I have a simple design task to do in the next couple days, but the file I was given is HUGE and unworkable. Since I am just helping out, I cannot wholesale alter the original file. So as much as I would like to delete every layer and the associated objects that are unrelated to my task, I have to find a workaround. Turning off layers helps a bit, but it is still sluggish. I have permission to make the file more efficient, but to not delete things. Would it help to isolate layers, turn them into a group or component, move them to a new file, and then import them again? (Like AutoCAD Xrefs)
Any advice is appreciated. I literally am just modeling a few planters on the exterior of this ginormous, complex, building.
Would they let you make a separate SketchUp file of your planters with a description of where it goes? Could they place them for you?
Take the minimum geometry you need from the original file to model the planters, say the ground and the adjacent wall and copy them to the clipboard. Open a fresh file and “paste in place”. The geometry will be pasted in the same location relative to the origin from the original.
Model your planters there in the working file then copy just the planters to the clipboard and paste into place in the enormous file. Then re-save and send it.
Yes, making tags out of existing geometry and turning visibility off will lighten the load on your graphics card and make it faster to work with. But the above is the quickest way to add something small to an enormous file, assuming your deliverable is a return .skp file with something added.
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@endlessfix has some great recommendations!
Other alternates are: our product Helix, or test out the new native Revit importer that is in beta from Trimble:
I will keep this in mind for the future, but I do not have the Revit file in this case. Only the converted SketchUp file
In that case you can try the FredoGhost extension, which will make a low poly proxy for objects… then you can re-enable the high rez versions.
You can also try the Cleanup3 extension by ThomThom, that will erase coplanar edges and reduce useful geometry:
https://extensions.sketchup.com/extension/046175e5-a87a-4254-9329-1accc37a5e21/clean-up
Great suggestions. I will try the Cleanup3 extension first.
And just for laughs, I am attaching a screenshot of the converted SketchUp file. My task is to revise the tiny (in comparable scale) teal planters that flank the entrance of the building. 
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BTW, as a secondary issue, what is the best way to change the fact that the layer colors are the actual materials. I used Hidden Line to render everything white, but the shading is lost. I could use Material Replacer, but there are a lot of layers, and maybe there is a quicker or easier way - like a Style that makes everything a shaded monotone.
Hello,
you can use the monochrome style.
Otherwise, pick your materials one by one with the material sampler (hold alt while using the bucket tool) and turn them into white in the material edit panel. As far as I can see, there are only five, so it won’t take long
I did not find a Monochrome Style. Only Hidden Line. But I will do a more thorough search.
I was going to change all the materials (I use an extension called Material Replacer) but I do not want to change the original file since it is not mine. I think the solution is to just save a copy of the file so I can make my concept drawings white but leave the original model a rainbow.
Ha! Duh. I have never ever noticed that. Thanks.
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