Purge Periodically

Dave Richards

Member
Messages
2,927
Location
SE Minnesota
That is, purge your SketchUp models once in awhile to help keep file size under control. You should purge Materials, Styles (in SU6) and unused components and layers. These can be purged manually--there's a Purge option in the Materials, Styles and Layers menu as well as a Purge button in the Statistics dialog. (Window>Model Info>Statistics) Here's a link to a Ruby script that will do it all automatically. PurgeAll.rb

Put this script into the Plugins folder. You will find an entry called Purge in the Plugins menu the next time you open SketchUp. Click it and a dialog box will pop up asking what you want to purge. You'll also be given an option to see a report of what was purged once the script has run.
 
Thanks for the tip, Dave. I was wondering about ways to keep file sizes reasonable. (Although at about a TB of disk space, I'm not lacking any room.)
 
Vaughn, glad this helps. Most folks have plenty of HD space but their video cards don't have all that much RAM and that's where they typically see the slow down.

In addition to purging the unwanted stuff, keep arc and circle segment counts low when you can. For example if you were to draw an elbow with Follow Me using the default 12-segment arc and 24-segment circle, you would end up with 890 entities (lines segments and faces). Draw that same elbow with a 6-segment arc and a 12-segment circle there will only be 230 entities. And the "lighter" one will get the point across just as well.
 
Vaughn, glad this helps. Most folks have plenty of HD space but their video cards don't have all that much RAM and that's where they typically see the slow down.

In addition to purging the unwanted stuff, keep arc and circle segment counts low when you can. For example if you were to draw an elbow with Follow Me using the default 12-segment arc and 24-segment circle, you would end up with 890 entities (lines segments and faces). Draw that same elbow with a 6-segment arc and a 12-segment circle there will only be 230 entities. And the "lighter" one will get the point across just as well.


Dave where do I go to change line segments as you stated above. Oh by the way I now have SU Pro 6.

Thanks Les
 
Les,

When you select either the Arc or the circle tool, the VCB in the lower right corner shows the number of segments. You just type the desired number followed by s and hit Enter. The segment count will remain at that setting until you change it for that model. There is no way to change the default setting however, so when you open a new SketchUp session the defaults will be set back to 12 and 24 segments.
 
Les,

When you select either the Arc or the circle tool, the VCB in the lower right corner shows the number of segments. You just type the desired number followed by s and hit Enter. The segment count will remain at that setting until you change it for that model. There is no way to change the default setting however, so when you open a new SketchUp session the defaults will be set back to 12 and 24 segments.


I got it now. I never saw the sides number before just the rad.dimension.
Thanks for the help as allways.

Les
 
simple question from dense one

hey dave or anyone else that knows sketchup,,:huh: can we set the prefernces on the units to read in feet and inches rather than just inches automatically? i have your template running but it comes up all inches unless i specify the ft and inches it measures that way as well??
 
Larry, yes, you can do what you ask.

Open SketchUp.
Go to Window>Preferences>Templates. Note the file name that is selected. If it is my file, I think I posted that as Dave.skp. Close the Preferences dialog.

Now, set the units under Window>Model Info>Units as desired.

Close the Model Info dialog box.
Click on File>Save as... (Don't use Save.)
Navigate to the Templates folder and select the file that was named in the Preferences dialog. Click Save.

That's all.
Now when you next open SketchUp the units should be as you want them.

Lester, I'm happy to help.

Dave
 
Larry, yes, you can do what you ask.

Open SketchUp.
Go to Window>Preferences>Templates. Note the file name that is selected. If it is my file, I think I posted that as Dave.skp. Close the Preferences dialog.

Now, set the units under Window>Model Info>Units as desired.

Close the Model Info dialog box.
Click on File>Save as... (Don't use Save.)
Navigate to the Templates folder and select the file that was named in the Preferences dialog. Click Save.

That's all.
Now when you next open SketchUp the units should be as you want them.

Lester, I'm happy to help.

Dave

thanks dave
 
Les,

When you select either the Arc or the circle tool, the VCB in the lower right corner shows the number of segments. You just type the desired number followed by s and hit Enter. The segment count will remain at that setting until you change it for that model. There is no way to change the default setting however, so when you open a new SketchUp session the defaults will be set back to 12 and 24 segments.

Thanks Dave
Meant to ask you about that.
 
Thanks Dave
Meant to ask you about that.

I knew that Dan. That's why I wrote it. :D

Here's some examples I did awhile ago.

heads1.jpg


Wish I 'd marked this one because I can't remember.
segments1.jpg
 
Top