SketchUp to Unreal Plugin or Workflow for Mac Users

It seems like any textures I created in SketchUp by importing JPG or PNG files got actual information to show up in the icon. faces I had colored with just a color from the color wheel don’t produce an actual texture (just a blank sphere)? I renamed all (or at least almost all) of the colors/materials/textures in SketchUp because I found that I had no way of knowing what was what in other programs I exported models into. For example, window_sill_stone_texture4 is just a beige color if that makes sense.

I tried the import again, but this time selecting all assets under the material search location option in the drop down from the import window.
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Here’s what came in the second time around (note the repeats on stuff like Window Will Stone I believe are the result of different texture stretching/orientation on different objects in the model):

Here’s the colors in the original model in SketchUp:
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There are repeats on “Material_0” and 1 because I tried to move all the stuff from the original import into a separate file to get it out of the way, but I got this message when I tried:

I don’t know about the texture sizes, but I’m sure at least one of them is rectangular (not square). “Brick_Smith” I’m pretty sure isn’t because I made that in photoshop). However, I’m pretty sure Oak_Dark is, yet both areas appear to have a checkerboard pattern on them, so it looks like the maps were created?

It makes logic that Unreal doesn’t have a texture if you didn’t apply one in SketchUp (when using just a color).

Keep the search location to All Assets - this way it will re-use materials if they already exist (from a previous import).

Multiple textures for the same texture indeed will show up when they are distorted in SketchUp.

After deleting / moving stuff (objects/materials/textures etc) right click on the top level in the content browser and pick ‘fix up re-directors’ (see pic). Maybe that way your ‘already exists’ errors will go away.
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I’ll try the redirectors in folder suggestion and report back. Any suggestions for fixing the other stuff?

So, I tried right clicking on Brick_Smith in the shelf and selected the “create material” option, which pulled up the material editor, which was filled with a bunch of error messages:


[SM5] /tmp/18012_1575091083.metal(0): Failed to load output file: /tmp/ShaderIn6D46E8944842DD88C5828DB09ED20494
[SM5] /tmp/8657_2795644382.metal(0): Metal Shared PCH generation failed - cannot find metal_stdlib header relative to /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin locally.
[SM5] /tmp/8657_2795644382.metal(0): Failed to load output file: /tmp/ShaderIn4D4DB6804148CEAAFF5BB2827DE3224C
[SM5] /tmp/8384_2404435166.metal(0): Metal Shared PCH generation failed - cannot find metal_stdlib header relative to /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin locally.
[SM5] /tmp/8384_2404435166.metal(0): Failed to load output file: /tmp/ShaderInF0E91FCC9F4A48B6C4B412B03D26AE4C
[SM5] /tmp/8384_2404435166.metal(0): Failed to load output file: /tmp/ShaderIn775119C63F459BEC359E88B1A799B31D
[SM5] /tmp/12301_3888244439.metal(0): Metal Shared PCH generation failed - cannot find metal_stdlib header relative to /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin locally.
[SM5] /tmp/12301_3888244439.metal(0): Failed to load output file: /tmp/ShaderInE1B8D70C9B44CB95EF3AFA9A5EDAC01A
[SM5] /tmp/12301_3888244439.metal(0): Failed to load output file: /tmp/ShaderIn3DC35AA55F4977DD9A13DFB953A170A6
[SM5] /tmp/12174_2276249011.metal(0): Metal Shared PCH generation failed - cannot find metal_stdlib header relative to /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin locally.
[SM5] /tmp/12174_2276249011.metal(0): Failed to load output file: /tmp/ShaderIn48AF8F70ED46A5E450E3EDA274E00B76
[SM5] /tmp/12174_2276249011.metal(0): Failed to load output file: /tmp/ShaderIn53CF849DB342AF649C8D79B81ECBB85B
[SM5] /tmp/20014_3660387631.metal(0): Metal Shared PCH generation failed - cannot find metal_stdlib header relative to /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin locally.
[SM5] /tmp/20014_3660387631.metal(0): Failed to load output file: /tmp/ShaderIn84CD69EE0A42707E7095CB9BAC3236BD
[SM5] /tmp/21563_302851852.metal(0): Metal Shared PCH generation failed - cannot find metal_stdlib header relative to /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin locally.
[SM5] /tmp/21563_302851852.metal(0): Failed to load output file: /tmp/ShaderIn0E95756FF24A639E79EDDFBB420C4267
[SM5] /tmp/11639_1408313773.metal(0): Metal Shared PCH generation failed - cannot find metal_stdlib header relative to /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin locally.
[SM5] /tmp/11639_1408313773.metal(0): Failed to load output file: /tmp/ShaderInBFEECF9CA146CF70F05DEAAD9C18A8A4
[SM5] /tmp/11639_1408313773.metal(0): Failed to load output file: /tmp/ShaderIn2DB533E6B3472E75F1E08F9FD60C93E0
[SM5] /tmp/22717_3231837931.metal(0): Metal Shared PCH generation failed - cannot find metal_stdlib header relative to /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin locally.
[SM5] /tmp/22717_3231837931.metal(0): Failed to load output file: /tmp/ShaderInF125FA31A847AD6E10F2C88EBA38FF40
[SM5] /tmp/24352_3652640190.metal(0): Metal Shared PCH generation failed - cannot find metal_stdlib header relative to /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin locally.
[SM5] /tmp/24352_3652640190.metal(0): Failed to load output file: /tmp/ShaderInF123B558514F65706EDE8E941017A19A
[SM5] /tmp/11639_1408313773.metal(0): Failed to load output file: /tmp/ShaderIn407B2C20954FD3FE95522CBAD49C256D
[SM5] /tmp/17256_2383891687.metal(0): Metal Shared PCH generation failed - cannot find metal_stdlib header relative to /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin locally.
[SM5] /tmp/17256_2383891687.metal(0): Failed to load output file: /tmp/ShaderInB2A68F5B3D47721E363ECDAEF1FF1387
[SM5] /tmp/18012_1575091083.metal(0): Metal Shared PCH generation failed - cannot find metal_stdlib header relative to /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin locally.

