A few days ago I noticed that MODEL INFO in the 3DWH had a few additions, one of which is “Distance from Origin.” Since I am not an architect or anything like that, I set about trying to figure out what this new category was, what it meant, and possibly how it’s used.
First I looked at all my own models. It immediately became obvious that the larger and more detailed a model was, the higher the number next to DFO was.
I came here to see what I could find on DFO, but didn’t run across anything on a quick scan of the search results that screamed “read me, I can help.” (My apologies if I over-looked such a thread) So I googled “sketchup distance from origin,” and ran across a SU blog that had a video in it. In watching that vid, I learned that the figure opposite DFO represents feet. In that blog entry, it was mainly dealing with an imported CAD model that was some six hundred miles from the origin, causing flashing and splintering. But there was enough in that vid that I understood what that “distance from origin” meant.
Now…for a few questions:
1. How does this information affect a person’s model? (cause others to avoid models that exceed some maximum number of feet from origin, for example)
2. Does the larger the number automatically indicate an issue? Or does this come into play only with imported files?
3. Does the DFO information affect a person’s 3DWH search results? (higher numbers shunted lower on the list of returned items, as example)
4. Should we start checking distance from origin, and trying to get everything as close to the point of origin as possible before uploading to the Warehouse?
5. Or, is this info only of interest and importance to professionals?
Its only an issue with me when using models outside of SketchUp. It’s important to be as close to the origin as possible especially when using those models in other software such as Blender or Unreal Engine, the models can be miles away and just adds a lot of time having to sort them out.
Some users are pretty slopy with their models and wind up with them located at large distances from the origin. This often creates problems for other users when they import something and it appears in an unexpected place or seems to not show up at all. I guess knowing how far it is from the origin before you import it could be useful if you have problems. Although I generally make my own components, if I were looking to the Warehouse for a component and saw it was located at some huge distance from the origin, I would consider moving on. If the author couldn’t place the component properly in the first place, I’d wonder what else is wrong with it.
I hadn’t see those new figures, and by chance picked an example to show what it’s good for. I picked this chair:
Plopping that down on the origin could leave you confused. The chair is 4200 feet tall and 142,000 feet away from the origin. Laura looked quite small when I did a zoom extents.
So far, I have encountered only two things before:
I downloaded a chair once that turned out to be in excess of 40 feet high. It was uploaded by what appeared to be a professional or commercial user, and is probably why at the time I was surprised and disappointed - I liked the chair but ended up looking for something else. @colin …This chair in your post definitely makes that 40’ chair look like an ant’s chair…LOL
I have downloaded models before that would be contained in a HUGE component or group box. Before I knew much about hidden geometry and how toggling it on and off can be helpful in several ways, I used to fight with and wonder why something was in such a big box, trying to figure out how to rectify the situation.
Learning about “Distance from Origin” could help when I run across problems like that 4200+ foot chair, or what I described in #2 above. @DaveR …Whether I give up on a model usually depends on if it has other issues besides being a great distance from the origin. Unless I just don’t feel like being bothered, I will give a troubled model several chances before I give up on it. I think sometimes it’s the challenge of seeing if I can make it work. I can fix the distance issue (as I’m learning I sorta already figured out how to do before I knew about DFO), but sometimes sizing a model down from great size causes other problems. I’ve had a model completely disappear on me while trying to size it. Sometimes it’s just not worth the trouble!
@liamk887 …This is pretty much what the video I watched was talking about - going from one program to another. Chances are, the exacerbated issues of importing models will not affect me. But I still learned something new…and sometimes that’s all that counts.
Everyone has their own threshold of tolerance. Maybe mine is rather low but I won’t spend time fixing other people’s components so I can use them in my models.
