monasun Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 Has anyone had a problem exporting 3DS using VW12(mac). I have a very large building model that I'm trying it import into Cinema 4xl. I simply need to know if I'm the only person having this problem. All the other export function work fine. But I don't want to use DXF Please Advise Bob Waddell TheAECAADGroup Quote Link to comment
David Ormsby Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Bob Haven't tried the 3DS, but you do know there's an export plugin for VW/C4D, right? It's avaiable from Maxon, and IMHO really nice and very usuable. Quote Link to comment
monasun Posted December 2, 2005 Author Share Posted December 2, 2005 Yes...I have tried the first version of this plugin. I wasn't very impressed with its output. I went back to DXF. So I really wanted/needed to try the 3ds export Quote Link to comment
David Ormsby Posted December 3, 2005 Share Posted December 3, 2005 The version 2 of the plug works much better - very stable. The great thing is updating changes; simply re-export and merge, and all existing textures and attributes stay in place. Just curious - what aspect of it's output were you unhappy with? Quote Link to comment
squirrelboy71 Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 David, Sorry to chime in on a discussion; but I can comment on the C4D plugin question. I was less than satisfied with a units conversion problem that I never could solve. My VW objects import extremely scaled-down; even when I choose feet or inches as my increments of measurement. I think it has to do with the C4D universal environment. I can always easily scale up objects, but it becomes a problem with textures, cameras, and lights -- they all need to be moved, re-scaled and re-mapped. I think another big issue was the fact that my C4D used feet OR inches rather than feet AND inches. Oh well. I'm also curious about the success of 3ds import and export, as Bob originally asked. If it works well (for those serious 3ds users) it could be a huge interface breakthrough. I haven't pulled the trigger on VW12 yet, due in part to the fact that I bought the C4D plugin and NEVER use it. Thanks for humoring the interruption. Quote Link to comment
Guest Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 This is the same behavior as VW 11, 10 and 9. I didn't go back any further to test. Quote Link to comment
David Ormsby Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 The early version of the C4D plug was a bit whacky - seemed to scale the VW file based on it's overall size, which was maddening. The current version hasn't done this to me, and if C4D's "units" are set to inches, everything comes in to scale. I do all my texturing in C4D, so I can't speak to that, but I know the Material Exchange has been updated as well. Again, to me the advantage to the plug in is in revisions. When the VW file is modified and exported, C4D offers the option either to Add or update an existing model. Updating keeps all the previous texturing in place. Quote Link to comment
monasun Posted December 14, 2005 Author Share Posted December 14, 2005 Wow...After trying again and again. I finally got 3DS export to work. But...It seems to work only on smaller files. For instance...I created a simple frame object in VW and choose to export using 3DS export. It worked!. Then I tried to export my 40mb VW file. No way. Its gives me a 4kb file that is not recognized by Cinema. So I've been taking my files down to the smallest size to get into Cinema. Not the best solution. But it works. O..Yes it does increase the file size by a factor of 3...but I'm not complaining...Yet. PS...my positon on the VW exchange program: Having used it when it really, really sucked, I moved away from it. Plus why would I use it if 3DS will bring in my texture and classes Bob Waddell TheAECAADGroup Quote Link to comment
David Ormsby Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 Well, I export 25meg files to C4D everyday in less then 2 minutes - all my classes intact. And revise the C4D files as quickly. But whatever works for you. Quote Link to comment
blimey Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 I couldn't export 3DS. So I used the C4D plug in. Doesn't solve all problem since some special features (very local 3Dpoly) do not export. Thought 3DS export would solve the problem for those as a add on to the VW/C4D pulg in.. But 3Ds do not seem very powerfull. I also have huge file as Bob. I manage to export some bits by exporting the building level after levet..; a bit time consuming... Quote Link to comment
