OBJ import in v18p - Improvements

[Rodney]

Kudos to Steffen for the recent improvements in OBJ texture importing in v18p.

 

Thanks!

 

 

And to make this something of a useful topic... here's something related to consider...

There are a gazillion models out there on the internet to play with but I recently tested some of the Models donated to the Sweet Home 3D community.

The process is pretty straightforward: download the library of models, open them in Sweet Home 3D, export as OBJ, import into A:M.

 

The models page: http://www.sweethome3d.com/freeModels.jsp

 

The program download: http://www.sweethome3d.com/download.jsp

 

What is particular useful with the program is how you can use it to recolor/texture the OBJ so that it appears in A:M as you want it to be.

 

Here's a random piece of 'furniture' ( a willow tree) from that library loaded quickly into A:M and rendered.

Of specific interest is the transparency that allows detail in the leaves.

Of additional interest is the second image that shows the modification of the trunk color in SW3D just prior to importing into A:M.

 

 

I see I am going to have to revisit some older projects with OBJ files that weren't rendering correctly!

[Rodney]

One OBJ import in particular really impressed me. It was a relatively simple window frame.

I noted the windows themselves had just the right amount of transparency.

Nice.

[johnl3d]

Will check it out ...thanks

[John Bigboote]

Looks like quite a trove! What a FIND!

 

SO- You download and install their software... choose a model from their website... run it thru their software and change-out colors or image maps...export as an OBJ... import into A:M as a prop/model (are they props or editable models?)

[Rodney]

SO- You download and install their software... choose a model from their website... run it thru their software and change-out colors or image maps...export as an OBJ... import into A:M as a prop/model (are they props or editable models?)

 

Sweet Home 3d is primarily a home layout planner. As such it has a library of OBJ models that can be drag/dropped to the plan view (top view). The reason one must Export to OBJ (rather than save) is that is the only option to get a Model back out of the program. Although the terminology of the program will tag everything as 'furntiture' just about any OBJ file will work.

 

No, these aren't editable models within SH3D except scaling and such. To edit the model you'd have to use a different program... and if you have such a program... you'd probably use that program to export/save to OBJ.

 

The primary reason to use SH3D would be to access the libraries of models which have been placed into a proprietary format that is used by SH3D.

The (minor) temptation is to use SH3D to organize all OBJ I want to use in A:M but I sense that might only be the case until I find a more versatile program.

 

Most of the models I've used thus far import into A:M as editable models as well although much depends on how the model was built in the first place. If the model consists of polygon tris the results will be mostly unusable. Even if the model consists of quads it may be too dense. So, the primary usage of any OBJ remains as props in A:M. The main difference being that A:M can handle them a bit better than previously.

 

I'm still exploring and some models don't maintain their color after import to A:M while others do. Again, I'd say a lot depends on how the model was created originally.

 

In my world OBJ files are usually static props that don't do much other than translate, scale and rotate but even there that allows for some considerable world-building and if nothing else the models can serve as temporary proxy models until more articulate and appropiate models can take their place.

[jakerupert]

...the find seemed not bad at first sight,

but is rather useless due to its licence:

 

4. INCORPORATION OF THE WORK

Incorporating this work into a larger work that is not subject to the Free Art License shall not challenge the rights granted by this license.

If the work can no longer be accessed apart from the larger work in which it is incorporated, then incorporation shall only be allowed under the condition that the larger work is subject either to the Free Art License or a compatible license.

[Rodney]

is rather useless due to its licence

 

Most of these files have licenses of their own. Generally each one will have an accompanying license in the folder with the model.

Some state any usage is fine but the originator must be attributed somewhere in the final product.

One set of models states this:

 

The 100 first 3D models are part of the public domain

 

 

I see that 235 models donated by Scopia have a very liberal license:

 

• Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
• Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
• The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.

 

 

When using any model made by someone else it's important to consider the intent of their license.

Specifically, if that license is meant to restrict usage which is usually not the case with most online shared objects.

The creators want others to use those objects.

 

A license in place to protect the originators of the files is hardly useless nor does it nullify obvious usage granted by said license.

It's not like someone has to be able to carve their object out of a rendered scene in order for their rights to be intact so the words concerning incorporation into larger works must be addressing something else.

