Can anyone share tips or practical experience in importing SketchUp model SKP files into TurboCAD? I’m working with someone who uses TurboCAD Deluxe 21.2 in their workflow, and I’d like them to be able to read SKP model files I’ve created (in SketchUp Pro 2016 mostly). Two issues have arisen in initial collaboration tests:
A largish SKP model fails to import into TurboCAD at all; the TurboCAD error dialog box simply says failed to open [filename]. The model has a few million edges and faces, stored in a shallow (5-6 level) hierarchy of ~4000 component instances (using ~1000 component definitions), and a few dozen groups. No images; a few dozen simple colored materials.
When opening a very simple SKP model file, the open succeeds and TurboCAD displays a dialog box saying that “[filename]” category already contains “Horizon”, and then asks the user about replacing, skipping, or renaming. I have not named anything my my model “Horizon”. Is there an automatic object named “Horizon” in all SKP files, perhaps related to the Style Background setting of sky and ground (which I have disabled)?
I have supplied the large model back-saved as SketchUp V8 and V3 for my colleague to test for importing into TurboCAD, but I haven’t heard the results yet. TurboCAD was able to import a 3DS file that I exported my SketchUp model into, though the result seen in TurboCAD is triangular decomposition of all SketchUp faces which we would like to avoid.
Update: the v8-format SKP file was successfully importable apparently cleanly into my colleague’s TurboCAD Deluxe 21.2 software. The faces are not decomposed into triangles, thankfully (though softened and smoothed edge properties are not obeyed by TurboCAD). Also, the question about Horizon replacement/skip/rename is not asked, so I suppose some SketchUp version more recent than v8 (I had originally saved in v2016) added a model feature that correlates to the Horizon item.
I’m using Turbocad 21 Professional…deluxe is sort of a cut back version of Turbocad… not having used deluxe can’t say for sure it works the same… have had success saving my SketchUp model to version 2014… Though my models haven’t been that big in size yet… might suggest sending something smaller for testing purposes just to see if it works .
Depending on versions and year Turbocad uses two different renderers…redsdk or light works…as mine has both I’m thinking his might only have redsdk… redsdk did not import SketchUp textures until Turbocad version 2016… Turbocad went from version 21 to 2015…2016…and so on…
The warning he’s getting is for a material name…take a look at your textures more than likely one is named Horizon…he has the option to keep or replace it…or bypass it and Turbocad will give it a default texture…
You may also want to check out their forum with this question also…
This is probably the message he’s seeing…hes already imported that texture one time before
Turbocad is capable of ACSIS solid, surface or smesh… SketchUp faces will import as surfaces…
Groups become groups of graphics
Components become block insertion.
Groups and blocks will contain the surfaces within…can edit within similar to SketchUp…
Groups n blocks can be exploded…explode too many times and becomes nothing more than lines and polylines…sort of nice if just wanting 2d grapics…
Thanks, @Dbottesi - the Confirm Replace dialog box you posted looks just like the one my colleague sent to me in a screen-capture. I would not have expected that “Horizon” referred to a material. I don’t think I’ve created such a named material, and I don’t see one listed in SketchUp’s Materials window for the model in question. For what it’s worth, the version of the SKP file I saved for him as v8 format did not trigger TurboCAD to ask about “Horizon” when being imported, he says (though perhaps that is due to a difference in the sequence of steps he might have taken when importing the SKP file saved in a newer version).
Good to know that SketchUp 2014 is the latest format understood by TurboCAD.
Do you know if there is a way for TurboCAD to understand what SketchUp calls “surfaces” in a SketchUp model - a composite of individual planar faces separated by softened edges as being composite entities? I’m not yet sure if my colleague is seeing such composite surfaces or is seeing individual faces. The TurboCAD screen-shot he shared with me shows that each softened edge in a surface is drawn with a dark line, though I don’t know if that means the SketchUp surfaces have been broken up into separate faces, or if the surfaces are logically intact (in TurboCAD’s representation) but are simply being rendered with all edges drawn.
Turbocad does have a smoothing option for surfaces…not sure if available to in deluxe version of turbocad… deluxe also doesn’t allow for converting to solids as it only works with surfaces…here’s a few pictures to give you an idea …
As you can see solid gives the best results… solid is not available in the deluxe…also not aware if it allows for smoothing.
Surfaces are handled little different in turbocad as you can’t always select one side of a box…like you can with SketchUp…
Turbocad does have a trial version that might let you see what’s going on…
There is a pretty big difference in deluxe and pro version
Here are two components from SketchUp imported into turbocad…for some reason turbocad won’t allow me to smooth SketchUp surface like originally thought
