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How to import 3d indoor tree model to Vectorworks?


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Hi

I have 3d model pot plant ( in door tree model), They are in many formats such as fbx, c4d and max.

How can I import to Vecterworks? Keep material, texture. I intent to use Renderwork.

 

By the way, Are there default indoor trees in Vectorworks 2020?

 

Best regards

Travis

Edited by Travis.Designer
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Vectorworks can import a number of 3D formats, but not all of them come in with textures. If you can import your model as 3DS or OBJ you should be able to bring in textures along with the 3D geometry. I've had the most luck with OBJ.

 

I've found materials usually require some adjustment once imported, even if the textures come through.

 

If your model isn't available in one of those formats, you can try installing Blender (blender.org) which can import a number of other formats, then re-export from there.

 

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  • 2 months later...

@Travis.Designer I stumbled upon your post while researching a similar need on my part.

Here is something I figured out today that may help you with your original problem if it is unresolved.  Keep in mind, I am no expert in the "why did this happen", but I am pretty good at running experiments to solve problems 🙂

 

I have purchased some plants in .obj and .dae formats.  Sometimes textures get screwed up based upon how the artist has constructed the model textures.

In a particular case I was fighting last night, the artist provided both .obj and .dae formats.  I usually use .obj since I can't figure out how to directly import .dae.

 

The OBJ came in and looked like this:

891448384_ScreenShot2020-05-27at2_01_53PM.thumb.png.dad608b55c7ce4e660be271342780bcf.png

The white stuff is a collection of faces that are supposed to be mapped with a thorn that has an alpha channel.  Unfortunately, VW only imported a single texture for the cactus flesh and didn't bring in an entry for the thorns.  On other models I have imported, sometimes multiple material definitions come in and I just have to reassign via the OIP interface after editing the materials (oftentimes everything comes in black because the image location is lost during translation).

 

So, I tried importing the DAE into Sketchup, this was the result:

 

876396940_ScreenShot2020-05-27at2_07_22PM.thumb.png.24cedd4934cd798a9951bbd62756e830.png

 

Note, the solid faces are the backfaces, something you get used to in Sketchup.  The front facing faces are mapped correctly with a thorn and transparent background.  Not being an expert in Sketchup and not wanting to dig through this model to map the backfaces, I just saved this file as a sketchup file.  I save in Sketchup 2017 format for importing into Vectorworks 2019.

 

I then imported the file to Vectorworks, here is the result:

2034837238_ScreenShot2020-05-27at2_00_35PM.thumb.png.21f9e24884e5dc77a8d54e956862efc7.png

 

Hey, there's that desired look I was after.  Front and backfaces showing up with the correct transparency and mapping.  All I had to do was this crazy import/export scheme to get it to work without having to dig too deep.

 

1494715912_ScreenShot2020-05-27at2_17_23PM.thumb.png.5e2df6d166cbf4df0f364cbf59482539.png

When it comes to final touches, exporting the Vectorworks file to C4D and importing the scene into TwinMotion worked great as well, hurray!

 

One final tip, be careful when buying plant collections with multiple plants in a single file.  They oftentimes import right ontop of each other without the ability to separate them.  Also, watch out for "gamer plants" where they include multiple LODs in a single file for a single plant.  I made those mistakes yesterday and had to ask the artists to separate out the details I needed.  It ended up taking a lot of communication and wasted time to get to where I needed to be.  Some artists are quick and helpful, others must be teenagers living in their parents' basement and can't be bothered to clean up their sloppy work.  There are so many subtle differences in the softwares and techniques used to make plants, crazy stuff can happen.  Once you find a few artists that are professional and good modelers, keep their contact information and develop a good working relationship as they will help you work thru these issues and usually have easy solutions... this could save you lots of frustration in the future. 

 

Anyhow, hope it helps someone here.  I killed far too many hours and brain cells before I was able to get this workflow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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