From SketchUp to Blender

Nowadays a lot of artists are looking to Blender capabilities and trying to find some use for some of their best features. And one of those highlights is undoubtedly Blender Cycles. Among those artists, you will find some SketchUp users willing to get a better render from their architectural projects.

What is the best way to import projects from SketchUp to Blender? A typical workflow is to export the model to OBJ and easily get it into Blender native OBJ importer.

But, since the ability to get models exported from SketchUp to OBJ is a feature for the PRO version, most people using their free version (SketchUp Make) can't use it.

Another option that you will probably enjoy, if you find yourself in this situation, is an incredible Add-on for Blender that imports SKP files. Not only it will open the possibility to render projects from SketchUp with Cycles, but also allow the use of furniture from the 3D Warehouse.

You can download the Add-on from this address and choose the proper version to install on Blender. From my tests it works well, even with large 3d models.

I was able to show this tool to some architects that rely mostly on SketchUp for 3d modeling, and they became excited to use Blender Cycles.

In time, a tool like this one may even encourage people to try using Blender as their primary tool for 3d modeling.