topic GSL, GSM, 3DS FILES and size in GDL

GSL, GSM, 3DS FILES and size

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 12:17:46 GMT

Hi,

I have a problem with making an object.I imported an 3DS file into ArchiCAD, since i can not transform it into MORPH (because size of file gets too big), i made a gls direct from impotet object - its size is still 8 MB to 16 MB. I don't know how to lower the size of .gsm file? I looked up and i think that the problem is number of polygons of the model (the solution could be MODELPORT plugin, but sadly it is not free). Does anyone has a solution how to lower the size of the new object file.

Thank you

Re: GSL, GSM, 3DS FILES and size

Barry Kelly — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 00:43:49 GMT

Basically you get what you get.
However there are options for converting 3DS files.

You can lower the 'Decimal' precision and you will get a smaller (less polygon) model, but you will also sacrifice quality - you may lose some of the detail.

You could open the 3DS file in other software and manipulate it to be a simpler model.
This may be easier than trying to do it in Archicad, but you need to have the other software (don't ask me what is best) and you need to know how to use it.

You can do it in Archicad but not very well.
You need to convert to a morph, then you can use the morph commands to reduce the number of polygons - again you will lose detail and some curves will become blocky.
Or you can manually edit the morph - deleting nodes and edges and creating single planes from many.
The more planes (polygons) you can reduce, the better.

Editing morphs can be tricky and laborious and your machine may struggle.
It pays to split the morph into smaller pieces if it is not already so you can work on those smaller pieces separately.
You can 'union' them all together at the end if you want to.

Feel free to replace parts of the morph with simpler forms such as slabs, walls, columns, even objects (primitive shapes).
These can all be converted into simpler morphs and unioned back to one morph.

The morph can then be saved back as an object for easier use (i.e. for other jobs).

Barry.

Re: GSL, GSM, 3DS FILES and size

Podolsky — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 13:28:26 GMT

Use Blender for that. In Blender there is command 'decimate' - that let you do decrease amount of polygons having more less same geometry. It also gives instant preview on screen - how element looks like after polygons are reduced. I also have found that better to use DAE for file exchange between ArchiCAD and Blender.