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Export to C4D


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C4D Export does triangulate only where necessary. For example a VW Box stays as quad surfaces.

If you have a Wall with a Window hole it will triangulate.

(Mesh Faces can't have a hole, without any supporting edge)

Would be cool if it would divide a Wall into quad faces, in the way you would create such a window hole

in a Mesh App by horizontal and vertical cuts and finally deleting the Window quad.

But that ends at a certain complexity, like when multiple holes aren't aligned in a row.

I think that is a problem for computers and needs a human brain.

 

FBX export from VW is always completely triangulated, so a 6 face box will have 12 triangles. Pity.

 

When you work with SubDs in Modo you will always use quads, avoid any triangles or n-gons for smoother

results. So I think the Pixar SubD will also prefer quads. Not sure if these will work in VW triangulated (I fear)

or being triangulated while exporting. (Should be seen in HL rendering and low crease angle)

 

Spheres in C4D can exist in different modes, also a quad version. The problem is at the poles.

 

 

FBX can do quads.

But it has an option to triangulate, to avoid problems with Apps that can't read n-Gons. This is deactivated

by default in modern 3D Apps.

So to get a better Mesh into Modo I should Export C4D to C4D and from there FBX to Modo.

Unfortunately neither C4D nor VW export Symbols/Instances, which FBX is capable of.

Edited by zoomer
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I do not know much Apps, especially any Mesh App that would not ignore ACIS Solids.

So does C4D.

 

Even CAD Apps that can read ACIS Geometry for DWG import, like Bricscad, show that

there is something Wrong with VW ACIS export. All Solids Faces are cut into 5 parts

in each direction.

And I also don't get any Solids from DWG in into VW. Just dumb meshes.

I currently only get Solids in by IFC.

 

You could try to deactivate both, ACIS and Triangulation.

And check if N-Gons will still come in into C4D

(like on the side faces of a Wall with stepped top)

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
4 minutes ago, barkest said:

Its really frustrating that I can't get quads out of VW. It seems that at every step VW is fighting my attempts to UV an object. 


I am told this is one of the larger underlying tech reasons we haven't implemented an advanced texture mapping feature yet.

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Thanks Jim

 

one of the issues is that I spend hour upon hour trying to find some kind of texturing solution. I finally have one that I am happy with and it works with tri's but its a big manual effort. With quads it would be a fraction of the time. Then I find out I can't get quads out of VW. I fully appreciate that the vast majority of users are not interested in texturing objects therefore it is relegated down the list somewhere and maybe it will never happen but for those of us who need to do this it hurts.

 

In my opinion its killed Sub-D stone dead and you only have to look at the forum here to see its not well used (assuming low post numbers = low usage). Your renderworks videos are really good and I should know the amount of times I have viewed them but when you get to texturing its not great. Even SketchUp now has a UV Mapper at a few bucks.

 

Is there any inclination from your guys to get anything at all off the ground?

 

thanks 

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
41 minutes ago, barkest said:

Is there any inclination from your guys to get anything at all off the ground?


Nothing to the scale I feel we need to pursue is in the works at this moment. Renderworks will definitely be getting some good upgrades in the coming version but the full revamp of texturing a lot of us are wanting isn't in the immediate future. I'm increasing pressure on this however, I consider it to be the most important presentation/communication-related need in a number of industries and honestly, after seeing a lot of the (really cool and hard for me to shut up about but hope I can start discussing soon) features for sharing and collaborating users will see in 2018 they will want greater texture control even moreso. I'm not letting it slide off the board.

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Nothing to the scale I feel we need to pursue is in the works at this moment. Renderworks will definitely be getting some good upgrades in the coming version but the full revamp of texturing a lot of us are wanting isn't in the immediate future. I'm increasing pressure on this however, I consider it to be the most important presentation/communication-related need in a number of industries and honestly, after seeing a lot of the (really cool and hard for me to shut up about but hope I can start discussing soon) features for sharing and collaborating users will see in 2018 they will want greater texture control even moreso. I'm not letting it slide off the board.

 

Thanks for being so honest Jim.

 

Its not the answer I was hoping for but it is an answer and it means that my pursuit of alternative solutions are not in vain, and are in fact needed. I do have a pretty reasonable texturing pipeline but given the effort I have put into it I am not willing, at this time, to publicly share, but I am happy to give you a heads up on my process over the next couple of weeks if that is something you are interested in.

 

 

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
1 minute ago, barkest said:

I do have a pretty reasonable texturing pipeline but given the effort I have put into it I am not willing, at this time, to publicly share, but I am happy to give you a heads up on my process over the next couple of weeks if that is something you are interested in.


Absolutely, clear examples of workflows users have had to develop on their own or amongst the community to get where they want to go are great evidence in the cases for new features, and I'm sure anyone looking to push rendering further like you are would benefit from reading it as well.

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1 hour ago, barkest said:

Thanks Jim

 

one of the issues is that I spend hour upon hour trying to find some kind of texturing solution. I finally have one that I am happy with and it works with tri's but its a big manual effort. With quads it would be a fraction of the time. Then I find out I can't get quads out of VW. I fully appreciate that the vast majority of users are not interested in texturing objects therefore it is relegated down the list somewhere and maybe it will never happen but for those of us who need to do this it hurts.

 

In my opinion its killed Sub-D stone dead and you only have to look at the forum here to see its not well used (assuming low post numbers = low usage). Your renderworks videos are really good and I should know the amount of times I have viewed them but when you get to texturing its not great. Even SketchUp now has a UV Mapper at a few bucks.

 

Is there any inclination from your guys to get anything at all off the ground?

 

thanks 

 

^^^ I completely agree with @barkest^^^. I would have thought that including Renderworks for everyone would have meant that improving Vw's outdated texturing capabilities would have been given a higher priority, but apparently not. 

 

Here's a link to the Wish List item I posted last year on UV mapping, wherein I pulled together all the old related texturing threads I could readily find. Please go Vote!

 

  • Like 1
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Its been a heck of a process with VW recently and I have attacked it from three angles: Texturing, Soft Goods and Rendering. All areas I believe VW is average to poor at. The biggest single thing that happened was OBJ import/export as it opened up a lot of options. I teach Interior Design so those areas are very important to us and when we have students using Archicad and Artlantis and producing better renders with lower quality scenes it hurts us and it has to hurt VW as well.

 

I hear what Jim is saying and understand that they have to chase big ticket items as they have a business to run, even if recently some of those big tickets need work (you have got to start somewhere).

 

 

 

 

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Yes, that untriangulate tool in C4D works astonishing well.

Normally C4D export keeps all possible quads anyway.

 

I miss that tool for FBX exports in Modo.

There were similar scripts for earlier versions. I think today it will mean more to

rebuild geometry with retopology tools. But if VW to Modo means so much loss

and rework, I should better invest that time modeling everything in Modo from

the beginning. Or maybe do some initial geometry dimensions only in VW.

Edited by zoomer
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