ArchiCAD to Sketchup for 3D Print

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

So, I've had a look around and haven't found many posts for the direction of ArchiCAD to Sketchup.

I work with ArchiCAD models that use complex and custom profiles for walls, roofs, slabs, the lot. While it is relatively simple to export this information to Sketchup, it is entirely useless as each face of the complex profiles is modelled and a total nightmare to edit for renders, etc.

We have recently purchased a 3D printer and while models straight from Sketchup work great, it has major troubles with the vast amounts of extra data that comes from ArchiCAD. Is there a way to simplify all building elements? Mainly walls, roofs, and slabs, down to basic, without loosing wall thickness or reference lines, etc?

I can remove windows and doors, to leave them blank in the Sketchup export settings, but have not found an easy way to do the other tasks without selecting each type of building element by type and selecting 'basic' from there.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Barry Kelly]

You can save as STL (3D printer files) directly from Archicad (from the 3D window if memory serves me correctly).
Whether these will print successfully or not is another matter as it depends largely on the scale of your model.
Archicad can model very thin elements that get even thinner when scaled down that 3D printers can struggle with.

Barry.

[Link]

We have found that STL is the best format so far. Plus we send textures separately to our 3D print company as STL does not support colors or textures. Or solid models. AMF is another version that if it matures we hope GS will create export options for.

You can set up a view that turns off all doors and windows using model view options and layers and PSD to minimize what is included. You can also use find & select criteria to find and edit thin elements with a decent degree of success.

That said most models still require some editing before final printing as they are not 'waterproof'. So the model requires any holes to be fixed in another application before it is 3D printer ready. I believe this is mostly due to STL being such a 'dumb' format, but you can get STL model checkers to help you. Also scale may have something to do with their final accuracy, we haven't gotten around to checking that yet.

You can find more info at: helpcenter.graphisoft.com/tips/about-the-stl-out-add-on/

Cheers,
Link.