We have a large auditorium project in Rhino. There is a ton of detailed geometry (seating, stage lighting, etc.) as well as design iterations on various layers. This has been handed off between a number of users and is far from an efficient model. The time for Enscape to load w/textures + lighting is around 20 minutes.
I had always assumed that Enscape only processes the visible geometry, but found that by -deleting- the hidden elements (cutting the size of the model roughly in half) the Enscape load time gets cut in half as well. (In retrospect this makes sense, as Enscape always seems quick to update when turning layers on/off.) This got me thinking - can the Enscape team clarify how hidden geometry is taken into account with the various host programs? We of course tell our users to turn off unneeded elements to speed up performance, but if Enscape processes the entire model anyway, then that really doesn't make much difference.
Rhino - It appears that hidden layers are processed.
- Are linked Blocks (not embedded) on hidden layers processed?
- Does mesh geometry process faster than smooth/parametric geometry? ie, would pre-meshing everything speed up the Enscape calculations?
Sketchup -
- Are hidden tags/layers processed? Are "hidden" objects processed?
Revit -
- I'm pretty sure a Section Box is effective at preventing geometry outside the box from being calculated, but perhaps Enscape team can confirm?
- Are hidden model categories calculated? We tell our users to turn off plumbing, pipes, etc for rendering purposes, but based on what I found with Rhino now I am wondering if that even matters?
I plan to do more testing w/large models and various scenarios but wanted to see if I can get any more info here.