Importing 3d model - which format?

[AdrianW]

Hi,   I've bought a download of a chair that happens to exactly match a real one our client has, and I'd like to feature it in their proposed design model.  I can't seem to import any of the available;e files ( see attached screen shot).  I'm a relative beginner at the 3d modelling and stumble over the nuances such as this.   Can anyone please advise on how I might get this chair into Vectorworks looking like the image?   AND how do I go about dealing with the associated textures?

Thanks

Adrian

Edited March 30, 2023 by AdrianW

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

I see there is an OBJ. zip.  That should work as Vectorworks imports obj

[michaelk]

And if you're using 2023 SP4 you can use the usd.zip file.  It should maintain the texture.

[AdrianW]

Hi, Thanks.   I just tried that and got the following message ( screen shot).  I unselected the import textures options on import command and tried again...the skeletal form of the model appeared in the drawing for 2 seconds and then disappeared off the drawing ( not zoomed off to a corner either or on class or layer which is off). 

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

which format did you try

 

[Jeff Prince]

2 hours ago, AdrianW said:

Hi, Thanks.   I just tried that and got the following message ( screen shot).  I unselected the import textures options on import command and tried again...the skeletal form of the model appeared in the drawing for 2 seconds and then disappeared off the drawing ( not zoomed off to a corner either or on class or layer which is off). 

place the .obj, .mtl, and related texture in the same folder.

start a new drawing

import the .obj

 

You should see a fully textured 3d model at that point.

 

If not, it looks like you bought this off turbosquid.

Contact the seller and see if they will help you, they may not have textured the .obj based on the product description, but that would be unusual.

 

Edited March 30, 2023 by jeff prince

[AdrianW]

14 hours ago, VIRTUALENVIRONS said:

which format did you try

 

the OBJ.

[AdrianW]

12 hours ago, jeff prince said:

place the .obj, .mtl, and related texture in the same folder.

start a new drawing

import the .obj

 

You should see a fully textured 3d model at that point.

 

If not, it looks like you bought this off turbosquid.

Contact the seller and see if they will help you, they may not have textured the .obj based on the product description, but that would be unusual.

 

maybe that's where I'm going wrong as the folders are as they downloaded in my downloads folder ( see screen shot).  When importing from import command, it only lets me select a single fie and not a folder full or selection, and so I choose the .obk file.....with no success.   Do I need to move the main obj folder containing the 5 other folder into a vectorwork folder somewhere or into resources?   

 

I did start with importing to a new VW drawing for the failed attempts.

 

I had obtained advice from Turbosquid ( see screen shot) but their suggestion of unpacking the files with ZIP etc does not seem to be needed as they simply downloaded to my Mac downloads folder in normal accessible file format as you can see in first screen shot.

 

I have now tried copying all of the files downloaded into a new folder, and importing the .obj file form within that.  I don't get any error messages but it seems to process it in milliseconds ( too fast!) and afterwards there is no imported model, and the drawing is again empty.

 

Thanks,

 

Adrian

[AdrianW]

15 hours ago, michaelk said:

And if you're using 2023 SP4 you can use the usd.zip file.  It should maintain the texture.

You might have to expand on this as I'm on basic level!   Is this a different approach or in tandem with importing as .obj?  

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

Can you post the OBJ zip file and let us have at it.  I don't think that you are doing anything wrong, it seems like the file is the problem, but between all of us trying to help, we may be able to solve the problem.

[Kevin K]

In my experience, aside from any new magic that 2023 may provide, the only import formats that will maintain textures in VW are .obj or .3ds. oBJ files usually end up larger than .3ds, but they seem to be a bit more reliable. They will probably import in a view you will need to adjust, but that is no big deal.

Also..do make sure you download the texture files and absolutely make sure there is an .mtl file along with the .obj file. Then, in my experience I usually need to have a folder that has both the .obj, the .mtl files and the textures NOT in a separate folder, but just loose in the folder with the .obj and the .mtl files. I download a lot of these from the Turbosquid site, so I know the drill.

As mentioned, if you can’t get all this to work on your end, do upload all the files and I or someone else here can sort it out for you 🙂

[Jeff Prince]

 

5 hours ago, AdrianW said:

maybe that's where I'm going wrong as the folders are as they downloaded in my downloads folder ( see screen shot).  When importing from import…

Yeah, that’s where you are going wrong.