APE Design Ctr Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 Jumping in now ... I frequent the VW Exchange plugin (Version 2). Although, like SquirrelBoy my models are always scaled down to a miniscule amount, I do find the plugin quite stable. I remember a few times waiting for the plugin to chew away at a large drawing for 10 minutes, expecting at any moment VW would explode ... however it seems to be pretty darn good. It is limited to objects with less than 1000 vertices. Also your class names need to be less than 35 characters. If something was solved on the scaling issue, I would be very happy. Quote Link to comment
APE Design Ctr Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 Hi David, never tried that, just imported directly without changing units. Pretty new to C4D. I quite often dont have to model anything else than what I have modelled in VW, so it really doesnt matter to me in most cases. I found the problem when modelling something in C4d that i couldnt do in VW as easily. THe item was huge when I imported the VW file. Quote Link to comment
G_Hannigan Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 If you set C4D to inches, VW imports will be the same size as in VW. New objects created in C4D, like a cube, have an initial default size. This is easily changed in the Object Properties panel, by dragging the handles on the object or by using the scale tool. Once you get used to modeling in C4D, you wish you could get the same features in VW. George Quote Link to comment
G_Hannigan Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 This workstation was modeled in VW & C4D, rendered in C4D. http://www.home.earthlink.net/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=actual&linkpath=http://home.earthlink.net/~ghann1/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/worksta tion.jpg&target=_self&title=Computer%20Workstation George [ 12-14-2005, 05:32 PM: Message edited by: George Hannigan ] Quote Link to comment
G_Hannigan Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 More examples at: http://www.home.earthlink.net/~ghann1/ George Quote Link to comment
David Ormsby Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 Eddie If you are using feet and inches in VW, do you have C4D units set to inches? - Took some trys, but this worked in terms of having the C4D measurements show up correctly. Quote Link to comment
David Ormsby Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 George Nice stuff! Are using the Advanced Render module? Quote Link to comment
G_Hannigan Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 David Thanks. Yes, I'm using C4D 9.5.2 XL including VW Exchange & Sketch&Toon. I don't have Body Paint, Dynamics or Hair (the Module, still have most of my own). I recently bought some training DVD's from 3D Fluff - very helpful. http://www.3dfluff.com/ George Quote Link to comment
APE Design Ctr Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 George, very nice. How do you put the texture on the computer monitor? Is it simply a screen shot, created into a texture, and you apply luminance to it? Quote Link to comment
Bart Rammeloo Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 I didn't see it mentioned, so I'll add it to the thread: do any of you guys know there's a scaling parameter that can be set when importing a VW-model into C4D? ?ou can find it as follows: - Edit menu > Preferences > Import/Export > VectorWorks Import - Then simply pick the right Scale factor. Best, BaRa P.S.: if you're into photorealism, you should really consider the fourth and last 3Dfluff DVD. Quote Link to comment
Bart Rammeloo Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 This is a bit of topic, but you should really check out the new HAIR module for C4D R9.5. It's great for rendering out grass fields. A couple of examples (from CGtalk): CGTalk - neosushi CTTalk - JamesMK CGTalk - holle CGTalk - tinrocket - #1 CGTalk - tinrocket - #2 CGTalk - TimC Cheers, BaRa [ 12-16-2005, 11:33 AM: Message edited by: BaRa ] Quote Link to comment
G_Hannigan Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 Eddie, That's how I did it. I created a material using Luminance, Reflection and Specular. The screen shot was loaded as a texture in the Luminance channel. I have done this as an animation within an animation - the second animation plays on a tv screen in the scene. BaRa, Thanks, never looked into that pref. I'm waiting for my copy of 3D Fluff's 4th to arrive in the mail! They're offering a discount rate on pre-orders of the Hair module. http://www.maxon.de/pages/products/c4d/modules/hair/hair_e.html# George Quote Link to comment
David Ormsby Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 Eddie - The inches thing can be a big help - I use some RPC people and getting them placed properly is a big help by just typing in a number. BaRa - wow, never saw that! And it let's you set the default mapping too! It's always bugged me that the default mapping was set to spherical.... Quote Link to comment
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