Limiting file size
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I need to figure out how to keep my file size down. The attached model (by MAB) is incredibly detailed, even has dynamics, yet it is only 5mb. How the heck does he do that? The one I'm working on is not nearly as detailed or complex, yet it's already over 10mb.
Also, is there any way to contact the creator of a model in the Warehouse?http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=ede713ba2af18e28c627ecb73f7372af&prevstart=0
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There are a number of strategies for keeping file size under control. One is to reduce the number of segments used to create circles and arcs. Smaller details can usually get by with many fewer than the default number of segments. Use components. Draw only half of symmetrical parts (the body for example) then make the half a component, copy and flip (mirror) the copy and put them together. Eliminate unneeded faces and edges. Turn on Hidden Geometry to look for hidden lines that can be deleted. You don't need faces on the invisible parts of the wheels, for example. Don't model stuff that won't show. The head of a screw? Draw it perhaps. Don't draw the rest of it, though. Purge unused components, materials, layers, etc. Limit the use of nested components. Don't use high res images for materials. Do use images where you can instead of geometry. For example you might be able to use an image for the tread on the tires. A bump map in rendering may work just fine then.
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re: Use components
just some food for thought..
if you take the model you posted then explode all the components/groups then resave it, the file will be 15MB instead of 5..
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Thanks, some interesting things to think about. As far as contacting someone who has posted a model in the warehouse, is that possible?
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It's probably possible but I'm not sure how. I suppose you could leave a comment and ask them to contact you. You might also just try a Google search for their username. It may turn up some place where you can contact them.
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I find that what makes a .skp file large is usually textures before the geometry. Check if you have textures larger than what you need it to be. If they can be cropped for instance (I've often seen people use a 10 megapixel photo as a texture where they only use a small fraction of the image - for a tiny detail not really seen...
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@thomthom said:
If they can be cropped for instance
This is what "make unique" is perfect for (although it has some really awful antialiasing work).
So best way is to use big textures first of all (maybe more or less already cropped)
Thenmake unique
Finally edit and resample those images outside SU with a better algorithm.But this is not the case with this model I guess.
To contact MAB, use the small email icon at the top right next to his name.
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Thomthom is absolutely right. If you look back at say SilverShadow's eye candy stuff and download his models which are about as high poly as you can get without adding trees and cars, they're large but I've ended up with files noticeably larger with far less geometry because I accidently used a full res Arroway texture that SU was storing and bloating the file size by 25+ MB. Easiest way to check this that I know of is to delete all of your textures do a Save As and see what the difference is in your file size.
Beyond that, I'd agree with the components comment but I find that poor component management won't hurt you nearly as bad as poor texture management in terms of file size.
-Brodie
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Wow, this is a lot of great information that I'm sure will come in very handy when creating my models. Things you don't find in a book, which is why I come here for the good "inside" stuff. It's a lot to think about, unfortunately I only have two active brain cells left (and one of them is on life support) so it's gonna take a lot of experimenting and trial and error on my part to see how to best use all this. Once again, thanks for taking the time to help a SU novice. Maybe twenty years down the road when I become an expert I can do the same for other newcomers. I love this program, I've had it on my puter for several years but didn't pay much attention to it, thought it was just something amusing to play with, had no idea of it's capabilities. Now I'm realizing the limitations on my capabilities. I think I may have to build a more powerful computer just for this, finally have to graduate from the old Pentium 4. I've been fighting that for a long time, but I guess it's time. Hey, it's only money
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Just had a bit of a shocker. My model was running at right about 11mb. Been saving versions frequently, just in case, and just noticed that it suddenly shot up to almost 50mb!!!!
Very minor differences between the two, no hidden stuff. Please tell me that this is something that sometimes happens and it's very easily fixed. Don't make me shoot my computer. -
I often sit with models around ~200-300MB - mostly due to the fact I render so I use often high res textures. And if it's an interio model it can get to 500K+ faces.
So I don't find 50MB to be that concerning. But jump from 11 to 50MB, what kind of very minor differences are you talking about? Yes it can happen, but there can be a number of reason.
Have you remembered to purge?
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There was no need to purge - the only difference between the two was a couple of minor changes to the dash. How can that cause a jump of almost 500 percent in file size?
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without seeing or knowing anything about the changes it's impossible to tell
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Well the files are too big to attach here. I had saved probably 7 different versions after the "big jump", didn't notice the increase in file size, and no reason to suspect such a thing might happen. Anyhow, I have spent the past several hours copying and pasting all the changes I had made since it jumped in size onto the last version that was "normal",and now have a complete up-to-date version. And when I saved it, the file size was back to normal, so it doesn't seem like any changes I had made were responsible, since all those changes are incorporated into the new model. My obsession with saving, saving, saving paid off big time, and now I know to keep a close eye on the file size each time I do save a new version. Still, it would be so nice to know just what the heck did happen, it's gonna bug me forever.
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You could upload them to one of the many hosting services.
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Until you find a way to upload it somewhere (which would probably be the only way for us to check what the issue really is), there is another trick to detect any too big texture file.
Export your model as kmz (File > export > 3d model > GE kmz) then rename the kmz extension to zip and inside the the archive, there is a models folder in which there is another folder with the texture images. Any extremely big file will be apparent there.
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OK, did as you suggested, and lo and behold, a couple of wood textures I had added to the dash were PNG instead of JPG. I generally like to work with the PNG format because it's not lossy like JPG. Anyhow, of course they were much larger than they would have been had they been converted to JPG first. Even tho I had deleted them from my model, they were still in the "in model" materials folder. Lesson learned, and I really appreciate all your help. Crisis averted, and I can now sleep at night
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@hellnbak said:
Even tho I had deleted them from my model, they were still in the "in model" materials folder. Lesson learned, and I really appreciate all your help. Crisis averted, and I can now sleep at night
So you had not purged them?
Or - the material was applied to some edges maybe? That prevents materials from purging, and many aren't aware of that because they never set the Edge Style to By Material -
Allow me to demonstrate my ignorance - when "purging" was mentioned earlier, I assumed it just meant to go thru your model and physically delete all the stuff you no longer need. I did not know that it was also a menu item under Windows Also, I do not know what you mean by applying a material to an edge, or why that would make a difference. I've only been using SU for about three weeks, and the amount of stuff I don't know seems to be increasing instead of decreasing. Another Michigan winter is settling in and I am determined to use the coming miserable months and the books I recently bought to learn the things I need to in order to eventually create the type and quality of models that I have in mind. It certainly won't interfere with my life, I don't have one
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I think you'll find the PurgeAll plugin very useful as it will go through your model and purge all unused stuff including materials, styles, components and so on. I have a keyboard shortcut for it and use it frequently.
And to reduce the list of things you don't know by one item, materials be applied to edges and they are if you select all of the geometry in a component and apply the material. In most cases this isn't a problem but if you are just "trying on" materials and don't replace the materials on the edges, they will remain after the purge operation. You normally don't see the edges as having materials if you are using All The Same for the edge color.
Applying materials to edges is useful sometimes. Although I often don't display my models that way, it is, in most cases, easier to apply the material to everything. I just have to remember I've done that if I replace the material later. Usually I just triple click on something in the component to select everything and repaint so the material gets replaced on the edges as well.
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