squirrelboy71 Posted August 9, 2004 Share Posted August 9, 2004 Hi everyone, As many of us have encountered, I'm working with some 3d files that are becoming pretty huge. I was wondering if people could start throwing out other ideas for reducing the size. The CONVERT TO GENERIC SOLIDS command is great, but not always appropriate. Adding solids together reduces my object number, but takes forever with things such as lighting truss (where there are an extreme number of surfaces). Any advice, or typical appraoch, would be great. I know I can't be the only one who gets bogged down when these architectural models grow. Thanks! Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Andrew Bell@NV Posted August 9, 2004 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted August 9, 2004 If you have lots of complicated, identical lighting trusses, make symbols of them. An instance of a symbol takes much less room than a complex object. Generic solids are really only smaller than non-generic solids, they don't do much for reducing other object types. Do you have much image data in your file? Quote Link to comment
squirrelboy71 Posted August 9, 2004 Author Share Posted August 9, 2004 Not much image data; and unfortunately not a lot of identical truss pieces. My particular problem is with a ton of curved truss specially designed for a prodction; not stock sizes and shapes. (We're talking a TON.) And, of course, dealing with a space that has a lot of ornamental detail which we've added into the drawing; such as columns and vaulted ceilings. You do make an interesting point, though. I've always wondered about symbols and size, since I usually have to drop in about 500-2000 seat symbols. Quote Link to comment
christian Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 I have found that converting as much as possible to NURBS reduces the file size. Also avoid sweeps at all costs! - unless you convert them afterwards. Christian Quote Link to comment
azizg Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 I also find that "extrude along path" objects take a really long time to render. Quote Link to comment
tom kyler_dup1 Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 Another good thing to try and do is keep the number of points in your source curves to a minimum. When extruding, or sweeping these curves, the number of points will multiply very rapidly. since most 3D shapes are made from a combination of 2D shapes, you can help keep your size down by making these shapes as simple as you can. Since you're dealing with curved shapes, maybe extruded to a path, you can make the cross section of your "tubes" octagonal instead of round. If you don't have a closeup of these shapes, then it won't be that noticeable. If I'm not going to be looking at a curved area close up, then I'll frequently use multi-sided polygons instead of circles. VW doesn't have to calculate as many points for a first-degree curve (straight lines) as for a second-degree curve (curved lines) [ 08-31-2004, 02:14 PM: Message edited by: tom kyler ] Quote Link to comment
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