[Plugin] OBJexporter v3.0 20130131

wongfoon · 14 Feb 2012, 12:49

I am really thankful to your kind and timely response. Similar problems are found with several models downloaded from the warehouse. At this moment I'll try to explode them before exporting, as instructed. So keep up your excellent work!

TIG · 14 Feb 2012, 13:03

I have found that if a component is 'flipped' the triangulated face loops in the OBJ are returned clockwise rather than counterclockwise, while the vertex normals remain correct.
Some apps like Octane [and even my olde OBJimporter] ignore this issue and import it as expected, BUT others like the Fluid-OBJimporter and some other MeshLab type app's baulk at this and make the face 'reversed' with the material on its 'back' so you see 'black' ...
I need to think of a way to see if an instance is mirrored and then reverse the order of the face's vertices to be ccw...

TIG · 14 Feb 2012, 13:52

Here's v1.8 http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=294844#p294844
Fixed the recently reported issues with flipped-instance having reversed face vertices.
Now any mirrored/flipped instances should have their exported faces' vertices correctly ordered [ccwise]...
Although it's probably safest to explode any mirrored instances if you can, as some apps might still be flaky...

TIG · 14 Feb 2012, 14:50

NOTE: After further testing v1.8 also has issues... so stick with v1.7 till another update is ready !

wongfoon · 15 Feb 2012, 03:29

Is it possible to do this internally within the plugin, to explode and then undo explosion after exporting, as an quick & dirty fix Hopefully doing so might also fix some other potential tricky issues.

TIG · 15 Feb 2012, 14:06

Here's v1.9 http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=294844#p294844
Completely has been recoded.
Issues with mirrored-instance's faces being reversed is now fully fixed.

IdahoJ · 15 Feb 2012, 14:20

TIG, thanks a million for the updates! I've been using this plugin quite a bit and it's a real time saver for me ...

Cheers.

TIG · 17 Feb 2012, 09:38

Here's v2.0 http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=294844#p294844
The tolerance checks for deciding if it's a 'distorted texture' have been further improved...

gzotti · 18 Feb 2012, 15:26

Hi!

First, thank you for this superb OBJ exporter! I have previously used V1.6 for a large model (about 450.000 triangles mostly from a terrain TIN, counted by Meshlab), which took about an hour to export. The result looked perfect in Meshlab. All other OBJ exporters I tried including the Pro failed on that, so I warmly recommend yours. However, the V2.0 is not finished on the same model after 4 hours. (Win7pro, Core2duo, SU8pro uses 1GB RAM, lots of RAM free.) Was there any big change in the algorithm that causes this? Is it possible to find and try V1.7..1.9?

Kind regards,
Georg

TIG · 18 Feb 2012, 16:31

The issue is that any 'mirrored' groups/instances don't export properly with the old versions.
The new version obviously has to do more work to ensure that the nested faces' orientation/UVmapping are now sorted properly in the OBJ code, so it takes longer to complete: unfortunately with Sketchup the processing time gets 'exponentially' longer the more entities there are to be considered - a small file might only takes a second or two longer to complete, but a much larger file WILL take a lot longer to finish...
One way to speed up processing would be to work on a copy SKP, and explode all groups/components before exporting the geometry? Then there'd be nothing to check/explode/heal etc, and therefore less to slow it down...

Here's a copy of the now superseded v1.8 [very similar to v1.6] IF you'd prefer to use that - it IS faster than more recent versions BUT it will give a flawed result with many third-party apps importing the OBJ, IF you have any mirrored instances... You choose...OBJexporter_18.rb

BigOto · 20 Feb 2012, 02:31

Hi, this is BigOto2 from YouTube and other places. I'm just here to say this plug-in has been absolutely revolutionary when it comes to modding and creating new tracks for Mario Kart Wii. Me and many others in our community use it to design tracks in Sketchup and then convert them to the model format Mario Kart Wii uses (which requires OBJ). If you want to see any of the tracks created by us just search YouTube for "Mario Kart Wii Custom Track" or something like that. Keep up the great work!

TIG · 20 Feb 2012, 12:11

Here's v2.1 http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=294844#p294844
Further work on avoiding the glitches with some flipped-instances' face-reversal/orientation/UVmapping.
Slight speed improvement over v2.0...

gzotti · 20 Feb 2012, 19:29

Thanks a lot for 1.8 (for my large model) and explaining the differences. 2.0 finally came to an end, after about 6 hours. The model is technically simple enough to hope 1.8 will do.

