Cura adding "floor layer" to my print

[Ice Cream Lady 0]

Help!  I have been modeling a greenhouse for my model railroad.  I am using SketchUp.  I have had no problems using Cura until today.  Now when I import the file, it is adding a "floor" to the thing!  It looks like a shadow.  If I "lift" the model, or otherwise manipulate it, the shadow stays, and the model is CLEARLY "floorless."

 

Any ideas???  I am pulling my hair out!

[Ice Cream Lady 0]

Still no luck in fixing.  Adding new photo that shows how it is showing this shadow.  It is so frustrating!  Any help GREATLY appreciated!  I am VERY new to this! I received the 3D printer as a surprise Christmas gift from my husband.  Me going crazy is not showing how much I love him! 

[Ice Cream Lady 0]

More info.  It isn't just a build layer.  It fills the interior up to the "windows' ledges."  But the xray view shows nothing.  I have checked and rechecked the Sketch-up model.  Since i have printed out previous versions with no issue, this is baffling!

[Ice Cream Lady 0]

I figured it out.  SketchUp issue, 'natch. There was ONE minuscule errant line.

[kmanstudios 1,120]

Sketchup is notoriously bad for making 3D printable models. Without the model to look at, I cannot tell you what could be wrong. And, since I do not use sketchup, I cannot hazard a guess as to how to solve it.

 

Edit: BTW, the shadow is the area that the model takes up and helps in placing models within the build area easily. Not hard with a block model, but something with things poking out, it can be difficult to gauge.

Edited January 5, 2018 by kmanstudios
bad grammar

[yellowshark 153]

Interesting that in the last week or so we have had several posts by new people, using Sketchup, who have all had problems with their models from Sketchup when transferred to Cura. I would recommend that you try something else, such as Autodesk's 123D Design or Fusion 360, and dump Sketchup (which is not to say there are not people on this forum successfully using Sketchup)(and yes there other products out there apart from Autodesk). In the professional world, where people design jumbo jets, nuclear power stations, complex bridges, automotive engines etc. they tend to use Autodesk or Solidworks products and Catia also, not as big I think but it has a presence in the aerospace industry. A couple of years back Autodesk broke into our 3D world releasing a variety of free software packages, including design software 123D Design and buying up products such as Meshmixer. The point is that these people have large software development groups focussed on CAD, are professional and know what they are doing. They also have the size and discipline to ensure that what they release works.

 

About 18 months back I tried Sketchup and suffered the same problems being reported here and so gave up and tried the Autodesk software. I had zero problems. I am not saying that it is easier to use than Sketchup or has more functionality than Sketchup, BUT these guys know how to create fault free meshes and it is free - so IMHO it is worth you trying.

 

I have no affiliation to Autodesk,indeed my company uses their arch rival Solidworks design software over Autodesk Inventor, which after trials we felt was better.

 

You have two options..

 

Get Autodesk 123D Design - this is designated freeware these days, easily found on the Net

 

Go to the Autodesk website and get Autodesk Fusion 360 - now whilst there is a 30 day trial and it is then chargeable you can get a special licence which is free for a year - if you are either a hobbyist or a non commercial personal user, or a startup business with annual income < 100K USD. Quite what happens at the end of that first year I know not!

 

Caveat: I have not tried to use Sketchup or Autodesk 123D Design since that episode 18 months ago and yes things move on, or not as it seems to be in the Sketchup world. Also I have no idea what the difference is between 123D Design and Fusion 360.It may be that in pure design not much and that Fusion 360 has additional professional functionality such as documentation, file management and collaboration - but I am guessing now.

[rowiac 53]

This has been posted before, but there is also this decision tree that might help decide which 3D design software is appropriate for a particular situation:

 

https://go.gliffy.com/go/publish/5271448

 

It pretty much rejects Sketchup right away, but at least it shows a number of other tools that are available.

 

[jackharvest 4]

Don't mean to necro-post, but I personally solved this by UNchecking the 'Mesh Fixes' setting in cura called "Union Overlapping Volumes". After this, I was able to print a "house model" like object without it producing a "floor layer" (aka, infill where it isn't needed).