GP: File with linked collection is too big when there's a custom property driving layer Location #102938

New Issue

Samuel Santos · 2022-12-04T07:26:32+01:00

Samuel Santos commented

2022-12-04 07:26:32 +01:00

System Information
Operating system: Windows-10-10.0.19041-SP0 64 Bits
Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970/PCIe/SSE2 NVIDIA Corporation 4.5.0 NVIDIA 526.47

Blender Version
Broken: version: 3.3.1, branch: master, commit date: 2022-10-04 18:35, hash: b292cfe5a9
Worked: (newest version of Blender that worked as expected)

Short description of error
Discovered this potential bug while animation some characters in a cut-out form using Grease Pencil to draw the characters.
When we have a Grease Pencil character in a blender file, then we Link it's collection and we apply a Library Override (in order to animate it in a new file), the file size is almost the same from the original file, instead of being small. I noticed it happens when the original character have a Custom Property, and this Custom Property is in use to drive some other property as Location of a GP layer.

I could provide 4 files as examples attached.

A) The file "A CHARACTER.blend" has one GP draw with a Custom Property (called MOVE) driving his only GP Layer Location. The file "A CHARACTER LINKED.blend" has the linked character with a library override. As you can see, the file size is almost the same (4 MB) even though the liked character has nothing other than the linked character.

B) Almost the same, the only difference is the file "B CHARACTER without driver.blend" has the same Custom Property but it's not used to drive anything (just deleted the driver from GP Layer Location). And as you can see, the file "B CHARACTER without driver LINKED.blend" has only 758 KB size.

Important to notice that just delete the driver from the files in the A example, not necessarily will make the file size goes down. I couldn't figure out why it worked only sometimes.

Exact steps for others to reproduce the error

Create a heavy GP Draw and put it in a Collection called "CHARACTER" (heavy only to make more clear when the file size goes up);
In "Object Properties" tab, create a Custom Property;
In this Custom Property, do a "copy as a new driver" command;
Go to "Object Data Property" tab, select the GP Layer, go to "Transform";
In "Location X" do a "paste driver";
Save the file.
Create a new blender File;
Go to File -> Link...
Select the blender file created before and Link the collection with the GP draw.
Go to the menu "Object" -> "Library Override" -> Make;
Save the file;
This second file should have almost the same file size from the first file, instead of be a light file to animate.

This steps was used to reproduce the files "A" attached. The "B" files only lack the driver option, and the file size is way smaller.

A)
A CHARACTER.blend
A CHARACTER LINKED.blend

B)
B CHARACTER without driver.blend
B CHARACTER without driver LINKED.blend

**System Information** Operating system: Windows-10-10.0.19041-SP0 64 Bits Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970/PCIe/SSE2 NVIDIA Corporation 4.5.0 NVIDIA 526.47 **Blender Version** Broken: version: 3.3.1, branch: master, commit date: 2022-10-04 18:35, hash: `b292cfe5a9` Worked: (newest version of Blender that worked as expected) **Short description of error** Discovered this potential bug while animation some characters in a cut-out form using Grease Pencil to draw the characters. When we have a Grease Pencil character in a blender file, then we Link it's collection and we apply a Library Override (in order to animate it in a new file), the file size is almost the same from the original file, instead of being small. I noticed it happens when the original character have a Custom Property, and this Custom Property is in use to drive some other property as Location of a GP layer. ![Character MOVE.jpg](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F13990784/Character_MOVE.jpg) I could provide 4 files as examples attached. A) The file "A CHARACTER.blend" has one GP draw with a Custom Property (called MOVE) driving his only GP Layer Location. The file "A CHARACTER LINKED.blend" has the linked character with a library override. As you can see, the file size is almost the same (4 MB) even though the liked character has nothing other than the linked character. B) Almost the same, the only difference is the file "B CHARACTER without driver.blend" has the same Custom Property but it's not used to drive anything (just deleted the driver from GP Layer Location). And as you can see, the file "B CHARACTER without driver LINKED.blend" has only 758 KB size. Important to notice that just delete the driver from the files in the A example, not necessarily will make the file size goes down. I couldn't figure out why it worked only sometimes. **Exact steps for others to reproduce the error** - Create a heavy GP Draw and put it in a Collection called "CHARACTER" (heavy only to make more clear when the file size goes up); - In "Object Properties" tab, create a Custom Property; - In this Custom Property, do a "copy as a new driver" command; - Go to "Object Data Property" tab, select the GP Layer, go to "Transform"; - In "Location X" do a "paste driver"; - Save the file. - Create a new blender File; - Go to File -> Link... - Select the blender file created before and Link the collection with the GP draw. - Go to the menu "Object" -> "Library Override" -> Make; - Save the file; - This second file should have almost the same file size from the first file, instead of be a light file to animate. This steps was used to reproduce the files "A" attached. The "B" files only lack the driver option, and the file size is way smaller. A) [A CHARACTER.blend](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F13990788/A_CHARACTER.blend) [A CHARACTER LINKED.blend](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F13990787/A_CHARACTER_LINKED.blend) B) [B CHARACTER without driver.blend](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F13990789/B_CHARACTER_without_driver.blend) [B CHARACTER without driver LINKED.blend](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F13990785/B_CHARACTER_without_driver_LINKED.blend)

Samuel Santos commented

2022-12-04 07:26:32 +01:00

Added subscriber: @SamuelTelles

Omar Emara commented

2022-12-05 10:35:47 +01:00

Added subscribers: @mont29, @OmarEmaraDev

Omar Emara commented

2022-12-05 10:35:47 +01:00

Changed status from 'Needs Triage' to: 'Needs Developer To Reproduce'

Omar Emara commented

2022-12-05 10:35:47 +01:00

@mont29 This seems similar to #78944, but D9810 doesn't handle grease pencil, is that expected?

@mont29 This seems similar to #78944, but [D9810](https://archive.blender.org/developer/D9810) doesn't handle grease pencil, is that expected?

Bastien Montagne commented

2022-12-06 06:05:09 +01:00

Not sure if we want to do the same as with meshes for GP data honestly (i.e. strip, not write heavy geometry data of override IDs in .blend files)... nor how doable that would be. This is more of a topic for GP module to investigate first?

Philipp Oeser removed the

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GP: File with linked collection is too big when there's a custom property driving layer Location #102938