Searching for a good 3D PDF creator

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

Gaieus

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.

kwistenbiebel

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.

Rich O Brien

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?

Al Hart

@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

kwistenbiebel

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

Gaieus

Well, the SketchUp Plugins Page at Google is quite outdated and only contains a fraction of the plugins and exporter available nowadays...

kwistenbiebel

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

Gaieus

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?

kwistenbiebel

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.

Gaieus

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

Rich O Brien

Hi,

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

then this...

Export File.jpg

Then the PDF appears at location chosen.

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

ashraf

@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.

kwistenbiebel

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.

t.larcombe

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

(www.righthemisphere.com)

Gaieus

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...

...so that it screws up their website even in English!

drfabinex

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.