Autodesk Sketchup Import

[Lorrine Hatala]

Thisplug-in no doubt can import sketchup model to CAD. But when the model is called in into the CAD software, the model scale is messed-up. So basically you can't do anything on the model except you have to re-draw again. But, I found in the sketchup software, you can actually to EXPORT the sketchup model into CAD model and the scale is still same from the original model.

I imported a 2021 Sketchup into AutoCAD 2023 and it works fine, no issues. It imports and turnes it into a block. I wish it would list all the blocks its importing, give us the option to choose which blocks to bring in, and also give us the option to smoothen meshes of some of selected blocks.

There are several possible issues.1. SKP file version is beyond 2014-2019. (You can save the SKP file to a version supported by the app)2. SKP file path contains non-English characters. (You can update the path to contain English only characters)3. Some other issues...

1.) When I receive a Sketchup file from a client in the very recent past and the Sketchup is 2023 or 2022 all I have to do is save that down to a Sketchup 2019 file and it would come in perfectly into 3ds max 2021. That no longer happens at all. I get the famous x32 reader error. I now have to save the Sketchup file down to 2014 or lower like V7 in order to bring it in. Anything above 2014 does not come in.

2.) This is the big one. No matter which version i use for importing mentioned above, BOTH types of imports into 3ds max produce a very strange issue. Bot imports take every single material that has a diffuse map and copies that diffuse map into the Opacity channel BY DEFAULT. This has never happened in the past. Now i have to either A.) manually take out the diffuse map from the opacity channel or B.) switch to Views--Show materials in viewport as--and uncheck "enable transparency" which makes all glass in the scene solid defeating the purpose.

yes, exact same version of max (2021). Same version of sketchup, the same process as before, nothing has changed. The only thing i can think of is something has been updated on the Sketchup side.

Today i just opened a Sketchup 2023 file, saved it down to a 2019 sketchup file, went to import that into 3ds max 2021 (which has always worked in the past) and got this message, (attached).

I went ahead and imported the Sketchup 2023 into 3ds Max 2024, it imports fine but i still get that strange issue as mentioned above where every single material that has a diffuse map gets copied into the opacity channel as well.

I'd suggest you take this thread and questions to Trimble/Sketchup forums as I don't think it's a Max issue. Or, upgrade Max to 2024. I tested 2024 and it has worked perfectly with Sketchup with no saving back to older versions of Sketchup or anything.

The problem still exists with 3ds max 2024 automatically adding the diffuse map into the opacity channel as mentioned above. I've imported multiple versions of sketchup files into 3ds max 2024 and it does the exact same thing by copying the diffuse into the opacity channel.

I'm going to guess that this is a defect in Max 2024. It shipped with a host of them. I actually started a post today asking for a patch sooner than later to correct the biggest ones. Until we see that patch I think we need to live with the problems. I'm using Max 2023 as I can't even finish a project in Max 2024 becasue of all of the defects for just simple stuff.

Im having issues with the importing sketchup file into Revit. So I imported sketchup file into Revit however the model's building parts are all over the place if you look at this image, it is not solid. Looking to know what could be causing this. When I open the file via sketchup everything appears clean and not is sticking out, so I dont know if it is a revit issue in this case

@D23124962

A screen capture would effectively be more helpful in assisting you in resolving the problem.

This said, a common problem with imported CAD data is it being to far from the Revit internal origin. For example, if your Sketchup file has it's origin far from the geometry, it may cause what you describe. The workaround in that case is to move the Sketchup geometry closer to it's origin and try the import again.

i have always had issues with Sketchup and Revit. download FormIt, open the Sketchup in Formit and see if you have the same issue. if no issue, then save it out to a formit (AXM) format and bring that into Revit.

