I didn’t always use Sketchup , for one thing. I played the field a bit before settling down. You’re right, though; more often than not I’ll remodel it from scratch, at most only using the import as a general guide or in extreme cases model on top of it (since it imports as a component by default).
Most importantly, I’m not always working with my own models. Without getting myself in trouble, the place I work isn’t exactly… “up to speed” when it comes to software licensing or upgrades. It’s a lot of musical chairs, holdouts, splintered factions, and outright rogues. This means either I have to give someone a crash course in SketchUp ’s free version so they can at least give me a SKP to work with, or we’ve got to fight a format war with people who really just want to push agendas and get their own software of choice made the gold standard (squeaky wheel gets the grease, etc.).
No idea what the stl file was created in. Sometimes on Thingiverse they will give you the cad file, I dont even know how to use those programs so I cant modify the sketches. Its easier for me to import into Sketchup and then start working form there. Once I do learn a CAD program I can then modify some of those sketches when its added with the file.
That’s what I figured, I just didn’t know if you were working from someone else’s file or importing something you’d made in another program. Generally speaking, many CAD programs share a fair bit of DNA on some base level, so if you’ve learned one, you can usually work your way through the rest. That said, in my experience, if you’re having difficulty with importing models, you’re better off simply remaking the part in SketchUp, using whatever shows up on import as a guide. In fact, you can even model on top of the part in question and get precise measurements.
You can use the vertices, midpoints, and other elements to snap your new edges and faces to. Since the part is imported as a component by default, nothing you do here will affect the original geometry.
You can toggle the hide function to check your work as you go along.
It’s a little tricky, certainly tedious, but depending on your model, it may be your best option.
I am going to have to try some of this today. I downloaded a file yesterday to wrap around a nema17 motor but the model has curves and I am having a hard time cutting it away. I may be able to download it at work and mess with it a bit so I don’t get too frustrated when I get home later.
If I get to the point of jumping off a building I will post the sketch for some help.
I started working with this model but I had no choice but to take all the tips above and remodel it myself. It only took me 5-1/2 years to finally get to this point in the model. The part in red I needed to get rid of but everytime I cut it out I would end up with large gaps in the model.
I know this looks really simple, but when you only use Sketchup every so often everything you do with it becomes hard.
Since the geometry is all basically one mass, removing a bunch of it will likely leave a hole to fix. If you cleanup the coplanar edges first, it’ll be easier to figure out what you need to replace to heal the hole(s). Then use the Line tool to trace over existing edges or draw diagonals to get the faces to forum again. Or, as has been suggested already, just use the imported geometry as a guide and model it cleanly from scratch.
