Sketchup to modo
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well if you have modo you should also have the sketchup importer for it?
http://www.luxology.com/whatismodo/plugins/plugin_sketchup_importer.aspx -
Hey there,
this is a very basic tutorial going from SU to Luxology Modo. I would love for other poeple to contribute anything they have discovered in their process of using these two pieces of software together.
- Build initial shape in SU. This is getting easier and more and more sophisticated with all the great plugins!
- Export image as an .obj. Use the settings on the screen cap.
- In Edge mode in modo (you can scroll thru the selection modes by hitting space bar) select the triangulated edges and delete them using the 'backspace' button.
- In polygon mode start to select adjacent polys and hit 'L'. this will select the looped polys. then run loop slice. Have it set to any number of edges you desire inorder to tighten up the edges when you subdivide. In this picture i've already cleaned up the triangles, added a few loops and subdivided by hitting the 'tab' key. In order for the shape you've designed in SU to keep its form, there need to be enough 4 sides polygons equally spaced throughout the form. To add more use loop slice, slice, and axis slice amoung others.
- final form - then on to texturing it and rendering!
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I tend to only use the SU importer if i don't plan on changing the model once its in Modo. If all i need to do is add a few procedural textures and render than i'll use it. If i plan to work on the model in SubD's in Modo, use the Obj method. that way you can sketch the basic form in SU and detail the model in modo.
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you can do the exact same edits with a model imported through the importer though? at least i can.
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really? i find everything to be double sided and triangulated. i'm unable to subdivide anything. can you show me a quick example? it would be cool to get a thread going on techniques utilizing both these programs together.
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yes it does seem detached. try this, lasso select your object then go to vertex tab and choose merge tool.
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ahh nice! i'll try that. still learning subdivision modelling, so all these new tools take a while to get a handle on.
thanks!
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The importer does indeed triangulate everything. Also, it splits every SU face up into a front and a back face.
Gaganraj, after importing an .obj, you may experience odd-looking shading on your meshes. To get rid of it, you have to remove the vertex maps your obj's come in with. In item mode, select a mesh > Lists > Other Maps > delete the vertex map.
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sorry
, i played around some more and it appears you're right. the double faces thing is a show stopper. i hadn't really tried sud-d with SU imports before. that kinda sucks, hopefully luxology works that issue out! -
stinkie: very cool. i've been wondering what that is. thanks.
xrok1: ya, I just double checked, the obj. method is pretty much the only way to get basic shapes out of SU and into sub-d mode in modo. but it is working pretty well so far....
working on UVing right now. when i get a better handle on it i'll throw some up pics of what i've learned.
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Bit of a guess: I suppose you can remove all of the back faces by selecting them by their mat, as they're all assigned a 'default backface material' (or something along those lines. Try this: under 'Statistics', choose 'Polygons', then 'by material', then click in the column on the far left hand side of 'default backface material'. Hit delete.
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that does seem to work to an extent, if a person was careful to not paint both sides on anything in your madel; this coupled with the merge vertex trick could work quite well.
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Is it possible to update the model once it's imported to Modo?
I've seen a tutorial about Modo's reference features, but don't know if it can be used as a workaround? It would be nice to use Modo's renderfeatures!
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not sure what you mean by 'update' model and modo's 'referrence' features? if you could clarify i'm sure someone would know...
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Well, hope this is more cleare!
If a model is imported to Modo, and textures is applied. Then the model is changed in Sketchup and it would be nice to "update" (merge) the model allready imported to Modo, so you don't have to make a total retexturing.
For archviz it's a greath feature because the model always gets adjusted during the renderprocess.I don't know the Modo reference feature in details, but maybe it could be used as described above!
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That is possible with SU and Vue, you export your model and open up in Vue, then if you need to add, remove or edit geometry or texture something in SU all you do is save the model with the changes and the version open in Vue will ask you if you want to update the model. You can choose no and it becomes unique or you can opt for the update, when it changes it does it mesh for mesh so you can say yes to all changes or select the ones you want
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as far as i know it doesn't have the option, but i'm a modo noob, so if someone knows otherwise please chime in. sounds like a great option though!
solo, is vue only a renderer? You might be interested in Modo 401's new drag and drop texture/lighting presets - as well as its own warehouse of prebuilt items. check it out:
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Whoa!!
That's amazing!!
I'm still tryng to scrape up spare change for Vray, now I have another need/want.
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i know. the bills just pile up for all the software needs. but i'm thinking the Modo 401 might be a really tight package in terms of art needs. those material/environment/model presets are suspiciously Sketch Up like!
this video is exciting:
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@solo said:
Whoa!!
That's amazing!!
I'm still tryng to scrape up spare change for Vray, now I have another need/want.
Yeah, looks good, huh? Also check out the video on the new preview renderer. Pretty impressive stuff. Judging from the last part of your comment, I'm guessing you're not gonna lend me some cash to upgrade to 401, are ya? Dang! Money's tight everywhere, it seems.
As for updating models - this is a possible m.o.:
- build thingy in SU.
- export as obj to "SU 2 Modo" folder in convenient location. Make sure to export stuff that isn't supposed to stick together in Modo separately. Organisation is key!
- import into Modo (delete vertex maps!)
Now, say you got a door, a window, and a wall imported. And suppose you alter the door in SU. Just remove the one in Modo, re-export from SU, and re-import. It'll pop right into place.
Not a perfect method, but at least it's something.
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