@bartektrebacz said:

Dear Samuel,
Thank you for making this plugin available to the public

Dear bartektrebacz,

It seemed natural and more "ethical" to release this plugin for free because it relies heavily on free public resources (such as Assimp and MeshLab) that are developed by other developers than me.

@bartektrebacz said:

[...] SketchUp crashes on import. I tried with multiple formats of the same model with no success I’m using SketchUp 17 Make version.

SketchUp 17 Make, OK. Can you please send me the file "uploads-files-955134-F22+ANUK.3ds" via Dropbox (or another file host) so I can inspect it?

@didier bur said:

I use Universal Importer to import an OBJ file that is exported from MeshMolder.
[...] the 435488 triangles from MM are converted to a 86702 triangles mesh in SU. But when importing, UI does say "The file has 435488 faces. Do you want to reduce the number of faces ?". The triangles decimation occurs even if I answer "No" to this message.

@didier bur said:

I've sent you the OBJ file via PM.

Hello Didier,

Thanks for providing this OBJ file. With upcoming version of Universal Importer, I ended up with 379808 faces in SU. Not perfect but better

Hi Didier,

I meant to say export the model to 435,488 faces from Meshmolder, then target 200,000 faces with Universal Importer to see how the plugin behaves... but never mind.

In your case, the polygon count goes down even if you don't ask Universal Importer for a reduction. This leads me to think that it is solely the conversion (done thanks to Assimp), which by an automatic optimization or correction, causes the loss of triangles.

Could you please send me the model you are trying to import?

Regards,

Hi Didier,

No, I didn't put such a limit in the Universal Importer plugin.

For information, polygon reduction is done thanks to MeshLab.

If you target 200 000 faces when the plugin proposes a polygon reduction, what is the final result in SketchUp?

If I understand well, you use a custom collection of .skm files?

Today, plugin categorizes materials automatically depending on a subtype-type dictionary... For example: "D:\Textures\Floor\Red Marble 02.skm" is categorized automatically in "Stone" because of "Marble" word.

Do you think it would be more relevant if plugin categorizes materials depending on filesystem hierarchy? We could filter materials by categories with a classic tree view at left.

Hello Jérôme,

I inspected the ".obj" file mentioned in your last message. It contains an empty "mtllib" statement, on line 7. This causes the "copy_stream" error...

While waiting for a fix in my plugin code, here is a workaround:

• Open the file "Bearded guy.obj" with a simple text editor.
• Delete line 7 (mtllib) then overwrite the file.
• Import the file again with the plugin.

Hello @satemorej

The compatibility with the OBJ format is high.

Can you, please, send me the files producing this error?

I would like to inspect every file (.obj, .mtl and textures) in the archive you downloaded.

@satemorej said:

Hi,
I have just installed Universal Importer.
I guess I missed some setting steps as whatever the file I try to import, there is an error message.

SKETCHUP PRO 2017 / MACOS Catalina

Thanks for your help
Best regards
Jerome

Hi Jérôme,

Did you also try to import a file in a "popular" format such as OBJ, FBX or glTF?

Compatibility with STEP format is low else broken... See this issue on GitHub.

Best regards,

Samuel

@whiteshadow said:

first problem:
made a box
to copy node, 6 copies
to move node, moved some distance
now, i have something line this:
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
how do i make a solid group of all these copies?

Do you mean put many groups in one group? If yes, there's a "Make group" node for that purpose. Then check Outliner panel...

@whiteshadow said:

another problem:
is there a way to randomly move copied opjects between a set range (distance between 2 boxes can be anything from 3 to 10, random distance between every copy)? if yes, how?

eg:
instead of getting
{■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■},

how can i get
{■ ■ ■■ ■ ■}

There's at least a way. Look at this "Random Gap" parametric schema, attached below to this post:

It's no yet documented but "Move" node accepts formulas to set dynamically X, Y and Z positions.

In formula: x + a + rand(b,c)

x is X position of Box in loop
a is Self Width of every Box
b is Min Gap between Boxes
c is Max Gap between Boxes

Random Gap.schema.zip

@Rich Thanks for your report.

.blend v3 files are no yet supported.

And .blend v2 support isn't very good, but next Universal Importer versions will support them better

In meanwhile, if you have only a .blend file as source: I recommend to first export this source to .fbx or .gltf from Blender, because FBX/glTF support is rather good in current Universal Importer version.

