SketchUp Modeling for other applications

Sempie

Hi - My name is Sam, and I'm both new to this forum and the SketchUp program.

I'm trying my hand at the free version of SketchUp and a freebie Obj-exporter,
and I basically want to use SketchUp to create simple models for use in other applications,
most notably Poser or DAZ Studio.

I've tried my hand at some basic modeling (A classic Tupperware bowl shaped food
container) and found out that using the basic settings, the model exports with
too few faces and does not appear smooth in other programs.

I added extra sides to both the circle and curve tools, using the FollowMe tool to
create the bowl, but that makes SketchUp very slow, and the resulting meshes quite
heavy with polygons.

I also noticed that models created through the FollowMe tool all have
square faces, making it difficult to perform subdivision smoothing in other
applications.

Are there already some tutorials on this matter, or does anybody know
of workarounds?

liam887

@sempie said:

Hi - My name is Sam, and I'm both new to this forum and the SketchUp program.

I'm trying my hand at the free version of SketchUp and a freebie Obj-exporter,
and I basically want to use SketchUp to create simple models for use in other applications,
most notably Poser or DAZ Studio.

I've tried my hand at some basic modeling (A classic Tupperware bowl shaped food
container) and found out that using the basic settings, the model exports with
too few faces and does not appear smooth in other programs.

I added extra sides to both the circle and curve tools, using the FollowMe tool to
create the bowl, but that makes SketchUp very slow, and the resulting meshes quite
heavy with polygons.

I also noticed that models created through the FollowMe tool all have
square faces, making it difficult to perform subdivision smoothing in other
applications.

Are there already some tutorials on this matter, or does anybody know
of workarounds?

You can manually triangulate the faces or you can use this http://artisan4sketchup.com/

pilou

Problem with this exporter by TIG is that seems edges are not "welded"!

So a work around with Blender
Import OBJ
Select Object
TAB = mode edit
Press A for select All (yellow color)

T = Left Panel
Select "Remove double" and click
TAb = return mode object

You have now an object who can be Subdivided !
a cube--> a sphere

IdahoJ

I create items in SU for my wife who uses Poser and DAZ Studio, exporting them first with TIG's excellent .obj exporter plugin. Two other tools you might find useful: MeshLab and Wings3D.
MeshLab: http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/
Wings3D: http://www.wings3d.com/

MeshLab is sort of a "swiss army knife" when it comes to mesh operations, lots and lots of mesh operations ...
Wings3D has a nice facility for triangulating quads, has a decent UV mapper and exports .obj, both UV mapped and non-mapped, that can be imported directly in to both Poser and DAZ.

Cheers.

TIG

'My' OBJ exporter always triangulates ALL faces and uses 'm' units, and it also flips YZ axes. These are also options in the Pro OBJ exporter too... the faces are grouped by container+material...

Sempie

Thanks, Liam887, Pilou, Idahoj and TIG for your quick replies.

I read in another forum of another modeler with a similar problem between SketchUp and Poser - his problem involved a large dome made of glass. I guess the transparency settings are really what causes most of the problems - these setting reveal any flaw a mesh will have.

To show you what I'm talking about - two tryout bowlshapes. The smooth one is over 40 MB in size, with a humungous amount of polygons, and the SU FollowMe tool chocking at it for over two hours; the other one has its faces clearly visible (DS4 render, high quality 3Delight using an Uberenvironment 2 light preset)

[xxl-img:3bew57q5]http://www.daz3d.com/index.php?&ACT=50&fid=5&aid=16004_0ZMjRlHHjHJcxad7Lnh7&board_id=1[/xxl-img:3bew57q5]

The second image shows the polygons on both of these models

[xxl-img:3bew57q5]http://www.daz3d.com/index.php?&ACT=50&fid=5&aid=16008_OYyP2rNPphEGF9rWqm97&board_id=1[/xxl-img:3bew57q5]

In Poser 4, the problem does not show up:

[xxl-img:3bew57q5]http://www.daz3d.com/index.php?&ACT=50&fid=41&aid=15956_T6EnVBiyXZ3R0VPnlxIf&board_id=1[/xxl-img:3bew57q5]

I'm first going for the cost-free solutions, and have downloaded Blender, Wings3D and MeshLab, to see what can be achieved there.From what I read about Artisan it should add some really powerful subdivision tools to SU, but I'm a bit short on dough right now, so that will be for the future.

I'd like to stick with SU for most of the initial modeling because of its ease of use.

Gaieus

Sam, please (if you have not done this yet), try to group your bowl in SketchUp and export the model with this grouped geometry (rather than raw geometry) included.