SketchUp to Viz 2005

[jward9606]

Does anyone use sketchup to model buildings and then import them into viz to render? I had to export out of sketchup to autocad and then import into viz. I really don't know how to apply materials to individual items. My model is one big entity and I can't seem to separate out things like doors, windows, walls, roofs, etc....

[rdaniel]

Woo Hoo on your 1st post!

I like using the attached method.

[jward9606]

hey thanks, I'll give this a shot.

[jward9606]

Ok now what is the best way to do this. Any suggestions on settings. I was able to bring in a SU model, but it has a bunch of holes in it and my materials look like ****.

[rdaniel]

Well, materials are going to look like $#@*. They came out of Sketch-Up. You'll have to modify them in Max / Viz.

The pdf goes over the settings in pretty good detail. Honestly, I haven't done this process in about 9 months, so I'm a little rusty, but I think the By Geometry worked best. If I remember correctly, SU will make all the objects of the same material one object in the 3DS. This makes it easy for changing the materials / applying new ones. If you have a lot of holes, I imagine that you might have some faces that are flipped. Before you export from SU, view the model in monochrome mode and make sure none of your faces are reversed.

[jward9606]

Ok, I think I am understanding how this works. I was able to export and import ok. The problem I have now is some of my materials look like they have been stretched. For example. I have brick on an endwall. It starts out looking fine but half of it looks like it's stretched or skewed. It does this on some and not all. Do you know how to fix this?

[rdaniel]

Hmmmm.. Not sure what's causing the problem. You might check the UVW mapping (in VIZ) and make sure the proportions / dimensions are correct. You can manually skew them. Are you applying materials in SU or Viz?

[jward9606]

I am importing the materials from SU

[rdaniel]

Again, you will likely need to modify your materials in VIZ. SU doesn't have the sophistication to create realistic materials. If you can't find the UVW map properties for the object, you will need to apply it as a modifier to the object (sorry, if I'm insulting your intelligence - don't know how new to VIZ you are).

[jward9606]

I took a class on Viz and did well in it. It's been a while now since I have used the program. I do most of my modeling in SU and import into AutoCAD and render using AccuRender. I now want to utilize Viz for more of a realistic rendering and still do my modeling in SU. Do you recomend not even importing SU materials?