sketchup year]
  •  Refer to https://www.mono-project.com/docs/about-mono/supported-platforms/macos/#uninstalling-mono-on-macos  for instruction to uninstall Mono framework.

• The plugin is compatible with Sketchup version 2017 or newer on both Mac and Windows computers.

• In some cases, it may remain disabled after installation. Go to View-Toolbars menu and Tick MBS Daylight Toolbar to enable it.
• The commands can also be accessed Extensions – MBS Daylight Tool menu.
• If both options are not visible, Check if the mbsTool extension is disabled on Extension Manager.

• The Trial license is automatically activated when any of the analysis is run for the first time.
  • Groups and registration can be done before the Trial activation.
  • The license will be valid for 7 days from the time of activation and gives access to Full features of the Plugin.
• To manually activate the Trial license or to Check the status
  • Click on the Key icon  on the MBS toolbar.
  • Go to Extensions Menu then MBS Daylight tool then Manage License
  • Click Check to activate or check the status.

• Once you purchase a Subscription license from MBS, Contact us with the Hardware ID.
• We will provide you with a Subscription version License key.
• Paste the new key to the License Key textbox and Press Update.
•  Press Activate. (Internet connection is required).
• The software validates the license regularly with our license server to allow the license to be used on multiple computers.
• Sometimes firewall or anti-virus restrictions can block the license activation and validation. Contact us for details about the license server address which the IT team might need in order to allow the activation.

* The plugin can be installed and used on multiple computers. There is a 30 min cooling off period once the plugin is used on one computer before it can be used on another computer.

•  The plugin can be installed and used on multiple computers.
• There is a 30 min cooling off period once the plugin is used on one computer before it can be used on another computer.
• If the plugin needs to be used before the cooling off period, the license needs to be de-activated from the computer where it was last used.
• Once it is de-activated, it can be used on another computer.

• Groups must be named precisely. Existing, Proposed,  Surrounding.
  • Existing : For buildings/structures which are demolished.
  • Proposed : For buildings/structures which are added.
  • Surrounding: For buildings/structures which stay the same.
• Proposed Scheme doesn’t need Existing group to be present. Analysis  type must be changed to Proposed Scheme in Project tab in Settings dialog.
• Extensions to a building.
  • If nothing is being demolished and only new extension is being added, then the Existing group can be created with dummy face on the ground to allow neighbour analysis.
• The Existing, Proposed, Surrounding groups must be the group on top level and not be nested inside any other groups.

• Open Register Dialog then Click on Window tab then Click on the Register option.
• Select Building and Floor name from the lists. The names can be edited by clicking on … button next to them.
• Press the Pick Face to Register button.
• Hover the mouse over the face which needs to be registered. Click on the face when its highlighted.
• Window number will be automatically incremented by 1. Building, floor name or window number can changed if necessary before registering another face.
• The Traffic Light indicators are added on to indicator layer(tag). If they are not visible, make sure the layer is on.
• Press Esc to end the register process.

• Open Register Dialog then Click on Room tab then Click on the Register option.
• Select Building and Floor name from the lists. The names can be edited by clicking on … button next to them.
• Press the Pick Face to Register button.
• Hover the mouse over the face which needs to be registered. Click on the face when its highlighted.
• Room number will be automatically incremented by 1. Building, floor name or room number can changed if necessary before registering another face.
• The room label are added to  Room_Names layer(tag). If they are not visible, turn on the layer.
• Press Esc to end the register process.

• Open Register Dialog then Click on Amenity tab then Click on the Register option.
• Select Building and Floor name from the lists. The names can be edited by clicking on … button next to them.
• Press the Pick Face to Register button.
• Hover the mouse over the face which needs to be registered. Click on the face when its highlighted.
• Amenity number will be automatically incremented by 1. Building, floor name or amenity number can changed if necessary before registering another face.
• The amenity label are added to  Amenity _Names layer(tag). If they are not visible, turn on the layer.
• Press Esc to end the register process.

• Layer name should start with _$ followed by name of the building followed by _$
  • For example, Window faces for the building B1 should be in a layer named _$B1_$WindowFaces.
    • Open Registration dialog – Window Tab – Register Option has Create Layers For Windows button which creates the required layers for window faces for all the building names in the list.
    • e.g. _$B1_$WindowFaces,  _$B2_$WindowFaces
  • Amenity faces for the building B1 should be in a layer named _$B1_$AmenityFaces.
  • Room faces for the building B1 should be in a layer named _$B1_$RoomFaces.
  • Room layers can also have room type and required adf at the end. So Bedrooms in B1 should be in layer named _$B1_$Bedroom_$1
    • Open Registration dialog – Room Tab – Register Option has Edit Room Types button which opens the room types dialog.
    • Select the room types from the table and Press Create Layers For Selected button to create the required layers for room faces for all the building names in the list for the selected room types.
    • e.g. _$B1_$Bedroom_$1,  _$B2_$Bedroom_$1
    • If no room type is selected when pressing the Create Layers For Selected button, layers will be created without any room types.
    • e.g. _$B1_$RoomFaces,  _$B2_$RoomFaces

