Sammy Migone Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Hi there, I am having serious difficulty rendering 3DS, DWG and Sketchup files in Vectorworks. I can import them and change them with no problem but there are in some sort of mesh (sorry my knowledge of cad is very limited) format, i.e. a bunch of unconnected lines. When I go to apply a texture, it is applied to every single area of the object/symbol resulting in an ugly surface, rather than if the texture was applied to a solid object. I've search the net and this forum high and low and have tried to convert to various other types of files and models without any luck. When I render the lines that make up the shape are visible. I also have turned on mesh smoothing with cease angle. Any suggestions or advice would be extremely appreciated as it's getting extremely frustrated especially when the solution is no doubt simple. Many thanks, Sammy Quote Link to comment
Sammy Migone Posted September 28, 2012 Author Share Posted September 28, 2012 Sorry I accidentally posted this in the wrong area, should be in the DWG import export area. Please forgive the newbie. Quote Link to comment
rDesign Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Sammy- Check out my posts in these previous threads on this topic. Re: Importing sketchup Re: import 3d studio file into vectorworks 12 And this is from a message that I sent to another user looking for assistance with importing Sketchup files into Vectorworks: In SketchUp, go to File > Export > 3d Model. On the Format pulldown at the bottom of that window select '3DS File (*.3ds)'. Click the Options button and select the following: Export: By Material Export two-sided faces as: Materials Export Standalone Edges Export Texture Maps > Favor: Preserving Texture Coordinates Leave the Scale Units as Model Units Click OK. Then click Export. That should create a file with the .3ds extension, and this is the file that you will import into Vectorworks. In Vectorworks, go to File > Import > Import 3DS (3D Only). Select the .3ds file you exported from Sketchup. On the Import 3DS Options window that pops up, make sure the the top two checkboxes are selected: Import Materials, and Import Textured Materials. Also make sure the Import Mesh Objects section is set to Import as Groups of 3d polygons and the 'Use Texture Materials to Texture' box should also be checked. Leave the Scale button alone for now, but you may need to return here if the scale is wrong. Be warned that after all of this, Vectorworks sometimes still will NOT import the textures and I don't know why. I haven't figured it out and Nemetschek has not been much help. If the scale of the object is off you'll have to try to match-up the Sketchup 3DS Export Scale with the Vectorworks 3DS Import scale, but you'll be on your own to fix this as it's usually just trial-and-error to get the correct scale. That's about all the help I can offer, best of luck. Regards, Tim HTH. Quote Link to comment
Sammy Migone Posted October 24, 2012 Author Share Posted October 24, 2012 Hi rDesign, thanks very much for the info, I will give it ago and hopefully it will work. Quote Link to comment
rDesign Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Sammy- Let me know if you have success or not. I usually find that it is easier to apply textures in SketchUp than in Vw. Regards, Quote Link to comment
Sammy Migone Posted October 27, 2012 Author Share Posted October 27, 2012 Just tried it now, importing a 3D flower and it worked like a charm! Thanks again for your help Quote Link to comment
John Pacyga Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 rDesign, In the VW import 3DS dialog box the "Import Textured Materials" is always grayed out no matter what I try. Is this step important and how to I activate the checkbox? Any other trouble shooting steps I could try to bring in a texture from SketchUp to VW 2013? Quote Link to comment
Ryan D Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Hi guys So i don't have SketchUp... I go to their website and download things i need. When try import SketchUp file in Vectorworks i can't manage to get the drawing to come in with all its colour and textures I've tried playing with all the option to import SketchUp file but i only get the drawing with thousands of polylines. Do i have to own sketchUp software up to get the drawing from the website with all its colours and textures into Vectorworks ??? Please advise Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Importing SketchUp didn't work so well in VW 2014, but it is working great now in VW 2015 ! Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee PVA - Admin Posted September 29, 2014 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted September 29, 2014 Hi guys So i don't have SketchUp... I go to their website and download things i need. When try import SketchUp file in Vectorworks i can't manage to get the drawing to come in with all its colour and textures I've tried playing with all the option to import SketchUp file but i only get the drawing with thousands of polylines. Do i have to own sketchUp software up to get the drawing from the website with all its colours and textures into Vectorworks ??? Please advise Having sketchup should not hurt or help SKP import. But unfortunately versions older than 2015 did not have the ability to import the textures/colors/materials as well as the 3D geometry. Give the Vectorworks 2015 demo a try with SKP import and see if you get the results you're looking for: http://www.vectorworks.net/trial/form Quote Link to comment
Markvl Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Ryan, I've had the same issue, but I'm using 2015. Works great. You just have to dig into the symbols that are part of the model and apply solids to them to get them to show up properly when you're in a render mode such as opengl, but if your using an older version then your situation is not so good. Hopefully you can upgrade. 2015 has been great so far. Cheers. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.