Export sketchup to 3D pdf file?

I have Simlab, it is not the best, you have to put a lot of post work in the simlab software to make it look good and there is a file size limit, which they don't tell you about.

But I would try it out.

BrooksL

Has anyone got experience with the SimLab or other 3D PDF conversion/exporting?

I thought 3D PDF from SketchUp would be a great way to simplify drawing output and give contract manufacturers a way to view commented, 3D part designs.

However, we've run into a number of significant 'gothcha' problems with this - at least with the SimLab 2.4 pluggin...

The SimLab 2.4 pluggin exports only 2D plane 3D geometry; it does NOT export points, lines, guides, text, nor dimension entities - which makes it practically impossible to create a fully commented/annotated 3D model in PDF.

There are also some buggy problems using Acrobat Reader and I'm not sure whether they are on the SimLab side or the Adobe Acrobat Reader side:

Regardless of what units I draw the model in and what units I set Acrobat Reader to use, the Reader measurements always display in meters. [yes, I prefer SI, but some mfgs only build in inches]
1a) Most of our machines have Reader 9.5.1 because Reader X (10) implemented many significant UI changes that really aren't so slick (as short-sighted as MicroSoft suddenly moving to the ribbon interface). Regardless, Reader X does have an additional option for units scale and I can set 0.0254 units = 1 in and then Reader X will show measurements in inches, but this requires manual intervention each time and is not available in earlier (and still considered current) versions of Adobe Reader.
Acrobat Reader also seems to be buggy between versions with the measure enable;
2a) both Reader 9.5 and Reader X react a little differently when measure is enabled by the SimLab export configuration vs when measure/analysis is enabled via Acrobat Pro and then the file opened in Reader. When enabled in Acrobat Pro, measure options show up on the Reader toolbar and in the drop-down menu. ...it's like measure is not 'fully' enabled when done in the SimLab export.
2b) in reader 9.5.1, the measure mode cursor is a circle with a line through it - the "Unavailable" mouse cursor, and it often obscures the inferred measuring point. This problem was not seen in Reader X. Is this a known issue?

Has anyone else encountered similar problems? Are these problems surmountable? Do other 3D PDF exporters solve these issues?

-- BrooksL

ashraf

Tobobo,

First we are thankful for using SimLab 3D PDF, and we are really believe it is the best and it can handle more complex model.
We still are aiming to make it better, please send any files that did not work to support@simlab-soft.com and we will check it for you.

Thanks,

Ashraf

Vigy

If you got one of the latest versions Photoshop then you can export your SU model to Google Earth File (.kHz) and then import it to Photoshop and follow the instructions below.

Right click on the 3D layer thumbnail
Select Export 3D layer
Name the file and select U3D from the Format dropdown menu
Click the Save button
The 3D Export Options dialogue box will open.
Make sure that JPEG is selected from the Texture Format dropdown
Use ECMA1 for the U3D Options

The steps above exported the Photoshop layer to a U3D file. The U3D file can now be published to PDF.

Open Adobe Acrobat X
Select File>Created PDF>From File
Browse to the U3D file you saved earlier
An Insert 3D dialogue box will open. Select OK (You may want to check out the “Advanced” options by clicking on the Show Advanced Options check box. There are some neat options to play around with).
Click on your 3D object to interact with it. Also notice the 3D tool bar that appears.

Cool! Now anybody with Acrobat Reader can view your 3D content!

See link with images http://blogs.adobe.com/edtechatadobe/2011/09/publish-photoshop-3d-layers-to-pdf.html

dmatho

... and, if you want a more enhanced performance from the 3D-PDF, I'd suggest looking at Quadrispace.

Cheers,

. Diego .

gbing

Hi to all. A very good companion for Sketchup is Designspark Mechanical also with 3D pdf output.
It is based on Spaceclaim and it is free!

Giovanni