Model won't load. Thoughts?

[5Design]

Hey Y'all,

 

Not sure how it got so big.  Went form 50 or so MB to 232.  There are a lot of 3d images which were converted to fixtures.  It gets stuck here (see snip).

 

 

 

Even the compressed file is too large.  Link to drive folder:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s7AW7VGBxPvJRjMkizoZK9eiUM3B9FAO/view?usp=sharing

[Chopsaw]

The 3D viewer has limitations.  I have never been able to use if for a fully detailed model of any significant size. 

 

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-03044/optimizing-a-chief-architect-plan-for-export-to-the-3d-viewer.html

[TeaTime]

1 hour ago, 5Design said:

There are a lot of 3d images which were converted to fixtures.

Yeah this is almost always the cause of this sort of bloat. It's not a Chief problem per se, you're just overloading the renderer.

 

- The BOSS sign alone has 113,588 surfaces, a lot, but not too bad.

- The "ova-sconce fixed" lights though have 261,590 surfaces.

   Each.

   There are 13.

- But the biggest issue, hands down, are the FIVE "acuminate 2" hanging fixtures, each pushing 1,851,392 surfaces.

 

All of these objects alone renders 12,771,218 surfaces

For comparison, the rest of the model is only 61,078.

Deleting these fixtures takes your plan from 237mb down to 9mb.

 

As Chopsaw said, there are limitations to what Chief can render - the big issue is finding very detailed, well modeled objects, and then loading your plan with them. Those objects will look great in small contained scenes, but Chief renders the whole of everything.

 

Either try to find less detailed models, or live with them being a huge drain, and manage them with layers etc as outlined in that article.

 

Good luck!

[5Design]

34 minutes ago, TeaTime said:

Yeah this is almost always the cause of this sort of bloat. It's not a Chief problem per se, you're just overloading the renderer.

 

- The BOSS sign alone has 113,588 surfaces, a lot, but not too bad.

- The "ova-sconce fixed" lights though have 261,590 surfaces.

   Each.

   There are 13.

- But the biggest issue, hands down, are the FIVE "acuminate 2" hanging fixtures, each pushing 1,851,392 surfaces.

 

All of these objects alone renders 12,771,218 surfaces

For comparison, the rest of the model is only 61,078.

Deleting these fixtures takes your plan from 237mb down to 9mb.

 

As Chopsaw said, there are limitations to what Chief can render - the big issue is finding very detailed, well modeled objects, and then loading your plan with them. Those objects will look great in small contained scenes, but Chief renders the whole of everything.

 

Either try to find less detailed models, or live with them being a huge drain, and manage them with layers etc as outlined in that article.

 

Good luck!

 

Thank you.  The whole point of the project was to model the fixtures (had them made).  Guess we'll just have to stick with the ray trace static images.

[TeaTime]

2 minutes ago, 5Design said:

The whole point of the project was to model the fixtures (had them made). 

If they're custom made models, is the creator able to give you lower poly versions?

There's usually a nice middle ground with poly count in 3D Models. Those things don't need 1.8 million surfaces each unless you're making some super close up focus shots of those things.

[DeLayDesign]

Sounds silly, but check to make sure you aren't getting an error message like missing materials.  These kind of messages pause the load.

[robdyck]

It's simply too large for the 3d viewer.

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-03068/viewing-managing-and-sharing-3d-viewer-models.html

It's recommended to keep the number of exported surfaces below 500,000 and exported texture memory below 50 MB.

[DeLayDesign]

Oh!  I'm sorry, I missed that you were trying to open the file in 3D viewer.  Yeah.  3D viewer is trash.  It only allows 50MB, which is pretty low for what you would probably be showing to a client.  The way I was able to get around this is by having the client download the 'trial version' of Chief.  Then simply open your plans on their PC.  You would need to export it all so everything opens for them OK though.

 

[Michael_Gia]

15 hours ago, 5Design said:

Guess we'll just have to stick with the ray trace static images.

If you download TwinMotion you’ll have a much easier time sharing detailed models with your clients with their TwinMotion Cloud service. 
It’s all free and easy to use. 
Very quick to upload your models and quick and easy for your client or anyone to view. 
 

It’s worth the time to learn this very user friendly software if only for this sort of thing. The interface is a little quirky and off putting only because it’s not familiar but it doesn’t take long to get use to. 
 

Chief is the quickest path from idea to 3D Model and construction documents, hands down but it needs a little help for sharing work with clients and that’s where TM comes in. 
TM is also the place to create videos and a static renderings of your work. 
I usually send a complete model including furniture and cabinets and I only add grass, trees and shrubs, vehicles and people in TM, so there’s not a lot to do. 
 

In your case where you’re worried about a lot of surfaces I would export as Collada and not 3DS. Collada is quicker and more compact. I’ve exported entire site plans with 98 condos across 8 buildings into TM and then shared it on TM Cloud and clients are able to view the model which takes about 1 to 2 minutes to load which is pretty quick for a file of that size. Keep in mind the multiplex buildings were full models in Chief that were converted to symbols but have all the cabinetry and furniture in every single condo. 
 

[5Design]

4 hours ago, Michael_Gia said:

If you download TwinMotion you’ll have a much easier time sharing detailed models with your clients with their TwinMotion Cloud service. 
It’s all free and easy to use. 
Very quick to upload your models and quick and easy for your client or anyone to view. 
 

It’s worth the time to learn this very user friendly software if only for this sort of thing. The interface is a little quirky and off putting only because it’s not familiar but it doesn’t take long to get use to. 
 

Chief is the quickest path from idea to 3D Model and construction documents, hands down but it needs a little help for sharing work with clients and that’s where TM comes in. 
TM is also the place to create videos and a static renderings of your work. 
I usually send a complete model including furniture and cabinets and I only add grass, trees and shrubs, vehicles and people in TM, so there’s not a lot to do. 
 

In your case where you’re worried about a lot of surfaces I would export as Collada and not 3DS. Collada is quicker and more compact. I’ve exported entire site plans with 98 condos across 8 buildings into TM and then shared it on TM Cloud and clients are able to view the model which takes about 1 to 2 minutes to load which is pretty quick for a file of that size. Keep in mind the multiplex buildings were full models in Chief that were converted to symbols but have all the cabinetry and furniture in every single condo. 
 

 

Hey, that's great.  Thanks for the tip!  Will definitely check it out.

[DBCooper]

Quote

Oh!  I'm sorry, I missed that you were trying to open the file in 3D viewer.  Yeah.  3D viewer is trash.  It only allows 50MB, which is pretty low for what you would probably be showing to a client.  The way I was able to get around this is by having the client download the 'trial version' of Chief.  Then simply open your plans on their PC.  You would need to export it all so everything opens for them OK though.

 

Personally, I always liked the desktop viewer.  It's much simpler to explain how to use to someone who is not familiar with cad software than the trial version and it doesn't have any of the limitations that the mobile viewer has.  It does require that the person has a computer that is capable of running X14 though.  These really aren't that bad and pretty much any desktop computer that is only 4-5 years old should run it just fine.

 

Here is the link to the desktop viewer (I don't know why you have to fill out a form to get it since you don't have to do this for the mobile viewer):

https://www.chiefarchitect.com/resources/viewerrequest.php