Creating a SketchUp Animation: From Scenes to an MP4 Video

Ufuk ŞEN

October 27, 2026Updated: November 9, 20264 min read1

You don’t need a separate program or render engine to make a SketchUp animation. In this lesson we save scenes (Scenes) and set up a camera move that flows between them. Then we export that move as a video file such as MP4. It is a practical method for anyone who wants to walk a client through a model quickly.

Creating a SketchUp Animation: From Scenes to an MP4 Video

We recorded this lesson in 2015 as the final part of our basic tutorial series. The menu locations have changed a little in newer versions. But the logic of saving scenes and exporting an animation has stayed the same. (The video is in Turkish; this guide walks through the key steps in English.)

In this video

Opening the Scenes panel and saving the first scene
Setting up a simple camera tour with several scenes
Playing the animation inside SketchUp with Play Animation
Setting the scene transition time in Model Info
Exporting the animation as MP4, and the quality settings

What is a scene?

In SketchUp, a scene is a view you save. It stores information such as the camera angle, shadows and style. Even if you orbit the model and lose the view, for example, clicking the scene tab takes you back to the saved view. An animation is made up of exactly these transitions between scenes.

To manage scenes, we open the Scenes panel from the Window menu. When you press the plus icon in the panel, the program creates the first scene. A tab named “Scene 1” also appears at the top left of the screen.

Saving scenes for a SketchUp animation

After saving the first view, we turn the camera to a new angle. Then we press the plus icon again to add the second scene. In the video we repeat this step four times and set up a short four-scene tour. The number of scenes is entirely up to you. For a longer tour, you can save 10–15 scenes.

Here is a small tip. Don’t turn the camera too sharply between scenes. Gentle differences in angle give a much smoother motion in the video.

Playing a SketchUp animation and the transition time

Once the scenes are ready, we right-click any scene tab. From the menu that opens, we choose Play Animation. The camera then flows in order from the first scene to the fourth.

On the first try you will notice a short pause at each scene. To change this time, we go to Window > Model Info and open the Animation section. In the video we first set the scene delay to 0. The camera then moves from one scene to the next without stopping. Then we set the value to 3 to show the difference. So you decide both the transition speed and the pause on this screen.

Exporting a SketchUp animation

To turn the animation into a video file, we use File > Export > Animation. In the window that opens, we choose the file type. In the video there are options such as AVI, OGV and MP4. We choose MP4 because it is the most common format.

Before pressing the Export button, we recommend checking the Options section. There are two important settings here:

Frame rate: The default value is 24. If you raise it to 30 or more, the image becomes smoother. But the export time also gets longer.
Resolution: There are options like 480p (SD), 720p (HD) and Full HD. In the video we go with 720p, because it is enough for a short presentation.

Then we press Export. SketchUp builds every frame between the scenes one by one and turns them into a video. When it finishes, we open the MP4 file in the Documents folder and watch the result. The image is quite smooth and sharp.

Which version has this feature?

We make an important note in the video. At that time, exporting an animation as a video was exclusive to SketchUp Pro. The free SketchUp Make version did not have this option. If you are curious about what current versions include and about the plans, check the SketchUp Help Center page.

Where do you use an animation?

This method is especially useful for quick client presentations. Without rendering, you prepare a short tour with the model’s own look. For more impressive presentations, see our animation presentations from video exports article. We explained the general logic of architectural animation in our the moving face of digital design article.

Summary

Making a SketchUp animation takes three steps. First you save scenes in the Scenes panel. Then you set the transition time with the Animation setting in Model Info. Finally you export the MP4 file with File > Export > Animation.