Exporting *to* Sketchup

[td4stage]

Hello all,

I am doing a scenic design consisting mostly of platforms of different levels. The platforms all have fairly intricate outlines. I was kind of hoping to create a 2d drawing and export it to Sketchup and try and manipulate it a bit there. I export my file as a dwg and it successfully imports into SU, and I was hoping to be able to grab each item and either push or pull them into shape. The thing is, is that it imports as one big mass of lines...nothing that I can manipulate. I posted this same question on the SU forum and somebody has made a page detailing sending AutoCAD files to SU at:

http://www.chrisfullmer.com/la3d/cad/cadexport.html

I think I can accomplish some of the items from the list but not all of them! Has anybody found a method of doing what I am talking about?

Thanks in advance!

Pat

[jan15]

Basically, what's needed is a DWG file in which all the intersections are precise, with no gaps or overlaps. Sketchup has difficulty distinguishing between an intersection and an endpoint that's very close to it. And it has no built-in way to get rid of such problems. If the "Label Stray Lines" script works the way Fullmer describes, that would help; but I have no experience with it.

In a VectorWorks plan, the easiest way to ensure that all intersections are precise is to draw everything as polylines. If you've already got a plan made up of lines, you can use the Compose command, which will convert all lines with precise intersections to polylines. That can serve as a test, and you can use the Join command to correct any intersections that aren't precise.

DWG's always come into Sketchup as lines only. You make a surface appear by re-drawing any of the lines that form its boundary. That doesn't always work. It may help to erase the line first. Fullmer says you can create all the surfaces in one fell swoop by using the "Make Faces" script, which I've never heard of before. If it works as described, it'll save a lot of time.

I don't know why Fullmer thinks it's important to get rid of duplicate lines in the DWG file. Maybe they are one of the reasons why surfaces don't always appear when they should. I don't know much about this, because I don't often go to all the trouble that's needed to bring a DWG file successfully into Sketchup.

I always start out in Sketchup, drawing the plan there. SU is actually pretty good at that. After creating the 3D geometry in SU, I export 2D views of it to DWG. Apparently you can use VectorWorks 12's Sketchup plug-in to bring the 3D model directly into VectorWorks (I don't know because I don't do 3D work in VW). Either way, it shouldn't involve all the extra work that the DWG to SU transition does.