How to bring your Sketchup 3D Model to WebVR
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In one of my previous medium publications I showed you how you can get a basic 3D model from a 2D floor plan. But what if you already put a lot of effort into creating your very own 3D model in Sketchup? Can you still get your 3D Model into Archilogic, showcase it on the web and use it in combination with Archilogic’s furniture library?
In this publication I’m going to show you how to export your 3D model from Sketchup and import it into the Archilogic Editor.
The first thing you need is of course a Sketchup model. For this tutorial you can either use your own Sketchup model or download one from 3D Warehouse where you can find a wide variety of different 3d models all made with Sketchup.
We used an amazing 3D model by 3D Warehouse user ros of Oscar Niemeyers unrealized design, the Federmann House.
Archilogic uses meters as its standard units. To prevent scaling issues later on it is therefore a good idea to switch the units of the Sketchup model to meters before exporting.
To change the units of the model click on the Window tab and select Model Info. In the Model Info window select Units and then select Meters from the drop down menu on the upper right side.
Make sure to delete the up facing polygons of the roof object if you want to make sure to be able to look into your 3d model from above while still having a ceiling when standing inside the model.
After that you’re basically good to go. Select the objects that you want to export and click on the File tab and select Export 3D Model. If you’re using Sketchup Pro you can comfortably export the model in the OBJ file format. OBJ is currently the only file format that you can use to import your own custom 3D content into Archilogic. Make sure to open the export options before exporting the model and deactivate the Export two-sided faces option. However, if you’re not using the Pro version of Sketchup the process is slightly more complicated.
Without the Pro version of Sketchup you can’t directly export OBJ files, instead you have to export the 3D model in the DAE file format first. After that you can import the DAE file into a 3rd party 3D software like Blender and then convert it into a OBJ file before continuing.
Once you have your OBJ Export ready, make sure to log into your Archilogic account, open an empty scene in the 3D editor and then import the 3D model by dragging and dropping the OBJ File along with the MTL file and all the related texture files into the Archilogic window.
The importing process may take a couple of moments depending on the size of the model and the number of associated texture files. After the importing process you can start using Archilogic’s furniture library to bring more life into your models. In addition to the furniture pieces you can also use the camera bookmarks tool to create a presentation of your 3D model. The Archilogic editor also allows you to tweak the materials of your model. You can give them a glossiness, a different color hue or even replace the textures of the materials. Select the imported model to adjust the vertical position so that it works well with the standard camera settings of the Archilogic editor. In this case a value around -5.5 meters for the Y position works best. You can try out the steps described above by opening the 3D model in your browser (only desktop/laptop).
Once you’re happy with the changes to your 3D model you can open the lighting menu and switch on realistic lighting to give your 3D model the little extra it needs to look even more exciting.
A bit of light and shadow can make a huge difference in how your 3d model looks and feels.
Check out the same model with realistic lighting switched on here.
Make sure to save your model once you’ve switched on realistic lighting to keep all your changes.
You can get quite far by just using the features available in the Archilogic 3D editor and transform your imported Sketchup Model into a exciting showcase with its very own story to tell.
Lastly you can check out my previous Medium publication to learn how to bring your Archilogic model into an A-Frame scene with https://3d.io/ to make your showcase VR-Ready.
