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    Meshes... what are they?

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    • M Offline
      Maverick83
      last edited by

      Hi all
      Yes i'm not experienced in SU and i'm not experienced in SU meshes at all... ๐Ÿ˜ณ
      What are they? When do meshes appear? I mean i've never encountered meshes in SU... well not until tonight! ๐Ÿ˜•
      I've recently submitted a topic about how to import Solidworks designs in SU...
      Well i menaged to do that successfully! How?
      I have Rhinoceros 4 installed on my PC too, so i imported in Rhino my SolidWorks design, then i saved it as .3ds design and i opened it in SU...
      And HERE something mysterious happened, a lot of meshes appeard on my imported design! Those meshes nearly scared me to death! ๐Ÿ˜ฎ
      Here some images, so that i can explain better what i'm tring to say:
      SolidWorks initial design:

      http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/4183/staffalm4.th.jpg

      Same design, imported in SU:

      http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/1458/staffapazzawi1.th.jpg

      What, why, how, when (that's all) happended? I've even tried to give that thing a metal color but those meshes didn't disappear... Do i have to see those meshes forever?

      http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/8127/staffapazzacoloryx7.th.jpg

      Can someone tell me what's goin on and how can i handle meshes? ๐Ÿ˜„
      Thanks a lot!!!

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      • soloS Offline
        solo
        last edited by

        Upload the .3ds file.

        http://www.solos-art.com

        If you see a toilet in your dreams do not use it.

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        • Alan FraserA Offline
          Alan Fraser
          last edited by

          The term mesh is a little confusing, as it normally applies to the standard matrix of edges/faces that make up a model. What you are seeing is triangulation (and by the looks of it, unnecessary subdivision, also). This is normally produced by going through an intermediate format like 3ds in order to get a model into SU. SU itself doesn't produce such triangulation; it's perfectly capable of producing "clean" polygonal faces without all those lines...as long as they are completely coplanar (flat).

          The first thing I'd try (if you are importing via 3ds) is to check the box on the 3ds import options that says Merge coplanar faces. That ought to get rid of most if not all of those lines.

          3D Figures
          Were you required to walk 500 miles? Were you advised to walk 500 more?
          You could be entitled to compensation. Call the Pro Claimers now!

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          • M Offline
            Maverick83
            last edited by

            I attach the 3ds file
            I don't know.. maybe i should change some settings in Rhinoceros export procedures... Who knows?
            Thanks for your help!


            3ds file

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            • soloS Offline
              solo
              last edited by

              I did a straight conversion using Deep exploration.


              thing.skp

              http://www.solos-art.com

              If you see a toilet in your dreams do not use it.

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              • Alan FraserA Offline
                Alan Fraser
                last edited by

                It's not SketchUp's fault; it's the 3ds...as Lewis said. Here's a shot of the 3ds in Deep Exploration to prove the point. There is a resolution control in Rhino for mesh export, try turning it down. As things stand, if you import using Merge coplanar faces it gets rid of most of the lines. There are still some...but manageable with a little use of the Eraser tool.


                thing.jpg


                thing.skp

                3D Figures
                Were you required to walk 500 miles? Were you advised to walk 500 more?
                You could be entitled to compensation. Call the Pro Claimers now!

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                • L Offline
                  lewiswadsworth
                  last edited by

                  Look at my post above...I've edited it.

                  col sporcar si trova

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                  • M Offline
                    Maverick83
                    last edited by

                    @solo said:

                    I did a straight conversion using Deep exploration.

                    Whant kind of software Deep exploration is?
                    Thanks

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                    • soloS Offline
                      solo
                      last edited by

                      favicon

                      (www.righthemisphere.com)

                      http://www.solos-art.com

                      If you see a toilet in your dreams do not use it.

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                      • L Offline
                        lewiswadsworth
                        last edited by

                        Your setting in Rhino for 3DS export is set to "more polygons" than necessary.

                        When you save from Rhino, which is a NURBS modeler, to 3DS format, which is a polygonal mesh format that SU can open, as soon as you choose the name of the new exported file you'll get this little window named "Polygon Mesh Options." Move the slider left and you get fewer triangles, right you get more. Why would you want more? Only if you were exporting a surface with complex curvature would you need more polygons to approximate that smooth NURBS surface. If you don't have curving surfaces, go for fewer polygons. In 3DS format, by "polygons", we mean triangles, so any four-sided surface in Rhino will become at least two triangles. SU surfaces can be polygons with more than 3 sides, as long as they are planar, so you will have to remove the extra edge in SU.

                        Untitled-1.jpg

                        By the way, Rhino 4 exports SU files with the correct plugin, free from McNeel.

                        http://en.wiki.mcneel.com/default.aspx/McNeel/ThreedWareHouse.html

                        Now, if your Solidswork file is already a high-polygon-count mesh in Rhino (which could happen if you imported it wrong), it will stay high-polygon-count when you export it as 3DS or as a SKP file. You'll need to fix it in Rhino using the _ReduceMesh command.

                        Curving surfaces from Rhino will always show multiple triangle faces in SU, unfortunately. The trick will be to use Rhino to get a mesh fairly close to what you want, and in Rhino clean it up with the eraser tool.

                        If you're ever stuck trying to import a really complex organic shape from Rhino to SU, there is a quick way to do it with the ExtractRenderMesh command in Rhino...you export the render mesh that the command creates to SU, so that what you get there is exactly what your video card was displaying in Rhino.

                        col sporcar si trova

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                        • M Offline
                          Maverick83
                          last edited by

                          Hi all
                          Thank you all for helping me.
                          I don't know... i have done exactly as lewiswadsworth said and actually i got my design imported in SU with only a few mesh lines that i successfully erased, but after that i've tried to import a little more complex item in SU and the result wasn't as good as the previous one...
                          This my SolidWorks part (a common screw):

                          http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/7052/vitext8.th.jpg

                          And this is the same screw imported in SU with 3 different mesh density setting (setting change done as lewiswadsworth told me):

                          http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/7951/oddiovn2.th.jpg

                          There are always too many meshes... It will take a hour to get rid of all those lines... ๐Ÿ˜ฎ
                          And i've even selected the merge faces option in SU...
                          Isn't there a way to send all those lines to hell without spending half the day? ๐Ÿ˜›
                          Thanks a lot!!

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                          • L Offline
                            lewiswadsworth
                            last edited by

                            @maverick83 said:

                            Hi all
                            Thank you all for helping me.
                            I don't know... i have done exactly as lewiswadsworth said and actually i got my design imported in SU with only a few mesh lines that i successfully erased, but after that i've tried to import a little more complex item in SU and the result wasn't as good as the previous one...

                            There are always too many meshes... It will take a hour to get rid of all those lines... ๐Ÿ˜ฎ
                            And i've even selected the merge faces option in SU...
                            Isn't there a way to send all those lines to hell without spending half the day? ๐Ÿ˜›
                            Thanks a lot!!

                            No, curving surfaces in SU will always be composed of multiple polygons, unlike what you see in Rhino or Solidworks (which have different methods of describing geometry). Your best bet is to completely select one of the screws (every part of it) and then Right-Click. In the context menu, choose "Soften/Smooth Edges"; when the window pops up, move the slider until the edges you want hidden are gone.Make sure you check the "Soften Coplanar" box.

                            They're not really gone, of course; they've been hidden and the face-normal spread between multiple polygons so that the multiple-surfaces look like one surface on your monitor. If you turn on View menu> hidden geometry, you can see and select the smoothed edges and individual polygon faces.

                            col sporcar si trova

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