Having trouble importing DWG site plan

[je5142]

I have a site plan, in DWG format. It was provided to me by a surveyor.

When I import this into a new project I get the following message:

Warning:

Some imported geometry is extremely far from the
model origin. If you experience any instability with
your SketchUp model, please delete that geometry
from your .dwg/.dxf file and import again.

AutoCAD Entities Imported:

   Layers:		52
   Blocks:		5
   Arcs:		10
   Circles:		4
   Inserts:		29
   Lines:		230
   Points:		322

AutoCAD Entities Simplified:

   Coords out of range:		2424

AutoCAD Entities Ignored:

   AttDefs:			20
   M-Texts:			10
   Texts:			746
   Anonymous Blocks:		22
   Self-referencing Blocks:	291
   Zombies and Others:		6

I used the following options:

It’s the warning that seems relevant. I am unable to see the imported objects anywhere, even after zooming out about as far as Sketchup seems to allow me to.

What’s the correct / best way to get a site plan into Sketchup? I am thinking it might contain elevation data that is positioning the objects roughly 400m in above ground level in the new model.

Any suggestions?

Thanks very much…

Jonathan

[DaveR]

Can you share the DWG file so we can see?

What do you have set as the model units for the template?

[je5142]

Hi Dave,

The DWG can be accessed here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1uY_0Qgj1R0XekSCzMQPV0b7Wu0gXobwV?usp=sharing

Much of the info I’ve been finding in the Sketchup help files suggests making various changes to the DWG, etc., but that all requires me to have some other CAD program, like AutoCAD, which I don’t have. So I’m a bit stuck.

Regarding model units. It’s set to Decimal, and I’ve tried mm, cm, and m.
Same result each time.

J

[DaveR]

I imported the file using Feet as the units and get this.

I immediately set the camera to Parallel Projection and chose the standard Top view. Then I exported a 2D DWG and imported that which gives the flattened version.

I’m guessing you could get rid of those lines that run off into the distance and move the property contours closer to the origin so you’d get better behavior.

Did you hit Zoom Extents after importing the file?

[je5142]

Thanks Dave.

Yes, I did a zoom extents, and it doesn’t change the zoom from what it jumped to after the import was complete.

Let me get this right…
You’ve got model units set to Feet, like so:

And then when importing the DWG you set the import options to use Feet also, like so:

I’ve tried that, and don’t get the result you’re getting. No idea why not though.

[DaveR]

Actually, I have Model Units set to Fractional because that’s what my default template is set for. I just selected Feet in the import options…

Here’s the SKP of the flattened one…

JE5142.skp (333.9 KB)

[je5142]

So odd. I get nothing showing up in SketchUp after the import with those same settings (well, nothing I can see).

Thanks very much for the file.

I was really keen to get the elevation data in there, but this flat data is very helpful in the mean time (for the dimensions of the project, relative to boundaries, etc). I get the feeling I might have to get an architect on AutoCAD to help out with getting me a file I am open in SkUp without this issue. I’ll ask someone I know.

[je5142]

The scale is way off in the SKP file. I’m thinking it’s due to it being in metric, and it’s been imported in inches.

Would you mind creating a model in Decimal > CM, and then importing it in CM (or “same as model”) ?

P.S. It might need to be in MM. I am not sure what the file is using. Quite like MM, come to think of it.

[DaveR]

Sorry. I’m away from my computer at the moment. You can resize the model I uploaded. Use the Tape Measure tool and measure a known distance. Type that actual distance and hit Enter.

[Geo]

@je5142

Regarding model units. It’s set to Decimal, and I’ve tried mm, cm, and m.

These are the import options I used.
In Model Info, the units were set to Decimal - Meters

The DWG came in nicely.
5080 field_001.skp (222.1 KB)

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[je5142]

Thanks. Just learned something new (well, I recall learning that years ago, but had since forgotten). It’s now resized.

[je5142]

Hi Geo,
Thanks very much for testing that.
Since both you and Dave have had no issue importing it, I am suggesting there’s something strange going on with my Sketchup.
I was able to edit the file in an open-source CAD program, and I removed the property boundaries, reducing it to just the actual building site. When I import that I am able to see little + markers. When I click on one of those it shows me a model space, but there’s nothing in it. See screenshot…

Is there a setting / preference that might be somehow making the object lines not show up? Anything else you can think of?

It’s apparently not the file, so it must be my Sketchup.

[je5142]

Geo, one other question. When you imported, did the results window show any issues? Would you mind importing again, and sending me a copy/paste of the results data?

Mine outputs: (when importing a the above-mentioned reduced version of the model)

Warning:

Some imported geometry is extremely far from the
model origin. If you experience any instability with
your SketchUp model, please delete that geometry
from your .dwg/.dxf file and import again.

AutoCAD Entities Imported:

	Layers:		52
	Blocks:		5
	Arcs:		10
	Circles:		4
	Inserts:		14
	Lines:		211
	Points:		306
	2d Poly-lines:	74

AutoCAD Entities Simplified:

	Coords out of range:		1687

AutoCAD Entities Ignored:

	AttDefs:			20
	M-Texts:			10
	Texts:			696
	Anonymous Blocks:		22
	Self-referencing Blocks:	290
	Zombies and Others:		6

[Geo]

@je5142

Would you mind importing again, and sending me a copy/paste of the results data?

Giving it second go now.

[je5142]

I notice the same thing happens when I import the file posted here: Imported .dwg not visible, reports entities imported successful

So it’s definitely something odd with my install / config of SketchUp.

[je5142]

I tried importing into Sketchup 2017 (still on my computer after upgrading to 2019). No issue. It imports fine. Very perplexing.

[Geo]

Second try same as the first … all good.
Here’s the photo essay of my settings and results.

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