if moi was to read and right sketchup files, i would be purchasing it in a heartbeat, as i also believe thousands of other people would.

is this possible, probable, or anything you would consider? it makes so much sense because moi does everything SK can't and vise versa; perfect complementary softwares. both easy to learn with great interfaces and deceptively powerful.

please! please! please! please! please! please!

Hi xrok1 - unfortunately there are a couple of difficulties that get in the way.

One big one is that MoI and Sketchup use very different methods to represent objects - Sketchup uses polygons and MoI uses NURBS surfaces. This makes it difficult to do bi-directional data transfer.

Also, as far as I am aware Sketchup has not made public the specifications for how their .skp files are structured which also makes it a lot more difficult to try to read and write to their file format.

- Michael

Rhino 4 can import and export SKP files from SketchUp, so the workflow SU to Rhino, export as 3dm to Moi works in many cases.

Sorry Michael because we don΄t let you enjoy your vacations.

Regards,


George

http://en.wiki.mcneel.com/default.aspx/McNeel/ThreedWareHouse.html ;)
Interesting text : the author Tim Hemmelman can be joined

so... it is possible. and maybe not that difficult if one could borrow the rhino code.

worth looking into Micheal? this would take Moi to a very high level of demand very quickly. it would be a must have for all sketchup owners. personally i've been modeling for years and can't make heads or tails from Rhino, Moi on the other hand is a joy just like sketchup... i just can't think of a practical reason to buy Moi if i can't bring my SK models into it to finish them, then take them back to markup and render.

I don't want to offend, I love Moi, i'm just having a hard time to find an excuse to buy it. help me out here. ;-)

Hi xrok1,

> so... it is possible. and maybe not that difficult if one could borrow the rhino code.

Yup, it is definitely possible - I'm sorry if I gave the impression that it was impossible, that's not what I meant to say earlier, I mean to say that there were issues that make it somewhat difficult, taking a fair amount of work to make it happen.

It looks like the Sketchup guys send out some I/O helper code to some companies who request it.

But the main difficulty that I mentioned earlier is still there - Sketchup uses polygons and MoI uses NURBS and does not currently work with polygon mesh objects (other than at export time). Rhino works with both polygon data and NURBS data, that is one reason why a Sketchup import into Rhino was not quite as difficult.

To make the import come into MoI I would probably have to implement polygon mesh objects as another type of object you could create and edit inside of MoI, which is a considerable amount of work especially trying to integrate them with commands like trimming and booleans, etc...

I don't expect to be able to complete that work anytime too soon.

Sorry! Unfortunately things that take a lot of work will take time before they can be implemented.


> I don't want to offend, I love Moi, i'm just having a hard time to find an
> excuse to buy it. help me out here. ;-)

Well, if you buy it, it makes it more likely that I will be able to stay in business and eventually be able to handle your request instead of going out of business! :)

I have added Sketchup file I/O to the wiki wishlist.

- Michael

ok how about this. could one implement lets call it a sketch (or auto geometry mode?) mode that works like sketchup (sorry i can't get over the way sketchup works its spoiled me). now i know i can draw shapes directly on Moi objects such as a cube... but lets say in this mode i draw a line (circle, rectangle...) on a face, i could then extrude (in or out) either part of that face without splitting, booleaning, trimming... like sketchup. of course this wouldn't need to work with curved surfaces (i'm not greedy). Then i could use Moi instead of sketchup, have the perfect excuse to get Moi, and wouldn't have to put up with Sketchup's pitfalls.

Viola; best of sketchup, best of Moi. That would be just about a perfect modeller.

Sorry if i'm getting annoying. Tell me when to stop.

here's an idea for easy implementation. if i preselect a object or a face before drawing on it, the shape drawn becomes part of the object and resulting faces can then be edited directly as part of the complete object.

SORRY! i can't stop. please stop me.....

Hi xrok1 - I do want to experiment with what you are describing in the future (direct drawing on to surfaces), but it will also take a fair amount of work to accomplish that. It will involve modifications to each drawing command, and MoI has many of these commands.

For now I just kind of generally expect that if you want something that works exactly like Sketchup, that is already available to you by running Sketchup itself...

- Michael

Hi xrok1,

> here's an idea for easy implementation. if i preselect a object or a face
> before drawing on it, the shape drawn becomes part of the object and
> resulting faces can then be edited directly as part of the complete object.

