A Single Model (Squashed / Flattened)

Hi,

Is it possible to completely flatten a Group / Component into a single Object.

For example, if I import a tree from 3D Warehouse, the tree could consist of a very complex drawing / model, which can significantly increase both the size and performance of your overall model.

However, most of the time, I am just importing models from 3D Warehouse as background props, which don’t require any tweaking there after, so I’m not concerned if I can’t alter or change them later.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Fredo6: FredoPortrait

2 Likes

Thank you, this looks great, and works really for background items.

Is there another option for objects like cars, which require a 3D view of them.

Basically I want to convert all of the geometry into one item that cannot be edited, such as a car.

I think you are asking for a way to not to flatten into a plane, but to somehow simplify a 3D object while keeping it 3D, presumably to gain a performance advantage. You can turn any collection of groups and components into a single group or component. Select the object you downloaded right click on it and choose explode, if there are components/groups nested within they will now be selected so right click and explode again, keep doing that until you have all raw geometry, then select the whole and make it a component. Then you will have all raw geometry in just one wrapper.

However, there is no benefit to doing this. The resulting object will not be a smaller file or faster to render. It will still have the same number of polygons and the same materials. The nesting of groups and components is just how things are organized, and does not effect the model size really. It’s like putting page numbers on a manuscript, you could toss the pages into the air and make a new stack out of order but the stack wouldn’t be any lighter, just harder to read.

2 Likes

Thank you for explaining what I was trying to explain :slight_smile:

Ok, thanks… i’ll just stick to a larger file, thanks.

Hi oo7,

Just in case. Maybe you could be interested by this.
https://extensions.sketchup.com/extension/7e0ca775-2ce8-40f6-a352-2cc9b9f84093/2d-component-from-3d

David

Or look at perhaps my old RBZ, installing:

It needs supporting tool’s RBZ, installing:

Or perhaps my related old Silhouette RB [needs a manual install]:
https://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=281445#p281445

@oo7 Especially when surfing through the 3D warehouse it’s important to check the poly count and file size of the things you are downloading. It is possible to make good looking objects with lower poly count, but it takes care and skill. There are a lot of sloppy and over complicated models on the warehouse, so pay attention.

You can sometimes achieve some savings by opening up a warehouse model and deleting the more detailed, smaller bits of a model that you can’t see at the scale you are using. This is particularly bad if the warehouse model is made using other warehouse models. As in when a user downloads a 3mb over complicated drawer pull handle and puts ten different ones into their dresser then uploads that dresser to the warehouse, instant 30mb dresser.

One more thing, if not already you should try working in a monochrome style, with textures turned off to speed things up.

There is also this, Skimp, that just reduces the poly count.

3 Likes

And Eneroth (@ENEROTH3) has also an extension to flatten Geometry to plane
https://extensions.sketchup.com/extension/89bdf1f1-1418-46e2-b4ba-e5667efb1cc3/eneroth-flatten-to-plane

David