Issues with sketchup .stl files

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posted in Community by tanju-b

I seem to be having a lot of issues with .stl files generated by sketch up that client has provided. Netfabb and slic3r 1.0.0.RC2 seem to have marginally repaired them but I am still having trouble printing them and some of the print layers seem weird.

I'm starting to think about rejecting stl files from sketchup in the future. I've read a lot about how sketch is not a true 3D modeling tool and non-manifold issues, etc. I'm curious what other makexyz-ers' opinions on this are?

p.s. (also I think slic3r 1.0.0RC2 still has some bugs that aren't helping my current situation but my stable 0.9 version says the models are not manifold and crashes while slicing...this is even for the 'fixed' models. )

10 years, 3 months ago

tanju-b - Turns out two of the stl files my client sent were generated with Solidworks (.sldpr files). Never the less still had non manifold issues. I was able to repair them, but what a pain. and time consuming.

10 years, 3 months ago

nextlevelprinting - Have you tried netfabb cloud service for repairing .stl files?
http://cloud.netfabb.com/

10 years, 3 months ago

tanju-b - Yes I have used Netfabb with mixed success thanks. I've also used Meshmixer. My question was more about makers experience with Sketchup vs other modeling tools?

10 years, 3 months ago

cwimsatt - Any recommendations for free/low-cost alternatives to Sketchup that are more reliable? I'm using a clean-up plugin, and hope to print about 8 STL files shortly. Will run them through netfabb as well, hoping the two levels of cleaning will do the trick, but would be nice not to need any cleaning in the first place.

10 years, 3 months ago

cwimsatt - One experiment indicates you are right about Sketchup, or at least about it's STL Export plugin and/or the Clean plugin (and/or the way I'm using them). Steps to reproduce:
1. Import a thingverse stl and run it through Sketchup "Clean" plugin
2. Export to STL
3. Load to netfab
4. Download cleaned up stl
5. Import into Sketchup
6. Export back to STL
7. load this new STL to netfabb

Expected results:
Netfabb says second stl has no errors

Actual results:
Netfabb reports the file still had more than one shell, no manifold and was not oriented.

10 years, 3 months ago

rapidtechnician - Invest in magics and you will never have another issue... Worth every penny....

10 years, 3 months ago

tanju-b - thanks! I forgot about materialise... had heard of them a few years back long before I got my printer.

10 years, 3 months ago

tanju-b - regarding free alternatives to sketchup... I'm a big fan of tinkercad.com It's more powerful than the name/initial use implies.. However it is different than most cad programs in that you start off with 3D primitives right off the bat... generating a 2D profile and then extruding it has only just recently been introduced. I've never had any non-manifold errors with my .stl files generated from tinkercad

10 years, 3 months ago

cwimsatt - Checking out both magics and tinkercard. Thanks.

10 years, 3 months ago

cwimsatt - It looks like the STL import in Sketchup may be the problem. I'm using Rhino to work around the problem, as it can both read and write sketchup and STL, and has a nice analyze/diagnostics feature.

10 years, 3 months ago

fabhappy - @tanju-b from a printer's perspective, I have also had issues with Sketchup files from customers, and in those instances I have asked for the original file, and then try to figure out what the problem is. If I can figure it out, I then teach them how to fix the issue to avoid future problems.

TInkercad, 123D Design, SolidWorks, and Alibre from my experience all generate perfect STL files.

10 years, 3 months ago

printedsolid - I second what fabhappy said. I get a lot of junk geometry from people who work in Sketchup. As an FYI, I recently got bad geometry from a solid works export. The designer modeled a surface and extruded up to the surface. This resulted in overlapping edges and some other bad geometry in the export.

10 years, 3 months ago

makerbeck - I have had excellent results with the STL export capabilities in Sketchup. As with any software, you need to watch out for holes and flipped triangles however, Netfab has always fixed that for me. Even with what is a manifold file, you can run into problems with shells. I have had parts that caused problems until I wrapped them to combine multiple shells into one shell.

10 years, 3 months ago

dgaylord - I generally find the output files from Free programs are worth every penny spent on the software.

10 years, 3 months ago

makerbeck - I use Sketch Up Pro which exports great and which is not free but also did not have any issues with the free version and the stl exporter. However, garbage in, garbage out. One of the issues I have seen with Sketchup (and other programs) which is due to the user and not the program things can be drawn without someone realizing there were holes or triangles were flipped.

10 years, 3 months ago

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rapidtechnician - If you need some help with repairing you file, email me. I will repair it free of charge.........I use magics...

10 years, 3 months ago

jms3dprinting - I have been using Sketchup personally for about a year. Yes it does have issues if not modeled correctly. But I wanted to be able to take files from any customers, including students and those who may not be able to afford a pro version of 3d cad.
I recently had someone send me an stl file and drawing that did not match in scale. The stl file had to be scaled down by 0.3937 to match the mm size on the print. It looked like the file was not saved correctly, but I couldn't convince the customer. Anyone know of where the scale is imbedded in an stl file?

10 years, 3 months ago

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3 years, 9 months ago