• Layer name should end with _$ followed by RoomType followed by _$ followed by Required ADF.
  • The layer name can include room type info along with the building name.
  • For example, Room faces for Bedrooms  in B1 should be in layer named _$B1_$RoomFaces_$Bedroom_$1
  • If building name is not included in the layer name, layer should be named RoomFaces_$Bedroom_$1
  • To create the layers automatically Open Registration dialog – Room Tab – Register Option has Edit Room Types button which opens the room types dialog.
  • Select the room types from the table and Press Create Layers For Selected button to create the required layers for room faces for all the building names in the list for the selected room types.
  • e.g. _$B1_$Bedroom_$1,  _$B2_$Bedroom_$1

• Open Register Dialog then Click on Window tab then Click on the Register option.
• Select Building from the lists. The names can be edited by clicking on … button next to them.
• Floor name is detected automatically based on elevation of the centre of the window face.
  • Lowest floor is assumed to be on 0 elevation. This can be adjusted on Lowest Floor Elevation text box.
  • Default ceiling height is 2.5 m. This is used to decide which floors the faces belong to and can be changed if necessary.
  • There must be enough entries for floor names on the list. Otherwise higher windows will be placed on last floor.
• Select one or more layer (tag) names from the list.
• Press the Register Windows By Layer button.
• Window number for faces will be automatically incremented by 1 from the given number.
• The Traffic Light indicator are added on to indicator layer(tag). If they are not visible, make sure the layer is on.
• The Traffic Light indicator is added to the front of the face, so the faces must be oriented correctly. If they are facing inside Flip Traffic Lights can be used to change orientation.

• Open Register Dialog then Click on Room tab then Click on the Register option.
• Select Building from the lists. The names can be edited by clicking on … button next to them.
• Floor name is detected automatically based on elevation of the room face.
  • Lowest floor is assumed to be on 0 elevation. This can be adjusted on Lowest Floor Elevation text box.
  • Default ceiling height is 2.5 m. This is used to decide which floors the faces belong to and can be changed if necessary.
  • There must be enough entries for floor names on the list. Otherwise higher rooms will be placed on last floor.
• Select one or more layer (tag) names from the list.
• Press the Register Rooms By Layer button.
• Room number for faces will be automatically incremented by 1 from the given number.
• Room labels are added on to Room_Names layer. If they are not visible, make sure the layer is on.

• Open Register Dialog then Click on Amenity tab then Click on the Register option.
• Select Building from the lists. The names can be edited by clicking on … button next to them.
• Floor name is detected automatically based on elevation of the amenity face.
  • Lowest floor is assumed to be on 0 elevation. This can be adjusted on Lowest Floor Elevation text box.
  • Default ceiling height is 2.5 m. This is used to decide which floors the faces belong to and can be changed if necessary.
  • There must be enough entries for floor names on the list. Otherwise higher amenities will be placed on last floor.
• Select one or more layer (tag) names from the list.
• Press the Register Amenities By Layer button.
• Amenity number for faces will be automatically incremented by 1 from the given number.
• Amenity labels are added on to Amenity_Names layer. If they are not visible, make sure the layer is on.

• Query All
  • Open Register Dialog then Click on Window/Room/Amenity tab then Click on the Update option.
  • Select Building from the lists. The names can be edited by clicking on … button next to them.
  • Press the Query All button.
  • All the registered entities will be listed on the table.
• Query Single Face
  • Press the Pick Face to Query button.
  • Click on the face. If the face is registered correctly, it will be added to the list.
• Query Faces pre-selected in Sketchup
  • Press the Query Selected Windows/Rooms/Amenities button.
  • All registered entities will be added to the list.
  • It can be face or the traffic light for windows.

• UnRegister Everything
  • Open Register Dialog then Click on Window/Room/Amenity tab then Click on the Update option.
  • Select Building from the lists. The names can be edited by clicking on … button next to them.
  • Press the Query All button.
  • All the registered entities will be listed on the table. Then Press the UnRegister All button.
• UnRegister Single Face
  • Press the Pick Face to UnRegister button.
  • Click on the face. If the face is registered correctly, it will be unregistered.
  • For windows, traffic lights cannot be clicked for unregistering.
•  UnRegister listed entities
  • Press the UnRegister All button to register all the listed entities.

