The models that we download from the Internet usually have a lot of unnecessary geometry, which loads our stage, to which they are inserted. When we enable the Hidden Geometry option, we can see how many lines the object is made of. Some of them are not usually needed for the model to display well, but only to burden the file we are working on.
The program’s interface offers us a method of cleaning the file from unused textures and removing errors (Window -> Model Info -> Statistic). However, this option is often not enough. We could clean the model with unnecessary geometry using the “eraser” tool. It would take a long time. To streamline and make our work easier, Plugin – CleanUp comes in to help.
The first step we need to start with is to download the plugin. We can do it directly from within Sketchup by entering Window -? Extension Warehouse, or download it from the
To find this plug-in after installation, we must enter ;
Extension -> CleanUp -> Clean (default option)
The plugin window looks like this
Now let’s go to the parameters of the tool – CleanUp
Scope – allows us to choose the scope of the program to include in its cleaning. We can choose between model and local or selection.
Validate result – is responsible for fixing various errors and problems of the model
Optymisation – Purge Unsued – leave it enabled, the next two options are used to remove hidden geometry and planes overlapping each other. The latter function, when it is turned on, is very slowly converts, so let’s turn it in only as a last resort
Layers – selected brings the entire geometry of the model to layer 0
Materials – inclusion of merge identical material will remove all materials that exist in the scene but have not been applied to any geometry
I recommend leaving the rest of the settings as they are set by default
Plugin operation – CleanUp
For the purposes of the tutorial, enable the hidden geometry
Select the object with the Select tool and enable the plugin (set the parameters)
Let’s look at the statistics that show up after the purification has been completed. We can find out how much unnecessary geometry got rid of the plugin.
Compare the geometry before and after using the CleanUp plug-in. The difference is not very visible, and the number of polygons has been significantly reduced.
Credit: CgWisdom.pl