Section cut maintaining layers
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Hey guys,
I'm trying to export 2D drawings, such as sections, facades and top plan views, in .dwg from SU. I've recently noticed that the edge colours are exported along with the dwg and thus, i can pass my layer organization to the .dwg, which is of great help.
When i try to export anything with a section cut, i get its edges inside a layer, alright, but they all appear inside the layer, without retaining the material reference or layer colour.
Is there any plugin or method you can think to achieve the desired effect? I've searched the forum and the internets and couldn't think of anything apart from writing a new plugin from scratch.
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Hey
One option is to use color by layer, that is, if your model is well organized into layers. Then, set the current style to show edges according to materials (the other options are all same and by axis). Once exported, in your cad package use selection filters to pick lines based on their color, and move them to the desired layer.
Cheers
Santiago
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Hi Santiago,
First of all, thanks for your reply.
As i mentioned previously, i'm already doing exactly as you said. I have no problem in retrieving everything that is away from the section plane in the right colours and thus pass'em to the correct layers. The problem is that everything that is being cut by it is exported either on Layer0 or on the SectionCutEdges layer.
I need some method to make a section cut group with everything that the section plane intersectes on the respective layers or some other method to leave my final DWG in the correct colours.
So the problem remains.
Thanks though!
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Are you exporting 2D or 3D - 3D should keep the layering as the SKP - Set elevation view without perspective...
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Yeap, i'm exporting in 2D. Since i have to apply hatches, dimensions and all that stuff later, it would eventually have to become 2D.
If i were to export in 3D, it would be too much of a hassle to clean it all on a CAD program later. I've tried using the flatten command previously and let's just say it doesn't like very complex geometry (it actually has a problem with drawings that are both large and have small details).
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Why not export in 2d and 3d? Using each version for different purpose. If you have a 3D drawing it just seem cumbersome to convert to 2d and then back to 3d.
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Hi,
Have you tried exporting a 2d section slice, and then overlaying that over your initial 2d hlr? I don´t have pro here at the office to test it out, but i think that option will keep more info of your model (components).
Cheers,
santiago
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@thom
I'm just starting to project and design the whole buildings and objects in 3D and at the very end i need to produce some sort of 2D information for the people to make'em real.So i'm not getting it back to 3D. I'm just turning the 3D model into 2D drawings. Section cuts, facades, and top plans are my main goal here, since they're the tools used to actually build the project.
@santiago
I've tried that, and it's all on the same layer. Either Layer0 or SectionCutEdges, depending on how i export it. -
Hi, sorry to hear that. This could probably be a bug, because it used to work waaay back (say sketchup 4.... or even 3), when part of the idea of sketchup was to play well with other programs. I even remember there was a video tutorial showing the workflow between sketchup and adt, and part of the process involved replacing sketchup components with adt ones, exported from a 2d section slice.
Might be worth reporting...
cheers
s
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hey,
just figured it out.
Create groups from your model, based on the layers you want to create in cad.
Create a 2d section slice from your model, turn that group into a component, save that out.
Open that section in a new session of sketchup, and then export it as a 3d dwg model. This should make components into blocks in acad.
See the attached video. I didn´t export it, since i don´t have pro here.
Good luck
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Many thanks for your help, Santiago. That video was very helpful.
It does work in a way. I have all the geometry grouped now, but all in the same layer/with the same colour. So i have to merge the two files (the one with the geometry that has been cut and the one with the geometry in plain view) manually place each block in its respective layer. I need them in separate layers in order to change line widths and to keep it organized.
This ammount of work would be similar to go crazy on boundaries on CAD, making it all on the correct layer from the simple SectionCutEdge layer.
I'm starting to think i'll have to modify the SectionCut Face plugin in order to put things in their respective layers.
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