Terrain2Sketch. Easy terrain in to Sketchup
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What do you think about the way Terrain2Sketch works.?
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Terrain2Sketch – Development Update (August 2026)
Hello everyone,
I thought I'd share another progress update on Terrain2Sketch, my macOS application for importing GeoTIFF terrain directly into SketchUp.
The project has now reached a point where I use it in real architectural projects, and during the last weeks several important improvements have been added.
The original goal has never changed:
Bring accurate terrain into SketchUp — fast, accurate and easy.
Current workflow
The workflow is now very straightforward.
Select a folder containing GeoTIFF files.
Terrain2Sketch automatically detects all adjacent tiles.
Choose export resolution (0.5 / 1 / 2 / 5 / 10 meters).
Optionally crop the terrain before export.
Generate an optimized terrain mesh.
Export directly to GLB.
Import into SketchUp with a single menu command.
The entire process usually takes only a few seconds for a normal building site.
GeoTIFF support
Terrain2Sketch has now been successfully tested with several different terrain datasets.
Norway
National Height Model (DTM)
National Surface Model (DOM)
EPSG:25833
32-bit Float GeoTIFF
United States
USGS 1-meter DEM
Successfully tested with:
32-bit Float
LZW Compression
Predictor 3
512 × 512 tiled GeoTIFF
LZW decoding is now implemented directly inside Terrain2Sketch.
Adaptive mesh generation
Instead of exporting every raster point directly, Terrain2Sketch creates an adaptive terrain mesh.
The result is:
far fewer triangles
much smaller GLB files
faster SketchUp imports
reduced memory usage
while still preserving the terrain detail where it actually matters.
Crop before export
One feature that has become extremely useful is cropping before mesh generation.
Instead of exporting an entire GeoTIFF tile, only the required area is processed.
Benefits include:
faster processing
smaller files
cleaner SketchUp models
much less unnecessary geometry
Coordinate information
Each export now generates a small information file containing:
GLB filename
source folder
EPSG code
projected center coordinates
latitude / longitude
terrain extents
number of GeoTIFF files used
This makes it easy to relocate or document exported terrain models later.
An interesting discovery
While testing Norwegian terrain data I discovered something that may be useful for others working with GeoTIFF files.
When ordering data from the Norwegian Mapping Authority, there is an enormous difference between downloading the complete source dataset and requesting a clipped export.
For one recent test:
Complete dataset
≈ 900 MB
Clipped to the order polygon
≈ 640 KB
Both datasets represented exactly the same project area.
The difference was simply that one contained a huge amount of unnecessary surrounding raster data.
Processing times became dramatically faster when using clipped datasets.
It was one of those "why didn't I discover this earlier?" moments.
SketchUp integration
Terrain2Sketch exports directly to GLB.
A small SketchUp extension imports the latest export automatically.
No OBJ conversion.
No intermediate software.
No manual file browsing.
Just one menu command inside SketchUp.
Orbit video export
The application can now also generate animated orbit videos directly from the terrain.
Both formats are supported:
Standard MP4
Transparent video (MOV with alpha)
This has turned out to be surprisingly useful when creating presentations and promotional material.
Current status
Implemented
Multi-tile GeoTIFF support
DTM
DOM
LZW compressed GeoTIFF
Adaptive mesh optimization
Multiple export resolutions
Crop before export
Terrain skirts
GLB export
Automatic SketchUp import
Coordinate information export
Standard orbit video
Transparent orbit video
What's next?
There are still plenty of ideas for future development.
Some possibilities currently being explored are:
Orthophoto workflow
Quad mesh export
Additional SketchUp workflow improvements
Windows version (long-term)
Final thoughts
Terrain2Sketch originally started as a small personal project because I was spending far too much time preparing terrain for SketchUp.
It has gradually evolved into a complete workflow that I now use almost daily in my own architectural work.
The amount of repetitive work it removes is honestly much larger than I expected when I started the project.
I'm looking forward to sharing more progress in the coming weeks.
As always, feedback, suggestions and testing ideas are very welcome.
Thanks for reading!
PS: I have also started creating short YouTube videos demonstrating the workflow. The first videos are already online, and I'll continue adding more as the project evolves. -
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