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    [Plugin] OBJexporter v3.0 20130131

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    • TIGT Offline
      TIG Moderator
      last edited by

      No, OBJ format is for geometry only [faces] and their associated materials/textures.
      Some formats like DXF include data on the camera.
      There are some tools in the API to get a scene's view camera data, but after that it depends on the program into which you want to import that data, on how it can be suitably structured...
      What did you have in mind ?

      TIG

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      • bomastudioB Offline
        bomastudio
        last edited by

        Well I need to bypass the Octane exporter (as I use Ubuntu/Lubuntu+wine+SkecthUp) and the webdialogs doesn't work no more (with SU6 webdialog worked....). So exporting in OBJ format I can solve model+texture troubles, but I need to export also the scenes (cameras).

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        • TIGT Offline
          TIG Moderator
          last edited by

          So this is an Octane based query... only peripheral to Sketchup.
          There are already two tools available on the Octane Sketchup forum for licensed users.
          You need 'OctaneOCMbatchExporter.rb' - the tools allow you to batch-export your scenes' cameras and suns/shadows settings into Octane OCM files, which can then be loaded and used as 'nodes' in the matching OCS file, that you have made from the SKP exporter via OBJ/MTL files etc.
          That forum's thread is named "Batch Cameras / Suns OCM Exporter v1.0"

          TIG

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          • bomastudioB Offline
            bomastudio
            last edited by

            TIG, you are definitively the best source of info about SU!!!! thanx, how would I do without you? πŸ˜„ πŸ˜„

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            • E Offline
              eubz
              last edited by

              nice. i love this exporter.

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              • S Offline
                sceptile
                last edited by

                says the file can amage my computer?

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                • TIGT Offline
                  TIG Moderator
                  last edited by

                  @sceptile said:

                  says the file can amage my computer?
                  Let us assume you mean 'damage'...
                  Who, what where, when, why and how ?
                  Yours might win this week's prize for the most useless error report / query... πŸ˜’

                  TIG

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                  • S Offline
                    sceptile
                    last edited by

                    and i cant find the plug in folder i have sketchup 8 free where is it? thanks

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                    • TIGT Offline
                      TIG Moderator
                      last edited by

                      @sceptile said:

                      and i cant find the plug in folder i have sketchup 8 free where is it? thanks
                      Your questions get little clearer, and also show that maybe you aren't yet ready for using scripts...
                      There are extensive Sketchup Help files available to you.
                      For example under the Sketchup main menus Help > Learn About Plugins... opens a link which tells you exactly how to install Plugins etc...

                      Also you have not yet explained the '[d]amage' statement that you made earlier... πŸ˜’

                      TIG

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                      • TIGT Offline
                        TIG Moderator
                        last edited by

                        @tig said:

                        @sceptile said:

                        and i cant find the plug in folder i have sketchup 8 free where is it? thanks
                        Your questions get little clearer, and also show that maybe you aren't yet ready for using scripts...
                        There are extensive Sketchup Help files available to you.
                        For example under the Sketchup main menus Help > Learn About Plugins... opens a link which tells you exactly how to install Plugins etc... Giving the full paths for PC and MAC,

                        Also you have not yet explained the '[d]amage' statement that you made earlier... πŸ˜’

                        TIG

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                        • S Offline
                          Sound
                          last edited by

                          Hello TIG, thank you for writing such an useful plugin. I look forward for using it in a 3D printing workflow but I noticed two problems - the first one being more serious.

                          1. Draw a cube and export it as OBJ. It contains 16 triangle facets, but I would expect 12. If you inspect the generated OBJ you'll notice that it generated a tetrahedron inside the cube by triangulating the internal space. Hence the four more facets. I think this problem needs to be addressed. What do you think about it?

                          2. Resulting OBJ files contain lots of duplicate vertices. I think this is because you don't reuse vertices but you generate new ones all time. However this corrupts the topology of the generated OBJ file. If you open it with, say, Netfabb Studio Basic (a popular free utility for 3D printing) it will report all faces as unconnected. I don't know whether SketchUp API associates a unique ID with each vertex; in case it doesn't I think you could just build your own dictionary based on coordinates and check whether you already wrote that vertex and if so, just reuse its index when defining the new facet.

                          Thank you for your work, and I really hope you can fix these two things.

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                          • TIGT Offline
                            TIG Moderator
                            last edited by

                            @Sound

                            I am afraid you are mistaken. πŸ˜•
                            I have tested this extensively and a cube of 6 faces exports as a cube of 12 facets, because they are each triangulated.
                            You can clearly see it in the OBJ code.
                            If I import the OBJ it then arrives with 12 triangulated faces too.
                            this occurs with many OBJ importing apps.

