Ok, I have been researching this all day, and I am at the point where I just might shoot myself. :spin:
I am trying to import Sketchup models into Blender for a project I am starting. I must have read ten or more tutorials by now and none have worked. The problem seems to be that the latest version of Sketchup does not have the option to export to an older version of Google Earth’s .kmz file type. Are there any solutions??? Thanks in advance! 
P.S. I’m new here, so hi! lol
Hi Mike
I’m fighting with the same problem, have posted the problem in the forum but no response, it seems that no one works with blender AND sketchup.
With sketchup lower than 7.1 it worked mostly with the “*.kmz to *.zip to *.dae”-methode.
I tried with the OBJ-Exporter for sketchup, but the results are not good, it creates wrong meshgroupes.
There is a free online meshconverting website but the results are bad as well.
Sketchup is a fantastic modelling tool for architecture, I’m a bit disapointed that there seems to be no way export models proper from sketchup to blender.
Does anybody no a solution ?
Kind regards
Alain
Use Sketchup to export them as Collada .dae format this will save them as a Collada 1.4 .dae model, then you can import them into Blender using the Collada 1.4 import function. Both Blender 2.49b and 2.55 can handle importing from the Collada 1.4 .dae format.
This is exactly what I did. Exported with Sketchup 8 using *.dae format and imported into Blender with the 1.4 Collada Importer, but it didn’t work.
It does not work with other scenes as well. It works only with older Sketchup versions !
Does anybody have a real solution ?
Or can we say: Importing 3D-Data in Blender 2.492/ 2.55 from higher than Sketchup Version 7.1 for free is impossible ?
I did another way: As licened Octane user an can use the Octance exportscript for Sketchup. It creates clean *.obj-files but it costs a Octane licence.
There are some OBJ-Exportscripts for Sketchup but either they are not good enough or you have to pay for them (one cost 95$ I guess).
Kind regards
Alain
The solutions I came up with:
Use SketchUP Pro and export as .obj.
Use Blender 2.49b, JMS’s kmz import script, http://jmsoler.free.fr/didacticiel/blender/tutor/py_import_kml-kmz_en.htm and export from SketchUP Free or Pro as Google Earth, NOT version 4, version 3 or earlier. Then save the Blend and open it up in 2.5 then go from there.
Either way you get a freaking mess of a mesh to flip normals on, untriangulate etc etc. However .obj was cleaner and needed less work.
For a quick hack, yes SU import into Blender is ok but seriously suggest learning to use Blenders modeling tools over time, bit by bit and leave SU behind.
Collada never worked for me.
? I have no trouble at all to export readable Collada files from SketchUp 8. They load perfectly well in Blender 2.55 r32988. And it also worked in older versions the past few weeks (I had to show my students how to import SU8 files into Blender and Photoshop).
Just make sure you explode any objects like components, or objects loaded from the web.
…although I have to admit, that now, while I am trying to import and export components, it seems fickle…
Exporting my newly created model poses no problems, though, it seems - until I create separate objects.
Photoshop works fine, btw. So you could export the 3d layer as a object, and import that in Blender.
@herbert
thanks, exploding all groups an component works !
@yellow
The “JMS’s kmz import script” does not work for Blender 2.492 and SU 7.1.
I get an errormessage that tells me “Sorry, the data are perhabs is in Google Erath 4.0 format and are not mangaged for the moment”.
Did you test if the method really works ?
Kind regards
Alain
If you have Photoshop: saving as a Collada file in SketchUp 8 (including materials/textures), and opening in Photoshop works very well. Something that may elude people, though, is the fact that you can right-mouse click the 3d layer, and export the object as a *.obj file, and import that in Blender. Works like a charm, and Photoshop will even save those textures!
Very handy, though you will need access to Photoshop CS5. I have not tested this in CS4.
Oh, don’t forget to explode those imported models before exporting in Sketchup 8.