PlayUp - SketchUp to Unity 3D Now Available

This version supports the ability to export levels from SketchUp into Unity. Since the scene files in Unity are kept in binary format, exporting to Unity requires the additional installation of the bundled Unity package in this zip file.

PlayUp

STL Exporters for SketchUp

I had a couple recent comments asking about exporting STL files from SketchUp. I know of 3 plug-ins that can export .stl files.

• CADSpan - provides several 3D printing tools in addition to .stl exporting.
• Guitar Lists's DXF/STL Exporter
  
• Dider Bur's STL Exporter. Search for "stl" on the page.
  

I have not had a need to try any of these yet and so I can not offer any comment on how well they work.

Lego (LDraw) Build Instructions in SketchUp

I've been playing around with Legos in SketchUp (again). I've added some cool features to the importer - like creating build steps on import, and color coding each step. Each step also gets its own Layer, so you can toggle them on/off as you like. I hope soon it will be possible to create high-quality build instructions right from SketchUp.



The exporter works alright the way it is, but I'm working on incorporating the same build-step system into that. The user would need to create a Layer for each Step in the build.

Once that is done, you should be able to use SketchUp for the entire lego design and build process. The exporter is LDraw compatable, so you can load the output into any other LDraw software you use.

I have some ideas about lego-specific tools for placing and rotating parts, but we'll see how that goes...

The updates are not ready yet, but hopefully soon (a week?)

Sketchup to CamBam Plugin

Sketchup to CamBam Plugin: "I wrote a simple plugin for Sketchup which will add a menu option for exporting a CamBam file. It's a pretty straight forward process, and you can probably figure out how to use it without even reading this page, but I will go ahead and give some instructions anyway."

CryEngine Mini-Update

via PlayUp - Making it Easy to Make Games - www.PlayUpTools.com

PlayUp Alpha ver. 0.9.0.564 is now available for download.

This is a mini-update specifically enabling models with textures and colors to be exported to CryEngine2.

Here is a model from Google Warehouse. It was actually pretty difficult to find a model that did not have stray lines, so don't be surprised if you have a little clean-up work to do.


In SketchUp, make sure that the model is completely exploded and use the PlayUp Check Normals tool to ensure the faces are correct. Give the group or component an identifiable name. Set your export directory to your custom map directory off of the /Levels directory in Crysis ( ie. /Levels/Mapname ). On export, the textures used will be converted to TIF format and placed in /Levels/Mapname/textures. Exporting colors will place a file called "playup_nomaterial.tif" into the /textures directory.

In SandBox 2, import and orient the model as desired. Enjoy the view.

Ver 0.9.0.564 Notes:

- Models need to be turned -90 degrees on the X axis in SB2.
- Models containing stray lines without faces will not export correctly.
- All textures used in the model will be converted to TIFs and placed in the /textures directory off of your export directory.
- Level export to CryEngine 2 not yet supported.

SketchUp FlightGear Exporter

james, on his blog, has volunteered to write a SketchUp exporter for FlightGear, an open-source flight simulator. The exporter is still in the planning stage, but it's always good to see more people using SketchUp.

SketchUp to Valve Hammer Exporter Video

Here's a video demoing a SketchUp -> Hammer exporter. There's no links or other information given. Video by yas1945

Google Sketchup T3D Exporter for UT3

Here's a terse post by user HardPCM on the Epic Games Forums announcing a SketchUp exporter for UT3. There's really not much more information given.

link

SketchUp .X Exporter

Just a link to another .X exporter. ZbylsXExporter

The first .x exporter I was aware of is Erwan's, and 3DRad exporter also has an option to export to .x.

The signifigance? It allows you to create models in SketchUp for use in Microsoft's DirectX-based XNA game development resources.

SketchUp to Ogre Exporter

This is a Ruby based script for SketchUp which can export 3D scenes to the Ogre 3D rendering engine. It is released under the LGPL.

via: http://www.di.unito.it/~nunnarif/sketchup_ogre_export/

Export models to 3DS Max ASCII format

I found this at an Atari forum.

There's not much information about it, but you can download it here.

