VTK Import for SketchUp is a Visualization Toolkit VTK file import plug-in for Google SketchUp®. This plug-in gives SketchUp the ability to import geometric data from ASCII and Binary VTK files.
VTK Import for SketchUp reads polygon mesh data stored in VTK files and imports it into SketchUp. A polygon mesh in a VTK file is comprised of a set of triangular and/or quad faces. VTK Import for SketchUp reads these faces and knits them into objects in SketchUp.
VTK Import for SketchUp is very easy to use. Once installed, it automatically loads itself into SketchUp and adds a new submenu called "VTK Import for SketchUp" to the SketchUp Plugins menu.
The 'VTK Import for SketchUp' menu consists of the following commands:
Import - Imports a VTK file
Help - Displays the VTK Import for SketchUp help file
Register - Registers your copy of VTK Import for SketchUp
About - Displays the VTK Import for SketchUp About box
The VTK File Format
The Visualization ToolKit (VTK) is an open source, freely available software system for 3D computer graphics, image processing, and visualization used by thousands of researchers and developers around the world. VTK consists of a C++ class library, and several interpreted interface layers including Tcl/Tk, Java, and Python. The Toolkit stores geometric data in a file format known as VTK. Very few CAD applications have the ability to read and write VTK files.