How to: Best method for taking SketchUp models to 3d studio

[ajwtaylor]

Ok, this has been a long time pain for me, and has ultimately left me ignoring 3d studio max in favour of Artlantis and Pshop. I am looking for some clear guidelines as to the best method of setting up a SU model so that the materials can be applied and tweaked in 3d studio, as well as the usual lights, environments, GI etc.

Should i be grouping every object by material ( i know there is a ruby for this, though it has always seemed to crash on me with large models)

Should i be organising by layers by material?
Should all components be exploded? Or can i use components to select by name in 3ds? Or does this only work with groups, not components? (Actually can i even name groups in SU!? )

I am keen to try and explore some of these issues. Any help would be, as ever, greatly appreciated

[ajwtaylor]

ok here is my first attempt to try and understand this process

I have created a set of simple geometry, all geometry is grouped individually. Each group is assigned an appropriate name as indicated by the text in the image.

I have also created 3 layers, timber, metal and stone and placed each of the geometries on the appropriate layer.

So far so good

[ajwtaylor]

ok i then exported to 3ds using objects by geometry, exporting texture maps and preserving texture co-ordinates.

Ok so when i import the file to 3d studio, all the geometry is there and everything seems ok, however, in the select objects menu, there are no names, simply mesh1,mesh2 etc. This is a pain, and could cause difficulties with complex scenes.

The materials were recovered from the objects using the eye dropper tool.

Anyone any hints on the naming of the meshes? Is this a reasonable way to start out this process so far?

[siliconbauhaus]

I personally never do any materials in SU if it's going to max especially as I dont use the scanline renderer. Here's my approach:

Model everything in layer0 ( stating the obvious I know ) and group your items. Once you've finished, create your layers for your different materials and then select the corresponding groups and put them on their particular layer.

Export as acad dwg faces only and then import into max as a legacy dwg file.

When I do this I have all the items for each material as a group within max so you can globally assign the material and then if need be for mapping open the group and apply differnt mapping types.

[Jimmern]

We still don't have a perfect workflow going for SU -> Max, but I've had good results exporting as .OBJ files instead of 3DS... Might be worth a try if you are experimenting on this further.

[Moita_UFF]

The "MeshN" is a big problem as you said for complex scenes...
But i still try to handle it...
As silicon, i don't export texture maps, as i use vray materials only... The excepition is when i have a projected image, such as a TV or a painting... I find it easier to do in SU.
Before exporting i paint each different material a color, then "bomb" the whole model and then "group by material" (this i got here, from someone i don't remember the name).

[lef]

Before exporting i paint each different material a color, then "bomb" the whole model and then "group by material" (this i got here, from someone i don't remember the name).[/quote]

thats right Moita

[Moita_UFF]

That's the man!!
Sorry i forgot your name! :o

[ajwtaylor]

Originally Posted by lef

Before exporting i paint each different material a color, then "bomb" the whole model and then "group by material" (this i got here, from someone i don't remember the name).

yeah sure i have heard of this method before....but the plug in always seems to crash on me when the model reaches about 10 megs?!

Also once you have grouped by material, what then? Export as a .3ds and import to max? or use the layers pallette and export as .dwg via autocad so that u can reassign materials by layer?

cheers for the feedback, has been an interesting little exercise so far. Now i just need to improve my 3ds skills

[am_i_wry]

Not really direct knowledge but my experiences of trying to take SU models into Autocad as dwg to apply materials and render has been very poor. Anything more than a very simple shape results in some very messy mapping of textures. I have had similar in K unless i apply the textures in SU. Without being entirely sure about this i would suspect the safest way to get things to map properly is to do as much as possible with the materials in SU and then tinker with them in the rendering prog.