So i started building the model on Sketchup Pro 2014. I used dwgs from Autocad for layout and also to create the walls, floors and other components such as the bar and pizza oven. I did this to avoid downloading to may model off of the warehouse. When i was creating my own models i saved them as component or groups. After a while my computer became to slow then i move to my colleagues computer which runs faster than mine. she uses Sketchup 2017 ( not pro). I finished the model on her computer. downloaded basic components like table and chairs. the only thing that was hectic was the foliage.
I then did preliminary Vray renders because that is the rendering engine I use for commentary from the senior designer. After the comments I made the amendments thereafter I was to hand over the model to a consultant who would then render the model. I did so. the consultant uses 2017 Sketchup Pro. When he tried to open it on lumion the file wouldn’t open and on artlantis it wouldn’t open.
for about two weeks now we have been trying to find out what the issue is.
we have copied into a new drawing, deleted all materials, exploded groups and components, and saved only what can be seen in a particular scene.
to no avail has the model been able to open on both artlantis and lumion.
can someone please assist and let me know what else we can try.
hello, I don’t know about lumion, but I know that on artlantis I often have to save my .skp model in an earlier version (example v.2013) so that I can import it.
You also have export plugins on artlantis website to export your model to .atl directly from sketchup.
I’m pretty sure it is the same problem for lumion
So I did save my model in 2014 and SU8. Bot times it didn’t open as an skp.
So I then downloaded the .atl exporter and exported the file only then did it open in artlantis. however it went from roughly 260MB to 1.8 Gbs.
Now that file was too heavy to even work on. It opened but froze for years.
this is the bit i didn’t understand, So i had saved a scene and deleted everything else that you couldn’t see around and save one with textures and the other without materials. the one without materials opened and the one with materials said unknown file format like all the other times i had tried to open it. which led me to believe that it was a material problem but the full white model won’t open so its not a material thing? its a size thing? if importing directly into artlantis without the .atl export there is a file size limit?
So what i have subsequent found is that if I export to .atl then the model does open but why does it bloat dramatically in size?
hello, 260 mb is pretty big for a sketchup file, it is not surprising artlantis is taking time importing it or isn’t importing it at all.
First, do you purge your model before saving or exporting it ? (window > model info > statistics > purge unused), if you do you can then try cleaning up your model using TT’s cleanup3 plugin.
Then and most important, don’t use large images before exporting to artlantis, it is preferable to give basic colors that you then change into a proper material inside artlantis (for example everything that is in wood > paint in brown - also making sure faces are correctly oriented).
If you have many objects in your model, you can export them and make components in artlantis, it will low your .atl file size down.
Is 260MB really big? Its a full restaurant with full shelves and glasses etc.
I do purge. I purge continuously i’m very particular about that. I did install the TT’s cleanup3 extension and did a clean up. There wasn’t a significant change.
So finally we had it work on Lumion, we copied and pasted each component into a new drawing and opened to see if it worked till it stopped working. But this was only effective in Lumion. We found that it was the vegetation and pendents in the model. However it still didn’t didn’t open in Artlantis.
because we are overdue on our deadline we’ve decided to call it quits on Artlantis for this model and will definitely build models in the future in colour code to apply material in Artlantis rather than Sketchup.