Arcs imported from AutoCad look horrific
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I'm importing a very large parking lot from AutoCad into Sketchup 2021 Pro. The parking lot contains tons of arcs. The arcs (smooth as silk in AutoCad) look very segmented and are unusable in Sketchup. Is there any way I can fix this issue so that the Arcs are smooth in Sketchup without redrawing all of the arcs?
From what I've researched online, I might be able to fix each one using entity info (haven't tried), but is there any way to do this globally after importing the file? Perhaps using an extension?
I'd really appreciate any help.
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If when you select it, the thing is shown as an Arc in SketchUp and the number of segments has a white background, you can edit the number to make it appear smoother. Otherwise you'll need to redraw them.
You might be able to convert a series or exploded edge segments into an arc using Lines 2 Arc from the Extension Store.
The general wisdom is to use your CAD import as a guide for drawing the geometry in SketchUp rather than trying to use the imported CAD geometry directly. It's not unusual for the imported geometry to have more problems than just the low res arcs.
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Can you share a portion of that dwg here?
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@dave r said:
If when you select it, the thing is shown as an Arc in SketchUp and the number of segments has a white background, you can edit the number to make it appear smoother. Otherwise you'll need to redraw them.
You might be able to convert a series or exploded edge segments into an arc using Lines 2 Arc from the Extension Store.
The general wisdom is to use your CAD import as a guide for drawing the geometry in SketchUp rather than trying to use the imported CAD geometry directly. It's not unusual for the imported geometry to have more problems than just the low res arcs.
Thanks, I made a discovery this morning with this model. I went back to the Cad file and made sure I didn't have any lines on top of other lines. I then started a new sketchup file, and imported the cad base without preserving the drawing origin (it was really far away before from the origin). One or both of these two things seems to have made a massive difference in the linework in Sketchup, much improved.
I've installed the lines 2 arc extension you mentioned and that does work ok.
Question though, for the parts of the model that I will need to redraw completely in Sketchup, is it better to leave the imported base as a component, unexploded, and just draw new lines and arcs over that information, so that I don't have issues with lines merging (getting sticky) with the base information? For example, the parking lot, the first thing I want to do is make the edge of pavement a continuous closed line so Sketchup can make it a face. Is there a better way to go about it?
My Sketchup knowledge is limited so I hope you guys will pardon my basic questions.
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@bsquared said:
Question though, for the parts of the model that I will need to redraw completely in Sketchup, is it better to leave the imported base as a component, unexploded, and just draw new lines and arcs over that information, so that I don't have issues with lines merging (getting sticky) with the base information?
Yes. This would be a good workflow once you've got what you need drawn in SketchUp, delete the CAD drawing component and purge unused components from the model.
Make sure you are creating the new geometry untagged. Once you've completed it, make a group or component to contain that geometry and give the group or component a tag if you wish so you can control its visibility.
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Interestingly some of the curves come in as arcs while some are exploded.
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This is the import settings. It's rather basic.
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@dave r said:
@bsquared said:
Question though, for the parts of the model that I will need to redraw completely in Sketchup, is it better to leave the imported base as a component, unexploded, and just draw new lines and arcs over that information, so that I don't have issues with lines merging (getting sticky) with the base information?
Yes. This would be a good workflow once you've got what you need drawn in SketchUp, delete the CAD drawing component and purge unused components from the model.
Make sure you are creating the new geometry untagged. Once you've completed it, make a group or component to contain that geometry and give the group or component a tag if you wish so you can control its visibility.
I was just kind of throwing that idea out there, is that typically how one would model a parking lot? By keeping the base a component? Or is it better to explode it if the linework looks good, and just make the arcs continuous?
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@gus r said:
This is the import settings. It's rather basic.
[attachment=0:1tjhg4zi]<!-- ia0 -->Dwg Import Settings.PNG<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:1tjhg4zi]
Thanks for checking it out. My new model this morning looked as good as yours, I'm thinking the origin setting might have been the culprit. I'd read on other threads about sketchup not behaving properly when the model is placed really from from the origin. The last import I did, I checked all of those boxes except 'preserve drawing origin'. Perhaps 'merge coplanar faces' and 'orient faces consistently' should remain unchecked?
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@bsquared said:
@gus r said:
This is the import settings. It's rather basic.
[attachment=0:28qxhv9g]<!-- ia0 -->Dwg Import Settings.PNG<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:28qxhv9g]
Thanks for checking it out. My new model this morning looked as good as yours, I'm thinking the origin setting might have been the culprit. I'd read on other threads about sketchup not behaving properly when the model is placed really from from the origin. The last import I did, I checked all of those boxes except 'preserve drawing origin'. Perhaps 'merge coplanar faces' and 'orient faces consistently' should remain unchecked?
I got the origin warning too which I ignored. The only setting I have checked is "import materials."
Maybe try exploding some polylines?
Sketchup doesn't use an infinite line for curves. They're always going to be comprised of segments. The more segments or edges the smoother the curve. Draw back is that will eventually create a larger skp and slow down SU.
