Vectorworks to twinmotion sp3?

[MSLD]

Yes, class over-rides and data visualization doesn't export via datasmith (maybe feature request??) Typically i import in TM by keeping the hierarchy. If you collapse by material, it's easy to override materials all in one go.  If you want to make a white model, you can apply a camera effect (or other non-destructive effect)

[line-weight]

I think if I collapse by material then I lose the ability to turn on/off parts of the TM model that were defined as layers in VW, is that right? I think I'd probably want to keep that ability for optioning purposes.

[line-weight]

I'm getting the same problem that others have mentioned, of extrude objects failing to appear, by the way. If I convert them to generic solids then they come through ok.

 

[zoomer]

1 hour ago, line-weight said:

I note however that if I make some changes to the VW file, so I introduce some new objects which have the problematic VW glass texture, and then I export and over-write the datasmith file, and then I update the import file within TM, the new object appears, but it appears in the opaque form, and I have to go and replace it with the TM material.

 

Thanks for testing.

That doesn't sound that good or the way I expected it to be.

 

Generally, so far I replaced any VW Glass Material in TM.

- Set Selection Tool to Pipette

- click on a Glass object (selects/shows Material of that object)

- drag a TM Glass Material from Library over your VW Material

[line-weight]

Here is something else that is happening...I don't know if it's a TM problem or a problem with the geometry export from VW or a problem with the texture imported from VW

 

Please excuse the ugly model...this is just a first test attempt in TM!

 

You can see I am trying to take the grey wrinkly texture (this is imported from VW along with the geomtery) from the column and apply it to objects such as the walls and the cut-out man. But the texture is not showing up properly; instead I am getting a kind of faceted pattern.

 

[zoomer]

I think it has to do with Texture Projection and Scale.

 

VW exports some Projection information.

Maybe that gets lost when you apply a new Material.

 

I am often nut sure if even my whole Model is in scale

after import. But so far I tried from all kind of exporting

Applikation so lost overview which was problematic or

which settings to choose where.

I notice that when I have to zoom or look around to finally

find my geometry after import or when Texture Scale is

completely off after applying TM Materials.

 

And I had also singe objects that showed wrong tiling or size.

In this case I tried to switch projection modes (the unfold Icon)

with questionable results. Did not test that extensively so far.

And I tried to use the Scale Slider.

[line-weight]

 

@zoomer yes, the same happens when I try to apply a TM material to those objects, so I think it's a problem with the imported geometry. When I try adjusting the 'scale' in the TM material settings, it has some sort of effect on some objects but doesn't correct it. I also tried switching projection modes, but also without solving the problem.

 

I've also tried exporting from VW as C4D. This gives better results, but not all objects are correct. Changing 'projection' for the TM material seems to have no effect. Changing the 'scale' for the TM material does have an effect (although the scale is not consistent across different objects, so if I adjust it to be right on one object, then it is wrong where it is applied to other objects).

 

 

Edited to add -

If you tick the "fix UVs / texture" box in the import options in TM, it seems to solve these scale and mapping problems. This is true for C4D or for datasmith exports.

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by line-weight

[line-weight]

More on textures/materials... my testing is really to see whether I can generally assume that VW textures that look ok in a Renderworks rendering will look somewhat similar in Twinmotion, because that has an impact on how much work I need to do to get things looking as I want them to in Twinmotion.

 

Here is what an example object looks like in OpenGL in Vectorworks:

 

 

Here it is rendered in Renderworks (using some of my custom settings)

 

 

Here it is imported into TM using C4D format:

 

 

And here it is imported into TM using datasmith format:

 

 

It's notable that it comes out very differently in C4D format compared to Datasmith format.

It looks like datasmith version has some kind of bump texture applied quite aggressively while C4D doesn't.

Also, C4D format seems to have thrown away colour information (it's thrown away a grey colour applied to the main object and a green colour applied to the object in the background. I think it has thrown away the colour I've added to the texture in Vectorworks under 'filter colour':

 

 

 

 

 

[zoomer]

Had this strange Material look too when switching to (TM 2020) Datasmith.

