Suggestions for import from Sketchup

[andybot_cg]

Hi all, for those who model assets in Sketchup - what is your workflow for importing into Blender? I typically use .obj export, but I need to import a model and keep Sketchup components as linked duplicates in Blender. (Obj, 3ds, fbx, all bring in components as unique instances.) Collada works, but I keep getting double faces in my mesh, even if I uncheck 2 sided faces in the export option. Any suggestions/ tips?

[leandro_cs]

Hi Andy,
There is an addon to import skp direct inside Blender, maybe it's what you're looking for.

https://github.com/martijnberger/pyslapi/releases

[andybot_cg]

Thanks! So I tried it out, and it's not doing what I need. Components come is as unique meshes instead of linked duplicates, and smoothing groups not recognized.

[leandro_cs]

Thanks! So I tried it out, and it's not doing what I need. Components come is as unique meshes instead of linked duplicates, and smoothing groups not recognized.

Yeap, unfortunately it does't work with multiple levels of hierarchy.
It considers only the last level for creating blender objects.
If there is a group inside a component, it will import the group as blender single object.

[andybot_cg]

The version I used seemed to be OK with heirarchies (0.18.)but the biggest issue I see is that smoothing groups are not recognized. That's why my preferred import format is .obj for Sketchup files.

What I've done before with Collada is import the components I need to be linked. Then I import single instances of the components I need as .obj, which I then join to replace the bad Collada mesh. For example, I have several dozen cabinet pulls in an apartment building model. I import the collada, so each pull is a linked duplicate, but the mesh itself is garbage. I then import one copy as .obj and join to the Collada mesh and delete the Collada generated mesh. All the linked instances are updated with the proper mesh. I was hoping there was a way to get the correct linked geometry in my file in one step.