[Plugin] CleanUp

Fletch · 21 Nov 2009, 01:12

ThomThom, ran this plugin on a file today - it actually took it a surprising long time to clean the file!

So I opened Outliner and find that there are 920 uniquecomponents in the file. It was obviously imported from OBJ file into SketchUp because each component is called "OBJ_29" etc.

So, if your Cleanup routine had an option "Convert All Unique Components to Groups" that would be great.

It's a fairly simple model, shouldn't really be more than a 1 or 2Mb file if it was build properly in SketchUp... but it's a 29Mb file!

I have tried selecting all the unique components and exploding them but SU appears to be chugging along quite some time on it, and I am unsure if it's completely frozen, or just working hard and ignoring me.

The absolute best for AutoCAD files would be one that said "Convert Identical Groups to be Identical Components"... wished for that many times when you have 50 columns that are all the same, but each is a unique "group" from ACAD.

thomthom · 21 Nov 2009, 15:31

@fletch said:

So, if your Cleanup routine had an option "Convert All Unique Components to Groups" that would be great.

It's a fairly simple model, shouldn't really be more than a 1 or 2Mb file if it was build properly in SketchUp... but it's a 29Mb file!

Converting the components to groups won't make the file any smaller. Internally, Groups and Components are pretty much the same.

@fletch said:

I have tried selecting all the unique components and exploding them but SU appears to be chugging along quite some time on it, and I am unsure if it's completely frozen, or just working hard and ignoring me.

Yea, exploding large amount of geometry makes SU crawl to a halt.

@fletch said:

The absolute best for AutoCAD files would be one that said "Convert Identical Groups to be Identical Components"... wished for that many times when you have 50 columns that are all the same, but each is a unique "group" from ACAD.

Why is the blocks unique in AutoCAD in the first place? Blocks are imported fine into SU as components. This is really more a matter how the ACAD drawing is made.
Mind you - I've also wanted a function to merge similar groups/components. When importing from Revit you often get windows that should be the same component as different components, but with different axis orientation.

@fletch said:

So, if your Cleanup routine had an option "Convert All Unique Components to Groups" that would be great.

This could in theory be done easily. Except that there seem to be a bug in the SU API that makes the creating of groups some times crash SU.

Gaieus · 22 Nov 2009, 16:47

Hi Fletch,

In case you have zillions of similar but unique components in your model, would a solution like in this topic (replace them with only one) work?
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=23777#p202554

solo · 3 Dec 2009, 19:44

Bloody awesome, this script just saved me hours of work, a client sent me an Archicad model for me to get ready for presentation, It converted and opened up in SU looking like a total disaster, weighing in at 12MB. I ran cleanup with all options selected and Viola! it was perfect SU ready and saved at 3.5MB.

This plugin needs to be on everyones machine.

nomeradona · 4 Dec 2009, 03:20

thanks thomthom, i like this plugin so much.. really time saver.

Fletch · 4 Dec 2009, 17:54

@thomthom said:

Why is the blocks unique in AutoCAD in the first place? Blocks are imported fine into SU as components. This is really more a matter how the ACAD drawing is made.
Mind you - I've also wanted a function to merge similar groups/components. When importing from Revit you often get windows that should be the same component as different components, but with different axis orientation.

yes, but I think ACAD solids come in as groups, not components.

@thomthom said:

@fletch said:

So, if your Cleanup routine had an option "Convert All Unique Components to Groups" that would be great.

This could in theory be done easily. Except that there seem to be a bug in the SU API that makes the creating of groups some times crash SU.

bummer.

Gaieus:
not exactly what I'm looking for... thanks. Imagine you get handed a model from someone else and are told you 'need it done in 4 hours'... before the meeting at the end of the day. Now this model is a mess that was imported from CAD, and then worked on for a day or two by someone else, and now they've given it up and handed it to you "because your faster"... now this model has potentially many issues... not least of which hundreds of components that are each UNIQUE... meaning they are components, but not for any other reason except that is how they are... 50 of THOSE happen to be identical, yet uniquely named columns in various places in a large complex of buildings... so... you now have to change that column... and by hand have to edit every column. ... yeah... happened to me once.

plot-paris · 7 Dec 2009, 16:27

the same happens when importing from 3Ds Max. lots and lots of unique components. and unfortunately all with their own origin - so 'replace with component' doesn't work...

a script that could detect similar groups/components and replace them (even taking rotation and scale into account) would be fantastis. probably as useful to some as this cleanup script here...

