Importing Google Sketchup models in Mathematica

Question

Google\'s Sketchup is a nice, simple 3D-object modeler. Moreover Google has an enormous warehouse of 3D objects so that you actually don\'t have to do much modeling yourself if

Answer 1

The route I currently follow involves a number of steps:

1. Download the SKP file from the Google repository
2. Open it in the free version of Sketchup
3. Export it from there as DAE
4. Convert it to FBX format using the free AutoDesk fbx converter (deep down the page here)
5. Using the same program, convert the FBX file just created to either DXF or OBJ
6. Import in Mathematica.

The results are pretty good, though you seem to lose the textures. Figures below show the results. Left: the original Sketchup model, middle: conversion/import via DXF, right: conversion/import via OBJ.

Obviously, you don't want to do this all too often, and for the specific application I'm working on I'd like a solution that users that aren't very computer savvy can handle too.

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Update:

As of version 10.4 Mathematica has the capability to import and export DAE files: https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/format/DAE.html