Scale problem with Sketchup model imported

[Anonymous]

Hi, When I import my Sketchup model, everything are scaled at 254% (in absolute). That is problematic when I texture my scene in Real world mode. I need to x-Form all and I lose all of my instances.
Does anyone have the same probleme?

[Steve_Curley]

Check your System Units and Display Units. There's obviously a metric/imperial conversion going on there.

Could you post an example import file and a Max scene with that file imported? I don't have Sketchup so I can't create one myself. Remember to zip the files before attaching and do NOT preview the post before submitting. If you have a problem attaching, see this post.

[Anonymous]

I've check my unit setup on 3ds and Sketchup and both are in metric.
I'v attach the scene
Thanx to you

projetdigue_sketchup_scale_problem.zip

[Steve_Curley]

Ok, taking one object as an example.

Vide_01 is a box, 335cm*270cm*881cm. How big should it be?
And what base units does Sketchup use? Because 254% too big is 2.54 times the original size, which would match up with the scene being cm but Sketchup being inches (2.54 cm to the inch). But if that's true then the objects are the correct size, just in different units.

Oh, ok, I see that the objects have actually been scaled. That is bad because as you noted you would have to apply a Reset XForm to every single one to get it right.

Can you post the import file (or at least a small but representative one) so I can try the import myself. There has to be an issue with the import settings somewhere, assuming you didn't scale them yourself ;)

Not everything is 254% scaled, Venteille # 167_01 is as follows:-
-222.71, -254, -250.25.
That suggests that they were somehow scaled in Sketchup? My guess is that you need to fix all that in sketchup before exporting.

[Anonymous]

Yes you a find the problem, there is a problem with the unit conversion but all objects have correct size both in Sketchup and 3ds (same unit).
For some raison there are some object who have been scaled but this a normal. the main problem is that the scene have a base of 254%, problem of import?

1.digue_calque0.zip

[Steve_Curley]

Unfortunately I can't import that file - it just tells me "no appropriate import module found".

[Anonymous]

You need the Connectivy Extension of 3ds max

[Steve_Curley]

Thanks for the reminder. It also reminded me of why I had downloaded, but not installed it. Quite a few errors reported with it and I didn't need the functionality at the time...

I'll see if the install will allow just the 32bit which would leave the 64bit (which I use most) alone.

[Steve_Curley]

Ok, I got the import to work, but it doesn't help much as there are no scaling/resizing options in it.

I see only 2 ways to deal with this.
Fix it in Sketchup before exporting, or fix it in Max afterwards. Not all the objects are scaled, so it must be something you're doing within Sketchup to cause it.

One very obvious thing is that there way too many objects. For example, the Ventelle # xxx_yy objects - that is really just 1 object, not 107 (or thereabouts). If it was then you could use a "trick" to remove the scale without using the Reset XForm.

Create a new box, convert to Mesh. Attach the objects to it, then delete the original box element. Voila - reset scaling. Problem is that it's all separate objects and I'm guessing you don't want to repeat that procedure 107 times...

If you can fix the scaling in Sketchup I would do so, otherwise attach all the relevant pieces together so that there are just a few to deal with inside Max.

[Anonymous]

Nice trick but boring.... ;)
I've try with other units and...nothing...there is still a damn convertion between Sketchup and Max. The Real World scale option are based on the absolute scale of the object so 1m (in real world) are multiplied by 2.54
Maybe I will send a mail to sketchup to see how to deal with that.
Thank to you having spent so much time on this problem, I'll keep you in touch if I find the solution and sorry for my english

[Steve_Curley]

Not all of the objects are scaled 254%, some (most) are scaled with different values. I don't believe this is either an export or import issue, but is an unwanted side effect of the modeling technique used in Sketchup.