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Blender Import ?


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17 minutes ago, Ethan R. said:

does c4d take .FBX ?

 

Of course.

 

 

VW to Blender (Modo, C4D, ....) by FBX works great.

Bringing in data from 3D Apps to VW (or any CAD) not so much ....

 

And you would rarely get any Solids from Meshes.

I don't know any automated workflow.

Normally you would have to explode each Mesh and Stitch it manually.

That is what I do all day, for CAD to CAD exchange alone.

Either for things that get lost in translation or things that never have been

Solids, like Revit or VW PIOs.

 

Somehow IFC seems to bring in Solids into Bricscad, from Objects that

haven't been Solids before, while IFC to Modo brings often Meshes from

things that were Solids !?

So maybe it's worth trying to get IFC in between your import journey.

Edited by zoomer
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Unfortunately no,

I don't know any lossless solution to bring C4D into VW

(I think C4D Exchange in Allplan or Archicad works in 2-ways)

 

Maybe C4D via DXF will bring 3D Meshes into VW ?

C4D has OBJ Export and VW has OBJ import.

Maybe you get a Sketchup file out under way,

which VW can also import ?

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I'm pretty sure it will always come in a s Mesh only.

 

It is more about bringing Object Hierarchies, Names, Materials, ... in.

If you have objects nicely separated, you can convert them one by one

to NURBS Surfaces and Stitch and Trim them from advanced 3D Power Pack

from menu.

You can even Stitch many Objects at a time - as long as they don't touch each other.

I think Stitch in VW works pretty forgiving with bad geometry.

 

 

In many cases, snapping to and recreating geometry in VW may be the more reliable

and even faster way.

 

BTW the wisch for an FBX import was often asked.

Edited by zoomer
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Ethan - I believe (and please - someone from VW tell me if I'm wrong) you are trying to go a from polygonal based modeled objects (Blender, C4D, Maya, basically all 3D DCC Apps) into a CAD program that uses Nurbs/polylines (and math) to create objects between points.  So I don't think you are ever going to get anything but meshes coming into a CAD program.  The reverse is easier since faceting those nurbs into polygons is an obtainable (destructive) workflow.  It's not perfect (hence the triangles we deal with), but it works.  The reverse - not so much.

 

e.

Edited by EAlexander
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In theory, you can convert a mesh model into a NURBS model using VectorScript. I use this method when exporting models from TouchCAD, where I do 90% of my free form shaping. The procedure allows me to export either as a mesh or as NURBS surfaces, which can be used directly as solids. I need both methods as VW's NURBS abilities sometimes get a bit overwhelmed by the TouchCAD data. I'm however not sure how well a general purpose import features would work, as there are many possible variations in the setup of the data, whereas in TouchCAD's output is very predictable and therefore works very well.

 

There are some other programs having such conversion features. ViaCAD Pro used to have an extension called PowerPack, which did a decent job, but apparently they have removed it due to some legal issues. 

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On 2/4/2020 at 7:21 AM, zoomer said:

And BTW,

clean and watertight Meshes can be converted directly into Generic Solids in VW

I had no idea!  That's great!  I just experimented with a couple of Kohler sinks; the first one wouldn't convert, but I was surprised, the second one did!  Excellent. 

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Yes, you can covert meshes into generic solids, but they maintain the mesh grid underneath. When I export my meshes into NURBS objects when exporting from TouchCAD I get real NURBS surfaces that matches the mesh shape very closely. If I can do it using (Vector)Script from the outside, then surely, it should be possible to do it from inside as well. I use it all the time and it works well for me despite its limitations. In reality, I usually use a mixture of NURBS and meshes. Whatever works best at any given time. 

 

The programmers just have to sit down and do it. Admittedly, what comes out of TouchCAD is very well defined and therefore well suited for this type of conversion. OK, it doesn't always work, because TouchCAD can generate shapes that can't be replicated in VW, but I think such a tool would be useful anyway despite being flawed here and there.

 

Here is a simple example. Same model from start. Six original panels. Left NURBS, right mesh. When put together (mid) you get the typical flickering colors generated by two surfaces on top of one another having different colors. The NURBS still consist of six surfaces, and are fully operational as solids from start. 

 

77086342_MeshtoNURBS.thumb.jpg.6401c2e0d2283e9b5892e43d8be99eca.jpg

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Sorry I'm just seeing this now.  I've never tried to import a whole VW scene, but I frequently export out individual hard surface meshes from VW to Blender pretty easily. No need to do any converting. There are a lot of things that "should" work out of VW and into Blender but don't. I've never been able to get the DXF importer to work. Either I get a million errors or just an empty appears. OBJ is unreliable.  However, there is one reliable method using FBX. I use the "Selected objects" option to prevent a bunch of other junk showing up in Blender.  Uncheck all the "Include" options except for Geometry.  Set the Render Mode to Final Quality Renderworks or all your curves will have that low poly look like you see Shaded/Open GL.   On the Blender side I just leave all the settings at default.   The import option is not on by default in Blender so EDIT> Preferences search for FBX and check the box. You don't even need to restart. 

 

Remember to place your mesh in VW close to the 0,0,0 axis as that relationship will be maintained in Blender.  Hard edges will import with "marked sharp" that's what the cyan lines are. If they cause you trouble just select and right click and select "Clear Seam" from the pop-up. Hard Surface mesh will import with lots of dagger sharp triangles.
DON'T use the Remesh Modifier at first as it will crash Blender. Instead use a Decimate Modifier set to "Planer" and poof! all those nasty triangles are gone. You will of course end up with a bunch of huge N-gons but for hard surface who cares? You can always use the Knife tool or knife project to put cuts where you want them. Also after you have decimated, you can now use a remesh modifier without issue.  Now you can bevel, extrude add loop cuts, whatever just like native Blender mesh. Worth checking the normal facing (Overlays Face Orientation) as sometimes a poly or two can get inverted.  

I never bother importing textures from VW as you have so much more power in Blender anyway. 

Hope this helps 

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