Hi! So I’m super new to 3D printing and I’m having an issue where Cura is dropping details from my STL file that I’m exporting from Sketchup. When I bring the file into Cura it shows everything is there, but when I slice the file, details from the model go missing. Wondering if anyone knows what I’m doing wrong and if its an issue with the STL or if its an issue with Cura.
How about sharing your .skp file with us so we can see what you are starting with? Are you creating solid groups or components in SketchUp? If not, that would likely be the problem.
I have both water tight structures and components in the model as well to cut window openings.
That doesn’t answer the question. Share the .skp file so we can see what you’ve got.
The component IS NOT solid so that is surely your problem. You can tell it is not solid by selecting it and looking at Entity Info. It will show it as a component, not a solid component.
Once it is fixed, it will report as a “solid component” and should be printable.
General shed.skp (181.9 KB)
How do i get solid inspector? Also when I look at the Entity info it really doesn’t tell me much. Also thank you for all the help!
Get SketchUp Shop or a desktop version of SketchUp.
It’ll give you two pieces of information that help you know that your model is 3D printable. IF the component can be printed, it will show as a Solid Component in the top line of the panel and you will see an volume.
FWIW, in simple terms to be solid, every edge mush be shared by exactly two faces. No more and no less. In your model you have a bunch of internal faces which means there are edges that are shared by more than two faces.
Gotcha, so its not possible to do with the web based version? You have to get a paid version?
No. That’s not what I meant at all.
You can create the model to be 3D printable with the free version but you would need to manually make sure it is solid. That’s certainly do-able but you need to be able to identify what it takes to make it solid. With the right work flow you shouldn’t have anything that needs fixing but if you create those issues, you need to fix them.
Certainly for your hobbyist use, you should be able to manage.
If you use SketchUp Shop you get additional tools to make it easier to sort out when you create problems.
Okay so I have the shop version now. How do I get solid inspector?
Sweet thanks! Sorry I haven’t used sketchup since google owned it years ago.
FWIW, I just went through the process of modeling your little shed with nothing but the basic tools that are available in the free version of SketchUp and there was no cleanup required at the end to make it a solid. In fact I could have created the component at any step in the modeling process and it would have been solid.
Not sure what I’m doing wrong then.
From looking at what you were doing with your model, it looks to me as if you are adding geometry that isn’t needed in the modeling process. When I modeled this building I created the near half of it as a wide squared U-shape which I pulled up to height. Then I laid out the edges for one window on the exterior face. Before starting in with Push/Pull, I copied those edges to outline the other window. Then I pushed through the openings and pulled out the frame and stool. After the windows were created I copied and flipped all of the geometry to make the other half before starting on the door, the steps and the round window. And as with the windows on the sides, all those details were outlined on the flat wall before making them 3D. Using this process I had no internal faces and no stray geometry. I used the Tape Measure tool to get the dimensions to match your model, Line, Rectangle, Circle, Offset, Move, Push/Pull, and Eraser. that’s all.
Okay gotcha. im going to try remaking it and see what happens. Thank you for the help.
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Did what you said to do and I see the difference. Thank you so much for the help!
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