• Renumber selected entities
  • Open Register Dialog then Click on Window/Room/Amenity tab then Click on the Update option.
  • Select Building from the lists. The names can be edited by clicking on … button next to them.
  • Query the entities to be renumbered.  All renumbered entities will be on the same floor so only select entities for single floor.
  • Change the Building and Floor name if necessary.
  • Then Press the Renumber button.

• Rename the building or floor name.
  • The names can be edited by clicking on … button next to them.
  • Edit the names and Save Names
  • The window/room/amenity labels are automatically changed.
• Update building name (Move registered entity to another building)
  • Open Register Dialog then Click on Window/Room/Amenity tab then Click on the Update option.
  • Query the entities to be updated.
  • Select Building name from the list. The names can be edited by clicking on … button next to them.
  • Change the Building name and Then Press the Update Building Name button.
  • Only building name is updated.
•  Update floor name (Move registered entity to another floor)
  • Open Register Dialog then Click on Window/Room/Amenity tab then Click on the Update option.
  • Query the entities to be updated.
  • Select Floor from the lists. The names can be edited by clicking on … button next to them.
  • Change the Floor name and Then Press the Update Floor Name button.
  • Only floor name is updated.
  • The window/room/amenity labels are automatically changed.

• First you will need to delete all the current window markers
• Select “Window” then “Model info” from the menu then Statistics
• Finally click on “Purge Unused”

• Check the Group names are correct.
• Check the Groups are not hidden on Outliner.
• Make sure the Groups exist according to the Analysis Type on Project Tab on Settings.
  • Neighbour Analysis requires both Existing and Proposed groups.
  • Proposed Scheme Analysis requires Proposed group.
  • If the model consists of Proposed Scheme only, Change the Analysis Type to Proposed Scheme on Project Tab on Settings.

Yes. Open the calculation dialog. Select a test from the options and press Add to List. Repeat this for other calculations you want to run.

They will be grouped and sent to the service all together. Separate reports will be created for each unique calculation.

• Select “Window” then “Model info” from the menu then “Text”
• Finally click on Fonts Button on Leader Text Section
• The text scale better on the Size by Height option
• The results texts will change after the calculation is re-run
• 

change Text Offset value from the Settings dialogue > General > Text Offset.

The value should be entered in meters regardless of the unit used in the model.

If the contour image does not match the texture image from the model:

• Face style must be Shaded With Textures.
• Go to View Menu on Sketchup Menubar then Click on Face Style and Select Shaded With Textures.

To set the criteria for VSC, APSH and Amenity Open the settings dialogue > Project tab.

DD criteria cannot be changed.

Open the Settings dialogue > Window Properties tab and set offset values.

The offset values will be applied in the direction of the face orientation.

• The North direction is taken based on the Sketchup’s cardinal direction.
• Solid Green line is treated as North
• Dotted Green line is treated as South
• Solid Red line is treated as East
• Dotted Red line is treated as West
• Refer https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/adjusting-drawing-axes for details.

• The “Color by layer” may have been ticked.
• Untick the option on Layers Tray then Details (Small arrow on the right side of the tray)

The room type used for ADF or DD calculation is either taken from the “Default Room Type” or the room layer name.

If room face does not belong to a layer name in a specific format explained below a “Default Room Type” will be used.

• To set room type by layer:The layer name must be in a specific format :  LayerName_$RoomType_$ReqValue  e.g. LayerName_$Bedroom_$1.5
  You can let the room type dialogue to create all the required layers in correct format. For this :open the calculation dialogue.
  Pick DD or ADF calculation and the room type section appears. Click on the “…” button to open and room type dialogue.
  Tick the room types that you want to create the template layers for them and click on “Create Layers for Selected” to create layer in the expected format.

• To set the “Default Room Type”:open the calculation dialogue. Pick DD or ADF calculation and the room type section appears. Click on the “…” button to open and set the default room type.

Change Grid Spacing in Settings dialog > Room tab

Open the Settings dialogue > Window Properties tab.

All the ADF parameters can be set in this dialogue.

• Existing/Proposed Contour
  • Black represents the area which cannot see the sky.
  • Blue to Yellow colour gradient represents the area which can see the sky. Blue represents the lowest % visibility and Yellow represents the highest % visibility.
• Ratio Contour
  • Black represents the area which both Existing and Proposed cannot see the sky.
  • Red represents the area of the loss. Existing can see the sky but Proposed cannot.
  • Green represents the area of the gain. Proposed can see the sky but Existing cannot.
  • Blue represents the area which both Existing and Proposed can see the sky.

No. The blue/black colors are fixed and cannot be changed.

No. Although same sky type and methodology is used on calculating NSL test, the threshold cannot be changed for DD to match the ROL test.

