Converting file to STEP/IGS on (Free Sketchup)?

Hello, does anyone know if you can convert a file to a STEP/IGS file with the free version of sketchup? Or is the pro sketchup needed to do this?
Thanks for any help in this

Not with SketchUp Free. There are a variety of export options with SketchUp Pro and additional many exporters available in the Extension Warehouse. You can search through the list to see what different file types are available. extensions.sketchup.com

I appreciate the help!

do you think it is possible to export with (sketchup shop) at all?

You might take a look at this thread:

You can save it as an STL file and then convert it with FreeCAD to a wide variety of formats.

Shop has these options.

exporting the facetted meshes of SketchUp to an even neutral 3D CAD format as STEP/IGES/SAT doens’t help much for the destination application expecting NURBSpline-based surfaces and solids which are typically transported by these formats.

Use the DWG format instead.

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Not every vendor accepts DWG files. Here’s a few I found at random:

image

sure, because they need NURBSpline-based surfaces and solids and not facetted meshes, changing the file format doesn’t change the content.

I guess I don’t understand what you mean by using a DWG file in this context. Are you saying to export the SketchUp file as a DWG and then convert the DWG to a STEP file in some other application?

no, converting in a vector-based CAD format is the best choice to export geometry from SketchUp for a further processing in another CAx system. The common DWG format should be importable by more or less every CAx system on the market, still wireframe/meshes of course… which can be converted by some systems back to NURBS.

anyhow.

I don’t disagree that the format “should be” importable, but if you’re working with a vendor that doesn’t accept it, I don’t see how it’s a viable option. I seem to recall we had a similar discussion on this topic about 2-1/2 years ago.

Solid SketchUp groups and components are converted into 3D facetted solid objects when exported to DWG. When interacting with solid modellers it is better than mere 3D faces, but, of course, anything curved becomes more or less useless.

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if vendors do not accept DWGs for a good reason (see above) they will surely not accept 3D CAD exchange formats intended for NURBS surfaces/solids but containing mere wireframe/meshes too.

but if you insist that DWGs are not a viable option I would like to acknowledge this.

I’m not trying to be argumentative here, but a plane is a surface that is commonly used by everyone. The STEP format allows for NURBs to be defined, but it also allows for planes to be specified as well. If you want to have a flat part made, you don’t need to use NURBs at all. As you’ve noted, a vendor that only accepts STEP files is prepared to deal with b-surfs, but they’re also prepared to handle flat planar facets as well.

Here’s an example of a SketchUp model sent to Xometry:

yes, exactly.

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