Problems Deleting Materials

[mjm223]

I've been having a file size issue with many of my SketchUp models, and I believe one of the major causes are the materials.

Typically, once I get to the point where I'm applying materials to the SketchUp model, I do a lot of trial-and-error (I'll apply a material to a surface, and if I don't like it, I'll apply a different material to it.) When I finish applying the materials to my entire model, I purge the unused materials in SketchUp, which greatly reduces the file size.

The problem is that the VRay Material Editor still retains all of the materials that I purged in SketchUp. And if I close out of SketchUp and then re-open the file, all of the purged materials are back on the SketchUp materials list and the file size goes back up to what it was before I had purged the materials.

I've tried going into the VRay Material Editor and selecting the "Purge Unused Materials," but my computer crashes everytime I choose this option.

I've also tried deleting the materials individually, but my computer stalls for literally about 5 minutes before purging the material, and the there's at least 100 materials I need to purge.

Does anyone know a faster way to purge unused materials in the VRay Material Editor?

[Jackson_cg]

Re: Problems Deleting Materials

It's a bug, where VfSU doesn't save changes to materials unless the VfSU Options Editor has been accessed at least once since the changes were made. The workaround is silly, but dead simple- before saving any skp/VfSU file just open and close the VfSU Options Editor. I've been doing it for so long it's completely automatic for me.

[mjm223]

Re: Problems Deleting Materials

It's a bug, where VfSU doesn't save changes to materials unless the VfSU Options Editor has been accessed at least once since the changes were made. The workaround is silly, but dead simple- before saving any skp/VfSU file just open and close the VfSU Options Editor. I've been doing it for so long it's completely automatic for me.

Hey Jackson,

Thanks for getting back to me so soon. I've tried your workaround, but it still didn't work.

First I opened the model and purged the unused materials.

Then (without saving) I opened the VRay Options Editor, clicked a couple of tabs, and closed it. My computer stalled for a few seconds giving me the impression that it was updating something. This gave me high hopes.

I then saved the skp. file, closed out of it and re-opened it, but all of the purged materials came back again. :'(

Am I doing something wrong?

[Jackson_cg]

Re: Problems Deleting Materials

Marcus,

I ran into this issue about a year ago and in my case it was caused by a stroke of bad luck- I'd unfortunately used a corrupted skp/VfSU file as my default template skp file. This file had an issue where even though the materials were completely purged from SU's Material Editor they were retained in VfSU's Material Editor. I hadn't noticed this and as it was my default template file whenever I opened a new skp file these "ghost" materials always reappeared and were impossible to purge. The obvious fix for that part of the issue was that I just made a new skp file (using one of Google's templates as a base) and set that as my default template instead (and shredded the corrupted one).

I'm not sure exactly how to fix existing files that already have this issue, but try this:

1 ) Purge materials in SU
2 ) Purge materials in VfSU (Open VfSU Material Editor, right-click on "Scene Materials", "Purge Unused Materials".)
3 ) Double-check that those materials have been removed from the VfSU Material Editor list, if not, right-click them individually and select "Remove".
4 ) Open and close VfSU "Options Editor" (no need to open tabs).
5 ) Save and close skp file.
6 ) Reopen.

If that doesn't work you'll just have to transfer all your geometry across to a new clean skp file (first making sure that you've fixed the default template issue if you have it) so just export all your vismats and your visopt from that file into a temp folder, Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V all your geometry across to a clean file and import all the vismats again. You'll lose your SU scenes (although you may be able to reuse that skp file if you can clean it up after deleting everything), but the whole process should only take a couple of minutes.

Hope this helps,
Jackson

[dkendig]

Re: Problems Deleting Materials

luckily the new version that will be released soon, will have a utility command that you can run to fix scenes that suffer from this type of issue. Hang in there just a teeny bit longer guys

[mjm223]

Re: Problems Deleting Materials

luckily the new version that will be released soon, will have a utility command that you can run to fix scenes that suffer from this type of issue. Hang in there just a teeny bit longer guys

That's a relief!

In the meantime, I'm just going to have to keep transferring my geometry into a clean file and reconfiguring my scenes again.

[sbarbo]

Re: Problems Deleting Materials

luckily the new version that will be released soon, will have a utility command that you can run to fix scenes that suffer from this type of issue. Hang in there just a teeny bit longer guys

That's a relief!

in effect that`s really a relief...
but i´ve learned that the best way to avoid this bug is to keep your file clean!
overwriting old materials and purging the unused ones (like components) step by step and not only at the end...
is useful if you wanna full control of your model and the lowest size possible...