How to make my file smaller for Layout

SketchUp Pro
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https://1drv.ms/u/s!AgH0PVRGBMehg2_MFzxj6esNue4J

So, I created a nice model to use for a project in Layout, and… it’s very large and I’m beachballing in Layout. My computer is relatively new so I’m a bit surprised. I’m still a novice with Layout and SketchUp so I don’t know how to streamline things. Can you take a look at my file and give me some suggestions?

Thanks!

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There are a few things I see with your SketchUp model that need to be fixed. In no particular order:

  • Purge unused stuff. There isn’t much unused stuff but there is some.
  • Learn how to use Layers correctly. You aren’t using them correctly in this model. All edges and faces are to remain on Layer 0 while groups and components can be assigned to other layers.
  • After getting the layers straightened out, turn off layers for groups and components that don’t appear in the scene.
  • Simplify components you get from the 3D Warehouse and other sites before adding them to your model.The couches and chairs, for example, are extremely “heavy” for what you get out of them.
  • Consolidate materials. You have multiple black or nearly black materials in the In Model materials collection. I expect most of those could be replaced with a single color.

I expect there’s more but that’d be a start. Lightening up the SketchUp model will go a long way to making LayOut work better for you.

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Thank you, This is very helpful. Only, I’m not sure how to lighten the furniture components. Do you mean to replace parts of them with simpler shapes? I’m not sure how to do that without losing the look of them. Can I erase faces that are hidden, such as the backs of the cushions? Will that help?

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That’s exactly the kind of thing I’m talking about. Get rid of edges and faces that can’t be seen in your various scenes.

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Reducing the layers and simplifying is going well, but I’m challenged by reducing the number of colors. Is there a straightforward way to doing it? For example, I have several grays that could be consolidated. I’ve tried various approaches but they aren’t working.

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One way to do it is decide which grays you want to get rid of. Right click on the color swatch in the In Model collection and choose Delete. A warning will pop up indicating that the material will be replaced by your default material. You should be able to easily pick out the components and groups that had that color and repaint their faces with the color you are keeping.

Some of this stuff probably seems like a lot of work at this stage. I think it is more work now than if you deal with these things up front. I mentioned earlier that you should import components you might get from the Warehouse or other sources into separate SU files so you can do cleanup. Maybe deleting colors and textures is part of that. Making your components “clean” and light before inserting them into your model can save you a lot of effort and time as you go along. At the moment, this is a learning experience.

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Yeah, I’m kind of failing at it now. I cleaned up some colors and components but the file size is 156MB. Layout crashes upon opening it. I need to start printing now and am nowhere near being able to do that. Any advice or help you could offer would be appreciated.

Here is a link to the file:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AgH0PVRGBMehg2_MFzxj6esNue4J

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One thing that would make it easier would be to go to Window>Model Info>Components and tick both of the Hide boxes there. That’ll let you hide the rest of the model while you are editing a single component or group. I looked at one of the stuffed chair components. The bottom shows a lot of edges and faces that aren’t needed. Once you erase the bottom of the base, you can get access to the bottom of the chair itself.

Screenshot%20-%204_10_2018%20%2C%201_01_33%20PM
Screenshot%20-%204_10_2018%20%2C%201_01_33%20PM944×723 168 KB

You could remove the faces making up the underside of the seat cushion for example as well as some other internal geometry.

You could delete a lot of the undercarriage of the couches, too. It looks like the author put in some of the detail required to make them.

Unfortunately I haven’t got time today to go through all of your model and fix it. I’ve got work I need to get done for a client.

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Thank you. I really appreciate your advice. I ended up taking all the furniture out of the file and it is only 5MB! I was able to get some needed millwork elevations out of that. I’m going to systematically go through the furniture and see what can be done. I had deleted a lof ot undercarriage and changed things like the base under the chair you looked at with simple shapes. That didn’t gain me much. I think I have to go through more carefully. Some of the furniture items were created in 3ds and have too much geometry.

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That can tend to be a problem because there’s often more geometry in the imported file that you need. Clearly that furniture made your file a bit overstuffed.

Another thing I should have suggested is to try running Thom Thom’s CleanUp3 which is available in the Extension Warehouse.

I hope you are getting what you need right away, anyhow.

d

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DaveR has given a lot of good advice.

If you are still having trouble with vastly over-complex furniture, you might find it helpful to look at this post I wrote some months ago when I faced the same kind of problem in an even bigger model file.

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Thank you for that link. I went through the entire file last night and reimported every piece of furniture. I was able to reduce it from 150GB to 50GB by being disciplined about reducing layers and materials and I used the clean3 extension on every file before importing it. Most of the detail will not be missed. There is one sofa that is 25GB alone. I didn’t import it but created a very simple mock up that I will swap out when I need to render.

The file is still a bit heavy for Layout, however. I’m getting lots of stalling when I change anything.

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