Graphics

hey guys

So, I exported an OBJ sequence out of C4D with the plugin Riptide Pro, and it came into XPression just fine apart from having no materials. The exporter DID create a .mtl file, but that doesn't seem to have been picked up. Is there a trick? Will it work if I used textures instead of materials? I'm on my way out so I can't test yet teh texture theory, but I thought I'd still float it your way and see if someone who's been down this path before might know.

Cheers
- Willie

I ended up having time after all, and nope.. textures don't come in either. And yes, I did have export materials enabled in riptide
#XPression

I have never used riptide so I can't help you there. Whenever I have imported an OBJ sequence I just create a new material and load in a exported UVW texture map from whatever 3D package I am using. I then apply that to my OBJ and it seems to work.
#XPression

Hi Willie
I have never used riptide so I can't help you there. However when I import an OBJ sequence I just load the UVW texture which I export from my 3D software into an XPression Material then apply.
#XPression

Hi Willie
I have never used riptide so I can't help you there. However when I import an OBJ sequence I just load the UVW texture which I export from my 3D software into an XPression Material then apply.
#XPression

Hi Willie,
I have never used riptide so I am no help to you there. However when I have imported OBJ sequences in the past I usually just export a UVW map/texture from whatever 3D software I am using and then use that as a texture on a material in XPression. Then I apply that to the OBJ and it works.

Cheers,
Ryan
#XPression

Hi Willie,

I have never used riptide so I am no help to you on that. However when I have imported OBJ sequences in the past I simply export a UVW mapped texture from whatever 3D software I am in and then use that as a texture within a material in XPression. I then apply it to the OBJ and it works.

Cheers,
Ryan
#XPression

Hi Willie,
I have never used riptide so I am no help on that. However when I have imported OBJ sequences in the past I would just export a UVW mapped texture from whatever 3D software I was using, then use that as a texture on a material in XPression. Apply to your OBJ and it should work.

Cheers,
Ryan


#XPression

[h=3]Hi Willie,

I have never used riptide so I am no help on that. However when I have imported OBJ sequences in the past I would just export a UVW mapped texture from whatever 3D software I was using, then use that as a texture on a material in XPression. Apply to your OBJ and it should work.



Cheers,

Ryan[/h]
#XPression

Hi Willie,
I'm not much of a C4D user but I asked one of our XPression designers and they said they export a UVW mapped texture from C4D and then use that on a material in XPression to apply to the OBJ object. He hadn't used riptide before though.
#XPression

Thanks, garner. I'm curious what method your designer uses to get an OBJ sequence out of C4D? The other downside is, when I import, although I had several objects in my test scene, it all came merged together in an object called 'meshnode'. As a test, I exported that same scene out of C4D as an FBX, brought that into 3DS Max, exported an OBJ sequence from it using a Max script I found online, and in XPression, while there were no materials, I did get a separate object in XPression for every object in the C4D scene - with the object names in tact, AND it maintained my selection sets on the object in Cinema which had them. Since the script is just a point and run, I can't reason what is happening differently there to get separate objects vs the merged mesh node I get via Cinema exports. I'd love to solve this mystery as I am not a Max user (I asked one of my colleagues here to help with that part), so that I can nail down an efficient pipeline.
#XPression

The designers I spoke to aren't using riptide so they don't see this problem. They were exporting FBX from C4D and then importing to Blender to export to an OBJ sequence.
I know one of the designers on our team uses riptide so I've reached out to him to see what he thinks.
#XPression

Hi Will... there are a few ways to achieve getting an obj sequence into XPression.

With Ripetide Pro you can export an obj sequence as you mentioned but unfortunately it will not bring in the textures, you will have to add these again once in Xpression. If you bake your object, you will create a texture and also obtain the UV coordinates and then you can just add this to your mesh node. If you have created selection sets then these will also be visible, even if you don't bake the object (it may not be required), you can still add your base materials.

If you would like a bit more flexibility then isolate the elements by grouping them and hide them in Cinema 4D, then export the scene out separately, this way you will have different mesh nodes to add textures/materials to. This can be a bit time consuming, but better for refinements, especially if you are constantly exporting/testing and tweaking animations,

Lastly, if you have rigged/skeletal type animations that you have created in Cinema 4d or perhaps you have imported them into Cinema 4d as an FBX file for example, then if you try and export this out as an OBJ Sequence, once you import this into XPression the animation may not have worked (its not XPression its the OBJ Export). To solve this I use another plugin called Steady Bake from TCA Studios which will calculate the animation/s and bake them on the Timeline in Cinema 4D frame by frame. This is very accurate and will then set you up to export through Riptide Pro.

Links below, would recommend upgrading to Riptide Pro as it will save you a bunch of time and has more settings. Steady Bake is Free!

There maybe other ways and plugins available but have been generally happy with this process to date.

https://skinprops.com/riptidepro.php (Rip TIde)
http://tcastudios.com/?p=19 (Steady Bake)

Good luck....Joph


#XPression

Thanks Joph. yeah, I have and am familiar with Riptide Pro and SteadyBake, great tools. I considered using the Take system to setup hidden objects/groups, and it is as you said a bit cumbersome as workflows go.

When we round-tripped an FBX export from C4D to Max, and used a script we found online to export obj sequences, THOSE came in to XPression will all the objects in our test scene spearated - names in tact, and even the polygon selection sets showing up as different 'faces' in the material manager. The z-axis wasn't flipped, and the animations didn't play back smoothly. But I am really curious how that separation, and the selection/name preservation happened. I have not yet been able to recreate that behavior with RipTide Pro, but if I could it would really make the workflow smooth and far more practical. The Max script was just a point-and-run, no options to enable/disable, so I can't really do any comparisons, but it would be great to figure out.

Cheers
#XPression