I've been trying to upload a model to the warehouse, I fill in all the information, but the "upload" button is grayed out. Can't click on it no matter what I do. It's just a car, and under the 10mb limit, can't figure out the problem. Any help would be much appreciated.

Can I borrow it?

@dave r said:

Is it possible you want to use Plane Shearing instead? That worked for me.

You are the master! Why ain't I smart like you is? Thanks.

No, I don't want to bend it, I just want to lean it to the right. I know it can be done using Box Tapering, I actually did it before on an earlier version of this object, I just can't seem to get it to do it again.

@unknownuser said:

If you wish to taper symetrically, you need to press CTRL to perform the transformation about the center.Fredo

Possibly I didn't explain myself very well. I want to lean the entire object to the right. Like in the second photo, but with the entire model leaning like that.

Have used this fantastic plugin many times, but tonight I'm having a bit of a problem. I'm trying to use box tapering on a component, but it won't give me the option of tapering the entire object, only either side of it. I want to taper the component in the red axis, as shown in photo #2, but I can't seem to be able to click anywhere that let's me do that, only either side of the component. It did let me taper it in the green axis, but now it seems to be getting grumpy. I can't get rid of the feeling that I'm doing something very basically wrong here, I am very tired and I'm running on only two brain cells , if that's the case I apologize for wasting your time. Thanks in advance.

Thanks, that got rid of the Section "Pain" . Unfortunately my radio is still gone , but that's not a problem, I'll just copy and paste it from a previous version (I like my music). Funny thing is, when I was messing around with the thing I was nowhere near the radio. Guess I should spend some time working with the thing on a simple model until I'm comfortable with using it.

Thanks again.

I haven't had that many occasions to use the Section Plane, but I was fiddling around with it tonight and although I didn't actually use it for anything (or so I thought) I later discovered that not only was it still there, but it had somehow deleted my radio. I can't get rid of the thing, and can't find any info on the web about how to get rid of it. Any help would be much appreciated.

@tig said:

using components for repeated geometry/objects, and the small overhead of importing it into another model is inevitable because of the additional data needed to describe it within its new home

Yeah, as I just told Gaieus, I've accepted that this is going to happen. I don't like it, but I accept it.

@tig said:

You can achieve the level of detail in other ways - e.g. apply a 'tread texture' instead of modeling every indentation into its faces in 'reality'.

Actually the treads are a texture (until I can get around to putting in the real things )

@tig said:

you need to remember that the instances and the number of displayed facets and edges etc that you have in your one tyre/wheel is more that a whole complex building might include. This WILL have affects on the performance of SUp panning/zooming, exporting and rendering etc

Actually it has not affected panning, orbiting, zooming, anything (so far). And I am coming close to reaching the dreaded 10mb limit. Occasionally my textures will start to blank out when doing something, but all I need to do is purge (even if there's nothing to purge) and things are back to normal. Any idea why this is?

Probably won't have the nerve to upload the dang thing when I do finish it. But this has been my learning model, so it was worth it.

@tig said:

be aware that detailing every last bit of an object is often unnecessary - especially when you won't ever be seeing it, or might never expect to see it so close up so you'll never notice the simplified form.

I have kept this is mind, and I don't include detail that likely won't be noticed or benefit the model. As I mentioned before, tires and wheels are very important to the appearance of a car, so I did splurge on them. Overall I think the benefits of this have justified the extra edge count.

Wow! Screws under the chairs, with full threads! Can I have her phone number?

@gaieus said:

Deeply nested components will often cause some performance issues but you have to make the decision whether to risk those issues or allow your file size grow. When you insert a component into a model, always expect the file size grow a bit more than what the file size of that component is as a model itself. Also, the file size will slightly grow with each inserted instance and eventually you will need 4 of these wheels.

Yeah, I realize now that this stuff is going to happen. It's just something I will have to get used to in the wonderful world of SU.

@gaieus said:

When modelling the car itself, also consider to model only a half, turn it into a component and mirror it. You will gain some file size reduction this way as well (of course, do not include the steering wheel, the pedals etc. into the component for instance).

I have been mirroring whenever possible, helps a LOT as far as file size. Just one of the many tricks I'm having to learn.

Can't help dreaming about doing this without any concern for polygon count or file size or computer performance. Wow, would that be great! I could build my own world!

@tig said:

Your original SKP is full of groups and multiple nested component instances ~657kb...

Yes, is this not an accepted method of keeping the file size down?

@tig said:

IF you explode the original back to raw geometry when you insert it into another SKP it's 35700kb !!!
Because you now have 27,681 separate entities per tyre !!!!

The whole point of using this method is to be able to have 35700kb of detail and have it only take up 675kb. Right?

@tig said:

So your tyres are terribly 'over detailed'

Really not sure what you mean by this. It's as detailed as I wanted it to be. I made it the way I did so that I could include that detail. Given how very important tires and wheels are to the overall appearance of a car model, I decided to make them a bit nicer than maybe some others might have. If I managed to include the detail I wanted to include, and still keep the file size down, how does that make it "terribly over detailed"?

