Hey guys! No I haven't died, I haven't been able to get on the page due to University, and family problems :/

Bad news: my Halo CE is screwed, well my whole windows partition is screwed but mostly Halo CE, probably I will uninstall it but to play will use both 1.09 and 1.00 portable ver. I rather like to be on 1.00 since my server gets full, but for some reason u guys like 1.09 :/

Well lets cut to what's important I found a tutorial or better said a good way to how to Convert Sketchup Models to 3DS and I decide to share it here :)

Tutorial:

The first important piece of informationyou guys have to know, is that KMZ file format is actually just a ZIP file. If you export your sketchup model to "Google Earth 4 (*.kmz)", you can change the name of your file from filename.kmz to filename.zip and look inside. You will find a model file in there, of the Collada "Digital Asset Exchange" format. It has the extension ".dae".

Once you have your .dae file, you will, of course need a converter to change it to a .3ds file. The best one is called the FBX converter tool, on the autodesk website.

You can download the windows version of the FBX converter from:
http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/fil...nverter_win.exe
The program will install to the following location (unless you specify otherwise):
Program Files\Autodesk\FBX\FBXConverter\2006.11.2\FbxConverterUI.exe

Now the FBX converter will convert your .dae file into a .fbx file. From there, the FBX converter will let you convert the .fbx file into a .3ds file.

This converter also supports a few other formats, so it could be pretty handy to have around.

Here is the process for converting from .skp to .3ds:

1) Download or create a .skp model in Sketchup
2) In Sketchup, export your model to "Google Earth 4 (*.kmz)
(note: be sure to choose version 4, because the other one is different)
3) Change the extention of the kmz file to .zip
4) Pull out the .dae file
5) In FBX Converter, convert the .dae file to .fbx
6) In FBX Converter, convert the .fbx file to .3ds

Possible issues you may find:

1-Some of the materials ware not compatible with jPCT (transparency issue)

How to solve it?

....with a program called: Lithunwrap to edit the materials in the .3ds Model.

a point to take in consideration: it does have a maximum number or polys it will load, some programs may do a better work but I don't know of any.

If you guys want to try it out here are a few sketch models you can try it, they are from halo,: http://www.mediafire.com/?27w97do9mcys6gu

an Image from one of the models:

MUST... RESIST... URGE... TO...

BETTERIDEAJUSTLEARN3DS!!!

interesting last part, gonna code it: BETTER----IDEA---JUST---LEARN--3DS!!!

That's also a prety good idea :) btw thnx for helping me w/ 3DS last time xD

I tried this but it wouldn't work for me.
I downloaded a DMR in sketchup and tried to convert it to 3ds. but it wouldn't come out properly...

Sure, np. I was sort of kidding. Sort of.
For gaming purposes it is best to use gaming software. Sketchup was not made for gaming but I do know that people find models in sketchup they want to use. It's just a bummer that people still try to MAKE things in sketchup for a game when they are usually more hassle than they are worth.

Or you download the model for Sketchup, open it up, hit export and choose 3ds.

Could have sworn there was a way to get OBJs from Sketchup now, though that doesn't mean it's going to work once you get it into another 3D programing. Sketchup doesn't care about topology so if you model gets converted to tris it's gonna mean a whole lot of cleaning up for you.
Edited by YakZSmelk on Feb 14, 2011 at 11:02 PM

Sure, lots of people are good at it. I used to be when I showed it to my dad for possible design purposes (he's a contractor), but at what point in export, or with what tool does sketchup realize that you need a sealed world. By last project do you mean something you last exported .jms and got ingame or just something in sketchup that looks nice to you. Please note, nothing becomes a functioning project really until it is fully exported and accepted by tool and sapien. If you accomplished this, then maybe this program has some more gaming possibilities after all. Otherwise, cool, you made an easily renderable but not playable level.
The only reason I am really against this program for gaming is that I have had 2 people in the last year ask me to help them export sketchup projects and I have searched and searched online and have found so far no ways to export without having planes overlapping planes and other BS that tool says no to.

Sketchup was not intended for game design. Do not treat it as though it is. It's better for you to learn Gmax and use that than it is for you to use sketchup and go through the headache of trying to get it into the game.

Skechup pro exports as .3ds and .obj i think.
and the new versions of max open skechup files.
But for game modeling its probly best to just learn a better 3d modelingprogram (of which there are dozens)

And sketchup pro still costs a bit of money which people aren't going to spend so you are left with the same dilemma unless for some reason people TRULY believe for some odd reason that it is easier to model it in sketchup.

Here's my Q. Will it boolean all your edges upon export if you DO have sketchup pro, or will you still have the issue where sketchup just goes and buts planes up with planes like it always does?

I'll get you pic some time today. 3 years sounds nice... Why haven't you actually produced anything with it yet then?


Edited by Sceny on Feb 15, 2011 at 04:03 AM

obj works just fine too. in fact, I don't think there's any 3d application that doesn't support obj

The latest ver of 3ds max only opens until the 7th ver of sketchup anything beyond does not open it, plus the models it can open sometimes promp up some errors like missing parts, textures or not appearing at all.

The way I found fix all of that :)

Here you guys can have the Brute Chopper I converted from a sketchup file to 3ds:

http://www.mediafire.com/?kdpw1dm1aj33s2a



Edited by PRPatxi on Feb 15, 2011 at 04:55 AM

that's... actually a damn nice looking chopper. I'm suprised you were capable of uv unwrapping it so well in sketchup, then again I've never used the program

yeah, anyone who disses people who use sketchup is a tool, especially if you can make stuff like that with it