Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and I am hoping to get some help with sharing my models via Trimble connect!
I have uploaded my model on Trimble and I can create the link to share, however if I send the link and open it, I can only see a blank canvas. I can see all the tags and scenes, but if I click on it, nothing happens? Could this just be because my model is too large and my internet connection too slow? Or did anyone run into a similar problem?
Would love some help here as I was really excited about this new feature on SketchUp 2024.
Thanks so much!
If you’d like to share the link here, we can take a look. Or if you want to send me a private message with the link, I’d be interested to see what happens and try to help!
Hi Mark, thanks a lot for offering your help!
Would you know whether there is maybe a max file size?
Here is one link without scenes so the file should a bit smaller:
And here is the link that I actually wanted to share:
Thanks again!
I do think the problem may be related to the size of the file you are sharing. The model loading blank is a sign that it failed to load in our web viewer, which is a problem we will definitely investigate as you should at least have some feedback about this.
If you want some help simplifying the model that you are trying to share so that it loads in this experience, I would be happy to take a look at your file (if you attach it to this message) and advise on some modeling tactics you can employ.
But also, please know that we are working to improve the performance of the web viewer. We will soon launch SketchUp’s new graphics engine for the web viewer, so it should be able to handle bigger models being shared. Still, performance is always a function of how complex your design is and modeling practices. If I can help with the latter, I will!
The file is wayyyy too big to work on the online viewer. I see 233 MB. Purge the model, and remove any hugely detailed 3D warehouse entourage you may have.
Thanks Kyle,
I will try that. Do you have any idea of how much smaller the model needs to be? I know it’s a pretty big model and very detailed, but so far I just had to worry about what my computer could handle.
Hi Mark,
I think you are right, the file is too big. I can’t attach it to this message either (I purged it but it’s still over 200 mb, whoops). I’ll try to keep my next model simpler and find other ways to share for now. And I’ll keep an eye out for when you guys update your graphics engine and try again then.
Thanks a lot for your help!
200 mb is a very large SketchUp file. It would be interesting to see your file to determine where all that bloat comes from. The common culprits are very high poly entourage (plants, bathroom fixtures, soft goods, people) and very high dpi textures. A common method of sharing is to post model on a sharing site like dropbox or google drive and then post the link here, you wold likely get some help bringing the file down to a useable size again.
Hi, I hope this link works!
This is without scenes and I removed some plants as well.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/82mqt9kkh6uea1t45f9y1/Midcentury-Modern-Barnhouse.skp?rlkey=zscrih6kskr7r2n4g4g8fodjs&st=bdzjplb7&dl=0
I am definitely guilty of this… So far I got away with it as my computer handles it fine and I like the level of detail but might need to make a few changes to my modelling. Happy to hear any feedback on this!
Thank you!!
As expected this file is made gigantic by indiscriminate downloading from the 3D warehouse. You must begin to pay attention to the size of the things you are adding to your model. It’s a bit like shopping by just tossing whatever you see into the cart without ever looking at the prices, when you get to the checkout stand you might be overwhelmed by the giant bill. Well, in this store there are gold bricks and diamonds on the shelves next to the Cheerios and bagels and if you just grab a few of the wrong thing it can sink your model quickly., The 3D warehouse has a very wide variety of models all made in with different methods and by different people using in some cases different kinds of software. Get used to checking the size, use the filters to search for low poly version and ask yourself if what you are adding is really necessary. I’ve purged and resized a bunch of the textures which as brought it down to 133mb without erasing anything, still way too big for such a small model. Here is a list of the components that are weighing it down in worst-first order. The drapes are big offenders (first on the list) as well as the usual suspects, plants and furniture. Consider swapping them out for further savings. If you navigate to View > Hidden Geometry you will be able to see all the tiny facets and edges that are making up your organic shapes like pillows and drapes. Good Luck.
I really appreciate the feedback! It is way too easy to get carried away with all the models in the 3D warehouse 
I will pay more attention to this in the future!
What did you mean by resize the textures, like changed the resolution? I have to look into this, I didn’t know that this would make such a big difference.
What would be a reasonable file size for this model? Maybe 50 MB?
Thanks a lot for looking into this for me and explaining it so well 
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Sure. Yes resizing the textures, to make them lower resolution. Lets say you download a coffee table book with a picture cover, the texture that makes that cover is a jpeg 4000 x 4000 pixels across so it’s 5 mb of texture the nobody can see that small and it might be the bottom book on the stack anyway. By resizing all the textures to 512 I removed 70 mb from the file without touching the geometry. It all depends on what your goal is for this file, is it for construction drawings, for renderings to show clients interior designs, or? The end goal of how you will use the file is what drives the kind of model efficiency you will need.
That’s crazy, I did not know this! Makes total sense though.
I use my models to create elevations, floorplans, 3Ds and flythroughs for interior design clients. I haven’t rendered anything in a while since the SketchUp drawings with shadows look super nice anyway.
Anyway, I really appreciate your help with this!
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I’ll add, there is a free official extension to help you with that
https://extensions.sketchup.com/extension/77b60f26-2352-407e-8c0c-9862c9716111/material-resizer
material resizer. it’s not listed as 2024 compatible, but it is 
it lists all your materials by size, and allows you to select some / all and give them a new maximum size.
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Indeed, the very one I employed to clean up this file, a very useful tool. 
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