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another file size reduction question


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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!

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

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?

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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.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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 ]

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