I am currently working with Sketchup 2017 to develop scenery for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020/-24. It is an excellent tool, but it is currently lacking the possibility to view PBR-texture rendering in realtime. Due to this I have to convert the sketchup file to a .gltf-file, import to a seperate software (ModelConverterX) and adjust PBR-values within that, and then import the adjusted file and its textures to msfs202-/24.
The current workflow is time consuming, and require alot of trial and error to see how the PBR textures actually look like within the sim.
So;
Q1: I am considering subscribing to the desktop version of Sketchup2025, but I want to hear any thoughs you may have on the export of PBR-textures as the new feature with 2025. Will the PBR-texture values set within Sketchup2025 export “correctly” as a .gltf, or can I expect that the values are onle present within Sketchup?
Q2: Depending on the answers to Q1, I would like to import models created with Sketchup 2017 and adjust their textures within Sketchup2025 and it’s PBR-feature. Is that possible?
Please bear in mind I am no professional at textures, or Sketchup for that matter.
I expect the pbr features only to be visible in SU25. I tried exporting to fbx and it only exported the base texture. The rest of the textures did not export. Maybe in a future version?
Aw, okay. Thanks for your inputs. I was afraid that it would only export the base textures. The optimal result would be if it was possible to adjust the PBR-values within Sketchup for further conversion within the 3rd party software before importing to MSFS, but I read that this function is unlikely to work…
I did a couple of tests. I exported a model from 2025, that had a lot of PBR materials. I viewed the GLB file in an online viewer, and the materials seemed to work correctly.
I also opened the model in SketchUp 2017, and saved that, and reopened it in 2025. The PBR materials didn’t survive that time.
Thanks Colin for testing it out. I suspected that the conversion from 2017 to 2025 did not work due to limitations with 2017. With that said; I do not believe that would be an issue anyways. If I have the 2025 desktop version, I would gladly replace the 2017 one.
The reason for lifting the “conversion-issue” is due to having models already made in 2017 which I then would like to add PBR-materials adjusted and rendered in realtime in the 2025-version for export to msfs2020/2024.
I am not sure what fbx is, but it sounds promising that that the textures and their mapping values export🤔
GLTF/GLB/USDZ export is implemented by a library that can read SketchUp files and export the desired format. Any PBR support is inside that library, which got updated with the SU 2025.0 release.
FBX/3DS export is done by an internal exporter that writes the SketchUp model out into the target format. That has not yet been updated to export PBR materials.
@vetle27 Are you aware you can get a free 7-day trial? You could do that to see exactly how well 2025 exports the PBR properties with some of your models.
Also, if you find any issues with that do please share with us and we can look at getting them fixed in future releases.
Hello Daniel, and thanks for your reply. Yes I am aware of the trial period. I am planning on trying out 2025, but I want to spend as little time as possible on troubleshooting the mentioned issue. I will try it out and see how it works. fingers crossed…