Maybe the problem has something to do with the material shader?

I was having this problem earlier, which appears to be a problem for all users on macs - I followed the insutrctions, which appears to fix the problem, but maybe it didn’t? If it didn’t I’d expect other metal material to not work either though and I’m pretty sure they work just fine, so maybe it’s unrelated

Can’t help you with the last error; something Mac related. You won’t be the only only affected by this so using the UE forums / Google you can hopefully find a workaround until this gets fixed.

For solid colors in Unreal, I usually pick a color in SketchUp and apply a small white texture (32x32 pixels-jpg) as well in the material. After importing, Unreal will create the desired combination in the material.

What do you mean when you say you apply the color and a small white texture?

Here’s the UE forum post I made in case anyone wants to follow along: Unreal Crashing on Mac Metal Shader Errors, Xcode, Material Import - Rendering - Epic Developer Community Forums

SUCCESSSSSS!!!
Apparently my version of Unreal Engine was out of date - even though it updated itself last Wednesday. I just figured out how to manually force a new update and this is what my newly imported FBX model looks like right off the bat:

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Note that it wasn’t perfect as you can see in a side x side comparison of the SketchUp model and the Imported FBX in Unreal

SU:

Unreal:

For some reason the materials on the side of the structure didn’t really import the same way as the model, but man it’s progress and I’m really grateful for that after spending so many hours on this

Congrats with the successsss!

See pic - the empty.png is a small white texture. It gets mixed with the red color.
Missing materials could be:

  • materials applied to groups instead on faces
  • textures with strange characters in their names

  • It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out whats wrong with them since you can pick the material in SketchUp and investigate from there.

Unreal is a really powerful but also complex piece of software. It demands a particular workflow. With SketchUp you will run into challenges for more complex objects (compared to Blender / Maya / 3dsMax - they have more control). Also Unreal is constantly developed and updated so stuff in the engine sometimes break or get updated so they don’t match the youtube-tutorials anymore. Be prepared for a long learning process and Google-ing for solutions. Once your project is in UE though - the possibilities are endless…

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I resolved my issues by installing Parallels software.

I have a Mac Pro, with 132 megs of ram. Parallels runs both the Mac and PC simultaneously, utilizing Mac’s Bootcamp. Switching back and forth is as simple as 2 key strokes.

I have PC’s at work, and none of them run Sketchup as well as this setup. It’s fast.

Sketchup runs easier & better on a Mac. Though if you need the PC side, you have it there at all times. They both share the same folder.

Great news…Mac will be releasing a new Mac Pro this year. If you are a student, visit Apple for a 50% discount.

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50% discount on a MacBook pro for being a student? Are you being serious? That’s a pretty serious discount for a company that historically doesn’t do discounts lol

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No. After posting I could see how that could be misinterpreted. If you purchase Parallels through Apple, you can save yourself 50%.

I’ll see if I can edit my post.

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The discount of 50% is on Parallel Software, if you purchase it through Apple.

Sorry for the confusion.

lol yeah that makes more sense