Sketch up import

[Anonymous]

How do i import a sketchup file into ArchiCAD

[Anonymous]

Djordje,

did you see any announcement or proof of the acquisition?
I could only find rumors on the AutoDesk Viz discussion board dating back June 30th:

http://discussion.autodesk.com/thread.jspa?threadID=342211

( I believe Stefan has contributed to the thread:)

I've heard that suspicion when the marketing cooperation fell through, but that was way back, right when the Digital Architecture Europe roadshow was on - with Apple, GS and SketchUp ...

Pulling the plug on Architectural Studio by Autodesk was a recent event.

IFC 2.0 and earlier is not intended to transfer explicit geometry to the elements, so you would need IFC 2.x, and even then it is not easy to setup a "decent" and practical translation: you would need a lot of setup in the ArchiCAD translator, stuff the model with IFC data in SketchUp.

In this case the direct translator was the way to go.

[Anonymous]

While on the short term:

SketchUpDate - www.SketchUp.com - October 27, 2004

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies. "
-- Groucho Marx

What's New

We have some very exciting news this week! It is no secret that SketchUp is making a splash in the market. As we have said many times, this is due to the tremendous support of you, our users. Our growth has been so dramatic that we felt it was time to bring in some help. It is a joy to announce that Mark Sawyer is joining us as CEO and Rich Coons is coming into the team as VP of Sales and Marketing. Both of these guys have impressive backgrounds but, more importantly, they are passionate about SketchUp and the potential of @Last. Many of you may recognize Mark's name. He is a mechanical engineer by training who, amongst other things, headed up the AEC Group at Autodesk and most recently he was the number two guy at Graphisoft as VP Worldwide Field Operations. Mark is strong team builder and very down to earth.

[aahatimo]

Ferenc wrote:
Many of you may recognize Mark's name. He is a mechanical engineer by training who, amongst other things, headed up the AEC Group at Autodesk and most recently he was the number two guy at Graphisoft as VP Worldwide Field Operations. Mark is strong team builder and very down to earth.

ferenc,
you beat me to that post!
i wonder if this means we will get a su to ac link?
also, the sketchup newsletter did not hint at a autodesk take over, in fact they talk about: 'So what does this mean for you and the company? Are we going to go "corporate" on you? No more dorky newsletter? (That could be a blessing!) Suits and ties? ..... Hell no! Don't worry, were not changing any of the important stuff. These guys love who we are and embrace it. And by the way, I'm not going anywhere.'
anyway i hope sketchup stays out of autodesk microsoft and other's mitts.
btw these guys put out a great newsletter, it is worth reading even if you are not a su user.

[Anonymous]

I don't think they would hint an acquisition in any way shape of form before the official announcement. Wouldn't help negotiations, and Publicly traded companies have to be very careful to avoid big shareholder lawsuits.

I've met Mark and the newsletter's description of him is pretty good. I think he was hired to manage growth and take @Last to the next level (US, Japan and Europe) with implementation and execution. I believe Brad (founder, President and newsletter author) will be still calling the strategy ("vision thing" as he wrote in the newsletter).

As for what it will bring in the rumored acquisition front is yet to be seen, it can go either way. One thing for sure, Mark knows GS' attitude towards SketchUp, and knows the players both from AutoDesk and GS.

If there is an acquisition in the future he might have the right connections and some know-how in the wheeling dealing.

I too like their newsletter, the people in company and enjoyed meeting with them. Too bad I disappointed them (although I think part of it wasn't my fault).

[stefan]

oreopoulos wrote:
May i add a suggestion.
It might be usefull.

Instead of making an add-on to export to Archicad,
they could make a general export to IFC.
Much easier i think and highly portable.

I am not aware of how IFC is imlemented (i guess some xml structure) but i suppose if its saved as an IFC structure Archicad can import it (and not only archicad)..

What do you think?

In theory yes, but in practice not really workable.

IFC is not XML but based on EXPRESS (not that that would be a limitation),

IFC uses building elements: walls, windows etc... which SketchUp cannot provide. You could follow the approach from the plugin, so vertical surfaces become walls, horizontal ones become floors & sloped ones become roofs.

And Easier? I'm not sure. OBJ-export is easy. 3ds-export is reasonably easy. IFC export is much more involved.

But the idea is not bad.

[stefan]

Ferenc wrote:
Djordje,

did you see any announcement or proof of the acquisition?
I could only find rumors on the AutoDesk Viz discussion board dating back June 30th:
http://discussion.autodesk.com/thread.jspa?threadID=342211
( I believe Stefan has contributed to the thread:)
...

Damn, there goes my undercover!

[Djordje]

Ferenc wrote:
Djordje, did you see any announcement or proof of the acquisition?

No, just my habit of reading between the lines ... and being a true follower of Lt.Col. Murphy : "If anything can go wrong, it will!"

Optimism is my middle name!

[Anonymous]

I thought Murphy was the optimist...

[Djordje]

Ferenc wrote:
I thought Murphy was the optimist...

Incurable!

[SeaGeoff]

Ferenc wrote:
One thing for sure, Mark knows GS' attitude towards SketchUp...

Care to elaborate?