Chris Fullmer · 7 Dec 2009, 17:53

Its a tough script to write unfortunately.

I started on it, I don't rememeber if I posted my progress. I got to a point where I could resonably determine similar components - regardless of rotation. And I think I was going to try to add scale next.

It could be done with some intervention. Perhaps it finds all similar components, then zooms you around to each one and you have to click on the point in each one that should be the axis. hmm, I might even be able to automate that if I thought about it more.

I agree with would be a great plugin, and i've already got a start on it. Maybe I'll get back to working on it. I already have a couple new ideas just while writing this...

Chris

plot-paris · 8 Dec 2009, 15:17

coool. sounds promising. let us know, once you've got a beta out that needs testing.
and don't work too much (you seem active on many fronts at once...)

ckosio · 21 Jan 2010, 08:30

awesome! this saves me a lot of hours!!!

mgfranz · 31 Jan 2010, 19:27

Is there a way to view the items that were cleaned? Maybe a text file of what was modified.

Other than that, very cool utility.

thomthom · 31 Jan 2010, 20:28

@mgfranz said:

Is there a way to view the items that were cleaned? Maybe a text file of what was modified.

Other than that, very cool utility.

You mean number of edges, faces etc?

bagatelo · 1 Feb 2010, 10:46

Thanks TOMTOM for this plugin. I am in the moment exporting from the 3dsMAX
the models that can be free download of the site http://www.bebitalia.it and creating my
library of components.
Please consider the possibility to include these intens in your plugin:

Remove all materials of the object, not leaving any material in the scene. I have implication with materials, as you already noticed. I know you already have tool to do this, but is more sexy if we can do that in one time.
To align the red and green axes in the center of the object, in the lower part of the object.
To run the tool "LOOSE GEOMETRY TO GROUPS" inside of each object, and later to explode each object, just leaving the groups generated by the tool "LOOSE GEOMETRY TO GROUPS." http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/scf/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=16154

Thanks anyway

thomthom · 1 Feb 2010, 11:23

@bagatelo said:

Remove all materials of the object, not leaving any material in the scene. I have implication with materials, as you already noticed. I know you already have tool to do this, but is more sexy if we can do that in one time.

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=17587

@bagatelo said:

To align the red and green axes in the center of the object, in the lower part of the object.

I suppose that can be done. Option to align the axis to each corner, centre point of the bounding box.

@bagatelo said:

To run the tool "LOOSE GEOMETRY TO GROUPS" inside of each object, and later to explode each object, just leaving the groups generated by the tool "LOOSE GEOMETRY TO GROUPS."

So, you'd remove all nesting? And leave only each connected cluster of mesh grouped?

bagatelo · 1 Feb 2010, 14:57

Please, look inside my models, that I have been imported from 3dsMAX to Sketchup. Please, notice axes location in each model.

I think you can incorporate de code from "remove materials" inside the script "Cleanup". You can give option, as you wish.

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=92778b33f7be81f9ec1a552b6784771b
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=a0f08e627f1c429ec1a552b6784771b
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=371dc541346d5103ec1a552b6784771b

Please analize the axes in each object in the illustration.
I think we have 5 or 6 possibilities axes configuration.

bagatelo · 7 Feb 2010, 01:58

Eureka!!!!!!!!!!
I found !!!!!
Very useful
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=21635

free agent · 9 Feb 2010, 08:00

hey just wanted to say this is a awesome pluggin tried it last night, flippen brillaint how quite it works, and no crashes thanx alot thom

thomthom · 9 Feb 2010, 08:58

Thanks Sean.
So you're still using SU? I thought you'd gone all Max now?

free agent · 9 Feb 2010, 09:21

yup still using SU, some things are still way quicker with a face modeler than a solid modeler, i doubt it will ever be out of my workflow, i wish u were writing max script, there are alot of sketchup like actions i would like to see available in max... but i have to work with what i have i guess thanx again for this script

thomthom · 9 Feb 2010, 09:26

Well, the office is making more and more Revit models. And importing them into SU is a workflow nightmare. So I'm very tempted to get Max into my office toolkit. ...so who knows...

Btw, got any new renders to show off?