Bootcamp solution is your best choice.
Adding VMWARE on the OSX will link this independent WIN OS to your mac.
So you'll have two options. Run WIN in simulation mode (works perfectly for Office) or just boot from windows (CAD solutions)
You can even forget OSX and just use WIN by default. But... you may prefer the secure OSX. Which happens to be a much better OS if I may say.

If she is really blonde, then, Bootcamp, make WIN the default boot and let's forget the whole thing.

Another sculpting study on grecoromanStyle. Used 3dcoat for this.
Exported to blender as ~6 k mesh + displacement maps (UVs and baking in new zb4R4 - the best zb ever)

And how the nodes setup looks like. Excellent UI of cycles (if you follow me )
Though UV unwrapping is here, I textured it using new box-blended-mapping node of cycles. The cavity effect (dirt) via vertex painting / attributes of blender.

So at 150 dpi, you have a 118.5x61 cm (46.65x24 inches). print size. IMO go to SU limits.

@unknownuser said:

7000x3600 [at 150dpi] billboard

what 7000x3600 means? cm? inches? pixels? meters??

No, no, just sent them home.
You know what you have to do, don't you?

Excellent work.
Really impressive.
WOW.

@unknownuser said:

No way NYPD floor that clean though

or anywhere in the world.

OK,
the problem started on my mac after the first update of SU8.

Thanks thomthom
Try something heavier close the limit (64k single mesh)
As I mentioned, I can still import via SU7

Someone will confirm that 3ds import id broken under SU 8 all updates? Under OSX 10.6.8.
SU 7 is still working fine.

@chrisglasier

Though a little out of topic, I'll add my importing problem.
SU 8, mac build, all latest updates, OSX10.6.8: The 3ds importer is broken, crashes SU.

SU 7 works just fine.

Use the 3ds format!

1. Texture files must be in same directory as the 3ds file.

2. Texture file have to have max 8 digits names.

3. 3ds file, when a single mesh is included has to be less than 64K faces.
   However, 3ds file may include lot of groups-meshes, each of them less than 64 K faces.

4. Under macOSX, in newer builds of SketchUp8, 3ds importer is broken! I wonder when devs will have a look on this. I import using SU7 free.

5. You may face difficulties related with the scale of the model, in general, make it 10x bigger before exporting.

6. After you successfully have imported the 3ds, with UV textures, you can still edit the texture file (probably using Ps or Gimp)

7. In cases like using png transparent textures for leaves-foliage, you'll have textures assigned on the outer face-normal. Use the "UV toolkit" plugin to "frontface to backface"
   

@unknownuser said:

When rendering in C4D my mesh gives strange results in the geometry around the area where I used Round corners plugin. I think it's because of the triangulation. Any suggestions?

I'm a poor blender user. However, in C4d, try to weld vertices. SU does insist to export non welded vertices. If C4d has some option like tris to quads or similar, give it a try. In C4d, select all the mesh and ask for something like recalculate normals, or normals outside or similar.
I know nothing about C4d but I'm sure, these functions exist, maybe under a different name.

@unknownuser said:

this .3ds import triangulates everything and the resulting sketchup model doesn't exhibit the shading error.

SU obj exporter as well. A render engine will do the same when rendering. Kerky and Thea have solved the smoothing normals problem (it's called "termination problem"), other physically correct apps like octane, Kray, Cycles etc have not. So, wait for ugly artifacts, under certain circumstances of lighting.
What about using subdivisions/real displacements on such meshes? For exactly the same reason, what about importing such topology in zbrush, MudBox, sculptris, blender? The only solution will come via retopology methods. Quite not practical.

Anyway, there're some decent ways to model such things, non of them is supported in SU (IMO, it never will). SU user interface is against these principles of box modeling.

@ThomThom
This is a great work but what we need to model a cup of coffee is just box modeling. Meaning quads not tris. Just extruding, welding and subsurfing (catmull clark).

Yeah, blender.
Don't forget to delete possible internal faces (non manifolds) and ctrl+N for normals.

@unknownuser said:

...yet!

What do you have in mind thomthom?

Well, I tried with artisan,
Not practical though.
Subdivisions based on quads is missing. (catmull-clark)

Very nice suggestions, leading to terrible topology.
Don't try it if some real displacement gonna happen.
For exactly the same reason don't import it in zbrush or sculptris.

There's only one decent way to model such things and it's not supported in SU.

@unknownuser said:

They just need it in a STL file format, do we have a plugin I can buy for that.

And of course, there's TIGs obj exporter to blender. Export the STL from this app.
Blender, another swiss army knife.

In SU,
As suggested already
But: Add this -difficult to find these days- ruby.
Download it here:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/download/file.php?id=86061

This will remove inner faces (non manifolds).
Very important because:
In blender:
-Import the obj
-edit mode (TAB), [W] menu, remove doubles! This will weld all overlapping vertices automatically.
-Hit [ctrl+N], it's the shortcut for fixing normals. (it will be a mess if non manifolds/inner faces exist!)
SU UVs are still there and you may edit them in UV editor.

TIGs obj exporter is an excellent tool!
If you love blender (you should lol) and its new render engine (cycles), it's possible to model in SU only and just import.

Some important things to know about blender.
-You may wish to re scale SU imported objects. In this case after scale/rotation or other transformations, hit [ctrl+A], this brings up a menu, apply these data transformations. Now, bumps/displacements etc will work correctly.
(blender avoids to do this automatically for a good reason, it has to do with its particles/instancing system)
-you may face depth clipping in 3d view port. Under N panel / view, clip start-end, here your solution
-I suppose, you already edited the default preferences of blender, making it similar to SU.
-You already learned the shortcuts of transformations, yes?
[G] for move-grab, [G]+[x or y or z] for direction, [G]+[shift+z] for moving in xy plane, etc etc , yes?

You also learned how to use the excellent snapping methods of blender. If not, ask me.