Not really a question because eventually I solved it myself. But I thought I’d post this in case anyone else has this problem.
Tthe problem I was having was that when I exported an FBX from Sketchup on the Mac, the axis of the asset was way off from where it was in Stechup. I opened the FBX in Meshlab and the asset located as it had in Sketchup.
So, I went on a quest to set up Sketchup and UE on a Windows Machine so I could use Datasmith. But after all that the asset’s axis was wrong exactly as it had been with the FBX export.
Digging around I figured out that Sketchup will allow you to reset (what appear to be) the master axis in a project so you can have it relative to your assets as you work. BUT when you export from Sketchup it uses the original internal axis NOT the project axis you set for modeling (Internal and project axises are terms I made up, Sketchup doesn’t differentiate them).
So to get your axis right on your Sketchup export you have to be sure that your asset’s axis is the actual original internal axis. I found two ways to do this. One you can copy your asset then paste it into a new document. Or you can make your asset invisible (with layers, now called Tags, thanks for that Trimble), Then right click on your axis point then select Reset.
In both of these methods you then have to drag your asset so it is where you want it relative to the axis. Which is not very feckin’ precise is it?
Maybe this is well known to customary Sketchup users. I am not one and had received this asset from others. So, learning curve!
Anyway, I hope that helps someone.
Stagecrafter