Importing one sketchup model into another

[EdenClune]

Hi there!
I have imported a model I created into another model. The imported model has arrived as one component, but it is made up of hundreds of groups. I have edited the component to assign tags to the groups, but the import remains one component. I have previously ‘exploded’ the component but that exploded all the groups as well leaving me with a huge amount of ‘stuck’ geometry. So, I have not exploded the component this time in order to retain the groups. Can I edit the component so that it is no longer a component without losing all the groups?

Thanks

[DaveR]

Importing a SketchUp model into another one will bring that model in as a component. It’s supposed to work that way. Exploding the top level component will not explode the groups and components inside it, though.

@EdenClune

Can I edit the component so that it is no longer a component without losing all the groups?

You should be able to explode the top level component and leave all lower level objects alone.

An alternative to importing the one SketchUp file into another would be to have that file open in a separate SketchUp session. Select all of the objects and copy them. Then paste them into the second file.

[EdenClune]

Thanks! I must have done something wrong the first time when exploding the component. It has worked this time! thanks again.

[Guido]

@DaveR

Importing a SketchUp model into another one will bring that model in as a component. It’s supposed to work that way.

Hi Dave, is that a design feature of more recent versions as it doesn’t seem to happen in Make17?

[DaveR]

It’s been that way forever. It would happen in SketchUp 2017 if you import a SketchUp model into another SketchUp file. I can only demonstrate back to SketchUp 3 but it works that way in that version, too.

Download this SketchUp file to your computer and then import it into a SketchUp session.
For Guido-v_2017.skp (41.3 KB)
Does it come in with the cube and cylinder in a nested component called For Guido-v_2017?

[Guido]

I imported it, and It comes in as 2 separate solid components, cube and cylinder, nothing nested.

[DaveR]

That looks like you Opened the SketchUp file instead of using File>Import.

Try opening an existing model on your machine. Then use File>Import to import the file I shared.

[Box]

Here’s a gif for import 2017 make.

[Guido]

@DaveR , @Box , thanks for this. When I tried to import the file it was greyed out. Because I normally import images to work with, I had “All Supported Image Types” as my default with Hide Options selected. I changed to ShowOptions, and then selected “Sketchup Files (.skp)” which then allowed the file to be selectable, and voila, it worked just as it is supposed to; it came in exactly as DaveR informed me it would!

Thanks chaps.