Like I said earlier…

 

18 hours ago, jeff prince said:

place the .obj, .mtl, and related texture in the same folder.

start a new drawing

import the .obj

 

[AdrianW]

2 hours ago, VIRTUALENVIRONS said:

Can you post the OBJ zip file and let us have at it.  I don't think that you are doing anything wrong, it seems like the file is the problem, but between all of us trying to help, we may be able to solve the problem.

hi, It wont seem to let me upload any of the files on here! IS there another way of posting the files?

[Jeff Prince]

Just now, AdrianW said:

hi, It wont seem to let me upload any of the files on here! IS there another way of posting the files?

You shouldn’t post files that you purchased, it’s a violation of the use agreement and stealing from the artist.  
 

Follow the procedure and it should work.  If it doesn’t, download an obj viewer or use Apple Preview and see if it is the file.  Blender is a free program that can open obj as well.  If you can open it in another program, the problem is your vectorworks process.  If you can’t open it in another program, contact the vendor.

[AdrianW]

Okay....all sorted!  I tried again but in a standard VW new file, instead of our company preset new template drawing.  It's pasted into the main drawing happily too.  So, thank you for all of your help, and sorry to waste your time, but I've learned from this exchange too anyway.  

Adrian

[Jeff Prince]

So how does it look?

 

You’re not wasting anyone’s time here, it’s part of the learning process with a bunch of volunteer teachers 😉

Edited March 31, 2023 by jeff prince

[AdrianW]

8 minutes ago, jeff prince said:

So how does it look?

 

You’re not wasting anyone’s time here, it’s part of the learning process with a bunch of volunteer teachers 😉

Pretty good!  Model not near finished yet though.

[jmcewen]

I repeatedly have  this problem as well with purchased model assets, and the solutions are not consistent.  Yes, putting the textures in the same folder as the obj and mtl makes it more likely to work, but it is not a guarantee. 

 

I have on a few occasions used Blender as an intermediary-- importing the obj to blender then exporting it  back to obj and i have had some success with that when a direct import fails.  Even so, the textures can become detached from the obj, or one of several effects will be transferred, but not all.  Currently I am getting what appears to be the bump channel of a purchased model but not the color.  When i try to manually drop the texture for the color back into the model, the mapping is not imported, so the texture just tiles instead.  Any ideas that someone has would be greatly appreciated.

[Jeff Prince]

2 hours ago, jmcewen said:

I repeatedly have  this problem as well with purchased model assets, and the solutions are not consistent.  Yes, putting the textures in the same folder as the obj and mtl makes it more likely to work, but it is not a guarantee. 

 

I have on a few occasions used Blender as an intermediary-- importing the obj to blender then exporting it  back to obj and i have had some success with that when a direct import fails.  Even so, the textures can become detached from the obj, or one of several effects will be transferred, but not all.  Currently I am getting what appears to be the bump channel of a purchased model but not the color.  When i try to manually drop the texture for the color back into the model, the mapping is not imported, so the texture just tiles instead.  Any ideas that someone has would be greatly appreciated.

 

Vectorworks will usually warn you if it can't find a texture during the import.  I believe the standard behavior is for Vectorworks to read the .mtl file to find out how to locate and map the texture resources.  If you have the textures in the same folder as the model, it will resolve them... Unless, the person who prepared the .obj file did a sloppy job of formatting the .mtl, either due to their software or laziness.  I have seen some purchased models have a different texture file name than what is spelled out in the .mtl file.  Typically, fixing that either by renaming the file or changing the name in the .mtl will solve the majority of issues.

[Steven Kenzer]

I wanted to flip this conversation for one brief moment.....

 

For those not familiar, that rocking chair is a classic piece by Sam Maloof, the great studio furniture maker. He passed away around 15 years ago. As a young furniture maker, I studied his work intensively. His joinery and ability to shape wood was second to none. He had a great impact on so many young (and old) woodworkers. Here's a link to more of his work:

 

https://www.sammaloofwoodworker.com/rocking-chairs

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

There are a lot of factors for exporting and importing files with textures.  Single models like the chair, etc usually have better results.  The C4D's and Maya's of the world transfer files to each other pretty well (FBX), but they are Apples to Apples.  C4D, Maya to Vectorworksx, etc, are  Apples to Oranges.