Xray View Sketchup

[Kenya Ahyet]

Hereare tips for making sure your model is printable - the advice is sketchup oriented but most of the points apply to any CAD model (most cad software make it difficult to create unprintable models but sketchup makes it hard to create solid models):

The red normally indicates overhang. In this case Cura thinks there is overhang in a vertical wall, which there isn't. It means that least the mesh has the wrong normals. CuraEngine does not look at the surface normals though, so this is not the issue directly. There is probably more wrong with your model than the normals.

I'm rather new to 3D printing and still working my way around Cura, I am using a pre-made model for a 'Signal Box' assembly which must be printed in four separate parts, each of the cylinders are hollow in order for wiring to pass through them however I am getting errors in terms of red in the tubes which is obviously because it cant bridge them, but adding structures will surely fill the tube and ill be unable to remove them? And around the door of the power box the overhangs are rather detailed. Also, (as shown in my second image in layer view) some areas are greyed out? I've no idea if this means they wont print but they are different to the areas that are red? If someone could look at the images and tell me what I need to change, that'd be great. If you need anymore information let me know. The model was made to be printed and replies to its post have said it worked great without structures so I think it's something I've done.

The red is indicating overhangs. It doesn't mean there is a problem. The sideways cylinder will be mostly okay. If you need it to high tolerance you could drill it out afterwards as the "roof" will be a bit messy/droopy but mostly fine.

Ahh right I see, just saw a video on YouTube which said red meant an issue but must've meant the X-ray, I'll just run it through and hope for the best then. And it has a short tube on top of the second to right cuboid so wouldn't turn over, I'll try remove that though and flip it. And if I have to I'll replace the large tube and purchase a narrow pre-made one to glue to it. Thank you both for your help!

adding to this old post as well because I am about to go insane with this project and I thought this thread is the most appropriate. I bought a 3D file for a suit I want to print out (Mecha Kingdoms Sett from League of Legends). I took the entire file and sliced it in blender (it was my first time using blender) and proceeded to export it to cura but I found out that the entire file would come out red and the only thing that would get proceed to slice is the support (yes I have tried meshmixer to auto fix the problem but it didnt work and I also tried rotating it multiple times). I have attached pictures of what the helmet looks like, what the part looks like, the problem, and the file just in case someone wanted to analyze the part. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

How thick is this portion of your suit? Does it have a thickness in CAD? Make sure it's at least 1mm thick ideally or if it's about 0.5mm thick you can try "print thin walls" option in Cura. Also consider setting the line width to 0.1mm just as a test (don't actually leave it like that when you print it!) to see if it shows in PREVIEW that it will print. If so then the problem is the thickness in CAD.

I am checking if I can fix the thickness, but the problem now is I am worried about how uniform it will be as it is currently in mesh form and translates into triangles and when I extrude them it comes out very pointy so I am worried the final result might be off from the suit. Any fixes on this end?

We don't have sketchup ourselves. Other consultants using sketchup have request sketchup files. We have exported to dwg and then they have imported to sketchup but only one layer imports as 3D, other layers are not shown.

Neither export shows classes as layers. Depending on how complex the model, perhaps you create a temporary export file where you could move your items from "classes" to "design layers" in order to get the desired result? Not that it sounds like a desirable workflow.

Not sure you want the layers to follow. Layers in Su are very different to layers in VW. In Su they are for visibility only and to have objects scattered across them will cause you problems in the long run.

You need a free 3rd party plugin for sketchup though. If any of them use sketchucation - tell them to download quad tools from the sketchup plugin database. That imports obj format, and pretty well as well might i add!

The last attempt was to set up a dedicated viewport / sheet as an export drawings. Sheet No 200. Turned on all the relevant layers on in the vp, such as ground floor, first floor, roof, and floor slabs. Then exported just this one vp with the following settings.

This is driving me crazy!! Tried several times now and can not export to dwg with walls shown 3D in autoCAD. 3D cubes can be seen. Used various settings including settings suggested above and these are the result:

What happens if you check "Decompose 3D symbols and Groups" - does that help? I'm guessing you're having problems with plug in objects not translating, but I'm not sure if that check box will address this.

I just tried a Collada export again and it worked without issue, similar to @barkest. A folder is created and within it is a .dae file of my Vectorworks model. That .dae file imports into Sketchup fine.

My daughter used VW once 6 yrs ago for a project at Uni creating 19 .vwx files (520mb) of the rooms in our house. Her Educational licence expired long ago but I'd personally like to use those files in something like Sketchup to visualise a conversion idea but I can't justify the expense of VW just solely export the file in another format. I wondered if anyone can advise or assist me in resolving this dilemma?

For the conversion idea do you need all of the files and of the files you do need is it just the basic Walls, windows, doors, floors and ceilings you need and finally did she have the floorplans for your house?

Edit. I do need the basic Walls, windows, doors, floors, stairs, ceilings and Roof, but it would also be good if the other items in the file were included. As you'll see from my second reply below I've discovered one file contains everything.

I Googled, "VW file viewer" and found the viewer so I was able to use it to review the files and I found I only need one 59,659 KB file which contains the following objects shown in the organisation dialog box. Can this be converted?

Further up this topic Micheal John Williams said "Vectorworks advised to export to Collada and then import into SketchUp." which Zoomer endorsed saying "I also had positive experience with DAE export for 3D Exports." and Neil Barman added "I would recommend exploring Collada exports. This is how I have exported in the past to Sketchup (and other applications) and the recipients have reported the best results with Collada files. A folder is created and within it is a .dae file of my Vectorworks model. That .dae file imports into Sketchup fine."

Unfortunately the process is not a straight conversion. Su does not like windows and doors although sometimes you can un-group, make them a solid addition and they work. I find its quicker to just make an opening. Therefore your doors and windows don't exist but there are openings in the walls where they would be. Having said that the walls in the attic were solid subtracts so the doors were faked and you will not have 'holes' where they would be. Roofs and dormers are notorious for not converting. I took away the dormers and made the roof a solid addition so that worked fine, so no dormers but holes where they would be. The stairs had to be un-grouped and made in to solids although there were issues with intersecting geometry on the lower floor handrail so that has been deleted. I recovered as much as I could but budgeted an hour so its a pretty decent job. Su file cleaned up before sending.

Thank you so much for all your work, I think an hour of your time was very generous. I'd wrongly assumed it would be just an 'Open' and 'Save As ...' task. You've clearly gone to great lengths for me which I greatly appreciate and will be a great help. I think this will be quite adequate for my purposes. I'm afraid at 72 I'm not as agile on unfamiliar systems as I used to be. Cheers ?

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