I tried the 2.1 export on a different, quite complex model with lots of layers and some hidden and, yes, mirrored instances. After a while, a message popup says (I try to translate from the German SU8pro): "By your last action visible geometric shapes were joined to existing geometric shapes on an invisible layer." The model behind the panel looked weird, with lots of missing faces. After closing the panel the export then continued. The message and in-between appearance imply an unwanted edit operation, so I don't dare saving the SKP afterwards. However, after the export, it seems OK again - is there any chance/danger that something is actually edited? On the other hand, the OBJ misses a few faces. The 2.0, which gives the same message, looks worse, with some duplicate and maybe inverted faces in addition to the missing ones, so 2.1 is better, but I am afraid still some work is open. Just to let you know. Again, splendid job, I was disappointed with the Pro export.

TIG · 20 Feb 2012, 22:28

I see the issue - if you have some raw geometry that is hidden or ill-advisedly on an an OFF layer, then it can merge with ON stuff being exported in the next coding... I can fix this though...

TIG · 20 Feb 2012, 23:06

Here's v2.2 http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=294844#p294844
Resolved the issue of raw geometry, either hidden or ill-advisedly placed on an off-layer [either within the model or inside groups/components] inadvertently merging with exported geometry.

Bazza · 21 Feb 2012, 05:55

Hi TIG I'm new to sketchup only had it installed a week some one on another site recommended it for modeling in.. It seems ideal except I need to export obj files.. I found your plugin for this (as well as a couple of others on this site for other things). Problem is being a nub to all this plugin stuff I am not sure if I am installing this one right or I am missing something.. The others I installed ok (I think) as had no problem when starting but this one came up with load errors as follows..

Error Loading File OBJexporter.rb
C:/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/OBJexporter.rb:262: syntax error, unexpected '}', expecting ')'
C:/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/OBJexporter.rb:276: syntax error, unexpected kEND, expecting ')'
C:/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/OBJexporter.rb:280: syntax error, unexpected kEND, expecting ')'
C:/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/OBJexporter.rb:801: syntax error, unexpected kEND, expecting ')'
end#class OBJexporter ###########...
^
C:/Program Files (x86)/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins/OBJexporter.rb:816: syntax error, unexpected $end, expecting ')'

Not sure what to do now am running windows 7 64 bit system I placed the OBJexporter.rb in the Google8 plugin file where the others were installed.. C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google SketchUp 8\Plugins..

Am I fighting a loosing battle here

chrisjk · 21 Feb 2012, 07:52

TIG,
Got this from the latest version:-

Error Loading File OBJexporter.rb
/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/OBJexporter.rb;262; parse error, unexpected '}', expecting ')'
            }
             ^
/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/OBJexporter.rb;276; parse error, unexpected kEND, expecting ')'
/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/OBJexporter.rb;280; parse error, unexpected kEND, expecting ')'
/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/OBJexporter.rb;801; parse error, unexpected kEND, expecting ')'
end#class OBJexporter ##########################################################
   ^
/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/Plugins/OBJexporter.rb;816; parse error, unexpected $, expecting ')'

TIG · 21 Feb 2012, 10:01

Here's v2.3 http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=294844#p294844
Sorry about that = my fault...
There was one silly last-minute typo in the file I initially uploaded [rushing to get it out before bedtime!]
Please try downloading the latest version again...
The errant single '(' is now correctly a ')'

gzotti · 21 Feb 2012, 10:29

I had seen the error following the Ruby message and fixed it, thanks.

My model may indeed have ungrouped geometry on a hidden layer, most likely some ungrouped edges without faces used during construction only, and also typically hidden. Also there are real construction lines, on a usually hidden layer. I am still learning, and may have made some mistakes or things not recommended but possible. However, from the 2.2 export, still one face in a non-mirrored component inside a locked group is missing, and the reported message and behaviour persists. The Pro export in this case has no problems. I can PM you the model to try/bugfix/bulletproof your exporter, if you like.

Again the queation, is there any chance the model itself gets modified during the export, as the intermediate message seems to imply?

TIG · 21 Feb 2012, 10:52

Have you tried v2.3?
Can you PM the SKP so I can test it.
Something is adrift...
To ensure that any mirrored instances are correctly UVmapped and the faces correctly oriented the latest versions do change the model BUT only temporarily because it 'aborts' the whole operation at the end so any changes are 'undone'.
If the exporter fails before completing, then you should close the SKP without saving as there might be un-aborted changes...
The change it makes is that the group/instance is exploded to get the orientation/UVmapping the right way round in mirrored cases, and the results are then exported. To avoid clashes with existing geometry, all 'loose' faces are processed first, then erased, together with any unneeded edges. It also erases all 'loose' faces that are either 'hidden' or on an OFF layer [note that it is ill-advised to layer 'raw' geometry - only give layers to groups/instances! Raw geometry belongs on Layer0] before it looks at groups and instances. Therefore there ought to be no faces to 'clash' ? After each instance is processed its faces are erased too, so any exploded instances should always arrive in a 'clean' context ?