Hello,
We are interested in hearing from individuals and companies using USDZ in their workflows. Has anyone been using USDZ? Any cool workflows developed so far?
Obrigado!
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I’m watching this.
I used .usdz import/export for tests in the past, hopefully it is replacing old 3D formats.
Could you explain more? never heard of it?
Hi Tiago,
I created a workflow presentation using a .usdz file (same for other formats also), but prepared specifically for SketchUp and LayOut ready.
The file is 40 MB and is imported quite quickly in SketchUp 2026. Due to the structure of the .usdz file, in SketchUp, the number of nested levels is quite high and requires the removal of some of them.
In SketchUp, you can import the .usdz file, create the low poly model over the high poly model, but transferring the material from one to the other is more difficult.
Being a model that would probably be used countless times in a project, and the original model is a 3D scan (from Fab com, created by Kristof Suk), I normally create the low-poly version of it. For this I use Blender.
The resulting low-poly model can be exported as .usdz, but to be more easily accessible for previous versions of SketchUp, I use either DAE or OBJ.
In the video, the original model has 70,000 tris, and the low-poly version created has 28 tris. I baked the necessary textures (diffuse and normal) using an extension (can also be done with the native tools) and exported it as a DAE file.
In SketchUp, I just smoothed the edges and the model looks good next to the high-poly one.
for every true question there is an Aaron video.
if there is not Aaron video, it’s not a true question (yet)
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Hi @tiagoricotta I use USDZ to import point cloud taken with my iPhone. Is the easiest way to work with those scans and SketchUp for Mac. USDZ can also preview in a mac without the need of any software.
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