Converting from SketchUp 7 to Vue

There have been so many questions lately about how to move a model from the free version of SketchUp 7 into Vue 7 (Infinite, xStream or Complete). Here’s a tutorial on what I’ve found works.

Free OBJ export plugin for SketchUp can be found HERE.
UPDATE: NEW METHOD FOR EXPORTING FROM SU TO VUE
Thanks to Alex Jenyon, a great discovery today.

1. Using the Free version of Google Sketchup (v7 anyway), export your model to Google Earth (.kmz)
2. Change the file extension to .zip
3. Open the zip file, and inside the “models” folder is a .dae file which is the Collada version of your SKP model!
4. Import the Collada model into Vue, and (for some unknown reason), scale it by a factor of 3.937 and it will match the Sketchup dimensions.

Not bad huh?

Thanks Alex!

Quote – “4. Import the Collada model into Vue, and (for some unknown reason), scale it by a factor of 3.937 and it will match the Sketchup dimensions.”
Vue’s internal unit is 1dm and 3.937 is the conversion factor to inches.

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5 Responses to Converting from SketchUp 7 to Vue

  1. Ignacio April 10, 2009 at 5:02 am #

    thanx to go more deep in the tutorial chipp
    nacho

  2. craftycurate April 10, 2009 at 10:42 am #

    Hi Chipp … thanks again for a helpful tutorial. I didn’;t know about the “Split” function to separate out shading domains.

    Su7 import is quite temperamental in Vue 7 – a small change in the SU model can cause Vue 7 to throw up a “cannot read” error.

    Thanks
    Richard

  3. JCD May 31, 2009 at 3:37 pm #

    Thanks for the tips on this Chipp, now I don't have to keep reseting my pro demo for export ;)

    BTW, for the Mac users out there, the slick .obj plug-in goes System> Library> App Support> Google Sketchup 7> Sketchup> Plugins

  4. jartz June 19, 2009 at 9:08 pm #

    Many, many thanks Chipp Walters for the info. I can import .dae (Collada) files done in SketchUp nicely in Vue 7 (the PLE version), I certainly hope that it can do wonders in Esprit.

    Much appreciated.

  5. Like Central June 6, 2010 at 4:46 am #

    Hey, this is my first comment on ur site. I’ve been reading it for a while in my RSS reader but haven’t commented before. :) Anyways, thanks for the post.

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