Hi Bart,
The latest version of Google SketchUp is version 7.1 and comes in Free and Pro versions.
The only officially supported 3d export format for Google (free) SketchUp is COLLADA. SketchUp's COLLADA exporter supports textures, but apparently shapeways' COLLADA reader does not (yet?)
There are 3rd party, free .obj and .stl exporters available as plug-ins which work on both the Free and Pro versions. I can't say how well they work.
The Pro version supports several export formats:
* 3DS (.3ds)
* AutoCAD DWG (.dwg)
* AutoCAD DXF (.dxf)
* COLLADA (.dae)
* FBX (.fbx).
* OBJ (.obj)
* XSI (.xsi)
* VRML (.vrml)
I have been able to upload (simple) models directly from SketchUp Pro using its .dae exporter.
I have also been able to export full-color via .dae -> Meshlab -> .wrl work-flow.
There seems to be a limit of a single texture in this workflow, is that correct? Is it a limitation in the vrml format, or is there some other reason?
An ideal work-flow for SketchUp would obviously be export to .dae, make a .zip including the textures, and upload. (A more ideal work-flow would be to upload directly from SketchUp via a plug-in using the Shapeways API.)
Unfortunately, SketchUp puts the texture images in a sub-folder relative to the .dae file, so there may be some extra work in making a .zip for upload. (Plus the texture url in the .dae file is the full path, rather than a relative one.) What would be involved in automating this after the upload to streamline the work-flow?
I would guess other folks would like to be able to cut-out the Meshlab step and go from their modeller -> .dae -> Shapeways.
I also noticed my "upright" models in SketchUp are "end-up" in the Shapeways preview image unless I rotate my model -90 degrees about the X axis in SU before exporting. It would be nice if Shapeways detected this.
Here's shot of the COLLADA export options in SketchUp so you can see what user have to work with.
Finally, I hope this helps, and think it's remarkable what you guys (Shapeways) have been able to accomplish so far.