The Amenity Facade legend is used for result color bands. The default values if non exists are:

• Existing/Proposed Contour
  • Purple represents the area which has sunlight in the range of 0-30 minutes.
  • Blue represents the area which has sunlight in the range of 30-60 minutes.
  • Cyan represents the area which has sunlight in the range of 60-90 minutes.
  • Orange represents the area which has sunlight in the range of 90-120 minutes.
  • Yellow represents the area which has sunlight in the range of 120 minutes or more.
• Ratio Contour
  • Black represents the area which both Existing and Proposed have sunlight less than 120 minutes.
  • Red represents the area of the loss. Existing has sunlight in the range of 120 minutes or more but Proposed doesn’t have.
  • Green represents the area of the gain. Proposed has sunlight in the range of 120 minutes or more but Existing doesn’t have.
  • Yellow represents the area which both Existing and Proposed have sunlight in the range of 120 minutes or more .

Open the Settings dialogue > Project tab > set Climate file location to the desired location.
Make sure to untick “Use BRE location for APSH/Amenity test”.

You can add new climate data file by placing the weather file in below folder:

%appdata%\MBS Software\Sketchup Daylight\Climate Files

• Facade analysis is performed on group containing Sketchup faces.
• The facade faces must be facing out for vertical faces and up for horizontal faces.
• Select the group on the Outliner.
• Open the Facade Dialog then Select the calculation type.
  • WPSH is run along with the APSH but the results come separately.
• Press the Run button.
• Once the analysis is complete, Select the Result group and Press Show Result.
• Press Clear All to hide all the facade results.

• Facade analysis results can be created on gradient or colour band mode.
• Gradient mode has 4 different colour options. The colour gradient is created for the min and max values provided for the calculation type. For example for VSC it is 0 and 27 by default.
  • All options except Rainbow create 21 colours in total. Rainbow creates 25 colours in total.
  • Intermediate colours are added to avoid colour contrast between values in two intervals. The breakdown of intermediate colours is as below:
  • Two colour: 2 for the min and max colours and 19 interpolated colours between them.
  • Three colour:  3 for the given colours and 9 interpolated colours between first and second and second and third colour.
  • Rainbow colour:  7 for the given colours and 18 for the intermediate colours between them. (3 interpolated colours between each consecutive colour except the last one)
  • Default colour: 11 for the given colours and 10 for the mid colour between them except the last one.
• Gradient Legend Interval
  The interval for legend values is created by dividing the min and max values equally to the legend colours.
  Interval values for legend colours are calculated using the formula (Max value – Min value) / (total colours in legend – 1). The last colour  is for all values greater than max  therefore (total colours – 1) is used.For example, The interval of values per Default legend colour for VSC legend with min of 0 and max of 27 will be calculated as below.
  (27-0) / (21-1) = 1.35
• Colour Band Mode
  • BRE mode
    • If BRE option on Colour Band mode is ticked, VSC and APSH legends will be customised according to the BRE criteria. The legend will be created with just three colours for Pass, Nearly Pass and Fail. The colours can be changed by the users. The pass values for VSC and APSH is taken from Project settings Criteria section.For Example, for VSC calculation if the result >= 27 (or) loss < 20 % then it passes, if the result >= 26 (or) loss < 21 % (Tolerance = 1) the it is Nearly Passed, otherwise it will fail. The legend will show Pass, Nearly Pass and Fail results. If the calculation is run for neighbour scheme only one legend is created.
  • There are no default values for non-gradient legend mode. Users must  define the range for each calculation type before running the calculation. If non-gradient legend values are not defined for the calculation, the default gradient mode is used.Select the calculation type radio button to define the colour band values. Then click on the Color textbox to choose a colour and enter a value. The values must be in ascending order. The first value will be the minimum value and last value will be maximum value for any calculation.  The ratio colour and values fields can be left empty if the calculation is only being run for Proposed scheme.

• Horizontal faces which are facing downward are ignored by default.
• This option can be turned off on Settings – General – Facade section if such faces are needed to be analysed.
• Reverse the faces and Run the facade analysis again.

Make sure the Menu bar > Camera is set to Perspective.

Increase the Pixel Samples to above 100 to get a sharper image.

The noise is inversely proportional to square root of this number: four times more samples are required to decrease the error by half.

Open the Render dialogue and press the “…” button to open the settings.

Set the exposure to a lower value. If the values was already set to 1, try a fraction e.g. 0.6

Tick New Shadow Only option to exclude part of the coloured shadow that already is rendered under the existing scenario.

No. The software will insert a virtual ground just below the bounding box of the model.

You can remove the virtual ground by unticking the option on Render dialogue > “…” > “Remove virtual ground”