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@bsquared said:
is that typically how one would model a parking lot? By keeping the base a component? Or is it better to explode it if the linework looks good, and just make the arcs continuous?
Most experienced users would use the imported CAD drawing as a reference for making clean geometry in SketchUp and then discard the imported geometry. How you divide the cleanup geometry is up to you. It might make sense to group all of the geometry for the parking lot after you've made it 3D or maybe you want to group the islands and the surrounding curbs separately. Depends on what you need to show and how you need to show it.
Perhaps the islands are optional or maybe there are different arrangements of the islands being considered. If that's the case, grouping them separately would make it easier to show the different options. You could have tags for Island Option A and Island Option B and show one set of islands or the other. Or show no islands. Lots of possibilities.
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@gus r said:
@bsquared said:
@gus r said:
This is the import settings. It's rather basic.
[attachment=0:3ukwnwe5]<!-- ia0 -->Dwg Import Settings.PNG<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:3ukwnwe5]
Thanks for checking it out. My new model this morning looked as good as yours, I'm thinking the origin setting might have been the culprit. I'd read on other threads about sketchup not behaving properly when the model is placed really from from the origin. The last import I did, I checked all of those boxes except 'preserve drawing origin'. Perhaps 'merge coplanar faces' and 'orient faces consistently' should remain unchecked?
I got the origin warning too which I ignored. The only setting I have checked is "import materials."
Maybe try exploding some polylines?
Sketchup doesn't use an infinite line for curves. They're always going to be comprised of segments. The more segments or edges the smoother the curve. Draw back is that will eventually create a larger skp and slow down SU.
Thank you I'll give that a try.
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@dave r said:
@bsquared said:
is that typically how one would model a parking lot? By keeping the base a component? Or is it better to explode it if the linework looks good, and just make the arcs continuous?
Most experienced users would use the imported CAD drawing as a reference for making clean geometry in SketchUp and then discard the imported geometry. How you divide the cleanup geometry is up to you. It might make sense to group all of the geometry for the parking lot after you've made it 3D or maybe you want to group the islands and the surrounding curbs separately. Depends on what you need to show and how you need to show it.
Perhaps the islands are optional or maybe there are different arrangements of the islands being considered. If that's the case, grouping them separately would make it easier to show the different options. You could have tags for Island Option A and Island Option B and show one set of islands or the other. Or show no islands. Lots of possibilities.
Thanks, I appreciate your help. Just to make sure were on the same page, you would draw the new raw geometry 'on the outside' of the base component (without going 'inside' the component to redraw the linework). And then once you have everything drawn, you'd just delete the original base component. The advantages being that you can then make all the new linework it's own group and seperate from any other linework in the base that could potentially merge and cause problems with the parking lot?
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@bsquared said:
Just to make sure were on the same page, you would draw the new raw geometry 'on the outside' of the base component (without going 'inside' the component to redraw the linework).
Yes. Creating your new geometry outside of the imported component will prevent the new from merging with the old.
@bsquared said:
And then once you have everything drawn, you'd just delete the original base component.
Yes. And purge the unused componets from the In Model components.
@bsquared said:
The advantages being that you can then make all the new linework it's own group and seperate from any other linework in the base that could potentially merge and cause problems with the parking lot?
That's one benefit. The other benefit is that the new geometry you create should be clean. No broken edges, gaps, or overruns that are common in .dxf and .dwg files. Also consistent numbers of segments in arcs which makes things easier to work with.
Note that as Gus indicated, you can use larger number of sides for arcs if you want. Be careful with that. There is a point of diminishing returns as you increase the number of sides. Large numbers can create performance and other issues while not really improving the model. As you work with circles and arcs, I think it makes sense to use some multiple of 12 segments. That way they are divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6.
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Always place your project close to 0,0! Your linework is 10 parsec from file's origin and it causes jaginess. you must relocate it close to 0. Also check all options in Import options except 'import materials'
And finally, to change default segmentation if imported arcs:
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=352084#p593781
you could set 96 for instance.
P.S. work wisely - build curbs with profile builder. -
Another advantage of creating new geometry is that some objects may be identical--so instead of drawing everything in place from imported parts, you may make one component and place it in multiple locations, using the imported drawing as guide in placement. In a parking lot even things like the planters or whole rows of parking hardscape may be identical, or mirrored--so redrawing each from the import would make no sense.
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@rv1974 said:
Always place your project close to 0,0! Your linework is 10 parsec from file's origin and it causes jaginess. you must relocate it close to 0. Also check all options in Import options except 'import materials'
And finally, to change default segmentation if imported arcs:
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=352084#p593781
you could set 96 for instance.
P.S. work wisely - build curbs with profile builder.Thanks!
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@pbacot said:
Another advantage of creating new geometry is that some objects may be identical--so instead of drawing everything in place from imported parts, you may make one component and place it in multiple locations, using the imported drawing as guide in placement. In a parking lot even things like the planters or whole rows of parking hardscape may be identical, or mirrored--so redrawing each from the import would make no sense.
Makes sense, I'm definitely trying to learn to be more efficient with it.
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