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Adding a new function for making a portable SketchUp file

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2014 2:40 am
by OnoSendai
Hi all,
I am thinking about adding a new feature for SkIndigo, basically it would be somewhat similar to the 'pack scene' function in Indigo.

Currently there are several types of external references in SkIndigo - external textures, linked IGMs, external meshes (and maybe more?).

The problem arises when someone wants to move their .skp file using some of these external references to another computer - what happens is that all the external reference paths are now probably wrong. (unless they were to a shared network drive)

So I'm thinking of adding a function to SkIndigo, something like Plugins > SkIndigo > Make Portable, that would
move all external files needed into a directory, then rewrite all the paths in the SketchUp file to be relative paths.
So if your .skp file is called myscene.skp, then all external textures, meshes etc.. would get copied into the directory myscene_files or somesuch, and the paths in the SketchUp file would be updated to refer to the new files relatively.

What do people think? Would this be useful? Or does anyone have better ways around this problem?

Cheers,
nick

Re: Adding a new function for making a portable SketchUp fil

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2014 3:46 am
by bubs
* wipes away a tear of joy *

This would absolutely awesome! I cannot tell you how often I have wished you could do this! :D

Re: Adding a new function for making a portable SketchUp fil

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2014 3:47 am
by OnoSendai
You should have asked for it earlier :)

Re: Adding a new function for making a portable SketchUp fil

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2014 7:53 pm
by cotty
OnoSendai wrote:You should have asked for it earlier :)
Wasn't it obvious enough without mentioning?

Re: Adding a new function for making a portable SketchUp fil

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2014 10:45 pm
by Pibuz
Well that would be a great addition! I usually make a packed indigo scene but your idea would definitely make the workflow easier!

Re: Adding a new function for making a portable SketchUp fil

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2014 11:03 pm
by Zom-B
There are still 3D Apps existing that don't support that feature by default ??? :shock:

Re: Adding a new function for making a portable SketchUp fil

Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2014 1:00 am
by OnoSendai
Zom-B wrote:There are still 3D Apps existing that don't support that feature by default ??? :shock:
SketchUp scenes are 'portable' by default, since all textures etc.. are packed inside them. But SkIndigo adds external references to files that aren't packed into the SketchUp file, so it breaks the portability.

Re: Adding a new function for making a portable SketchUp fil

Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2014 1:04 am
by OnoSendai
cotty wrote:
OnoSendai wrote:You should have asked for it earlier :)
Wasn't it obvious enough without mentioning?
It wasn't obvious to me.
Bear in mind that although us core devs use Indigo daily, we probably use it in quite a different way than our end users (you guys). For example, we don't usually go through the process of modelling a complicated scene from scratch in some modelling package such as SketchUp (I'm not a modeller). Usually I rely on scenes people send me for testing.
So I rely on you guys to inform us of workflow issues that might arise during the modelling process, that are related to Indigo/SkIndigo etc..

Re: Adding a new function for making a portable SketchUp fil

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 7:30 pm
by Juju
excellent idea! how would this differ from .pigs files?

Re: Adding a new function for making a portable SketchUp fil

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 3:02 pm
by ak-sam
Part of the issue with transporting sketchup files is the lack of file information provided for materials (and components). Badly named component instances, groups, hidden items, extra material attributes set in skindigo, duplicate items with tiny changes to each (or just file name changes), badly scaled items..it all gets too much to figure out even with a well-sorted component library.

So my wish is for a decent component and material browser! This is something Trimble might be working on already - hopefully!

For the materials, that would be something that gives us:
material name
material file name and path (or the file name is the same as material name)
ability to search for duplicate images and file names, merge, copy , swap edit and delete them
order by name/date/file size/etc
basic editing like crop, hue, brightness, etc.
a tiled preview at a reasonable (dynamic) size

For the component browser, it would give us:
File path, file name and instance name
Ability to sort by name/date/etc
Information about number of polys, number of MB, types of materials, etc
Information fields as entered in dynamic components or IFC class
Searchable 'in model' and 'in library' lists
Easy identification and selection of instances within model and, if dummy, their 'parents' (or similar components)
A 'create proxy' button (where it makes a unique wireframe (cube) copy and appends "_dummy" to the name).


Virtually all of these fields and options are in the model right now, we just have to go to extreme lengths to find them out. The sketchup interface is just too immature for complex models and professional/team workflows. When you add Skindigo's functionality plus other plugins, my screen can have 10 or more windows on it at one time.