Bloated files: How to fix

[Aurasphere]

I noticed this project had been creeping up in file size but was so busy i ignored it.

Then when I was republishing I noticed a layout was missing and I def didnt delete it.

I realise you are meant to only link large bitmap images but in the heat of deadline I forgot to link them back out after placing...

Now the file size is over 450mg for a pretty simple house!

So I stripped out all the data, images, model etc...ie its empty and its still 81mg vs 20mg for a clean start file...

Where do you start with sorting this out?

Operating system used: Windows

[Aurasphere]

lol yeah

The issue is that is has been going quite well for the last 12 monts (i7127k) is no slouch and 1650 is more than adequate for the minimal geometry.

This is a job where I pulled together the last 20 years of wants and started from the ground up for my daughters build...and its not been fun so far.

REDSHIFT is so buggy, and was on a super machine at previous work which I think was latest 3k series 16g and the mappings etc were just a waste of time...AND local support didnt even get what I was saying and just argued with me...after sending extremely clear examples of even alpha channel handling being faulty.

Anyway

[mthd]

Redshift wasn’t the full version from what I was told so I just settled for the onboard Cinarender. 

Completed my brothers duplex last year and yes it took plenty of time to do with AC but I enjoyed it.

I used to use Chief Architect and still do for timber framing and qualification instead of going through the rigorous property expressions and scheduling processes in AC. It was faster to redraw the model in Chief Architect and to extract the quantities in its automatic onboard spread sheet system that you can add macros to.

Anyway I switched to Mac M1  last year and I wished I did decades ago. PC problem solving soaked up much of my time and I am glad to be rid of it. But the new PC’s are more advanced these days and work better but I wouldn’t go back now.

Hope you get it sorted and let yourself enjoy your work, at least that’s what I tell myself lol.

[Aurasphere]

Cheers

Yeah Cinerender is good for most stuff

I dont do framing etc as its all prefab but working at residential builders here...they build about 600 homes a year, I piggy back off all that stuff and its pretty efficient...and Archicad previously could do 95% but it took a couple of years of office integration to get it to run really well

I use this workstation on a separate boot for DAW in a working studio and tried the mac but it had different issues but same time wasting in that world...so I just stuck with this machine. Audio mix and engineering is my real actual love...quite a lot more complex and realtime skilled than BIM but the biggest issue I have is obsolescence: I have stuff from 2005 that I can load into the pc but just the plugins are painfully out of date within 2 years and in audio, its not about new tech; its about solid tools that become part of you.

Ill just have to leave this project bloated and finish it as Im also supervising the job so it really puts you in the drivers seat rather than just drawing up for someone else 🙂

Appreciate your replies.

[mthd]

I have a heap of old plan files that go back a few decades. I bought a gaming PC with XP pro on it mostly new from Sydney last year, just to keep those old archived plan files active and for future use. They can run the older versions of the program on it but I am not happy that I can’t get my old AC dongle to work anymore. I think I can go back as far as AC13 with my newer dongle.

All my old CA dongles work fine on the old spec XP mostly new machine.

You do what you have to do to get your work done no matter what system you choose to use.

[Aurasphere]

I guess my point was, friends that have a 4 year old mac cannot run those plugins anymore. Thats a no go for me...the best compressor I have ever used is from 2005 and I can still run it..

You have a good plan and of course you can convert the AC files up anyway...so you have your bases covered!

[mthd]

That is so true about software for compressing files for export. I bought a copy of winzip to do that for me a dozen or so years ago. 

I recently had an issue with one of the CI tools not working correctly and I had to purge most of the file to get it small enough to upload it to CI to take a look at it for me.

Why they have to be so big now, I don’t really know how we got away with tiny PC specs in the 90’s ?

PBR requires big specifications to get a fast render time so that has an impact on why older computers can’t keep up with the latest technology.

[Aurasphere]

That is so true too...

BUT

I meant audio compressor hehe

[mthd]

Acoustics Engineering hence your line of work. Wooden blocks on the walls of a theater ?  And sound check wall linings and insulation ? I have done at least one house with those special acoustic requirements in them.

I will have to do a room in my house one day so I can crank up my amp and not disturb the neighbors 😆.

[Aurasphere]

lol

Its come a long way since then

Most of that is sound isolation; I specialise in the 'sound' of a space. I actually check the shape of the rooms acoustics, feed it into a prog which then parametises it into Grasshopper. That creates the response shapes and they become organic art shapes that are then integrated into the appropriate architectural facade eg Quadratic Residue Diffuser; to date I have not seen anyone doing it like this...it is fun. This part of the business is called "Art of Sound"

Amps and neighbours are like oil and water hehe

[mthd]

Sounds like fun ! I can see why that other app may be of use to you with the possibility of integrated acoustic engineering functionality ?

Lots of noise in the Cities and more people are looking for ways to quiet their spaces down. Acoustic Engineering might be the next frontier for GS to integrate into Archicad ?