ᐈ Sketchup - Optimization of ready-made models - Overview of the CleanUp plugin

Publication date: 26-05-2025 | Update date: 26-05-2025 | Author: Kamila Jach

Sketchup - Optimization of ready-made models - Overview of the CleanUp plugin - Tutorial, guide

Index

Models downloaded from the internet usually contain a lot of unnecessary geometry that weighs down the scene into which they are inserted. When we enable the Hidden geometry option, we can see how many edges make up the object. Some of them are generally not needed for the model to display properly and only burden the file we are working on.

The main issue with SketchUp is its tendency to crash. No matter how powerful a computer we have, the program will still exhibit this trait. You could say it's just "its charm." When there's too much geometry in the scene, the program simply starts running less efficiently.

The program’s interface offers a method for purging unused textures and removing errors (Window -> Model Info -> Statistics). However, this option often isn’t enough. We could “manually” clean the model of unnecessary geometry with the Eraser tool, but that would take a lot of time. To streamline and simplify this process, the CleanUp plugin comes to the rescue.

The first step is to download the plugin. We can do this directly from within SketchUp by going to Window -> Extension Warehouse, or download it from the Extension Warehouse website.

For more information on how to install plugins, refer to our earlier guide - SketchUp how to install a plugin - Guide, tutorial.

To find this extension after installation, go to Extensions -> CleanUp -> Clean (default option).

CleanUp plugin dialog in SketchUp – options preview

The plugin window looks like this

Now let's go over the tool parameters - CleanUp

Scope – allows us to choose the range the program should clean. The options are entire model, local or selection.
Validate result – fixes various errors and issues in the model.
Optimisation – Purge Unused – leave this enabled. The next two options are used to remove hidden geometry and overlapping faces. The latter feature runs very slowly, so only enable it as a last resort.
Layers – when checked, moves all model geometry to layer 0.
Materials – enabling Merge identical materials will remove all materials present in the scene that are not applied to any geometry.
I recommend leaving the rest of the settings at their default values.

Plugin operation - CleanUp

For the purpose of this tutorial, let us enable hidden geometry.

Hidden geometry in SketchUp before CleanUp optimization

Let us select the object with the Select tool and run the plugin (set the parameters).

Cleaning the model in SketchUp using the CleanUp plugin

Let us take a look at the statistics that appear after cleanup. We can see how much unnecessary geometry the plugin removed.

Statistics of removed geometry after using CleanUp in SketchUp

Let us compare the geometry before and after using the CleanUp plugin. The difference isn't very obvious, but the polygon count has been significantly reduced.

Comparison of geometry before and after optimization with CleanUp in SketchUp

Find out more about the CleanUp plugin in our course - SketchUp + V-Ray - Creating a visualization of an elegant apartment.

If you enjoyed this tutorial, we encourage you to check out our online SketchUp courses.

Best regards!

Author

Kamila Jach

Interior architecture graduate. Author of many guides on Sketchup program.

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