Hey guys! I’m new to this software, so any kind of help would be really appreciated.
My goal is to create bunch of models of different molecules in SketchUP and then insert it in SMART Notebook (software for interactive boards). The problem is that after exporting image with colors (water molecule where O is red and H is gray) to obj-file and inserting it in Notebook I get this result.
So the question is obvious: why I loose my colors?
I tried the same action, but added textures instead of color and it worked fine:
SketchUp Faces have ‘backs’ and ‘fronts’.
Many 3rd party apps will render the imported faces’ ‘backs’ as black [or sometimes white or transparent - that depends on the app]
It looks like your ‘black-blob’ is a result of that.
If you model a face on the ground, then SketchUp assumes you’ll want to PushPull it upwards into a 3d form, so it makes it facing ‘downwards’.
So when you look down on it you see the ‘back’.
If you paint the backs it looks OK in SketchUp, but when exported to another app the chances are the backs are ‘default’.
So it’s important to model SketchUp’s faces the right way round.
Applying a material to a face masks whether or not it is oriented correctly, since fronts and backs can both take materials…
Use a Style that has a distinctive face ‘back’ color - say bright-blue [edit the style as needed] - with the ‘front’ color say off-white.
Then get into the habit of occasionally using Monochrome mode to view the model - this will show reversed faces as bright-blue instead of off-white.
To ‘reverse’ faces you simply select them and use the context-menu > Reverse…
It’s best to get your faces correctly oriented before extruding them with PushPull or FollowMe… although they can be ‘reversed’ later you are just saving up work for yourself…
The related ‘Orient…’ tool makes all connected faces look in the same direction as the selected one, but if you have a non-solid with edges sharing more than two faces it won’t work - as you cannot have more than two faces oriented the same way on one edge… but that’s for another day…
TIG, it’s time to turn in your Mickey Mouse Club membership card…
THANKS)))