SketchUp - Arkio

Importing models from and to Sketchup requires a Pro or Enterprise license. You can learn more about our paid licenses on our website and start a free trial from Arkio to try this. The Revit, Rhino, and Sketchup plugins are all included with our Arkio Windows installer on our download page.

SketchUp to Arkio

The Arkio SketchUp plugin allows you to export models from SketchUp 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 to Arkio and back.

You can export models from SketchUp using the export button under the Arkio toolbar. If you don't see the Arkio buttons/toolbar you might need to install Arkio on your PC first or enable the buttons by right-clicking your toolbar. All 3D geometry visible in your view will be exported to Arkio. You can best start with a small scene and turn off layers or hide geometry you don't want to export to Arkio.

Once you open Arkio on the same PC, your SketchUp exports can be accessed from the create>import drawer.  You can place the models in your scene and share them with your other devices in a meeting.

Sketchup to Arkio via cloud

You can also upload your Arkio-prepared Sketchup exports directly to Arkio on your mobile devices by uploading the exported ZIP file from Documents\Arkio\Import\SketchUp created by our plugin (or the individual, GLB, and texture files) to an Arkio Cloud group. These uploaded cloud files will automatically be downloaded on the devices linked to the same cloud group from where you can load the files in your Arkio scene from the same>create import drawer.

You can load Sketchup and other imported models to Arkio in two ways

Locked at origin - to place the model on its original coordinated as a locked non-movable reference

Place as object - to place the model freely as a movable Arkio props

If the Sketchup model has geometry modeled under the origin the terrain can be cut away by making a large void shape in the Arkio terrain to enable teleporting and modeling on the underground geometry. If your model is floating in the air or far away from the center of your Arkio table it means your model is modeled far away from the origin.

It's best to correct the origin position and level of your file in the original modeling tool. You can also place the model as an object and position it manually in your scene, this will however allow accidental movement of your geometry and will export your added Arkio geometry to different coordinates when exporting back to your original design tool.

Update your models

When a change is made in SketchUp you can overwrite your model with a new version by exporting the same model from SketchUp again. A spinning indicator shows in Arkio when models are loaded again. When the new version of the model is available a yellow update icon will show above the model in the Arkio scene. Clicking this icon with your laser or mouse will update that model to the latest version. 

If you don't want to update your existing model or if you want to switch between various design options you can change the file name of the Sketchup models instead of updating your existing model.

Arkio will keep the old versions of your imported models so you can always revert back when needed. You can access your older imported models in the placement dialog under the date dropdown.

Face direction

Models from SketchUp have two-sided faces. A default white material for the exterior and a purple one for the interior. Arkio's plugin will export only painted surfaces and exterior (white) surfaces, We skip exporting purple surfaces to avoid unneeded triangles on mobile devices.

The Sketchup model without correct face orientation can result in faces missing in Arkio. In reality, these faces are still there but only visible from the exterior. In case you are missing surfaces you can select and reverse the faces with an incorrect exterior orientation Or you can simply paint these interior faces with a different material to make them export to Arkio.

Arkio to SketchUp 

To load your models from Arkio back to SketchUp you can best open the Scene overview on a Windows version of Arkio and click the export button. Once the export is made for SketchUp an export confirmation will be shown. You can also export your files from Arkio on your mobile devices via our Arkio Cloud and download the model from cloud.arkio.is 

Back in SketchUp you can open our SketchUp Plugin import and select the file you exported from Arkio (default Windows path is Documents\Arkio\Export\SketchUp) All Arkios geometry, components, sketches and 3D map buildings will then be converted to SketchUp geometry.

Mac OS users

Our Arkio Sketchup plugins are currently only available on Windows and make it faster to convert the active 3D view to a VR-ready Arkio-compatible model. When using Sketchup on Mac you can also export your models to OBJ or glTF/GLB using Sketchup's built-in exporters or third-party plugins. After you export your models to OBJ/GLB you can make a zip file of all the 3D and texture files and upload that zip to the Arkio Cloud to load your model to Arkio.

Known issues/limitations:

• Avoid long processing times, performance issues, and crashes by only exporting the geometry you need when working with mobile devices like the Meta Quest.
• If you experience issues loading your models try to load the exports in the Windows 3D viewer, Blender or Rhino to see if the files load well there and what geometry might be causing the issue.
  
• Sometimes failing imported models affect the loading of other files. Cleaning your temporary ResourceCache files can solve most issues.

Best practices SketchUp modeling

• You can Inspect your models face orientations and optimize your Sketchup model using View>Face Style>Monochrome and reversing the white faces to the exterior of your model.
• It's best to check the size of your models before you load and optimize them on mobile devices. You can check the number of faces of your model using Window>Model Info.
• The objects visible in your 3D view will be exported to Arkio using the plugin so you can reduce the model size by turning off layers, hiding geometry, and optimizing your components.
• You can optimize your Sketchup models and components and increase performance for Sketchup and Arkio using plugins like Skimp