Sketchup - Unreal Engine 5.2 - Datasmith sync issue / feature?

I’m in the process of learning unreal for Archviz.

While trying to produce renderings. All of my modeling is done through sketchup and l’m using the datasmith exporter to establish a live link/ connection to Unreal 5.2.

The issue is, whenever I update the sketchup model and sync, I lose all of my progress of applying materials in Unreal. It essentially leaves the model as a brand-new import after clicking sync.

Is this a bug or am I doing something wrong?

This renders my work flow pretty much useless as I constantly tweak the design throughout the rendering process. For this very reason I’m being forced to switch to a different rendering engine, which I don’t want.

Any help / guidance is appreciated.

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If you apply your materials via the mesh editor (control+E, or right-click edit) then the object will always keep the material when you re-import.

Simply applying materials onto an actor in the scene does retain the assignment when re-imported.

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@jeffmeyer3d I really appreciate your response. As I mentioned I’m in the process of learning / self teaching myself unreal. I’ve been looking for a solution for some time now.
I will try this out and let you know.
Thanks again

@jeffmeyer3d That worked like a charm, really appreciate it. While I have you here, and if it’s not too much to ask. How can I replace a material that is imported from sketchup to a Quixel material.
Example: I have a curtain wall with material “X” applied in sketchup. After creating a link in Unreal, how do I replace that “X” with a Quixel metal material?
Again, if it is not too much to ask…
Thanks again

You have a few options for this such as using a python script or creating a blueprint utlity.
However, since you are already using a Datasmith workflow, I would recommend staying in that eco-system and use a Dataprep recipe.

Here is a video that should walk you through the steps on how to do that:
Using Visual Dataprep in Unreal Engine | Webinar - YouTube