I got mine (The Phantom Manor) off Google's 3D Warehouse. Just needed to rescale it a bit in Sketchup, import it with ID textures on, and it was fine. It was the first one I found that was suitable, and it actually worked first time! I was amazed, to be honest...

This is to do with the new Sketchup ASE exporter as created by Muvizu HQ. It allows you to create a collision volume at the same time as your main object, and then export them both as one. If they are the same (i.e. you didn't change anything) then you get that message. Not a big deal, just means that the object has a default collision volume. I still use my own method of exporting using the old exporter, then using my Match Box Collision tweak to create the collision where I want it. There is the tutorial vid on how to use the new ASE exporter, so you might want to watch that.

http://www.muvizu.com/Video/21578/Sketchup-collision-made-easy-in-Muvizu-3D-ani

It's actually a pretty good way of creating objects with collision where you want it to be, rather than letting Sketchup/Muvizu decide for you. I'd recommend you give it a watch, and see if it helps.

@ EEFilmz - set the collision volume to none when exporting from Sketchup, or use the old exporter (HardPCM's) before using the ZMB. Just ocurred to me that you have to start off with no collision at all for the ZMB to work right.

OK Thanks, I am trying to use your method right now 8) ziggy72 wrote:

I either get a message saying it's too small, or it's too large or outside the area,

yes many of the models are just large you need to be up in the air near the center of the building area where the dome is largest.

As for learning this stuff it all takes time if you learn little by little eventually it will work out. However you need to shall we say start at the beginning and watch videos and read tutorials and start with just a plain cube or something because if you dont understand the principles of what your doing you wont ever learn. I dont know if blender is truly easier or harder then sketchup many claim that blender is far too difficult. I would suspect its not its just a matter of what you learn to use first. One day I want to take a peak at sketchup for building things like buildings. I am sure there is a way to make models that are just as nice vertex wise as blender. In the end though whatever you choose to do it has to be learned from the bottom up err figurately of course and I find now that I am getting older the idea to learning is to learn in stages and not try to pump it in all at once. It simply does not stick because I need to understand every single little principle of whatever I am doing before I can move on. When i was 20 I could just pile it all in and use it and learn the principles later on .. does't work like that anymore. IN any event as you get time learn it little by little one day you will turn around and realize that you can do what you wanted.
edited by urbanlamb on 04/11/2012

EEFilmz, I feel your pain. Well, not the abdominal ones, but the psychological ones anyway. In an effort to help yourself and everyone else struggling to get to grips with the whole model importing thing, I've uploaded a set (which should appear in the Gallery tomorrow) which should help. It is the set I use to import and test models, and it is positioned in exactly the right place to allow you import the kind of models that Muvizu usually complains are too large to import inside the world.

As for the 'object too small' message, this is exactly what it says - Muvizu doesn't like objects that are too small/flat/thin in any one axis. If you make sure your objects are scaled to at least 1 metre long in any axis in Sketchup, and not too thin, you shouldn't get this message again. You can always scale it back down again in Muvizu later on.

Collision, as others have mentioned, is a right pain. This is why I made the ZMB in the first place so I could just side step the problem altogether, but it's still a pain. UkBerty's plugin is very useful here, and I'd go with that if I were you. I'd also recommend perservering with Sketchup rather than Blender simply because I know Sketchup will do what you need, and has very comprehensive video tutorials (which you can blast though in a day), and is much friendlier than Blender.

http://www.sketchup.com/intl/en/training/videos/new_to_gsu.html

I'm sure Blender is a very good program, but the interface is hideous. And it's way beyond what you really need it to do - just import a couple of models, make them Muvizu compatible, and export them as ASE files. By Muvizu compatible, I mean make them the right kind of scale, reduce the number of textures/errors (I use Cleanup 3, a free plugin that fixes a lot of problems before they can nobble your import), and then 'explode' the model much as possible to remove any groups/elements (which can also nobble your import).

All this is just my experience of using Sketchup in conjunction with Muvizu. I've tried Blender, Gmax, Gile and the like, but Sketchup is what I've had most success with just because I accept it's limitiations as much as Muvizu's. It took me a couple of days to learn Sketchup, but that's just how it works, not how it works best with what I'm trying to do. So I'm still learning, still trying out stuff, still experimenting, and still in awe of someone like Dylly who makes my efforts look like I'm playing with lego by comparison!

Keep the faith EEF