Archviz with sketchup

aris777
Mon, 16 Dec 2024 10:23:47 +0000
Programming & Scripting

Hello everyone!
I would like to start a general discussion about unreal for archviz.
For at least 10 years now, I have been using sketchup and lumion and it has been a killer combination. Both programs are specialized in quick, easy archviz. You can design a full marina or residential complex and render an impressive video within a day. In the past few years I’ve made several attempts to do a transition to unreal but every time I have to give up because NOTHING in unreal is streamlined for archviz. (by no means am I bashing unreal, it is just not what it specializes in). This time I have spent 3 months trying to set up a pipeline that can make unreal as fast as lumion. I’ve amassed libraries and blueprints to easily and fast populate scenes with folliage, cars, crowds, etc. The biggest bottleneck (among many) is Datasmith for sketchup:

1. you cannot refresh a model without losing material changes.

2. Datasmith doesn’t import components as instances (either meshes or sub-levels) So any repetitive elements in your sketchup model you have to erase, keep only one, turn it into a sublevel actor and repopulate your scene in unreal.

3. (within sketchup) you cannot “export selected” which is a big hurdle.

Is it a lost cause to hope for speedy interaction between sketchup and unreal? (you know that archviz projects have a lot of changes and you have to update instantly)
and has anybody found solutions to the problems mentioned above?
I would like to know if anyone uses -professionally- unreal for large scale archviz projects.

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