Another .OBJ question, this time Cinema 4D

andykarta

Still quite noobish so sorry in advance.  Trying to import a model into Daz from Cinema 4D using an .obj file. Its Cinema 4D R12 so, I know, eeesh. But hey its still amazing.   I'm not getting the textures to load AND iDaz's  surface tab isn't recognizing some of the model's surfaces.  These are surfaces from extrudes I made in the model.  (as a noob all I do is extrude and bevel.)  I've downloaded obj files that load the textures so I  know its possible.  So questions are as follows:

1  Is there a better more automatic way of exporting 3D models into Daz than .obj (besides for Daz and Poser content of course).  I hear its old and the MTL files are problematic in Daz?

2.  Can I point the .obj file to the texture location and then just put them all in the same folder or whatever while saving or exporting from Cinema 4D?  Will that let Daz draw my textures?

3.  I noticed all the wisdom on the web seems about exporting TO Cinema 4D.  Should I be doing all my rendering in that?  Seems like a big huge pain if I'm doing animation with poses though I do like its renderer.

4.  Would creating a new plane of the same size and location as a  surface that daz doesn't recognize help Daz recognize the surface since it's a new primative?  That's a confusing question.  In other words.  Lets say I have a cylinder and put an extrude into the front and textured that extruded surface differently from the rest of the polygon.  Would making a round plane the same size as that extruded surface right on top of it help Daz recognize it since its a new primative and not just the face of a polygon? 

 

Mechaven

DAZ Studio has no problem with multiple materials on a single object. Extruding and or beveling doesn't assign a new material to those new surfaces. DS will do it's best to load the textures where they belong but don't expect it to do a perfect job. Materials will usually need to be adjusted and textures assigned.

1. .obj is usually best.

2. It's a matter of preference. For organization a texture folder is a good idea. Having the .obj file in the same folder as the textures can help DS find them easier. If you intend to set up your model as a prop then DS uses a specific folder structure that you would want to use.

3. Again, a matter of preference. Iray is a quality renderer but if you prefer C4D's because it's more familiar or does things that DS can't then that might be a better option.

4. No. You would have a polygon in front of another polygon or on top of it which could cause artifacts when rendering.

If you have a cylinder that you made some extrusions to and assigned two materials to it DS will recognize the two materials. If it doesn't it's either a problem with the export or the import. When importing open the " Show Individual Settings" and ensure that : read uv coordinates, read groups, read surfaces, and read material library options are all checked.

Materials can be added and assigned in DS but it's much easier to do in your modeling software.

prixat

If you're using Bodypaint to assign image files I don't know enough about that program to help.

The OBJ import/export in C4D is notoriously basic and was even worse in the older versions! 

You might want to look for a 3rd party plugin or script like Riptide just to make your life easier.

Having said that, my simple freebies are exported from C4D without a plugin.

(I got Studio to understand the assigned materials and naming I had created in C4D. I discovered that the simple assigning of a poly selection as a new 'material zone' in C4D is not enough. I had to also create and add a material to that selection. Studio combines the colours and name from the material with the material zone to create the shader you see in the Surfaces tab.)

 

andykarta

prixat said:

 

 

An interesting thing happened.  I noticed that Daz imports FBX files.  So in Cinema 4D, I exported my model in an FBX format and here's where its interesting...  Daz imported the model without textures but it imported each polygon individually.  It even imported the HyperNurbs nomenclature from the Cinema 4D object manager.  Expected Daz to explode or form a hole in the space time continuum.  But all seems well.  This at least provides me a workaround since I can redo the model to put the textures in exactly how I want.  (And I'm about 70 percent certain the only reason its not exporting my textures is because of the noob folder system I'm using where I pull all my textures from a central repository.)

The import process seems really detailed and from what i understand it can import animation and rigging from Daz to Cinema 4D so there's the distant possibility of doing my animated rendering in Cinema 4D's renderer.

The big question now is, why isn't everyone doing it? Why is anyone with any of the major 3d suites even messing with .obj files at all?  What little poop from heaven is about to descend upon me?