How much space does creating a scene take up n sketch? I am worried about file space and delays.
I think the answer to this question depends on what is contained in the scene. If the scene depicts various components and/or groups the file size will increase. Typically, file size may be managed by purging materials, components and objects that are no longer in use. Once an item has been saved in a skp file, it is reflected in the file size even if it is deleted later - unless the offending item is purged.
It is also useful occasionally call up a “Select All” then context click “Polyreduce” to reduce the number of polygons displayed within the selection. You must have the Polyreducer plug in installed to do this however. This plug in, although a bit dated…having been around since SU8, works fine on my Win 7 system with SU 2014. I recall getting the plug in from the SketchUcation website.
According to Aiden Chopra:
“…Scenes are just little bits of programming code that remember the view settings when they’re created. Scenes also don’t add much to your file size, so don’t worry about using too many of them.”
SketchUp For Dummies, Page 302
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Hi tafuto845,
File size and model performance are important concerns.
However, if you practice best modeling techniques you will have little to worry about.
File size is generally a poor indicator of model performance.
Even very large files will perform admirably when properly constructed and organized.
Here’s a compendium of performance modeling techniques for you to enjoy:
How do I make SketchUp run faster? — SketchUp Sage Site
In answer to your question; scenes don’t affect file size much at all.
Nonetheless, your question made me curious.
• Just how much does one Scene add to a SketchUp model’s file size?
I also wondered about jvleearchitects’ answer.
• Does what is contained (viewable) in the scenes actually make any difference in file size?
To learn the answers I experimented with one of my models model containing 12 scenes.
Here are the statistics of the original file.
It was Purged before Save as were all that follow.
Here is the size of the original file.
To begin I assigned everything to an existing hidden layer; thus nothing visible in all 12 scenes.
Then purged and saved as a new file.
The file sized dropped a mere 27.38KB Most likely because the file thumbnail image is now blank.
Answer:
What is contained (viewable) in SU model scenes has no significant influence on file size.
Next, I opened the original file again and deleted all 12 scenes.
Then purged and saved as a new file.
The file sized dropped a meager 7.75KB
Answer:
Scenes in a SU model have no significant influence on file size.
-Geo
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Scenes are really just a checklist of view settings within SketchUp, the amount of space they’ll add to file size is insignificant relative to the amount of geometry or inserted imagery. I’ve seen models with over 100 scenes which had no appreciable effect on file size, that being said it was very hard to see all of the scenes when navigating… it become an issue in too much information.
If you’re worried about file size (which is a good thing) then Geo has nailed it. I’ll do a little self promotion for our Knowledge Center article on the subject as well (which is a lot of the information as the Sage site but less thorough I suppose) and also link Aidan Chopra’s video on modeling smarter from 3D Basecamp a few years back:
SketchUp Help Center - Making SketchUp run faster
Aidan Chopra’s 3D Basecamp Presentation - “Model Smart”
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Thank you. This was a great help.