The search facility on 3D warehouse needs some attention - as does the quality of the stuff on there.. sorry just fed up trawling through so much ■■■■. Where are all the good models? Any tips?
What kind of components are you looking for?
Most of the content in the 3D Warehouse is freely shared by other SketchUp users. The quality can indeed be variable. There are components from a variety of manufacturers as well but in my experience they aren’t always directly usable in larger projects because they are often overly detailed. Still, they are free.
HI @DaveR Yeah i know - sorry had to vent. This time i was trying a 3d person ‘Dj-ing’ I found something suitable. But there is so much dross on there!
Another question - why do some models import in vastly oversized?
I would agree but that’s to be kind of expected when you make the Warehouse available to all SketchUp users as a place to share their components and models. Users with different skill levels can upload their models so you get a wide variety of quality.
Typically this is due to the author modeling at a larger size for one reason or another and then not resizing the component to the correct size. Or in some cases they might have scaled the component to make it the right size in their own model but failed to scale the component’s definition.
The general wisdom for using components from the 3D Warehouse is to download them into a separate SketchUp session so you can evaluate them for usability. Do whatever cleanup or correction you need to make it suitable for your own use before copying it and pasting it into your project. Or reject it and look again.
Frankly, I almost never use components from the 3D Warehouse because they almost never meet my modeling standards and it’s usually faster for me to create my own “correctly” than cleaning up and repairing the work of someone else of unknown skill level.
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Yeah, I was actually going to say something about this too.
3D Warehouse feels like it’s slipping in quality. Ten years ago, most of those models would’ve been considered decent—but with today’s push for ultra-realism, a lot of them just don’t hold up anymore.
Maybe it’s time for SketchUp to introduce some kind of quality filter—something like “verified creators” or “render-ready” tags to help separate the gems from the noise.
For interior models, I usually turn to https://zeelproject.com —might be worth a look.
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If the 3D Warehouse allowed people to sell their 3D models as assets, then maybe we will find higher quality 3d models. A search filter for displaying highest sold SketchUp models should result in weeding out bad models.
And, maybe don’t allow just anyone to upload paid 3D models untill being aproved by someone judging the skill of the person.
Oh and I think that reviews are a must! And to avoid spam in the reviews then only allow people who purchase the product to make review.
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There’s a reason living systems keep moving.
If it doesn’t move, it decays—and that’s exactly what’s happening here.
3D Warehouse needs to evolve… or risk fading into irrelevance.
– If it ain’t grouped, it’s a mess. If it don’t evolve, it’s gone.
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I think you’re wearing nostalgia googles. it’s always been a weird mix of dubious quality.
I see too many massive models, endtables that are 300K polygons and 20mb. A LOT of models are modelled in other softwares and converted, making them super realistic and super bloated.
is it decaying ? (source?)
is it fading into irrelevance ? (source?) a question most people I train ask on the first day is “when are we going to see the 3d library thing?” and after showing them how to search, what to avoid, they’re pretty much all onboard.
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I’m not sure if Image Search would have helped with your search for someone deejaying but I dragged in this image.
And got back this content:
Maybe a suitable image could be cobbled together from a few of the models that were returned.
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The search has become pretty bad since the introduction of the image search.
I frequently find I’m unable to search for things that have the word I’m searching for in the title 
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A lot of models in 3D Warehouse are leftovers from a different era. Like you mentioned, many were imported from other software. So no need for sources here—it’s simply the reality of a library that grew fast without much curation.
3D Warehouse was once the king.
Today? It feels more like a decent backup or a source for rough starter models—not a premium go-to anymore.
Sure, many of those models can still be cleaned up and converted into render-ready assets. But that’s not really the point. The truth is, other platforms have stepped ahead—by a long shot. And it doesn’t take much: compare just two side by side and you’ll know instantly which one still holds up… and which one doesn’t.
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Rubbish. There have been quality model collections available online but they are all commercial, and the only one targeted to SkethUp users was FormFonts that, I understand, is discontinued.
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There are many sources of free models better than 90% of the stuff currently present in 3dWH, but the most similar platform is Sketchfab (now Fab) which has tons of free models and they tend to be better quality for the most part.
Sure, they are not skp, but you can easily import other formats (gltf, dae, fbx obj).
Where SU native importers aren’t enough you can use a combination of Universal Importer, Quadface tools obj importer and Blender (all free) to convert them.
In most cases it takes way less time to convert a Sketchfab model than to cleanup/fix/remodel some crappy file from 3d warehouse (maybe scaled 200x, with thousand of badly named materials groups and layers).
Notice that the Sketchfab files usually also include pbr maps whereas 3dwh models don’t.
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Thanks All, for the alternative model sources.. any more suggestions?
https://dimensiva.com
https://www.lucrea3d.com
https://3darcshop.com
https://3d-modeli.net
https://www.modelplusmodel.com
https://www.syncronia.com/en
https://www.turbosquid.com/Search/3D-Models/free
https://bentanji.com/latest
https://bimobject.com/en
https://www.3db3.com/
https://moroso.it/tipologia/chaiseslongues/
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yes. all that. i know some, and other I just need to go have a look to tell you that in the end… it’s pretty much the same. good stuff, bad stuff, massive bloated stuff, unpurged stuff, stuff made in another software that won’t import at the right scale, over detailed bim files, models that are simply taken from the 3d warehouse…
and in the end, if you have to search through 30 different websites instead of one warehouse, is it actually more efficient ?
also, someone was talking about great models that would look good in renders.
rendering softwares also have a poopload of models available, often pre-rendered
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I have uploaded quite a few models, predominantly puzzles I designed/solved in Sketchup and percolate through Layout → PDF → CorelDraw, for either 3D printing (from SU), laser cutting (from Corel → laser software) or traditional woodworking using templates (using 1:1 scaled PDF).
I would love to have some statistics to ascertain whether it’s worthwhile continuing. I’d hate to keep wasting time if no one is interested as some of my models may take > 30 scenes.
I have had a few likes on my imported Toys & Joys models, which I have minimised in detail, however, no stats to see if again I’m just wasting my time.
Are you hoping to be inducted into the hall of fame or something? I’m not sure what you need stats for? External validation?
It’s only a time waster if it takes away from things you enjoy doing. If you don’t enjoy uploading your work just stop doing it and do other things…
You come across like a jerk (to me), even for a “sage”… but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt as at my age I’ll probably won’t remember this banter after I take my goldfish for a walk.
I don’t give a rats about recognition…if you saw me physically you’d understand. It’s hard to evaluate if I’m wasting my time without feedback… sharing is precious, wasting my lifeline is abhorrent. I enjoy trying to pass on what little I know, but when it comes to it being wasted, I’m sure even in my egotistic self I could alternatively channel my efforts into pastimes that may better benefit others.
It was just a drutrhers and not an invitation into a pissing contest!