                            IF you triangulate the faces manually before exporting you can create internal 'partitions' inside the cube depending on the order the diagonals are drawn, this should only make more that the visible 12 faces πŸ˜•

                            So this suggests there is something wrong with your initial cube if it indeed has 16 facets when exported, or alternatively something wrong with the app into which you are importing it? There are many apps that import these OBJ files quite acceptably without new facets or complaints about unconnected facets...
                            What are you using to import it ?

                            The code takes faces in the same context using the same material, triangulates them as necessary and produces the facets to suit. This tool is used as the basis of several rendering apps. The Pro OBJ exporter exports a simple cube with a file that is all but identical to this tool's file, so I don't think there's anything wrong with it...

                            Try the Pro version OBJ exporter and see it's the same...

                            I suspect you are either mis-modeling the cube beforehand OR not using appropriate import settings and getting spurious results... I suggest you make an OBJ made from a 1m cube in the positive quadrant of the axes, bb.min at [0,0,0]. Then compare it with mine in the ZIP, which only has 12 facets...


                            obj.zip

                            TIG

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                            • S Offline
                              Sound
                              last edited by

                              Thank you for the answer. Yes, it looks like those internal faces were already in SketchUp. A new test shows 12 facets, and that's fine.

                              Still, the other problem persists. Even when the exported cube results in 12 facets, the file contains 24 vertices (you can check this by opening the OBJ file with Meshlab or any other importer, or even by counting the "v" lines in the OBJ file). This looks very wrong, as the original geometry only has 8 vertices. Can you help me about this issue too? Thanks!

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                              • TIGT Offline
                                TIG Moderator
                                last edited by

                                So no apology for putting me to unpaid trouble when it was entirely your error? πŸ˜’
                                My exporter does work differently from the pro-OBJexporter, which minimizes the number of vertices by recycling them when possible.
                                However, my version treats each context, material and face as a separate set, and doesn't reused vertices. The coding is such that it would be very awkward to effect...
                                However, it has no noticeable effect on the resulting form and a ood 3rd party app should be able to cope with welding vertices etc anyway...
                                Get Pro if you really do NEED this functionality, and are not just being 'anally retentive'.
                                After all my tool is 'free' [donationware] and you cannot readily expect, let alone demand, changes to its functions... πŸ˜’

                                TIG

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                                • S Offline
                                  Sound
                                  last edited by

                                  Well, I'm just reporting a bug. A cube, having 8 vertices, is exported with 24 vertices 😲
                                  This is a wrong representation of the object and has a very noticeable impact on all uses of the OBJ file when topologic integrity is required (3D printing is one example).

                                  Of course I expect nothing from you, being it freeware. Whether you want to fix this bug or leave it there is entirely up to you.

                                  Sadly, your code is not even covered by an open source license (it's "all rights reserved"), so people are not allowed to fix this bug and redistribute a fixed version. 😒

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                                  • TIGT Offline
                                    TIG Moderator
                                    last edited by

                                    @Sound

                                    The vertex 'duplication' isn't actually a 'bug', since that would suggest that it isn't doing what it is intended to do: and it currently does exactly what it is coded to do.
                                    However, I do take your [inelegantly put] point that vertex entries could be 'reused' if they are 'shared' by more that one facet...

                                    So I now have an idea on to make an adjusted version of the code that will now does this: and it can also have a few other tweaks; to reduce the file size further, to optimize the processing time etc.

                                    I'll post it soonest...

                                    PS: Although I do 'reserve all rights' to my code... please feel free to make your own improvements to any of my tools, and either PM me or post them here, of course for free unfettered use by all members... The only thing I ask is not to post whole scripts in the same thread as it'll cause confusion... πŸ˜’

                                    TIG

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                                    • TIGT Offline
                                      TIG Moderator
                                      last edited by

                                      Here's v2.8 http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=294844#p294844
                                      The D.P. accuracy is not now applied to 'whole numbers', and any -0 values becomes 0.
                                      Any shared-vertex entries are now 'reused'.
                                      The OBJ file size is minimized and the processing time is optimized.

                                      TIG

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                                      • S Offline
                                        Sound
                                        last edited by

                                        TIG, thank you very much for working on that and for clarifying your terms about modifying the script.
                                        I will test the new version as soon as possible and report success or failure.
                                        Have a good day.

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                                        • S Offline
                                          Sound
                                          last edited by

                                          I can confirm this works for any model I tried.
                                          Thank you! Exported OBJ is now topologically correct and thus suitable for a lot more uses.

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                                          • TIGT Offline
                                            TIG Moderator
                                            last edited by

                                            Good.

                                            TIG

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