Help exporting to CAD

Technical Problems SketchUp
1

Hello all…I cannot seem to get Sketchup Pro to export to CAD, either as a DWG or DXF.
I’ve followed all instructions - putting the camera to the correct view, adjusted all export settings, etc. Basically, I get a pinwheel for upwards of two hours (that’s as long as I’ve left it running).
I’ve even tried exporting a simple drawing that’s literally just a 5’ x 5’ square line - same problem. On my personal Mac (which is considerably older), I have have Pro and have never had an export issue.

Does anyone have any ideas? My MacBook Pro is completely updated, as is Sketchup Pro. I’m at a total loss as to why this won’t work.

2

Update - I WAS able to get a simple square to export.
Is there a crazy timetable for complex models / lots of polygons to export? Should I just be way more patient?

Thanks in advance…

3

you didn’t mention ‘Purging’ the model of unused materials and geometry, before attempting the export…

this is often the cause for delays…

If simple models are taking time, I would suspect your Template has extraneous items or a plugin has added stuff for future use…

if your model is made up of lots of ‘scaled’ imported bits, then the ‘scale’ of each bit can cause slowdowns as SU needs to convert each on the fly…

adding a skp is the easiest way for us to advise on optimisation stratagies…

john

4

Sorry, yes, I should have mentioned - I did purge unused. However - here are the stats - there’s lots of complexity:
Edges 684680
Faces 414748
Component Instances 710
Guides 0
Guide Points 0
Groups 1573
Images 10
3d Polylines 0
Section Planes 0
Dimensions 0
Text 0
Classification Types 0
Classified Entities 0
Component Definitions 98
Layers 2
Materials 60
Styles 3

I can only assume the amount of faces & edges is causing Sketchup to, basically, say “NO”.

5

Unfortunately I can’t attached the skp - it’s a file for a semi high profile client, and I can’t have their model floating around the interwebs. My apologies. :slight_smile:

6

Not so much to say “NO” as to say “that’s a complex model, it is going to take a long time to export”.

7

that’s a totally valid reason, but you did say that smaller skps were also slow…

for speed of export the number of edges is the crux, for internal use SU can use tricks to reduce the burden [i.e. components, groups]…

for import/export it needs to no where each and every edge is and if it has a face and if it’s in a group and is it in a layer, etc…

so it all adds up, and slows down pretty quick…

on my old iMac

Edges 4909432
Faces 1364810
Component Instances 13952
Guides 0
Guide Points 0
Groups 782
Images 0
3d Polylines 0
Section Planes 0
Dimensions 0
Text 0
Classification Types 0
Classified Entities 0
Component Definitions 49
Layers 15
Materials 25
Styles 4

export to dxf takes under a minute…

but it has NO images…

john