This article offers you best practices on improving Solibri's performance. By implementing these best practices, you can achieve smoother, faster operation, allowing you to focus on high-quality model checking and issue management.
Working with large and complex models in Solibri can sometimes lead to performance issues, such as slow processing, crashes, or long load times. Improving Solibri's performance requires a combination of optimizing your system specifications, managing model complexity, and effectively using Solibri's settings.
To ensure that you get the best performance out of Solibri, please follow these best practices:
Before focusing on Solibri-specific optimizations, it's crucial to ensure that your hardware meets or exceeds the recommended specifications. Please check the current system requirements for Solibri here.
The size and complexity of your models directly impact Solibri's performance. Here are some strategies to reduce complexity:
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Simplify models: Avoid including non-essential elements (not critical for checking or co-ordination), such as landscape objects, furniture, small fixtures, and excessive MEP components.
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Component complexity: Large numbers of components, especially those with many polygons/large triangle count, can make processing heavy and increase load times. Use Solibri ITO and the Triangle Count column to identify large geometries. You can also use Solibri classification to classify according to the triangle count of the components.
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Use reference models: Where possible, use reference models that contain only the elements needed for your specific analysis, avoiding full, detailed models.
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IFC exporters: Use the latest version of authoring tools/IFC exporters when creating models, as outdated versions may contain bugs and compatibility issues, slowing down or preventing proper processing.
Once your models are in Solibri, further optimization can improve performance:
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Close unnecessary Classifications: Review the classifications in your model, save and close any that are not needed for your analysis. This can significantly reduce processing time.
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Split models: Break down large models into smaller, more manageable sections, such as by floor or building section, and import them individually.
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Apply Filters: Use filters to focus on specific areas or elements of the model, reducing the amount of data Solibri needs to process.
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Divide rulesets: Dividing rulesets into multiple .cset files or separate rulesets can improve software performance by enabling more efficient use of multiple cores. For example, instead of having a single ruleset containing 10 rules, you could create two rulesets, each with 5 rules.
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Manage model content: The number of IFC models, rules, classifications, errors, presentations, and Information Take-offs (ITOs) stored in the SMC model can increase its size and reduce performance. Regularly tidy up your model to remove unnecessary content.
Keeping Solibri up to date is essential for maintaining performance:
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Update Solibri: Regularly check for and install updates. Newer versions often include performance improvements and bug fixes. For instructions on how to update the software, please check this help article.
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Manage Extensions: Remove unnecessary extensions to reduce Solibri's loading time and resource consumption.
Here are some tips on how to optimize your environment for performance:
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Network performance: Save model files locally on your computer for faster and safer operations. Saving large files over a network can be slower and risk file corruption if the process is interrupted. The recommended way would be to first save the file locally and then move the saved file into a network drive.
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Virtual machines: Running Solibri on a virtual machine is not officially supported due to limitations, especially concerning OpenGL requirements, which can impact performance negatively.
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Memory allocation: Allocated memory impacts the ability to open and manage large or complex models. For such models, it's advisable to have ample system memory (up to 64GB) and allocate it to Solibri, as guided in this help article.
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3D settings: In 3D Settings, you can customize the appearance and performance of the 3D view. You can manipulate rendering, camera and performance settings. Please refer to the help article on 3D settings.
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Switch to dedicated graphics card: If you have more than one graphics card on your PC, please consider changing the preferred graphics processor for Solibri to the dedicated graphics card, such as Nvidia, or AMD. This can be done through Graphics card’s Control center/Settings or Windows graphics settings.For instructions, please see this article.
Large .smc files can affect performance. Consider these tips to reduce file size:
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Manage snapshots: Snapshots are stored as PNG images. At Full HD resolution, each snapshot consumes around 200-500 KB. Reducing the number of snapshots and capturing snapshots with smaller 3D views helps minimize file size. Avoid using gradient backgrounds and consider using smaller thumbnail sizes.
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Avoid unnecessary data: Don't import unnecessary IFC property sets. In the IFC Import Settings, you can choose to ignore unneeded property sets to keep the file lean.
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Optimize 3D representation: Turning off the "Save 3D Representation with Model" setting in the 3D Settings prevents saving parametric geometry meshes (such as extrusions) with the model, which reduces file size. While saving is faster, opening the model later may take longer as the meshes are regenerated.
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Recreate SMC Files: Classifications and ITOs can inflate file size. Sometimes, creating a new .smc file and loading rulesets, classifications, and ITOs separately can reduce size.