FluidImporter free .obj importer Beta 1.0.5 Updated

Khai · 17 Mar 2011, 14:57

you mean a free Demo of....

fluid · 17 Mar 2011, 15:02

No, FluidImporter is completely free.

Khai · 17 Mar 2011, 15:12

@fluid said:

No, FluidImporter is completely free.

it says

@unknownuser said:

"Here you can download FluidRay for SketchUp demo. The demo version has all the features of the full version except for a limited resolution. "

the word DEMO is quite clear.

numbthumb · 17 Mar 2011, 15:18

Fluidimporter is completely free, FluidRay renderer can be downloaded as a demo.
Although it is a bit confusing:

@fluid said:

We just released the first beta of FluidImporter, a free, fast .obj importer entirely written in C++.
For now it supports only the .obj format

Anyway, thanks for the heads-up.

Khai · 17 Mar 2011, 15:20

my bad. the filenames also confused 2 others I showed it to as well. to alike on the same page.

fluid · 17 Mar 2011, 15:21

There is a distinction between "FluidImporter" and "FluidRay".
FluidImporter is a plugin to import .obj files in SketchUp and is FREE.
FluidRay is the physically based renderer, and is in fact available in DEMO version.
If you want a FREE .obj importer, just scroll down the download page... http://www.fluidray.com/downloads

TIG · 17 Mar 2011, 15:33

Thanks for this free compiled OBJ importer; it is potentially a welcome advance on my own free OBJimporter Ruby script, that can be slow and not always successful...
I have tested yours against mine and I can now comment as follows...
It is very fast. [there's no 'progress-report' - but that's probably because it was so fast?]
It makes no attempt to make the object the correct size - i.e. there's no 'units' option. It therefore needs manual scaling after the import.
It has no option to flip the object's YZ axes - many OBJ are made with these flipped. It therefore needs manual rotation after import.
It does not follow the associated MTL file's settings, and although it makes all of the required materials by name it does not assign RGBA values or textures to them - instead it makes all materials look the same with a 'checker' texture... which is confusing.
I appreciate that this is the first version but if it is to be taken seriously I recommend that you address these issues with some urgency...

fluid · 17 Mar 2011, 16:09

Hi TIG,

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll put them on the top of the list.

Nicola

Rich O Brien · 18 Mar 2011, 01:20

This is causing alot of bugsplats for me? On quite simple .obj files.

TIG · 18 Mar 2011, 09:20

@unknownuser said:

This is causing a lot of bugsplats for me? On quite simple .obj files.
And no 'Error 666' [private joke ]

fluid · 19 Mar 2011, 17:12

Richard, can you provide the file that causes the crashes?

TIG · 19 Mar 2011, 18:09

@fluid said:

Just released v.1.0.1 featuring:

Units options

Flip YZ option

Read color and texture from material library

Triangulate polygons option

Should handle negative indices (not tested)
Thanks to TIG for the suggestions.
Check at the end of the page: http://www.fluidray.com/downloads

Thanks, couple of issues...
Flip YZ Yes 'mirrors' the result too, and it's not placed the same as in the original
The Material Groups Yes/No Option is confusing as it did exactly the opposite what I expected...

fluid · 19 Mar 2011, 18:45

Released 1.0.2, should fix the issues...

TIG · 19 Mar 2011, 18:54

@fluid said:

Released 1.0.2, should fix the issues...

Good, it seems fixed - I haven't managed to break it yet...

pibuz · 2 Apr 2011, 13:17

Hi fluid!
Wonderful tool, your obj importer!

..still, I seldom find some troubles in importing some obj files: most od the times SU reads the textures and UV mapping very well, but sometimes it happens that only ONE material is read from the source obj file, and it is applied to the whole geometry (note: all the faces are correctly UV mapped with the texture of the only material imported).

How come this? Can I fix it?

Thank you a lot!

TIG · 2 Apr 2011, 13:26

The OBJ importer tool is in need of at least one last tweak... it isn't reading the materials 'alpha' from the MTL file. For example...

newmtl Translucent_Glass_Gray
Ka 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
Kd 0.500000 0.500000 0.500000
Ks 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
d 0.600000

The d value is used as this material's transparency 'alpha' thus - material.alpha=d

Krisidious · 2 Apr 2011, 19:37

I use Tig's .OBJ importer... is there something different about this one? does it allow me to import a glass of beer? cuz I could use one.

TIG · 2 Apr 2011, 20:00

@krisidious said:

I use Tig's .OBJ importer... is there something different about this one? does it allow me to import a glass of beer? cuz I could use one.

This new 'compiled' OBJimporter WILL be better than mine - IF he fixes the transparent material issue...
It's faster...

fluid · 4 Apr 2011, 11:17

Hi pibuz, can you provide the file that causes problems?

fluid · 4 Apr 2011, 11:43

Just released 1.0.3, should have transparency working properly.