Sketchup - how to get rid of all those triangles

[Michael_Gia]

I've exported a model successfully into Sketchup by way of exporting from CA as .3ds and then imported in Sketchup. 

 

Works great and I can zoom around, and all my textures are there, however all the wall surfaces etc are composed of multiple triangles as if they were facets of a cut diamond. 

Anyone know how to get rid of this?

I know that I can go through every surface and explode, heal and so on but it seems this would take an eternity. 

Is there a magical one button solution?

 

The reason for the export was so that a customer who uses sketchup could work/play with the model. 

[WesternDesign]

Go to the extensions website and look for a tool called "Clean Up".  Try it out on a piece or an area first before trying the whole model (could take a long time on a big model).  Works well (not perfect but well) and you don't need to explode everything.

Hope this works for you.

[Michael_Gia]

Hey thanks!

I'll give that a try. 

Or maybe I can cheat and simply tell my customer to do that himself. 

If he's as proficient in Sketchup and 3DS as he says he is, it's probably a no brainer for him. 

 

Is this triangulation phenomena a common thing when exporting from most 3D modeling programs or is it a CA issue? 

[WesternDesign]

From what I have seen, Chief is the cleanest export and the 3ds is also the best version (from what I have tested).

[Greg_NY61]

Here is what you have to do before you import >click options>check mark merge coplanar faces 

[Michael_Gia]

1 hour ago, Greg_NY61 said:

Here is what you have to do before you import >click options>check mark merge coplanar faces 

 

That was easy. Takes quite a bit longer to import, but it cleaned up nicely. 

 

[amddrafting]

Exporting to .dae file fixes this in sketchup too.

[Michael_Gia]

I really wish Chief had the ability to measure in the 3D Viewer File Model like we can in the Sketchup model.