I’m working first time with a CAD file from an architect.
I cannot make a group or a component stick. I’ve tried making the drawing a component and the walls a group but its not working. I’m wondering if its related to any tags, etc the architect used.
I also cannot make a floor that includes the walls so I can pull down for the foundation. I’m stumped.
Advice on how to resolve would be appreciated
ORIGINAL WORKING DOC.skp (746.1 KB)
It looks like after importing the CAD file you exploded the component and then started drawing on it. I would suggest that you don’t explode the CAD file. Leave it as a component and use it as a guide for drawing your walls. The geometry in the CAD file is broken up which for the way you’ve started your model leaves you with a great deal of cleanup to do. For the floor you can trace around the perimeter until you get a face and then use Puh/Pull to push the face down giving the floor thickness. Once you have the floor geomtry you can make it a group or component. Do the same for the walls and so on. When you’ve finished referring to the CAD import, delete it from the model and then in Window>Model Info>Statistics, purge unused.
As for the CAD leayers, the edges in your import get those tags. All edges and faces in your model should be untagged, though. Only edges and faces should get tags. If you follow the steps above you won’t need to worry about those edges and their tags. Working as you have in your attached file, though, will result in problems with stuff going missing when you don’t want it too.
As for not being able to create components for certain bits of the wall, I suspect you need to tick the Replace Selection box in the Create Component window. If you are selecting only part of the connected geometry that box won’t normally be ticked by default. If you model your walls outside the CAD import component and select all attached geometry, that box will be ticked automatically.
Hi Dave, thanks for the notes. I watched a video and the person said to explode the component. Ugh. So many hours… thank u
Hi Dave,
I started over and didnt explode the component. I’m still struggling with making groups, floor group isnt all connected.
I’d like to make wall groups by room. Cant seem to get that going right either.
I really appreciated your suggestion and started on the right track but still hanging up.
I really struggle with once I’ve goofed up my groups/components, fixing them and keeping them aligned.
If you wouldnt mind more advise giving, I’d be happy to take it 
thanks
cad 1st floor outline only.skp (413.4 KB)
Here’s the way I guess I’d start. First, the imported CAD file is only used as a reference. There’s a fair amount of bad geometry in it and there’s no point letting that degrade your SketchUp model. As an example, the arrow points at two lines where walls overlap each other. Letting that propogate into your model will just create problems.
In the attached .skp file I removed the tags from the edges in the import and gave a single tag to all of the components from the CAD file. Then I set the style to show edges with Color by Material and in Tags, Color by Tag. I’ve traced the imported line work for one room here as an example. The purple face can be extruded to height with Push/Pull and then you can select that geometry and make a group. After the geometry for the room is a group, you can give that group a tag if you wish.
Rinse and repeat for each room as needed.
To be honest, I’m not sure that making a group of each room is really the best workflow. It would probably be better to draw all of the walls and make a single group. Whichever way you go, though, when you have your 3D model created and you’ve gotten all the information you need from the imported CAD file, I would delete it and then purge unused components from the file. Otherwise the CAD file geometry is just a liability, not an asset.
Here’s the file:
cad 1st floor outline only.skp (401.5 KB)
Ok I follow what your saying. I was worried about the other tags and knew the overlapping and incomplete lines were an issue and couldnt get to the best solution to fix them. I’ll make all my walls one group, if I can get that far with it this time. I’ve reworked it countless times.
I shall give it a go! Thank you!
Hey Dave one other question, do you still recommend I outline perimeter and pull down a floor before or after I make a wall group?
I guess I would do that first before you have walls obscuring your view of the perimeter. Of course group the floor geometry before you proceed to drawing the walls.
Sounds good. Thank you again.
Ok Dave, first thank you for the education today.
So I’m flying high…thinking I got this…and my first two pull downs worked but the garage did not! Ugh. I dont get why if I pull up its a solid floor but if I pull down, I miss the top of the floor?
I’m trying to subdivide into 3 parts, main house with the porch has one level, then the middle bldg another level and the garage another level as the ground is sloped.
I cant see what I’m not getting right on the garage?
Also trying to see how you were able to color code particular lines?
Thank you! This is way to much fun.
cad 1st floor outline only.skp (401.5 KB)
It sounds like the face you are pushing is connected to some other faces. Don’t subdivide the perimeter shape. Either make the floor for the house a group/component and then model the garage floor and make it a separate group/component or model the entire thing and make it a very thick slab and then subdivide the top surface at the door from the house into the garage and push the garage floor down.
Here I did the second thing. Obviously I didn’t outline the entire house, though.
The color coding was done by using Color by Tag in the Tags panel and also setting the Edge color to By Material in the Styles edit panel.
It was good to talk with you this morning. My apologies for having to cut it short. I’m glad you’re having fun.
I did not find any face to pull down at the garage.
In addition to @DaveR comments, I suggest you consider first grouping the CAD garage geometry, second double checking CAD geometry is co-planar, third modeling over the CAD garage group with new SketchUp geometry (I like to start with the Rectangle tool by overlapping the outside geometry followed by the Rectangle and/or Line tool for the balance) for the outline of the walls, then you should have success in push/pulling, and lastly group, as DaveR suggested, these new SketchUp walls to start you garage.
In this way you accomplish a Best Practice of not incorporating imported CAD geometry into your SketchUp model, and yet use the imported CAD geometry for a pattern and reference, which later you can discard or keep on a separate Tag for future reference/use.
Continuing good luck and fun.
@lorilipscomb
Additionally, I just completed the first and second steps (from above) plus the base rectangle of the third step.
Note the drawing provided to you does not have right angles for the garage (The yellow rectangle was drawn with the SketchUp Rectangle tool).
thank you, slowly but surely, I will get there
