Hi I have been using sketch up for architectural models but now trying 3 d printed parts. when I make say a 3 "d cylinder it has about 100 flat spots around the circumference and not smooth ,.some one said to do alt + but can’t get it to change
Please help an old industrial designer thanks Ted
SketchUp represents circles, arcs, and curves with a series of straight edge segments. If you increase the number of segments each segment will be shorter and the resulting surface will appear to be smoother. There are limits to how many segments you can add before SketchUp considers them too small and won’t create surfaces, though. There are also limits that depend on the resolution of the printer.
I find that I get smooth enough surfaces when I use up to 96 sides for a circle. More just seems to bloat the file without really helping.
Also, to avoid issues resulting from very short edge segments, I model for 3D printing with Units set to Meters and treat millimeters as meters. I export the .stl files with units set to meters, too. Then the .stl file imports into the slicer at the correct dimensions.
Here’s some examples modeled that way.
Steam Whistle
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