Exploding sketchup model for 3DS import

[troypackham]

Hi all,

 

At work a lot of people work in sketchup and then I import their models into 3ds max... The way i have been doing it is to explode all of the components and groups, so that objects come in on a by layer basis (one for each material) rather than one mesh per component (resulting in 1000s of meshes which max cant handle. The trouble is with massive models the exploding process takes forever/crashes. Does anyone know of a better way to get objects into max separated by layer?

 

Thanks

 

Troy

[Greg Davis]

Hey Troy,

I'm trying to figure out a good solution to the same problem. After a little research I found this: http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/condense-by-material Haven't had a chance to try it out yet. If you have a go with it, please let me know what you think. I believe I'll be trying it out on a project later next week...I'll post my results, also. Hope someday to find a magic bullet for sketchup to 3ds...

[SkylineArch]

In SketchUp, export the model as a .3ds, by material. I've been doing it that way for years and it works great. You get the geo split up by material, so it's really easy to apply the new shaders in Max.

[troypackham]

In SketchUp, export the model as a .3ds, by material. I've been doing it that way for years and it works great. You get the geo split up by material, so it's really easy to apply the new shaders in Max.

 

Thanks Mark, I tried that but the model still came in as thousands of parts, do actual materials have to be applied to each object in sketchup, or can it be done on a 'by layer' basis.

[SkylineArch]

You can export by hierarchy, layer, material or single object.

 

Yes, materials need to be applied. You can leave the default "front color" on object you want all the same though.

 

But, materials can be as simple as a color, naming it "glass", "stucco", "trim, etc helps out a lot when it gets to max, just remember the export cuts the name off after 8 characters.

 

However, I use materials with texture maps, the same diffuse maps I'll use in Max, so my objects come over UV'd