I wanted to create a fluid stair and since Revit (to my knowledge) doesn't offer bezier curves, I thought I would import the outlines (as dwg) from sketchup and trace them with stair/sketch. Everything worked fine except for the supports and rails which broke at each step.

so you guys are telling me that sketchup is better for designing stairs than Revit? I am new to this program but the more I dig into it, the more bauhaus-y it appears to be! No spirals, no parabolas, no hyperbolas, just lines and circles! :((((

In the office I work, we use Revit for offices, stadiums, public buildings, housing,... You really can create anything in Revit, you just need to know how. The program has many features and tools, so it takes some time to learn them all. I've been using Revit for 10 years now and I still don't know all the features.

The problem you've got here is that Sketchup creates a mesh model and Inventor Creates a solid model. Even if you get the Mesh into Inventor it will appear 'Jagged' - Circles and arcs will look like polygons and faces will be composed of a number of triangles.

I see, although when I try and import my Inventor just locks up, it's obvious something is not right. My method will have to be the other way around, export the inventor parts/blocks to 3ds and then add to sketchup, this will be suffice for this project!

i m a french student in a placement in an english company near worcester, and i used sketchup to modelise one product in 2d to 3d from autocad 2014. And we would like to do an analys with cfd simulator autodesk but i did'nt find how can i import a sketchup model (.skp) in cfd software.

It means you have faulty geometry. Try another approach or different setting for your initial export from Sketchup. Please keep in mind, Sketchup is not a support CAD format so anything you do will result in a CAD translation which can add unresolvable errors to the geometry.

to begin with, we have to download an extension of sketchup that is Sketchup STL inside the site Extension Warehouse, I am leaving the link here in the description of the video now we will install this extension downloaded, inside Sketchup, to do this open Google Sketchup, open a new file, then click on window, then click on preferences, then just click on extensions, install extensions, and look for the path you saved the downloaded extension, select it and click open, click on yes, then on ok twice . Now, we will enter the WAREHOUSE 3D site to download the Pikachu Pokmon so that you can export from SketchUp to Autodesk Inventor. , then click on the link that I left in the description of the video, and access the site, after accessing it just enter pikachu and download the file, and so open it inside Sketchup Now that we open the pikachu, we will export it to stl file , clicking on file and then on export stl, then choose the unit as millimeters and click export, choose the location to save the stl format and save. To import an stl file to the inventor there are two ways, one way is to use the FREECAD software and another is without using FREECAD, first I'll show using FREECAD and during the video I'll show you how to do without using FREECAD, I'll also show the advantages of using or not using, depending on your application, so be aware of the tutorial that instants will show the other method. To start the first method, click on the description of the video to access the FREECAD website or wait for the end of the video that I will leave the link for you to download directly from my GRABCAD along with the pikachu in Sketchup and Inventor format. As soon as you open the site choose the version of your Windows in how many bits it has to be able to download, as in my case it is 64 bits, this is what I download. After downloading, just install normally, there is no secret in the installation, just do as I do, and there is no serial or key of the product, as the name itself, it's free. Now open the FREECAD program, let's open the STL file of pikachu, just find the file and open normally, you have inside the program to change the views, to transform the pikachu stl file into STEP format, which is the format we need to open correction in Inventor, we need to click the green icon with the name of the file, which in this case is pikachu, and then click on the tab that is written start, then click part, then click part, then click create form a from the mesh, when opening the tolerance screen just click on ok, do not need to change the value, see that while doing this have already created several faces that are the meshes of pikachu, now right click on the green icon written pikachu , and click delete, now click on the blue icon written pikachu, then click on file, then click on

Hi all,

I am having some problems with a very simple task. I simply need to take a model (no textures, armatures, or modifiers. just geometry) made in blender and import it into Inventor. I have tried every possible export format possible with blender and sketchup 8 pro. Nothing seems to work. I have had some formats that will come in as just wireframe, and another that comes in as a flat 2-D object, but these are not useful.

Can anybody help?

STL, by design, is intended to bridge this gap for CNC and RP applications - in one direction, at least (out of the CAD app). Heaven bless the wonderful coder who took the time to write the STL translation for blender. Its been a godsend indeed!

Thanks for the info mzungu. We found a workaround with software we already have. I dont think we have it down to a science yet so i may come back for some more help. Thanks for explaining why it is not so simple though. its good to know.

3a8082e126