# Proxies

Transmutr can export the model as a ***V-Ray Proxy***, a ***Thea Proxy*** and an ***Enscape Proxy***. In this way, SketchUp will only show a lightweight placeholder of the model and maintain good performance while the render engine will use the high-quality original model.

* For **V-Ray**, the full-geometry model is exported as a \*.vrmesh file.
* For **Thea**, it is exported as a \*.xml file along with one or several \*.mesh.thea files in a subfolder. When launched from SketchUp with Thea v2.1 (and above) active, Transmutr will export Thea proxies as **\*.mod.thea** files instead of \*.xml files.
* For **Enscape**, the full-geometry model is exported as an additional \*.skp file.

You can export V-Ray, Thea and Enscape proxies at the same time, and they will be linked to the same SketchUp file.

{% hint style="info" %}
When you export as proxy, the generated \*.skp file is supposed to be imported as a component into another model, you should not open it directly.
{% endhint %}

## Placeholder

***Placeholder*** is the geometry displayed in SketchUp:

![](https://1807576756-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LbleSCzt45l7QT5OXk4%2F-LbliP1PGM46X23BcoR6%2F-Lblie4qTL8f_4J0l350%2Fplaceholders_lr.jpg?alt=media\&token=bcfe3546-fe8b-4401-899d-2508c308dc9c)

### ***Bounding Box***

This is a simple box with the same size as the model. This is the lightest placeholder. The ***(wireframe)*** variant only generates edges, while the ***(faces)*** has opaque faces.

### ***Face Skipping***

This only keeps a few faces, to get an idea of the model's shape, while keeping the model lightweight. Change the ***Face count*** to set the number of faces kept in the placeholder representation.

### ***Simplified Geometry***

This uses the model simplified by the ***Mesh Simplification*** slider as the proxy. This is great if you want to display a rough approximation of the model, while keeping it much lighter than the original high-poly model.

### ***Full Geometry***

This directly uses the original model in the SketchUp file. The *.vrmesh and the* .skp will then have exactly the same geometry.

### ***Billboard***

This shows the model as a texture on a plane. This is a very lightweight display, while giving a great impression of what the proxy will actually look like at render-time. The ***(cross)*** variant will create two vertical planes, at 90° of each other. The ***(face-me)*** variant will generate a single plane that is always facing the camera (similar to the scale figures in SketchUp). **\*\***For now, you need to provide the image, but we plan to generate it automatically in the future.

### ***SketchUp File***

This lets you select a custom SketchUp file that will be used as geometry in the exported SketchUp file. This is useful if you need a specific placeholder model that you made manually.

{% hint style="danger" %}
**Always face camera:** when using the ***SketchUp File*** type, do not use a model with the "Always face camera" option set in SketchUp. Instead, use the option in Transmutr. Otherwise you will get unpredictable results with proxies (you might want to see a billboard in SketchUp following the camera, but you don't want the actual proxy mesh to always face the camera at render-time)
{% endhint %}