A good rule of thumb would be to always consider finances gained by use of some else's models.

 

Another way of looking at this would be to consider a project that incorporates dozen these objects in a single scene.

Because the original objects are Props in A:M they can still be accessed in original form in that Project.

This meets the strictest interpretation of the license.

 

In cases where the object is only used as a temporary stand in for another object that will later replace that object the license is likewise intact as the file(s) are not being incorporated into the final product.

An excellent example of this would be George Lucas and Steven Spielberg's usage of old film to layout their films. One could argue that some monetary compensation should flow toward the originator of those products but the legal end of the chain is more concerned with the final product. And here is where modification comes to play as it is the judicial system that must more often than not decide what is to be considered a derivative work and what constitutes a new product.

 

So, 'useless'? Hardly.

It is a bit unfortunately, an encouragement for folks to build everything from scratch even though their may be no requirement to do that as intended by the originating artist.

But for those that plan to make cold hard cash with their endeavors the only way to make doubly sure you are adhering to all intents and every letter of the law is to use products which you either own outright or have paid for the appropriate usage rights. And don't forget to keep receipts of all licensing transactions!

 

At any rate, this is the long way of saying that 'useless' might not be quite the appropriate terminology.

[jakerupert]

thank you for the clarifications

 

all the best

 

Jake

[Rodney]

There are still some issues I'm trying to troubleshoot with OBJ objects where images placed on "cards" show the outline of the cards.

This is very likely an oversight on the part of the model makers and could easily be remedied in the original program the OBJ was created in but trying to resolve the issue via MTL tweaking or exchanging of imagery isn't resolving the issue.

An example of this is a downloaded model of Paris where everything rectangular renders appropriately but the trees... not so much. The white from the cards the images are applied to shows up.

 

In the attached you can see that both trees and lamp posts exhibit the same problem.

This wouldn't be much of a problem if dealing with only a few cards (easily replaced) but is a bit more difficult when dealing with hundreds/thousands or cards.

At a guess I'd say there is likely a way to tweak the OBJ file so that all cards have transparent backgrounds but I'm not sure what that would be.

It's easy enough to swap out the images on the cards by editing the image shortcut in the MTL file.

 

 

(Disclaimer: This Paris OBJ isn't from the site/libraries mentioned above but is from another free models site)

[Rodney]

Okay... okay... as I was.

 

It helps to go back and read Steffen's release notes!

 

He said:

• Fixed All:
  - 6675: Prop textures not displayed correctly
  Note: For decaltype "Color" the alpha channel is not used in final render, if You need this, change the decaltype in the chor to "CookieCut" (the obj file format doesn't know such a type)in contrast the realtime render use the alpha channel, even the decaltype is "Color", but I will not change this behavior due heavy sideeffects

   

   

 

The problem I was having was that I couldn't change the image/decal type *in the OBJ*.

But we can change the Image type from Color to Cookie Cutter (as he stated) in the same location in a Chor or Action.

 

Ah, sweet success.

 

Thanks Steffen!

[Rodney]

Many additional options are available so a video tutorial may be in order... after some more exploration.

[Rodney]

Here's a quick recolor test of a car downloaded from http://tf3dm.com

 

While fairly detailed the original car came into A:M with limited coloring, texturing and no transparency.

A few tweaks in the Chor's shortcut to the Prop resulted in the bottom image rendered out of A:M.

 

Not bad for someone that doesn't know what the heck he's doing.

Someone that has a clue could achieve much better results.

 

Point being is that surfaces are highly modifiable in A:M as Props.

 

Top image is of what the car looked like upon import into A:M as a Prop.

Note the transparent windows in the render on the bottom. That is the result of simply adjusting our standard surface transparency property.

[Rodney]

I've got a few more random tests of various file formats and modifications.

Here's one of a basic cabinet out of the SW3D library recolored and adapted in A:M.

 

 

[Rodney]

Not sure how to get a DAE file into A:M?

Howzabout import it as an OBJ via SW3D.

 

Same trailer scaled -100% on X axis to make a mirror image to butt up against the trailer's open side.

I'll have to check to see why most of the color on the trailers turned to white... probably the intensity of the sun.