Hi chaps, question about skp imports.

[Mike1158]

I have got an exterior structure which I have imported from sketchup, where I made it.  Thing is that the import seems to lose elements, one attempt lost a stair rail and another a complete staircase, any idea's where the problem is?

I shall attempt to add the file here.

[Allan Chesney]

Hi Mike,

I suspected your file was probably too large since it was over 3.4MB even when zipped.  It expanded to over 6.6MB.  When I tried to import it I got the message in the image below, confirming my size suspicion.  Like your first try I lost some of the stairs.

Are you able to reduce the elements in Sketchup or split it into several parts.  Each part may be complete that way, but you may still have issues due to the total size of the file.  Is there any reason why you did not do it in TFP? It appears fairly straight forward and should come out a much smaller file size I would think.

Allan

[Draftcad]

Hi Mike,

For some reason, the first time I saw your message, the file didn't appear, so sorry if you you saw my first answer (now deleted) asking for the file  

OK, I analyzed your file with TurboCad and I discovered the main problem--> your original file has a problem with the textures, and for this reason, the original file is corrupted (even with the size)--> for example--> the name 0053_Ivory_skp is used for two textures.
This is what I did--> I removed all the duplicated textures and saved the file as *.3DS (to avoid any problem with the size) --> see attached
You need to import the file and reset the textures

Anyway, Allan's notes regarding the file size are correct  

Pat

[Mike1158]

Cheers chaps, I think it may be me but I do not like the stairs in TFP, never have.  Too many gaps and it just looks wrong to me hence I make my own in TCad or sketchup etc.  The same issue occurs in envisioneer too.

[Allan Chesney]

Hi Mike,

I certainly didn't like the stairs in older versions either but the latest ones are much more flexible. I was easily able to create stairs similar to yours (without any gaps - but not sure what you are referring to here) but there is not a standard stair that has the bottom notched also (except with a stringer too), so it ended up with a smooth curved bottom. (see image)  It is very easy to make the stars themselves with a notched bottom too, just using the 3D Shapes 'Box' and the Array option (see image) but adding a handrail is a challenge when the stairs are curved (may do the handrail later but no time at present).

I rarely use stairs as there are not that many two storey homes in Australia, though they are starting to appear now as they try to stem the urban sprawl!  Usually I make up my own stairs within TFP using the box or a 'Floor by Picking Points' if the stairs are curved.

Seems like Pat has been able to solve the size problem on your SKP file anyway, so it should be workable now.

Allan

[Jack Zimmer]

There are usually problems with the Post height lining up with the railing heights. A gap occurs if posts are set to low and if too high they fall above the rail. One way around this is to turn off the posts and use a sized column raise into postion.

Jack