The plugin notes :

This script is written to export ASE for importing custom scenery into Atari's RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, so there are lots of features missing. (And other seemingly strange ones present :p)

SketchUp -> 3D Rad Exporter

3D Rad is a program for creating interactive 3d environments. It has a fairly impressive list of features like physics capable objects, shader-based rendering, skeletal animation blending, car-physics, A.I. driving, flight-simulation, and scripting.

They recently released a free exporter for Google SketchUp, so you can import your models for use in animations, walk-thu's, physics-based games, and lighting simulations to name a few.Here's a shot of the exporter menu options:

The 3D Rad homepage has a couple SketchUp tutorials; which I was able to follow, and re-create the simulations for myself. There is a 30-day, full-featured trial version available, and the cost for the pro version is $159. The exporter is free.They also have a number of tutorial videos on YouTube.

SketchUp Web Exporter Beta (Windows)

Last updated: May 9, 2008
The Google SketchUp Web Exporter (Beta) allows you to enable a simple interactive view of your model for any web page without a browser plugin. This is an early release intended for web developers who are interested in adding dynamic 3D content to their website, or are interested in an example from which to start writing their own interaction for the browser. Learn more about how to use the Google SketchUp Web Exporter.

Requirements: The plugin works only on the PC, but the results are cross-platform and cross-browser. Access to web hosting services (e.g., pages.google.com) are needed to publish your results.

Link to Installer.

There doesn't appear to be a homepage for this plugin.

SketchUp to DirectX Exporter

Long-time SketchUp user Erwan has sent me a link to his DirectX exporter for SketchUp.

Erwan describes himself as an early adopter of SketchUp and he "likes the way they imagine 3D modeling."

Later, he started working with XNA Game Studio to create games for "my children and others," and wanted to use SketchUp to create content in his games.

Download Erwan's xExporter.rb

Thanks, Erwan.

Update 2008/03/03: Here's a link to more information.

LWO Exporter Plugin for Google Sketchup

This is a basic LightWave object exporter for Google Sketchup 6. It may work in previous versions, but is completely untested there. All the usual provisos apply - this is VERY ALPHA software, which may wreck all your data and destroy any plans you had for actually leaving work on time for once. I make no promises *whatsoever* about its suitability for any purpose, at all.

That being said, you may find it useful in its current state. It exports the data in the SketchUp model to a LWO model file. It exports the geometry and material definitions, but only front materials are respected - back materials are completely ignored. Texture images are exported as UV mapped surface layers, and transparency is also supported. Smoothing is currently unsupported.

Alex Young

7th April 2007

Version: 0.0.6

download
homepage

Another German Plugin: LTPlus DXF-PlugIN-V.7.1 DE

I'm not sure what else this plugin does, but I noticed the DXF export right away. It's a Ruby plugin based on Didier Bur's STL exporter, and thus the DXF export functionality can be isolated and made into a separate plugin - which I will do as soon as I have time.

(link)

Plugin: OBJ Exporter

Dec 18, 2010 - TIG just released a new .obj exporter. TIG's plugins are usually solid, so I recommend trying TIG's. (TIG's OBJexporter on SketchUcation)
















2/5/2009 - Marten van der Honing sent me another .obj exporter that supports textures. See this post for download.


7/27/08


While the Pro version of SketchUp comes with the ability to export OBJ files, the free version does not.


This plugin was my attempt to write an OBJ exporter using SketchUp's Ruby API. My motivation was selfish curiosity more than anything, so when the plugin reached a state where it was able to export simple models, I lost interest.


There must have been a need for this exporter because some sites started linking here, and the plugin has now become one of my most downloaded - in spite of it's lack of features and abundance of flaws.


In it's current version, this exporter may or may not meet your needs:


Current "Features"

• Exports entire model.
• Exports top-level Groups and Instances only (not nested entities).
• Has trouble with complex Faces.

With the growing interest in this plugin, I have decided to take another look at improving it. It is difficult to give a time-frame for this work. The first thing I should do is actually sit down and read the specification of the OBJ file format. I am looking at the OBJ exporter which comes with Blender as an example (export_obj.py). I am also looking at the features of the Pro OBJ exporter for a feature comparison.


Finally, I want to thank everyone who has already helped me and given feedback - I can use all the help I can get.


Download


obj_export_1.1.rb