Google Sketchup to GMAX exporting into SC4 model

[djlee1999 3]

So heres the deal, I have the tools necessary to import custom buildings from Google Sketchup PRO which can export directly to .3ds. I can open it successfully. I click on the BAT utility tool within GMax however everytime I try to export no matter the quality/zoom setting I always get the error code 6 and hangs at 13%. Any suggestions, thoughts on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated

[junkee 0]

What is the name of the converting tool?

[Sgt Pepper 864]

Can you show a picture of the model? And explain in depth what exactly you did to convert the model into 3ds.? There could have been a mistake in the process. Or, simply that the model is too big and needs to be smaller or exported in separate parts.

[junkee 0]

Can you show a picture of the model? And explain in depth what exactly you did to convert the model into 3ds.? There could have been a mistake in the process. Or, simply that the model is too big and needs to be smaller or exported in separate parts.

So, you know how to design in Sketchup? If so, could you reply at what scale to design it at?

Thanks

[Sgt Pepper 864]

Can you show a picture of the model? And explain in depth what exactly you did to convert the model into 3ds.? There could have been a mistake in the process. Or, simply that the model is too big and needs to be smaller or exported in separate parts.

So, you know how to design in Sketchup? If so, could you reply at what scale to design it at?

Thanks

I used to work in sketchup, then I gradually changed to gmax. Less of a hassle, but sketchup is a good start for beginners.

Scale wise, importing Google earth images and mearuring the pictures once they are imported into the scene will help scale wise in widith.

Once a 3ds model is imported into gmax, it needs to be vertically scaled definitely. At least 133%(just adding 33% to the original scale) or even more for some cases. If you don't do this, you'll find that your building will appear shorter compared to buildings that are supposed to be the same height or floor count.

When modeling, floor heights, as I've been told, need to be 4 meters. But sketchup is a slight special case if you ask me, seems that vertical scales shrink once in gmax. So to help a little you could try doing floor heights at 5 or 6 meters, just to make scaling it up once in gmax a little easier.

Hope this helps.

  Edited January 23, 2012 by Sgt Pepper  

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Maxis used 4 meters for most of their buildings. If you considered their buildings to be scaled up, then the 4 meter height would represent 3 meters in real life. That's almost 10 feet, which is what a lot of apartment buildings are in real life. But a lot of office buildings in real life have a 15 foot floor height, which would be 6 meters in gmax (including the vertical scaling).

But it's important to remember that the vertical scaling only compensates for a visual effect. When you render something, it's not actually getting shorter, it just looks shorter because the kind of orthographic projection the view is makes things look short. The model is still the same size it always was. So if you make a 10 meter cube in sketchup and import it into gmax it will still be a 10 meter cube.