Export a Sketchup Model to ArcGIS's Multipatch?

I have a very large model made in Google Sketchup v 7.1. I would like to export this to a Multipatch featureclass, so that I can view it in ArcScene, with other 3D data.
I have tried several things, but none of them have worked. I have tried the following things:

1. 
   

   Used the Sketchup Plugin for ArcGIS; For this I have saved the model as a sketchup 6 model, and on a machine which has Sketchup Pro 6 & ArcGIS 9.2, used the export as ESRI Multipatch. This works for small and simple models, but fails on my Large Model.

   
   


2. 
   

   Exported the Model as KMZ, and then tried to use the QuickImport using the InterOp Extension of ArcGIS.

   
   
   


3. 
   

   Exported the Sketchup 6 Model as Google Earth 4 KMZ. Then, I tried to use the QuickImport using the InterOp Extension of ArcGIS. This does import the KMZ to Multipatch, but it does not fall where I expect it to fall. Its size is very large as well (when compared to actual or expected size).

   
   

Has anyone else managed to do something like this?

Answer

After fighting with it for a couple of days, I have found this:

• You can export a v6 SKP directly to Multipatch, using the InterOperability Extension.



• You can export a v6 SKP directly to Multipatch, using the 'Import 3D Files'Tool from the 3D Analysis Toolbox.

The Main Issue then is, is that these Multipatches do not fall at the correct Place. On digging further I found that the v6 SKP itself is not geo-referenced. The loss of spatial reference happens when you save the skp in Sketchup 7 to a v6 skp file. And the above two methods don't work with a v7 Sketchup file.

So now you have a multupatch, but at the wrong place and of the wrong size. If it is small enough, you can move it, using the 3D editing Tools in ArcGIS 10. But If you have a large model (like I did) then ArcGIS just freezes when you try to move it.

Hence I ended up using some ArcObjects code to move the multipatch and scale and rotate it accordingly.