I was a very early adopter of Sketchup for years now, I like the way they imagine 3D modeling.
Later I start 3D tutorials and finaly get XNA GameStudio 2.0. But my SketchUp models were'nt usable in XNA. I then decide to write a DirectX exporter for sketchup.
I discovered JigLibX that is a XNA GameStudio Physic Library. Models can be directly used in this sample with a few adaptation. What is really great is the 3Dwarehouse where you can find thousand of models.
Plugin code can be found here :
http://edecadoudal.googlepages.com/xExporter.rb
Setup : just copy the xExporter.rb in Google SketchUp/plugins directory.
6 jun 2008 Version 0.5:
. Added Export for Blender (add a rotation matrix thus the meshes are right oriented)
12 mar 2008 Version 0.4 :
. Added Export Textured faces only
. Light presentation : http://edecadoudal.googlepages.com/sketchupwithdirectx
29 feb 2008 Version 0.3 :
. Now Supports Back Faces (BUG: sometimes it is necessary to explode all ...?)
. speed export improvement
27 feb 2008 Version 0.2 :
. Now Supports Groups and Components
26 feb 2008 Version 0.1 : published on http://creators.xna.com
. Support Textures : created in the same folder
. Supports front faces only : no Group or Components
Fixed bugs:
. Color only texture are not rendered
Known bugs:
. Some models may generate an error when loaded in DirectX Viewer: don't know why
. Some faces are rendered black (something to do with normals) : try to explode the model in sketchup to fix.
Choose Plugins > Export DirectX:
Open DirectX Viewer
Notes :
Some models may generate an error when loaded in DirectX Viewer: don't know why
Some faces are rendered black (something to do with normals) : try to explode the model in sketchup.