I have a .kmz file authored in Google Sketchup. I heard that the .kmz format was simply a zipped Collada file, so I unzipped it and got a .kml file.

Not being sure if this was a valid Collada format, I tried importing this .kml file in the Collada Import of Houdini and got this error message :

——————
Warning: The DOM was unable to create an element type kml at line 17
Probably a schema violation.

not able to load
——————-

Has anyone successfully dealt with Sketchup files before?

Thanks,
Craig

The .kmz format is a zipped KML file, not a valid Collada file.

However, in a KML file, you can specify a 3D model whose geometry is defined in an external Collada file. If you search within your unzipped .kml file, you can check if it references a Collada file by looking for a file path ending with the .dae file extension. The path should be wrapped up in <href> tags.

So Houdini can import the referenced .dae file, but not the .kml file.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Rob V.

I guess it would be too much to ask for .kml file support for Houdini?

The free Sketchup program is pretty neat and with Google Earth, etc. using it I think it is going to be a big thing in the future with a lot of non-technical artists using it to create content and do Pre-Vis, etc.

-Craig

The program might be neat to some, but you need to wait for the format to be all-pervasive first(or actively becoming so), rather than guessing it will catch on. I'm highly skeptical about it, myself, and there's a lot of other formats out there that could use better support in Houdini first IMHO.

Cheers,

J.C.

True, but I would venture to say that there are more folks using Google Earth in one way or another than using a lot of formats that Houdini already supports. I see the Google Earth stuff popping up on TV all the time on the news, etc. and it won't be long before games and film start using it in some manner or another as assets get more refined and ubiquitous.

But like you said, there are other formats that would be more useful, and I am just suggesting to add KML to the bottom of that list.

The professional Sketchup does have .obj export/import so if anyone needs to use Sketchup for a project, there is a $600 solution.

-Craig

craiglhoffman
The professional Sketchup does have .obj export/import so if anyone needs to use Sketchup for a project, there is a $600 solution.

Hey Craig, have you tried Sketchup's .obj exporter? We had a nice-looking architectural Sketchup model. We then downloaded the trial version of Pro to get .obj export ability, did the export, loaded it into Houdini … only to get an absolute mess. The points were correct but there was so much damage to the connectivity as to make it unusable. We verified this as an export issue by trying to load the .obj into Max … same issue.

Sketchup is a very cool tool and I've used it extensively for quick mockups. However what they do to geometry, in order to make Sketchup cool, is a nightmare. This is a direct result of making the tools function as they do. Pay no attention to what's going on behind the current.