My model crashes and I lose all geometry
Hi all,
Not sure how else to describe it. I'm using Sketchup 2018 with OpenStudio v2.7.0 enabled and I'm creating a energy model. I have different floor heights, with my mixed use first floor 15' and the rest 12'. So I do the floor layout the first floor. I save it and save a copy. I use "Create Spaces From Diagram". I can't do all 5 floors, so I just do the one for 15'. I'm periodically saving the model in addition to the auto-save. Everything is going going along fine and then suddenly I get an error message, something is wrong work my geometry. Not sure what I did to create the error. So I exit and reload Sketchup. Of course the attached .osm that looks like what I was working on appears, but so does the dialog box telling I have to reload the .osm file. When I do this I either get a wire frame of my model and screw it, nothing works. So I exit and relaunch Sketchup only this time I open the .osm without opening the .skp file. Nothing. No .osm file loads.
Starting over with the copy I made, I find this too is also a wire frame. Not the layout I save with the rectangle I created that was grey and all my outlines for the floor. That point where I would normally click "Create Spaces From Diagram". Again, nothing I do gets me back to where I need to be.
I have rebooted my machine and run nothing else but Sketchup thinking maybe there's a conflicting DLL. And still get the same problem. Is Sketchup and OpenStudio supposed to be this buggy? Or am I not doing something I should be doing? HIs there a better solution than Sketchup and OpenStudio for modeling the energy performance of either existing or new construction?
Getting really frustrated here.
@mark.stout It sounds like you are using the File / Save menu, which will ONLY save the .skp file. You want to save the .osm file for OpenStudio, which you do in the Extensions / OpenStudio / Save menu (or in the OpenStudio toolbar you see in SketchUp). Is this the case?
Nope. I have been saving the both the Sketchup file and the OpenStudio file. Just redo the floor layout to the point where I would use "Create Spaces From Diagram" I saved both files, and I saved a backup of both files. Closed down Sketchup, relaunch Sketchup, loan the Sketchup file, it loads fine. Get the dialog box telling it's going to unload the .osm file. Say OK. The click to open the .osm file and either get a Bug Splat error, or the file loads but it's in wireframe. Same thing happens when I load the backup I created. Relaunching Sketchup the Sketchup person is also wireframe.
Now when I try to load just the .osm file, I get nothing. My floor layout is not there. Looks like a brand new startup page. When I open it in OpenStudio and click the Geometry tab, I get nothing. It takes about minutes to layout the floor and I've done it like 5 times over the last two days. This is on WIndows 10 if that means anything.
You only want to be working with the .osm file -- don't bother with the .skp file. So, only save the .osm file and only open the .osm file when working in SketchUp. When you open the .skp file, then click "unload the .osm file", that is likely what's messing you up.
Is that corrupting the .osm file?
I just created a 100'x300 rectangle. Offset the walls 6". Created the border for the retail space and lobby. Saved it,. Exited Sketchup. Loaded Sketchup. Loaded just the .osm file and nothing!! But if I create some geometry other than just laying out the floor plan, I can load the model using just the .osm open command. I should be able to draw a rectangle, do nothing more, save it and be able to reload the .osm file and continue working.
If you're only drawing rectangles before saving the .osm, then you're not creating any OpenStudio content to save. The "Create Spaces from Diagram" tool will turn your SketchUp rectangle into an OpenStudio space with 6 surfaces (roof, floor, and 4 walls). Without using that tool, you're really not adding anything to the OpenStudio file ending in .osm. I'll note that spaces in OpenStudio can have 1 surface as a minimum. Regarding your last sentence -- no, you cannot just draw a rectangle, save the .osm file, and reload that. A surface must be part of a space for it to remain in the file.
Hmm. okay. I get your logic. But that rectangle is visible prior to clicking the OK in the dialog box that says the .osm file will be unloaded. It goes away when the .osm file is unloaded, never to be seen again. This suggest the geometry exists somewhere. For example, where is Sketchup getting the geometry that it displays when that dialog box is displayed?
If the dialog box about unloading the .osm you're referring to is after saving or opening the .skp file, then that's where you're messing up. For OpenStudio purposes, you never use the .skp file -- it doesn't have any energy model information. The main reason you would want to have a .skp file of the building geometry is to share with architects or others working on the project, so that they can see the geometry of the building in just SketchUp. If you share the .osm file, that others will need to install the OpenStudio extension to view building geometry while in SketchUp.
If I save the rectangle as a .skp, I should be able to reopen as a .skp, and pick up where I left off, right? Until I start added energy modeling information, like walls and ceilings, etc., I should be able to continue creating my floor plan. For example, what if I needed to add something I missed after I saved the .skp file? At this point I'm screwed. My only workaround is to start over and I shouldn't have to.
Is there something I'm doing or not doing that's contributing to this problem?
To add to this. Once I lose whatever is in the .osm file, Sketchup ceases to function as intended.
You can reproduce this. 1) Open Sketchup and draw a rectangle and save .skp file as test1.skp. Exit Sketchup 2) Open Sketchup and load file test1.skp. 3) The rectangle is now a wireframe version of your rectangle and none of the drawing told work as designed.
Now this could be isolated to my machine. But I'll be damned if I know what it is. I've rebooted and I've uninstalled Sketchup & OpenStudio and started over, all with the same result.
I haven't hit this issue, but I've never edited both the .skp file and .osm file in tandem. It sounds like you have two options:
1) build the floor plan in the .skp file using 2-D shapes and make changes when needed, all without saving the .osm file, and then when the floor plan is complete create OpenStudio spaces. Don't touch the .skp file after this.
2) build spaces in the .osm file. If you need to alter the floor plan, then you can alter the entire space by shifting the edges of the floor (the walls and roof should automatically shift accordingly). Don't touch the .skp file after this.
That's exactly what I am trying to do. I do the floor plan in 2D and save it as test.skp. I do not save a .osm. When I re-open test.skp. it opens in a wireframe and it's basically useless.
1) Open Sketchup, draw a rectangle, save as test.skp, exit Sketchup 2) Open Sketchup, load test.skp. The file loads as a wireframe and Sketchup is useless.
If I can get to the point of generating energy model information I seem to be fine until I run into an error. If I can get to the point of generating energy model information I will save a backup in case I error out.