@tig said:

The few kb that you get with this is really 'nothing'

While I don't agree that a nearly 8 percent increase in the file size is "nothing", if it's the price I must pay to get the kind of model I want, so be it. I just wanted to know where those extra 99kb were coming from, and if there was anything I could do to avoid it. Apparently I can't. Such is life

I don't mind criticism of my models, as a noobie I look forward to it. I know that now is the time to find out if I can improve my modeling techniques before any bad practices set in too hard. So I need to ask, are you saying the methods I used to create this model are not those that would be used by a more experienced modeler (assuming that modeler also wanted to include the level of detail that I did)?

Your input is very much appreciated, thanks for taking the time.

In my noobie efforts to fix the problem I screwed up the model so badly it's hardly recognizable anymore Looks more like modern art now. I'm trying to recreate the problem. Will upload if I am successful. Thanks

Sorry, bit of a snowstorm here, wasn't ready for it.

Here's the file. I didn't include the file I pasted it to because it is too large. But it seems to do the same no matter what file I add it to. Thanks

RADIAL TA MAIN done.skp

This is on a door I've been working on. The two components are not touching, yet when viewed from a distance (a moderate distance, not a great distance) lines are visible that would be there if they were intersecting. Viewed closer, they are not there. They do not show up as hidden geometry. I can actually click on these lines that are not there and delete them, and they delete geometry in the adjacent component, so I guess that's telling me that they are part of that component and not the outer door panel where they appear. (And no, they did not intersect and I did not hit "intersect with model" accidentally). So do I just add this to the ever increasing list of SU's peculiarities, or is there actually something that can be done about this one?

Not sure I understand this. Actually I'm sure I don't understand this - doesn't the original file of the component contain all the required information about it, including all the extra stuff that needs to be remembered about it, and thus wouldn't all that be included in the file size of the original model? Why would more information beyond this be required in the model where I paste the component? And I did not make extra instances of it, just inserted the original component into the model. Sorry if I'm being obtuse about this, but I really would like to understand what's going on.

@gaieus said:

When there is a file with a certain size and you insert it in as a component (say) 4 times, the master file does not only need to contain the geometry inside the component but also needs some bytes to "remember" the size, position, alignment and materials (there could be added materials from outside) of those components. .

I'm having trouble buying this as an explanation. The file where I copied the model from (where it was the only thing in the file) also has to remember everything you mentioned. So all this "remembered" information was taken into account with the original file size. And at this point there was only 1 instance of the added component.

And as far as "Don't worry about that extra 1Kb", it's not 1kb, it's 99kb, and that's a fair chunk of change for a model that has to be limited in size for the warehouse. I don't know, maybe you guys are used to routinely dealing in very large models, and file sizes, and so can't appreciate my concern when trying to limit the file size of such a relatively "tiny" model.

And just so you know, purging is not a factor in this. I do purge, religiously. If I consider the possibility of someday thinking about maybe doing something to a model, I purge. If I look at a model crossways, I purge. And I purge using the plugin, not just the one built into SU. Again, just so you know.

To get back to my original question, does anybody know why this is happening?

@unknownuser said:

pretty much, the cleaner your geometry and more efficient you work, the smaller the file size.. strive for that instead and your models will be smaller automatically.

That's all I'm talking about, I want to get to the point that my geometry is clean and my work is efficient as a matter of routine, without having to work at it. When I mentioned working my butt off to get the file size down on a model, it was because when I created that model I was not working that way. Not even close.

@unknownuser said:

i'm just thinking of the tire .skp file that you posted a while back that was around 40,000 entities and had a whole bunch of unnecessary geometry.. that could be modeled much cleaner and faster with a bonus of 1/2 the file size.. (imho)

Actually that's the model I was referring to I know it was sloppy work. It was my first tire, and I needed to clean it up and do it right. jAnd most importantly, learn in the process. And hopefully my work in the future will start out right and I won't have to backtrack and clean up my messes.

I'm still new to all of this stuff, and I know no matter how hard I try I will still not even approach the quality of some of the stuff I've seen posted on here, not for a long time, if ever. But I'll at least get better at it. My "suck factor" will slowly decrease, given enuf time

And BTW, I really appreciate your honest appraisals of my crap, I mean models, that's what I'm looking for. Be brutal!!

It does decrease the file size, it trims all the extra texture that isn't actually on your model, just hanging out there in space in case someday you want to reposition your texture. For example, by making the texture unique in a simple car floor mat the texture size went from 122k to 24k. When you use a lot of textures it becomes a big factor, at least for me.

@unknownuser said:

99k is nothing to worry about..

personally..i don't start worrying about keeping files sizes down until i'm in the 20-30MB range..
[not saying that's good advice.. just the way i work]

It is something to worry about if you are planning to share your model in the warehouse.

If that were not the case I would still be trying to keep my file size to a minimum. It's a factor in computer performance, and, IMHO, it's just a good habit to get into, which is what I'm trying to do. If keeping your file size to a minimum is part of your normal modeling practice, then you don't have to scramble to get it down when it does become a factor for whatever reason.

Again, IMH noobie O

But regardless, why does this happen? If I add a 653k file to a model, it should increase by 653k, right? Seems like a physics law of some sort.