STL import and mesh body improvements

[BrienKing]

I have a ton of sketches in SketchUp Make that I would like to convert to Fusion360.  Right now it's a HUGE pain to do because none of the tools in Fusion360 really work with imported STL files and there isn't an import feature for SketchUp.  At least not that I've found.  If there is, please point me to it!

When I import an STL file, Fusion360 obviously knows the dimensions, points, etc.. I should be able to:

1) Measure the MeshBody (since that's what an STL is imported into)

2) Snap to points on it when doing a sketch.

It would be nice if I could import an STL, and then say "Create Sketch" and select a face for that MeshBody.  Then it would show the face of that MeshBody as the background where I could trace over it.

[odolyte]

In sketchup :

Export as .obj

In F360 :

Import .obj then convert in fusion design (right click on file > convert to fusion design) > then open with fusion.

Otherwise the only way to get a good 3D model to work on is to use Onkio's Polytrans file converter. Expensive (380$) but efficient.

> export as STEP file, then import in F360.

http://extensions.sketchup.com/fr/content/polytrans-3d-file-conversion-system-sketchup

[cekuhnen]

That is why you do not work with SketchUp - sorry could not resist.

STL is also seriously the wrong mesh format.

STL is great for sending triangulated mesh to 3D printing

or

use an STL mesh to snap a dense TS mesh onto to reskin it.

Simply model with a software that does support 4 sides faces and NGONS.

Fusion can turn that either into smooth TS surfaces if before it was a sub-d surface

or

Fusion can turn planar poly surfaces easily right into matching BREP patches.

Works great for furniture.

Also u can use Meshlab or Blender to load STL and then convert it to Quads and then export into OBJ.

[BrienKing]

I really don't care what format it's in, and I can live with a simple 2D conversion since the majority of the items I need to convert are basically 2D objects extruded into the 3rd dimension.   I was just hoping for the conversion to be easier.  It would be easier if I could use Mesh Bodies as a reference for sketching.   There would still be manual work on my part, but nowhere near what I am currently dealing with.

The first suggestion didn't work for what I need, I'll probably have to write some code to do the conversion since this is a very specialized case (the type of conversion).  For now, I'm just leaving most of it in SketchUp since it works for my needs, however, I would like to change to Fusion360 completely at some point.

[cekuhnen]

Ok could u.post a screenshot of the work you do in sketchuo?

[odolyte]

@BrienKing Ok based on your 2D to 3D workflow by extrusion :

In Sketchup : Export as .DXF (be careful to keep the right scale for your model or you will be out of scale)

Import DXF in F360, then inport the drawing in your design, then extrude.

http://autode.sk/1GriFe6

[BrienKing]

@odolyte: Ok, that works so far, haven't gotten far enough into it to tell if it's 100% usable, but it's a giant step forward.

For those of you who don't have the Pro version of SketchUp (like me), you can install this:

http://www.guitar-list.com/download-software/convert-sketchup-skp-files-dxf-or-stl

and it will allow the exporting to DXF.  I chose to use the "Lines" option. and it imported pretty well, just need to see if I can use as-is or at least as a starting point.

Thanks to all for your help!

[Anonymous]

There wasn't a solution provided. There was a workaround suggested that may have worked in this very narrow example- that workaround being to flatten your 3D objects into 2D drawings.

Thanks