(Also especially my concrete materials, maybe from C4D imports or Arroway

Materials that had Reflection Maps)

It was reproduced by VW and finally said to have been fixed with TM 2021 (and or SP3?).

 

I just looked at it and saw it was better but AFAIR not completely away.

Didn't look any deeper so far.

[Dave Donley]

Thanks for the detailed info @line-weight I will file the filter color and too much bump issues as bugs.  I agree the bumps are too strong.

 

[line-weight]

1 minute ago, Dave Donley said:

Thanks for the detailed info @line-weight I will file the filter color and too much bump issues as bugs.  I agree the bumps are too strong.

 

NB the missing filter colour is a problem with the C4D export rather than the datasmith one.

[Guest Sangmin]

3 hours ago, line-weight said:

More on textures/materials... my testing is really to see whether I can generally assume that VW textures that look ok in a Renderworks rendering will look somewhat similar in Twinmotion, because that has an impact on how much work I need to do to get things looking as I want them to in Twinmotion.

 

Here is what an example object looks like in OpenGL in Vectorworks:

 

 

Here it is rendered in Renderworks (using some of my custom settings)

 

 

Here it is imported into TM using C4D format:

 

 

And here it is imported into TM using datasmith format:

 

 

It's notable that it comes out very differently in C4D format compared to Datasmith format.

It looks like datasmith version has some kind of bump texture applied quite aggressively while C4D doesn't.

Also, C4D format seems to have thrown away colour information (it's thrown away a grey colour applied to the main object and a green colour applied to the object in the background. I think it has thrown away the colour I've added to the texture in Vectorworks under 'filter colour':

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am wondering if you can share the test case (vwx) with us. We just need the textured object for further testing. 

Thank you for finding the issue!

 

Sangmin

[line-weight]

10 minutes ago, Sangmin said:

 

I am wondering if you can share the test case (vwx) with us. We just need the textured object for further testing. 

Thank you for finding the issue!

 

Sangmin

 

Hi Sangmin. See if the attached is any use. I have also included a bit of the glass material that failed to import into TM with transparency.

tmtest.vwx

[Guest Sangmin]

Just now, line-weight said:

 

Hi Sangmin. See if the attached is any use. I have also included a bit of the glass material that failed to import into TM with transparency.

tmtest.vwx 11.59 MB · 0 downloads

Thank you so much for your help!

[line-weight]

21 hours ago, line-weight said:

I note however that if I make some changes to the VW file, so I introduce some new objects which have the problematic VW glass texture, and then I export and over-write the datasmith file, and then I update the import file within TM, the new object appears, but it appears in the opaque form, and I have to go and replace it with the TM material.

 

I've fiddled with this a bit more and it's definitely the case that if you change an object's material in TM, then make some changes to the VW model geometry, re-export the VW model, and then update the import in TM, some objects whose material you have changed in TM revert to their original, VW-exported material. I started trying to work out if it makes a difference whether you've changed it to a TM material or a VW-import material, and/or whether it makes a difference which objects you've changed the geometry of, but to do these tests throroughly would take some time and I'm not paid to do them so I've given up. I'm not sure if it happens consistently or only sometimes.

 

Either way, this on its own makes the VW>Datasmith>Twinmotion workflow unusable for me so I think I'm going to leave it for now and come back to it in a few weeks or months to see if bugs have been ironed out.

 

 

[line-weight]

4 hours ago, line-weight said:

Edited to add -

If you tick the "fix UVs / texture" box in the import options in TM, it seems to solve these scale and mapping problems. This is true for C4D or for datasmith exports.

 

 

 

Also coming back to this... I have not been able to repeat this solution. I don't know why. Now, when I tick the "fix UVs/texture" box during an import, it still comes in with the texture mapping problems. Trying to apply a native TM texture doesn't work either.