1.1.9 version fixes import of textures stored in non-system disk partitions, e.g. D:\path\to\texture.jpg

Download latest Universal Importer plugin from SketchUcation PluginStore.

Hello there, Universal Importer plugin v1.1.8 is compatible with Lord Of The Toolbars plugin v2.2a

Hello, I just released 1.1.8 version of SketchUp Universal Importer plugin It automatically imports missing textures, even if they are in neighboring folders:

Old versions asked too many questions! Sometimes, dozens of dialog boxes were displayed To speed up workflow, I added options that one can enable or disable from "Extensions > Universal Importer" menu.

Model is no longer resized. I may turn this model height question into an option but I would prefer to find an automatic solution to this issue.

Under macOS, model now seems to be imported right side up.

Universal Importer plugin is now compatible with Lord Of The Toolbars plugin from Fredo6.

There are less copies of temporary files. I will develop the next versions in this direction. Hard drive will be less stressed...

Download latest Universal Importer plugin from SketchUcation PluginStore.

@gomo25mail said:

Hello, great idea, BUT when I tried to reduce the face count on many items, they only went up in face count.
Windows 11, SketchUp Make 2017.
Example: Used a simple vehicle (Jeep.skp) with 7537 faces. Tried to reduce to 4000. Ended up with more faces.

Hello. Can you please send me this "Jeep.skp", as it is before polygon reduction attempt?

@virtualbreizh said:

Bonjour Samuel,
Merci pour votre plugin, cependant je n'arrive pas à le faire fonctionner sur Sketchup 19 Pro sur Mac. Je vois bien l'extension dans la liste des extensions mais la seule option disponible est "faire un don à l'auteur de l'extension" (ce que j'ai d'ailleurs fait )
Tristan Langlois

Hello Tristan,

You don't need to donate. This plugin is free. In SketchUp menu, use "File > Import with Universal Importer...". Do you want a refund?

--

Bonjour Tristan,

Vous n'avez pas besoin de faire un don. Cette extension est gratuite. Dans le menu de SketchUp, utilisez "Fichier > Importer avec Importateur Universel...". Voulez-vous être remboursé ?

@dougjoseph said:

Thanks for such a helpful plugin!

@dougjoseph said:

Whenever I try to import a simple 3mf file, the plugin asks me first for the model height. It shows a default of 1800 or some such. I don't know the height of the items I am importing. I have no way to know. Is there any way I can get it to accept the height of the model that is included in the model, which has a "unit" (almost always) of mm?

If you are unsure about model height: cancel dialog, import continues. Wrong scale is a known issue

A new version of Universal Importer plugin is coming... It will be less verbose and smarter about missing textures. Stay tuned!

Hi Greg,

@sketchucationgreg said:

The components often disappear in SketchUp upon modifying the schema. Adding and deleting nodes sometimes makes them reappear.

@samuel_t said:

Does this happen when you are typing a formula?

@sketchucationgreg said:

Yes.

Looks like a bug... Maybe the Parametric Modeling plugin tries to redraw the parametric entities while the schema is in a inconsistent state (incomplete formula).

@sketchucationgreg said:

Schema attached.

I don't see a .schema file attached to your post. You can send me a .skp file or maybe a .schema.zip file.

@sketchucationgreg said:

Thanks for your great modifications since it is a very useful tool now. Well done.

Greg, I'm happy to hear this plugin is useful!

@sketchucationgreg said:

1. The components often disappear in SketchUp upon modifying the schema. Adding and deleting nodes sometimes makes them reappear.

Does this happen when you are typing a formula?

@sketchucationgreg said:

2. Some nodes do not appear to be calculating but seem to have correct formula in them (see attachment)

The preview in Math nodes such as Divide can be empty. This is a known issue. It's only a display bug.

Can you please send me your .skp or .schema file?

@traupmann said:

The disabling of the Layer Organizer worked for all of the provided schemas but two. The files are below.

Decking on Pedastals Results.skp
Curved Shelf Result.skp

Sorry for the very late reply.
"Decking on Pedastals" appears empty.
"Curved Shelf" appears incomplete.
For both, I don't know why...

@traupmann said:

Here is a schema I developed
Arch.skp

Bravo and thank you for this great schema! I'll include it in the next Parametric Modeling plugin version.

@traupmann said:

Can you advise how to pass schema files?

Inside Nodes Editor, right-click in void. Select "Export schema to a file". Share exported .shema file