I have absolutely no idea what category this belongs in.
I modified a 3D Warehouse model in Sketchup Web Free. I downloaded it as a skp file and since it wouldn’t let me export it in a format I could use in Google Earth Pro I had to use a converter to a DAE format. I think the problem I’m having is from the modifications I made.
The model was a house with a walkout basement and the designer made a very nice large front yard, curved driveway, sloped side yards, back yard and I believe it’s a retaining wall. Unfortunately, I needed all these items to go away so in sketchup I selected the lines, erased them and the extra items went away.
After importing the DAE file into Google Earth Pro I get error messages. (no errors before modifications) It’s trying to render the image and it errors out on 3 of the materials with: Vertex array in geometry triangles: XXXX material:220970 has more than 64K vertices.
I know I made error happen. It feels like maybe I’ve left things “unattached”. It’s not a big deal, this is just supposed to be an example in Google Earth Pro and will be replaced by the intended house when I’m ready. Could this be a fairly quick fix? Or have I created a worm hole where I’ll be lost in time if I try to fix it?
It’s possible that your modifications bloated the file. Maybe the file was already bloated when you got it. One thing to keep in mind is that the .dae file will consist of triangles. So what is a quadrilaterial face in the SketchUp model will become two triangles in the .dae file. Obviously the entity count can skyrocket.
It might be that you could clean up the model to reduce the geometry to something manageable. What is the intent for this model in Google Earth?
Thank-you so much for asking such a pointed question! That’s very useful in identifying what the heck I’M DOING! And YEP!! I don’t know SKETCHUP but I do understand complex coding. 3D Warehouse My Sample I was aware of the possibility of features being left “unconnected or hanging” but I was also aware that the AUTOCONVERTER was 3rd party app and that it might be doodling with the file, so to speak, as well. And It does take about 5minutes to load while giving those error messages along the way. I uploaded the revised model
I have wooded acreage in Google Earth Pro as a project where I’m mapping out existing features and planned tree work. I intend to build a house up on the highest point, on a slope with a walk out basement giving a beautiful view of over 100 miles of lower elevation. I thought if I could find a 3D example of such a house I could pop it into GEP and see where it might work best. Where on the slope it would best fit, how far down the slope it would need to be to give the best walk out features, the direction it would face to give the best view, and then do the math to identify how much of the corresponding down slope area where trees would need to be thinned to give a clear view of the hundred mile open landscape. Then I could identify the coordinates of the house footprint and the coordinates of the area to be thinned. With this information I could go “boots on the ground” with my Garmin GPS, mark out the areas, see what it looks like and go from there. It’s hard for me to walk into a heavily wooded area and say this is where I want to build the house. I know I need to hire people to do the final site evaluation etc… but they ask me, “Where do you want to put the house?” and I say, “Uhhhh… I don’t know”. LOL!!
I’ve been working with the project in Google Earth for 2 years now building this property project and so far this approach has given me an excellent handle on things. So I found a sample of a single story ranch with walk out basement that was very similar to the design to what I have in mind. I am working with a strong limitation of Google Earth though. I don’t know if you’re familiar with it but popping the model in doesn’t put it exactly where I need it to be. It’s clamped to the ground and as I move the model up the slope to flatter ground the basement does disappear as I would expect it to. The problem is the “ground” in Google earth is the top of the trees. Google earth can’t possibly know how high the trees are. And I understand that, it does put a small kink in the math work and that’s also why the extra outside features were getting in my way.
When it comes time to finish the house plan work, I’ll hire someone but this was just to get a general idea. And after popping it in I realized that my initial area choice was NOT the best choice.
hmm… Importing terrain mesh… That truly sounds SUPER…interesting… But I have to put the brakes on… Learning SKETCHUP is NOT my primary goal and I do like learning new things, but tend to get caught up.
Attempting to export the file as a DAE or KMZ it takes me to an upgrade option. I’m not willing to subscribe nor to accept the learning curve just for this 1 sample. It’s not my primary goal. When I’m finished with my actual house plans, I’ll hire someone to create a 3D model.
Oh and yeah…LIDAR wow… talk about a rabbit hole for me, I’m still trying to find my way out of that one. Unfortunately the LIDAR data for my area was flown Dec 2016 just 3 months after a clear cut was done on part of the property and it doesn’t reflect today’s state of things. While LIDAR is specked to be updated approx every 8 years My location is very remote. Those in the know said probably not for another 3-4 years especially in light of this government DODGY thing (oops, sorry DOGE).
