Problems Exporting a Sketchup File Into Archicad

[Anonymous]

I'm currently having a few problems exporting a sketchup model into archicad to create a roof structure i thought was impossible to achieve using Archicad alone.

So i created these roof structures of varying height and complexity with the intention of simply exporting into Archicad using the sketchup export add-on i have installed.

Yet when i attempt to export the file into Archicad i get absoloutely nothing..not even an error message saying it had failed...just a blank plan and nothing in 3d.

I have attached a screenshot of the roofs created in sketchup ready for export. If anyone can suggest any way of overcoming this problem i'd be extremely grateful

Thanks alot,

James

P.S Im using AC12 on a computer with dual core processor - 3GB RAM and 145GB Hard Drive

[Karl Ottenstein]

owen wrote:
.. but my understanding was the SketchUp conversion process would convert everything to 3 ArchiCAD elements - Slabs, Walls and Roofs. For ArchiCAD to import the SketchUp model it has to be something AC is capable of modeling with those tools...

This is part of the confusion / problem (but not the Mac one). Graphisoft has two separate SketchUp import functions. One is part of the Google Earth Connection. It will bring skp files in as objects. The other is the SketchUp importer, which attempts to convert skp surfaces into ArchiCAD elements.

They each appear in the interface in what I consider ambiguous ways. For example, Open > .skp is different than Merge > .skp and a few other ways that I cannot recall of getting to a skp file. You really never know what kind of import you are doing until you've begun and/or it is finished. So, perhaps Mac users are blessed by not having to be confused. 😉

Karl

[owen]

Karl wrote:

owen wrote:
.. but my understanding was the SketchUp conversion process would convert everything to 3 ArchiCAD elements - Slabs, Walls and Roofs. For ArchiCAD to import the SketchUp model it has to be something AC is capable of modeling with those tools...

This is part of the confusion / problem (but not the Mac one). Graphisoft has two separate SketchUp import functions. One is part of the Google Earth Connection. It will bring skp files in as objects...

Thanks Karl .. i did not know that the Google Earth Connection brought them in as objects not elements. It sounds very useful in theory (there is a huge range of SKP objects) but i guess its usefulness depends on how well the objects are converted (same issue with 3DS). I had previously tried bringing SKP objects in via 3DS but the results were always pretty terrible - lines where you dont want them, missing polygons, etc

I had never got around to firing up VMWare to test out direct import - do you think it is any better?

On the issue of the Mac Google Earth Connection .. a while back our local AC reseller came into my old office to do an AC12 introduction. Near the end he spent 5 mins getting everyone excited about the new Google Earth connection. But strangely when it came to actually showing a demo of the plugin he had 'forgotten to install it' on his (Mac) laptop. This was to an all-Mac office too, which he knew. I knew what the real problem was but didn't think calling him out on it in front of 50 people was the right thing to do..

[Anonymous]

Hey Everybody,

MAC USERS.....

Check into Bonzai3d (www.bonzai3d.com). Created by the people who developed FORM-Z. FREE BETA download. For MAC and PC. Saves to 30 file formats. Their technical people say "NO PROBLEM" exporting to Archicad. NURBS and BOOLEAN capabilities. Supposed to compete with Sketchup. Some say its better than Sketchup.

HTH,

Greg