Group VS component

[thomthom]

@slbaumgartner

Please, someone correct me if I am wrong: I believe that modern versions of SketchUp use the same ComponentDefinition object to hold the geometry data for a Group as for a Component. When you copy a Group, the two instances share the same ComponentDefinition. SketchUp secretly does the equivalent of Component’s “make unique” as soon as you edit a Group that has multiple copies. As a result, the file size depends on the number of unique versions you have (each requiring its own ComponentDefinition) but very little on which kind of container you use.

Correct.

I tend to group first - then create components as needed. I either want components when I need to repeat objects or I want a named object in the model’s component list. I name everything - I keep my component list and material list in List View instead of thumbnail view. That way I can easily find that “Door 900x2100” - because visually I would not be able to tell its thumb from “Door 1000x2100”.

Another point I’d like to make - the filesize is no good measure to how complex a model is or how well it will perform in the viewport. Textures skew the model size more than geometry. And effects such as edge styles, transparency and shadows have much greater impact on viewport performance.

I’ve never been worried about geometry bloating the SKP files. Keep an eye on your textures - make sure they are not any larger than what you need.

Structure your model for workflow efficiency - not SKP file size. Disk space is cheap - if you need to email a model, use a file sharing service like Dropbox, Google Drive etc.