Importing an obj file into g-max?

[Canderis]

How do you import an obj file into gmax with 'renx_obj_tools'?

[Ferc Kast]

I dunno about 'renx_obj_tools'. But, this post should help you.

[Canderis]

That helped me but when i imported my model it messed it all up

[DarthParametric]

Define "messed it all up". Usually imported OBJs will end up being enormous scale-wise and often inverted (i.e. upside down). A clearer description and perhaps some pics of your problem is required.

[Canderis]

In the program i modeled it
http://i313.photobucket.com/albums/l...nsflagship.jpg
In G-max
http://i313.photobucket.com/albums/l...anderis/ug.jpg

[DarthParametric]

Very difficult to make much out in those pics, but my guess is none (or most) of the polys in your original Sketchup were not connected. You can clearly see overlapping polys in the ramp section of the Sketchup pic.

[Canderis]

yes is that a problem?

[DarthParametric]

Apparently so. Could be the way the export plugin works - it might not like unconnected polys. Upload the OBJ here - http://imagehost.org/ - and post the link. I'll see if it's any different in another app.

[Canderis]

Check your pm

[DarthParametric]

OK so I imported it into C4D and the OBJ export looks like it worked fine. However, a quick look in polygon mode revealed two problems:



The first is that your normals are all over the place and mostly reversed. In that pic you can see on the bottom, all the polys selected. The red polys are normals in the right direction (i.e. the front face), the purple polys are those with reversed normals (i.e. the back face). I'm guessing GMax doesn't deal too well with normals all over the shop like that. The other thing you can see is a lot of n-gons - polys with more than 4 sides. Most newer apps handle those fine, but I doubt that GMax can. You'll want to convert those to quads or tris before exporting. N-gons are just a cosmetic thing anyway - all they do is hide triangulation.

So my advice would be to fix your normals and remove any n-gons. I'd also advise removing any overlapping polys as well, as that will possibly cause some issue down the line - if not with the model itself then at least with texture artefacts in game.

[svösh]

It pretty common to have flipped normals from an .obj in max, just select the inverted normals and hit flip normals under poly sub editing. There's also a button Unify Normals is found on the Surface Properties rollout while in editable mesh. Change to element sub object mode select your entire model and hit Unify.

Providing gmax has Unify I haven't used it in years, either way i'm sure it still has the flip normals option.

If sketch up can export as .3ds I would look for the .3ds importer for Gmax that may help preventing flipped normals

.3ds importer for Gmax --> called Autodesk 3DS Importer v1.1 http://salshdresearch.tripod.com/shdrc/id11.html

good luck

svösh

[DarthParametric]

Originally Posted by svösh

It pretty common to have flipped normals from an .obj in max

I can export OBJ files from C4D and the normals are perfectly fine in GMax. I suspect the problem is his modelling technique.

Originally Posted by svösh

If sketch up can export as .3ds I would look for the .3ds importer for Gmax that may help preventing flipped normals

The free version of Sketchup doesn't support normal export formats, hence the need to use the OBJ script. However, it does export KMZ files for Google Earth which is basically just a zip file that contains the model in the Collada DAE format. This can be converted by importing it to Blender (free 3D app) and then exporting it as a 3DS. Follow the instructions here - http://forums.devshed.com/showpost.p...07&postcount=4 By the way, GMax 1.2 has native 3DS support, so no need for a plugin/script on that end.

[Canderis]

So i need to send the file to svosh?
and merg the pollys?

[DarthParametric]

You can try exporting a 3DS yourself via the method I posted above. I suspect that won't make any difference, but worth a try at least.

[Canderis]

I fliped the sides but i still cant get it properly imported into g-max