Settings

In this article, we will provide explanations for the various settings for Skimp.

Move to Origin

If enabled, the imported model will be positioned so that the bottom-middle of the model is at the SketchUp axes location.

Apply UV Texture

If enabled, Skimp will apply a placeholder checker texture to each material of the imported model.  With the placeholder UV texture applied, the imported model's UVs (texture coordinates) can be maintained.  After import, the UV texture can be easily replaced using Skimp's Replace Textures Tool.

Join Vertices Threshold

This is an advanced setting.  The default setting should be suitable for most cases.

This setting allows you to specify the distance between vertices that will cause merging into a single vertex (vertex welding).  The default setting should be acceptable for most cases.  Vertices must be merged in order for the mesh edges to be simplified.

If you are finding that your model has lots of tears or splits when simplifying, try increasing the threshold.

Join Normals Threshold

This is an advanced setting.  The default setting should be suitable for most cases.

If 'Maintain Normals' is enabled, the normals threshold setting allows you to specify the angle between vertex-normals that will result in a 'normals-boundary' or hard edge.  

To join all normals, enter a value of 180 degrees.  This will result in the model losing all hard edges.  

If you enter a smaller value (such as 15 degrees), hard edges with an angle between faces of greater than 15 degrees will be maintained as you can see in the image below.

If you enter a larger value such as 100, hard edges with an angle between faces of greater than 100 degrees will be maintained.  Hard edges with angle between faces of less than (or equal to) 90 degrees will be lost and be converted to soft edges.

If you want to achieve the maximum amount of simplification, use a high threshold (e.g. 180 deg)  However, if it is important to preserve all hard edges, than use a low threshold such as 0.1.

Join UVs Threshold

This is an advanced setting.  The default setting should be suitable for most cases.

if 'Maintain UVs' is enabled, the UVs threshold setting allows you to specify the tolerance that will cause UVs to be merged (UV welding).  UV boundaries will be maintained during the simplification process unless you disable the 'Maintain UVs' setting.

It may be possible to achieve greater simplification by increasing the Join UVs threshold value.

Use Tolerance

If enabled, the mesh simplification will consider the error tolerance that has been specified.

Error Tolerance

If 'Use Tolerance' is enabled, this setting allows you to set the maximum distance permitted between vertices of the simplified mesh and the original unsimplified mesh surface.

Tolerance should typically be used when simplifying 'hard' objects such as vehicles, electronics, and appliances.  It is also useful for CAM / CAM and 3D Printing applications.

Lock Surface Boundaries

A surface boundary edge has only a single face connected to it.  If this setting is enabled, boundary edges will not be simplified.

Enabling this setting can reduce the amount of available simplification.  It should only be enabled if it is important to maintain the boundary edges of a surface, such as when simplifying terrain.

Maintain UVs

If enabled, UVs (texture position) will be maintained when simplifying.  Disable to ignore UVs and increase the amount of simplification available.

Maintain Normals

If enabled, normals will be maintained when simplifying.  Disable to ignore normals and increase the amount of simplification available.

Soften Edges

If enabled, edge softening / hardening will be automatically applied post-process.

Soften Edges Angle

Set the angle threshold to control which edges should become hard or soft.  This setting is only considered if 'Soften Edges' is enabled.

Merge Coplanar Faces

If enabled, edges between coplanar faces will be removed.  

Warning: Precision errors can sometimes result in unwanted faces being deleted.  If you are seeing missing faces after simplifying, try disabling this setting.

Apply Front Materials to Back

Many model formats only support materials on one side of a face.  Enable this setting to apply face's material to the back side of the face as well.

This is useful for objects that are typically created without thickness such as flower petals, leaves, and panes of glass.

Prompt to Purge Unused

If enabled, Skimp will prompt you to purge unused Components after simplifying a selected object.

When Skimp simplifies an object in your model, the original Component will still remain in your Component Browser if this setting is disabled.  This can result in a large file size unless you purge your unused components.