That's a good idea, but unfortunately planning out how something works is just one piece of the puzzle - actually making the code for each drawing command accomplish this is quite a bit of work...

It gets harder for things that have an impact on many different commands like this request.

With a quick count of curve drawing commands, it looks like this would involve work on 22 different commands.

It will tend to take me a while before I can get around to some items that take quite a bit of work to accomplish.

- Michael

Thanks for the consideration Michael, i definatly think this type of feature would sell alot of software for you (not to say that it won't sell great now). for now i have played a little to see if i could accomplish this functionality for myself somehow. here's what i've come up with: cube; draw line or other shape on side; boolean union if extrusion is inward and not touching existing edge or extrusion is outward; boolean difference if extrusion is inward and touching existing edge.

this gives me the results i want and is a lot more flexible than SK. now if i reverse my thought process, create in Moi then export to SK via .obj; which by the way Moi does a wonderful job with n-gons; i found my excuse, i'm happy again!

i think this is a problem not with Moi but with the workflow i'm used to. that being said if i could streamline this (draw; trim; extrude; boolean) process with a script or different workflow please let me know. i'd be happy with just being able to preselect a face and when i draw on it it automatically trims.;-)


your happy customer, xrok1

Unfortunately, SketchUp can only import 3ds files, not obj. On the other side is difficult to handle high polygon objects in SU.

Hallo all

The fact is that better cooperation between MOI and SU would be wery demanded. These sofwares are dedicated for similar group of users, both very intuitive using and completing together large possibilities. Both with connection with KERKYTHEA or INDIGO renderers give frofesional outcomes for designers. SU doesn`t import obj so I do it via 3ds.
Easy cooperation MOI and SU would be celebration for me.

Best regards
Olda Jirsa

.3ds doesn't seem to support n-gons, or maybe it does, i can't seem to find that option in Moi. 3ds would be preferable, but i use a ruby script to import .obj to Sketchup.

In my opinion, the reason why MOI is so great and loved by a lot of us is because it is a >NURBS< modeler that's easy to use which allow you to>quickly build shapes and objects<.

What's you're asking of Michael to do now is add in some kind of>polygon editing toolset< which is asking him to add a bunch of additional code that is totally opposite from NURBS modeling (which is what MOI is, a NURBS modeler)

If you'd like to edit your sketchup models, I'd suggest using the inexpensive Silo 3D modeler or Hexagon - these tools (especially Silo) has a similar simple UI and workflow and will allow you to totally do what you need to a polygon model.

-Will

PS - All of us here I'm sure would like to see MOI sell like crazy in a bunch of different markets but again the whole reason why MOI is loved is because unlike polygon modelers, you can create shapes and objects way quicker by using NURBS modeling techniques.

Once you add back in polygons you're working with that "same ole" workflow that MOI originally got us away from!

If you really need NURBS and polygons, then I'd suggest you try Amapi Pro - (or probably better, Hexagon) but you're definitely not going to get that ease of use with the NURBS as with MOI.

< really need NURBS and polygons, then I'd suggest you try Amapi Pro - (or probably better, Hexagon)
I am not sure that hexagon has nurbs inside ;)
http://www.daz3d.com/i.x/software/hexagon/-/feature_list?

don't assume your the only one that knows the differences between nurbs and poly modelers.

it is an inconsistent statement that adding functionality to Moi would somehow deminish it?

I too love Moi thats why i'd like to see a few things that i can do in it now with 4 or 5 steps, be streamlined to 1 or 2. the functionality that i desire has nothing to do with nurbs vs poly is has to do with common sense workflow. i am a solidworks user so i know that this functionality that SK uses (push/pull) is actually more nurbs like than poly like. by the way i have poly modellers, sloppy and inaccurate. i'm a designer not an artist, i have no desire to model monsters.

Hi xrok1,

> .3ds doesn't seem to support n-gons, or maybe it does, i can't seem to find that option in Moi.

Nope, .3ds only supports triangles. It also has several other limitations like no more than 65535 points or polygons in a single mesh object.

So you should only generally use it as a last resort option.

- Michael

thanks, thats what i thought or you would have already implemented the option.

BTW, any chance of a macro recorder in future versions? i think i could accomplish the workflow i desire with a macro.

and where is the documentation for script commands, maybe i could make a keyboard shortcut to accomplish my goals.