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    Searching for a good 3D PDF creator

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    • K Offline
      kwistenbiebel
      last edited by kwistenbiebel

      Hi all,

      As in the title, I am looking for a good 3D PDF creator that works well with Sketchup.

      Preferably free, but I don't want to exclude commercial products either.

      I am mostly interested in the unbiased opinion of users, not so much in the opinion of developers, if you know what I mean 😄...although I don't want to exclude anyone from participating.

      Thanks in advance for your suggestions,

      Kind regards,
      Kwistenbiebel

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      • GaieusG Offline
        Gaieus
        last edited by

        Hi Chris,

        I only know two of this kind as plugins for SketchUp (but I do not want to exclude any other ones I do not know about so anyone can add something, please, do). My most unbiased suggestion would be to download the trial version of both and try out the features (you may need to request a trial serial number with one to access all the pro features but for a limited number of exports OR enjoy the limited, free features forever).

        Now seriously, if you have the time to devote (like a couple of hours altogether), please, try.

        Gai...

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        • K Offline
          kwistenbiebel
          last edited by

          Thanks Gaieus for your answer.
          Could you spill me the links to the two plugins you are referring to?
          I'd be happy to try them out.

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          • Rich O BrienR Offline
            Rich O Brien Moderator
            last edited by

            Hi,

            in this post

            http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=25294&p=216978&hilit=PDF+beta#p216978

            you'll find info, I've used it since and find it extremely user friendly. Unlike my boss who unwilling to cough up for the whole shebang. Also Simlabs are currently trialing a Beta of their next release so maybe contact them to try and get on that?

            Download the free D'oh Book for SketchUp 📖

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            • Al HartA Offline
              Al Hart
              last edited by

              @kwistenbiebel said:

              Thanks Gaieus for your answer.
              Could you spill me the links to the two plugins you are referring to?
              I'd be happy to try them out.

              Perhaps Gaius was refrerring to these from the SketchUp Plugins page: (See the Viewer Compatibility section)

              Google SketchUp Web Exporter
              Hypercosm Teleporter
              eDrawings Publisher
              RPS 3D PDF Exporter

              Al Hart

              http:wiki.renderplus.comimageseefRender_plus_colored30x30%29.PNG
              IRender nXt from Render Plus

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              • K Offline
                kwistenbiebel
                last edited by

                Thanks for the info guys.
                Lost of stuff to try out...

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                • GaieusG Offline
                  Gaieus
                  last edited by

                  Well, the SketchUp Plugins Page at Google is quite outdated and only contains a fraction of the plugins and exporter available nowadays... 😒

                  Gai...

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                  • K Offline
                    kwistenbiebel
                    last edited by

                    For the moment I am attracted to the Simlab one as it is reasonably priced..but I seem to have a problem running the demo.
                    http://www.simlab-soft.com/3d-plugins/3D-PDF-from-sketchup-main.aspx

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                    • GaieusG Offline
                      Gaieus
                      last edited by

                      And what's the problem exactly?

                      I think with the downloaded file you get some limited features first.
                      Then you can require a Trial license which has all the pro features but the number of exports is limited.
                      Then of course, if you like it, you can buy and require a full license.

                      Where are you stuck?

                      Gai...

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                      • K Offline
                        kwistenbiebel
                        last edited by

                        The plugin doesn't do the export properly on my box at home.It just doesn't react when I click it from the menu.
                        As I remember now, I already tried this plugin some months ago (how I could I forget? 😒 ), and remember having a similar issue.
                        I might reinstall SU 7.1 and start cleaning up my plugins folder, as my SU install is starting to show cracks 😄.
                        Otherwise I install it straight to the PC at work on Monday...

                        If anyone tried it, a few comments about this product would be helpful.

                        Basically, we would want to use a 3D PDF creator in our office to be able to share 3D models which are non-editable to consultants and/or clients if they ask for it.
                        There is an alternative option to use Navisworks for it. We have some Pro licenses of Navisworks, but the issue is that the free version our clients/consultants would have to use to view the files is a 650 Mb download and a typical pain in the ass Autodesk download that is (registering etc...) 😄.
                        650 MB is just overkill just to be able to view and navigate a 3D file.

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                        • GaieusG Offline
                          Gaieus
                          last edited by

                          Okay, try to install it on the other machine first to see if your computer (or SU on it) is somehow corrupt.

                          If you wish (and you have a relatively small sample skp file), I can try to pass it through as I installed it successfully on my machine. You can send me an email (and a max 1Mb attachment) from this form: http://www.gaieus.hu/email/scf.php

                          Gai...

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                          • Rich O BrienR Offline
                            Rich O Brien Moderator
                            last edited by

                            Hi,

                            SimLabs works fine for me? I'm currently using the free version. When i run the plugin this windows pops up...

                            Register.jpg

                            then this...

                            Export File.jpg

                            Then the PDF appears at location chosen.

                            I'm running Acrobat Reader 9.1 if that's helps

                            Download the free D'oh Book for SketchUp 📖

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                            • A Offline
                              ashraf
                              last edited by

                              @kwistenbiebel said:

                              For the moment I am attracted to the Simlab one as it is reasonably priced..but I seem to have a problem running the demo.

                              If the plugin is still not working for you please drop us an email to support@simlab-soft.com
                              we will make sure you are up and running.

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                              • K Offline
                                kwistenbiebel
                                last edited by

                                Thank you Ashraf and Gaieus.
                                I will do what Gaieus suggested and install the demo at work first (monday) to be sure the issue was local.
                                After that I 'll post my findings here.

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                                • T Offline
                                  t.larcombe
                                  last edited by

                                  hi there
                                  this is quite a useful 3d pdf tool, as long as you have microsoft word or power point. There is a free version of it that works pretty well

                                  favicon

                                  (www.righthemisphere.com)

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                                  • GaieusG Offline
                                    Gaieus
                                    last edited by

                                    Hm... Could be useful IF it weren't just for MS Office (which I for instance do not use). Too bad.

                                    However one would wonder why they comment out the charset tag in their html document...

                                    utf-8a.png
                                    ...so that it screws up their website even in English! 😲

                                    utf-8b.png

                                    Gai...

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                                    • D Offline
                                      drfabinex
                                      last edited by

                                      Tried RPS 3d pdf a while ago and it did an alright job.

                                      Currently use SimLab whenever it's necessary and it does a great job. I decided to stick with their old version though because the new "automatic camera mode" didn't seem to be turn-offable in the free version of the new one.

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