FluidImporter free .obj importer Beta 1.0.5 Updated

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.

TIG · 4 Apr 2011, 11:47

Super !

dedmin · 4 Apr 2011, 12:50

Thanks!!!

pibuz · 4 Apr 2011, 14:22

@fluid said:

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

Hi Fluid! Thanks for your reply! I'm really looking forward to slve this issue, so I can start building a good set of outdoor vegetation

You can pick a random tree from this link:
http://www.xfrog.com/2011/01/130-free-xfrogplants-now-available/

They all show the problem when I try to import the obj file. Note that all textures are in the same folder as the obj model, so I guess there is no path conflict or anything..

TIG · 4 Apr 2011, 14:30

The texture image files need to be in the same relationship to the OBJ file, as set in the MTL file.
Open the MTL file in Notepad[++] and read it...
You will find that Xfrog OBJ texture image files usually stay in the same folder with the OBJ, as there is not a subfolder specified by the MTL file.
If an MTL file needs a subfolder for the texture image files' paths then if it doesn't exist you simply make a new folder to match, next to the OBJ file, and move the texture image files into it...

pibuz · 4 Apr 2011, 14:46

Oh thank you TIG, I'll check that!

EDIT: just checked and in fact no subfolder seems to be required.
BTW, after the import, the material given to the branches is applied to the leaves too...

I'm attaching the mlt file to make sure I'm not reading it wrong..

AG02_1.rar

TIG · 4 Apr 2011, 14:50

The texture image files need to be in the same relationship to the OBJ file, as set in the MTL file.
Open the MTL file in Notepad[++] and read it...
You will find that Xfrog OBJ texture image files usually stay in the same folder with the OBJ, as there is not a subfolder specified by the MTL file.
If an MTL file needs a subfolder for the texture image files' paths then if it doesn't exist you simply make a new folder to match, next to the OBJ file, and move the texture image files into it...

These are relatively large objects with complex texturing and take a while to load...
Over 53 million lines of code in the largest OBJ in that zip !!!
They are so 'heavy' that one or two can kill you model - avoid shadows etc !!

I see what you mean as typically only 1 texture comes in - the first one !
When the OBJ and MTL says there are perhaps 7 in the original !!
The MTL file correctly specifies the materials, the image files are there and the OBJ correctly assigns materials to faces half of the face son my import are wrongly oriented - so you need to run one of my tools to add the material to both faces, smooth edges etc so it looks right!!!! ....

My old clunky Ruby based importer does work... but takes [almost] forever to process the OBJ file !
and then it's 40Mb and half the faces are wrong so I have to fix those with another tool and then add matching back materials and hide edges etc...

Fluid... back to work ! The material importing is broken!
The usemtl lef etc before each set of face definitions f 1/2/3/... needs to be read in used AND the materials made from the MTL specs...