Audit a document? aka Something slowing me down

[Ethan R.]

I'm working on a file that is not very complex - yet is over 100MB. 

Something in it is supremely slowing me down.

 

Is there a way to do any kind of audit or filter to find out what is creating the slowness?

 

Thanks

E

[Kevin McAllister]

Is it a 3d model? I would look at sweeps, multiple extrudes and any organic extrude as a first step. Anything creating a large number of points will slow down things considerably.

 

Kevin

 

[Ethan R.]

I'll start looking - its something I inherited

[mjm]

2 hours ago, Kevin McAllister said:

Is it a 3d model? I would look at sweeps, multiple extrudes and any organic extrude as a first step. Anything creating a large number of points will slow down things considerably.

 

Kevin

 

Not to hijack the thread, but do sweeps incur large overhead for the geometry they create?

[Kevin McAllister]

4 hours ago, Ethan R. said:

I'll start looking - its something I inherited

It usually works that way . Look for things that redraw slowly when you're in wireframe or top/plan.

 

1 hour ago, mjm said:

Not to hijack the thread, but do sweeps incur large overhead for the geometry they create?

Sometimes. Its dependent on the segment angle. In newer versions it defaults to 5 degrees which is a good value for most geometry. If it gets turned up higher it can start to slow things down.

 

Kevin

 

[Andy Broomell]

2 hours ago, mjm said:

Not to hijack the thread, but do sweeps incur large overhead for the geometry they create?

 

As Kevin describes, the most easy aspect to address is the Segment parameter, which determines how ‘smooth’ the Sweep is. The number determines the angle of each segment (and therefore the total number of segments in the sweep... larger segment angle = fewer segments). Smaller segment angles create smoother sweeps, but also take up more memory and rendering time. Find the right balance so that the object looks good while still using the fewest number of segments possible. I often start with 20 and increase or decrease as needed. I seldom need anything as low as 5.

 

Also, Sweeps with source shapes that have curves are more complex than source shapes with straight edges. If it doesn't need to be super smooth in your rendering/drafting, try building the 2D source shape with faceted edges or fewer points in general. Sometimes I use the 'Modify<Drafting Aids<Arc into Segments' command to break arcs down into a few straight lines. Of course sometimes you need a nice smooth object so it's not always applicable.

[Ethan R.]

Hi all --

 

I found the culprit - and actually it was my MacBook's SMC Controller.

 

My entire system was churning into overdrive - and if I went to Activity Monitor - my Windows Server & MDS were churning overtime!

 

I reset the SMC controller http://tinyurl.com/owxhddj and life is MUCH better all around !!

 

 

[markdd]

23 hours ago, Kevin McAllister said:

I would look at sweeps, multiple extrudes and any organic extrude as a first step. Anything creating a large number of points will slow down things considerably.

Does converting these objects to Generic Solids help matters much?

[Kevin McAllister]

21 minutes ago, markdd said:

Does converting these objects to Generic Solids help matters much?

I'm not sure it helps file speed but it will help file size in many cases. Converting a sweep or multiple extrude to a generic solid would only lock it the current geometry settings, so if a sweep has too much geometry it would still have too much geometry as a generic solid.

 

Kevin

 

[markdd]

Thanks Kevin That makes sense. I have never fully understood what is going on with regard to objects like sweeps or subtractions etc. Are these objects continuously redrawn and created every time we open the file or change to a different view, or are they held in their current state without the computer performing the conversion process? It would be interesting to know what is going on "under the hood" so-to-speak.

[mjm]

20 hours ago, Andy Broomell said:

 

As Kevin describes, the most easy aspect to address is the Segment parameter, which determines how ‘smooth’ the Sweep is. The number determines the angle of each segment (and therefore the total number of segments in the sweep... larger segment angle = fewer segments). Smaller segment angles create smoother sweeps, but also take up more memory and rendering time. Find the right balance so that the object looks good while still using the fewest number of segments possible. I often start with 20 and increase or decrease as needed. I seldom need anything as low as 5.

 

Also, Sweeps with source shapes that have curves are more complex than source shapes with straight edges. If it doesn't need to be super smooth in your rendering/drafting, try building the 2D source shape with faceted edges or fewer points in general. Sometimes I use the 'Modify<Drafting Aids<Arc into Segments' command to break arcs down into a few straight lines. Of course sometimes you need a nice smooth object so it's not always applicable.

Andy and Kevin, thanks for your input, much appreciated. 

[Ethan R.]

I'm coming back to this thread.

I have a file that is crawling - and I found a symbol embedded in and embedded symbol.

it was 100,000+ 3D Pollygons.

 

This is the kind of thing I'm looking for a tool to help find.

It was quite hidden!

[Dave Donley]

Hello Ethan:

 

If you can convert that object to a mesh, then run Modify->Simplify Mesh maybe that would help to reduce the complexity there.

 

We have had a wish for a "file doctor" of some kind for a long time.

 

[line-weight]

4 hours ago, Ethan R. said:

I'm coming back to this thread.

I have a file that is crawling - and I found a symbol embedded in and embedded symbol.

it was 100,000+ 3D Pollygons.

 

This is the kind of thing I'm looking for a tool to help find.

It was quite hidden!

 

I'm always very careful about what I import for this reason. A large proportion of manufacturer-supplied product models, for example, are much much too complex, and get banned from my files.

 

The "simplify mesh" command is very occasionally useful but it has no intelligence and only sometimes creates something that can be used.

[Ethan R.]

The convert to mesh crashed my computer.

 

I'm working on a collaborative event so do not have much choice as to importing.

 

ty

[Dave Donley]

Hi again Ethan:

 

Can you email or message me the object that crashed please?

 

[Matt Overton]

6 hours ago, line-weight said:

 

I'm always very careful about what I import for this reason. A large proportion of manufacturer-supplied product models, for example, are much much too complex, and get banned from my files.

 

The "simplify mesh" command is very occasionally useful but it has no intelligence and only sometimes creates something that can be used.

Yes it amazing how getting rid of 100 Aeron chairs on a floor can make and otherwise unworkable imported file into a dream.

Add to that it seems other programs can't deal with masking one object over another so the trim the symbol and make a new instance for each time it's used.

 

[Peter Neufeld]

Hello,

Also don't forget that when modelling in Vectorworks, the programs' 3D Conversion Resolution will have a big effect on file size and processing. I often see users who have it set to Very High for no good reason and suffer as a result. It's an exponential increase.

 

Cheers,

Peter

 

 

[line-weight]

4 hours ago, Peter Neufeld said:

Hello,

Also don't forget that when modelling in Vectorworks, the programs' 3D Conversion Resolution will have a big effect on file size and processing. I often see users who have it set to Very High for no good reason and suffer as a result. It's an exponential increase.

 

Cheers,

Peter

 

 

 

I thought this setting was just about how the geometry is displayed on screen - but it affects file size?

 

Does this mean that if I change it to a lower setting, information is lost from the file?

[Peter Neufeld]

 It only affects subsequently drawn objects not those already on the page but easy enough to test.

 

Cheers,

Peter

[Ethan R.]

_{Does it effect an import?} 

_{If I'm bringing in a sketchup for example - will that reduce polygon count ?}

[Peter Neufeld]

Hello,

Not sure off hand. You'll have to do the experiment.

 

Cheers,

Peter