 

So, this is another thing that makes it unusable for me at present.

 

Finally, I am finding that certain objects don't import, but it's not consistent. For example, I have a group of table and chairs. Each chair is a symbol. Sometimes it imports all 6 chairs, sometimes only 2 of them. If I copy the group into a new file, and export just that, then it seems to import without problems. If I convert the chair symbols into groups then they seem to import fine.

[zoomer]

6 hours ago, line-weight said:

some objects whose material you have changed in TM revert to their original, VW-exported material.

 

From older VW to C4D experience, it was always that after Exchange Update,

newly created geometry would have brought in the old VW material again,

So I had to overwrite just these few old incoming Materials, by ALT+drag the

C4D Materials, and I was good again.

But AFAIK, in latest Versions of C4D Exchange, even that was no more needed (?)

 

I think these are things that @Dave Donleycould

sort out.

 

 

5 hours ago, line-weight said:

I don't know why. Now, when I tick the "fix UVs/texture" box during an import, it still comes in with the texture mapping problems.

 

I still have no real overview how the the TM Mapping options work or are meant to use.

But bad to read that it does not work reliably between VW and TM (by Datasmith export ?)

Maybe again something for @Dave Donley

 

 

Same for :

 

5 hours ago, line-weight said:

For example, I have a group of table and chairs. Each chair is a symbol. Sometimes it imports all 6 chairs, sometimes only 2 of them. If I copy the group into a new file, and export just that, then it seems to import without problems. If I convert the chair symbols into groups then they seem to import fine.

 

[Dave Donley]

Yes I agree @line-weight to sort this out I will need to set up some kind of online session and use your file and see what actions you are doing in VW and TM.  I will reach out in chat.

 

[be4]

Hello Dave,

will there be a direct link, plugin for Vectorworks 2021?

[line-weight]

Unfortunately, a month down the line I've heard no news of any progress on the problems I describe upthread.

[Dave Donley]

Hello @line-weight might not be your issue but the bug where untextured parts of extrudes would fail to show in TM has been fixed for SP 4.  The too strong bumps issue is more extensive and is fixed for the next major version but not in SP4.  There have been several issues noticed about modifying and then updating objects in TM and we are still working with Epic on that investigation.  I have asked about texturing objects that come into TM untextured I will ask again.

 

 

[line-weight]

13 hours ago, Dave Donley said:

Hello @line-weight might not be your issue but the bug where untextured parts of extrudes would fail to show in TM has been fixed for SP 4.  The too strong bumps issue is more extensive and is fixed for the next major version but not in SP4.  There have been several issues noticed about modifying and then updating objects in TM and we are still working with Epic on that investigation.  I have asked about texturing objects that come into TM untextured I will ask again.

 

 

Thanks for the update.

 

I'll see what happens when SP4 is out but it sounds like unfortunately it'll remain unusable for me for now.

[Andrew Pollock]

I too have had the overly bumped textures in TM (VW2021-Datasmith-TM V2021.1) But it doesn't happen to all textures, only to the textures that I created where I have a bump texture. I removed the bump from the texture reimported the file and the problem was gone.

[chaz]

I'm having a problem with exporting using the Datasmith plug in, I can't select some of the objects in TM, usually the floor. I click on it and it selects the starting ground, which is below my floor, also click on it with the eyedropper and it picks up the starting ground. I can select other objects in my scene. I can't drag textures to the floor either. I have pipe and drape, I can select the pipe but not the drape. This has happened on multiple files. If I export/import in C4D format, I don't have this issue.

 

I have service pack 3.1 on a Mac. VW says there is an update but all I get is a message saying the updater needs to be refreshed so I hit "update", it runs through a progress bar and then disappears. Trying again to update just runs through the same thing again and again.

[zoomer]

Could be that Slab and Floor Tools still produce flipped surfaces.

 

That may be a reason why TM's selection + drag and drop fails.

Have you tried to select/drop from the underside ?

Would that work ?