[Plugin] Universal Importer - v1.2.6 - 30 July 2024

panixia · 4 Feb 2020, 20:42

No sir, that's not what I'm talking about.. that plugin just splits existing geometry in quads.
I rather need the existing non-planar quads in obj coming from 3dsmax, blender, maya etc to be preserved.

most of those softwares have an option to preserve quads in obj and fbx exporters, here is 3dsmax

here are some good reasons to care about this in objects and characther modeling workflow

https://www.turbosquid.com/3d-modeling/training/modeling/quad-based-topology/
https://topologyguides.com/

Thomthom wrote an implementation of non-planar quads in sketchup wich is really handy for modeling complex stuff and makes for a better integration of sketchup with most 3d-modeling packages used to produce fbx and obj files

Home

Suite of tools for manipulating quad faces in SketchUp. - Home · thomthom/quadface-tools Wiki

GitHub (github.com)

maybe there is a way to read the "quad property" set from those eporters and translate it to thomthom's diagonals while converting obj and fbx files?

Einstein · 5 Feb 2020, 09:32

I support your request, panixia. I would also buy this plugin with ability to read quad-based topology. Then we wouldn't probably need Transmutr, which is an expensive tool.

There's a toolbar called AMS Soften Edges. I don't know if you know about it. It has a smart button "Reveal quadrants" that can sometimes be helpful. It finds quads automatically, though often not the way you wish.
Here you can watch how it works:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHc4ySzEhxs

panixia · 5 Feb 2020, 21:41

@einstein said:

Then we wouldn't probably need Transmutr, which is an expensive tool.

I don't know how expensive this tool is, but as far as I saw, this doesn't supports quads from other modeling pakages.
If it does, I would pay for it no problem at all. Now. The "shut up and take my moneys!" style.

@einstein said:

There's a toolbar called AMS Soften Edges. I don't know if you know about it. It has a smart button "Reveal quadrants" that can sometimes be helpful.

If you look at the example of the car, in the video you linked, looks like it has an auto-detect for quads, like other algorithms do. Let'say the "original" quadface tool's "convert triangulated mesh to quads" wich is really similar to 3dsmax quadrify or similar tool i saw in c4d.
All of this tools work fine on pretty regular meshes, but when they find lot of poles, as in the car example, they are not able to predict properly where the next quad should be.
Moreover, they tend to ruin uv's of meshes.

What I'm talking about is to just preserve the quads already present in the obj created in other apps, marking quad diagonals in obj with soft + smooth + don't cast shadows when rebuilding the model in sketchup.
Not to create or find new quads, just "preserve".
As The importer in quadface tools already does, but with the speed and the textures mangement that this importer has.

Khai · 6 Feb 2020, 18:28

eh?
I'm importing mesh made in trueSpace... in Quads. also OBJs... again in Quads..

not sure why your not getting Quads preserved...

the only thing I'm losing is Grouping... it all comes in as one mesh... which is a pain but I can work round it... getting the old tS models back is enough..

pibuz · 7 Feb 2020, 17:04

Hi! First of all thanks for your wonderful plugin and great work!

I have issues trying to import objs....

samuel_t · 7 Feb 2020, 17:29

@pibuz said:

Hi! First of all thanks for your wonderful plugin and great work!

I have issues trying to import objs....

Hi! Try to run SketchUp as Administrator then import a model again. Let me know if problem persists.

pibuz · 7 Feb 2020, 17:52

THAT WORKED..

Is there the hell of a way to tell sketchup to ALWAYS run as admin?
I thought I already did this but seems like I couldn't do it.....

samuel_t · 7 Feb 2020, 18:06

@pibuz said:

:roll: THAT WORKED..

Is there the hell of a way to tell sketchup to ALWAYS run as admin?
I thought I already did this but seems like I couldn't do it.....

There is a way... Check this guide .

zuzca · 7 Feb 2020, 18:10

Helo,
unfortunatelly for me does not work, I dont know why, bug screenshot attached..
Thank you for any help.
Zuzana

samuel_t · 8 Feb 2020, 07:12

@zuzca said:

Helo,
unfortunatelly for me does not work, I dont know why, bug screenshot attached..
Thank you for any help.
Zuzana

Hello,
I don't see screenshot.

juju · 8 Feb 2020, 12:21

@zuzca said:

Helo,
unfortunatelly for me does not work, I dont know why, bug screenshot attached..
Thank you for any help.
Zuzana

Below a certain number of posts you cannot attach anything.

samuel_t · 9 Feb 2020, 08:38

@juju Thanks for the info.

@zuzca Could you please upload screenshot to an image hoster or copy (CTRL + C) error msg as text?

pibuz · 10 Feb 2020, 08:40

...sorry Samuel another question: when I try and import a model, the plugin asks me the "height" of the model, and scales it to that dimension. Problem is that most of the time I don't know the original height of the model and I just want to keep the original size. Is there a way to do this?

Thanks in advance!!!

samuel_t · 10 Feb 2020, 14:31

@pibuz said:

...sorry Samuel another question: when I try and import a model, the plugin asks me the "height" of the model, and scales it to that dimension. Problem is that most of the time I don't know the original height of the model and I just want to keep the original size. Is there a way to do this?

Thanks in advance!!!

I don't know... Maybe with an external viewer.

TIG · 10 Feb 2020, 15:36

To allow the user to NOT scale the imported geometry could there be a possibility to enter 0 when prompted, and if so you skip that step ??

pibuz · 10 Feb 2020, 16:04

i was asking kind of the same thing

Pixero · 10 Feb 2020, 17:58

About adding support for quads.
Couldn't you ask Thomthom if he would be willing to share the code he uses in his Quadface tools?

samuel_t · 10 Feb 2020, 18:05

@pixero said:

About adding support for quads.
Couldn't you ask Thomthom if he would be willing to share the code he uses in his Quadface tools?

I think it's not possible because import feature is based on external programs not written in Ruby.

jiminy-billy-bob · 12 Feb 2020, 07:42

@panixia said:

@einstein said:

Then we wouldn't probably need Transmutr, which is an expensive tool.

I don't know how expensive this tool is, but as far as I saw, this doesn't supports quads from other modeling pakages.
If it does, I would pay for it no problem at all. Now. The "shut up and take my moneys!" style.

It is planned for a future Transmutr version
It's a bit tricky to do, but I believe it's possible.

I don't have an ETA, though. For now we are focused on Skatter v2.

pinoy · 13 Feb 2020, 02:59

Thank you so much!