Do OBJ Files Contain Textures?
mwokee
Posts: 1,275
Software applications I work with apparently will soon be upgrading to where you can import OBJ files and work with 3D objects. But... do OBJ files contain texture and color information? I'll less excited if this is not the case. Thanks
Comments
They do, but rather basic ones IIRC.
I didn't think OBJ files had texture information at all. Sometimes they come with a companion mtl file that lists the path to some separate texture files, but those mtl files seldom work for me in Daz Studio. It could be that I just don't know how to use them properly.
Ah good point, I was thinking about the mtl file not the obj itself
The path to the textures inside the MTL file is absolute, and usually doesn't match where one placed them. Once the paths are fixed, the textures are loaded with the model.
they can have very highly detailed vertex colours but only some software's see them
it's also dependent on mesh resolution
fractal exports from Mandelbulber3D have very detailed painting and highpoly, Zbrush, Meshlab and Ultimate Unwrap 3D can see them out of the software I have
I suspect Substance Painter and other software that does 3D painting can too
it's what Zbrush calls polypaint
we a talking about meshes with millions of faces here
they don't need UV mapping or mtl files
How well they work will also depend on the render engine, as different engines use different naming conventions for both parameters and maps.
so... solution: manually add the textures to obj whenever needed
No. The solution is to manually set up the textures on the obj once and then save it to the library as a DAZ asset.
Hmm, I clearly missed the part of OP's post where they said they were talking about Daz Studio...
"Whenever needed" was not me advising the user to repeat busywork anytime they use an obj, but rather i meant that when using new obj for first time, they need to set up textures manually rather than entrust some automatic process to accurately assign textures to shader setup correctly.
The OP didn't specify what programs they're working with, but if the programs are only now adding OBJ import capabilities, they're clearly not talking about DS.
In non-D|S software the solution is to set up the textures on the obj once and then save it as a native to the program asset.