Hi Brian, ok now I understand that you are comparing importing .3dm files versus importing .obj files into Carrara.

When you import a .3dm file directly into Carrara, you are relying on Carrara's meshing code to convert NURBS surfaces into polygonal facets. It does not look like it did a very good job of that conversion in this case.

When you import an .obj file into Carrara, you are instead relying on MoI's meshing code to convert surfaces into polygons. MoI's conversion mechanism tends to work better, that's why you get better results when doing it that way.

- Michael

Sorry I was away. Yes, I was just reporting another queer thing.
Jonah. I was looking at an experimental exercise about taking a MoI file into the Carrara Vertex room and using the Displacement Paint.

With SR3 and the Carrara updates etc I wont be able to follow thus up with examples for a while.

Brian

Michael.
The attached shows the import adjustment settings available when importing 3DM files into Carrara.

Can you (or anyone) make any suggestions on where these settings should be set to improve the quality of the resulting files in Carrara please.

(I really don't know what the settings are designed to do/adjust! ---NO CLUE!)

Brian\

ps I presume I am right in that no adjustment to export settings for 3DM can actually be done within MoI?

Hi Brian,

The main setting to change is the "max angle", as that will control the amount of polygons produced over a curved surface.

As example:

Importing a sphere with default settings (20) will give a mesh:-



Changing the "max angel" down to 3 will produce a mesh as:-



I would still advise you to export directly from MoI (to obj) and make needed setting for export there (angle etc), it is certainly better (I find)

Maybe we need to start a thread with examples of exporting?


- manz

I agree, unless you're having problems with OBJs exported from MOI, you should just stick with MOI OBJ exports.

What's the advantage or your reasoning for working with 3DM imports? Unless this is just a test to see how Carrara behaves working with .3DMs?


The only reason I've ever attempted to load 3DM (in XSI I believe), was to try and keep the model in the NURBS domain - if it's going to be converted into polygons anyway, you're then stuck as Michael said with the quality of the target app's importer.

Frankly I'd rather export from MOI and point any problems to Michael (who has a way better history of fixing his code) than now depending on DAZ to fix any issues with their mesher / code...

-Will

one thing i can guarantee is you will NOT be seeing any improvements to Carrara's 3DM import (which i always found to be rather crappy). Working with CAD data is probably very far off of DAZ's radar...

jonah

Hi Brian,

> ps I presume I am right in that no adjustment to export settings
> for 3DM can actually be done within MoI?

Yes, that's correct - basically .3dm saves the same kind of data that MoI naturally operates on, so there isn't any kind of conversion options when you save to .3dm from MoI.

- Michael

Thanks all.
One of my reasons for asking these later questioms is just plain curiosty--the need to learn!
Secondly, there is a lot of good 3dm files stuff about and I have been quite happy in importing a lot of it into Carrara in the past.

Thanks for that Carrara import setting advice

For those with Carrara.
Michaels suggestion to move the angle in the Carrara 3dm dropdown to 3 did increase the number of polys and lessened but did not cure the problem as earlier reported.
OBJ, 3DS and lwo seem to be the better imports into Carrara from MoI---I obviously can confirm!

Brian