Hello dear Michael and community.

I have created a model in MOI3D and I want it as a high poly model in my 3D software (Cinema4D) so I can work further on texturing/materials and rendering.
When I export it as an obj I get a horrible topology with which it is super difficult to work. For example, I want to select this section to put a different material than the body and so on but it would take a lot of time to select every triangle of that selection/edge to have a clean selection of that surface. Is there a workaround?

(exported with only triangles)




Also when I export it with n-gons and triangles I get a more clean topology with which I can work but I get a lot of broken artefacts.



What is the usual useful work process to export the object in high poly and further work in other 3D programs with that model?

I also uploaded the moi3D file of the model if needed.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kvj26grlos21xlr/20220622_moi3d_course.3dm?dl=0

Thank you in advance

Hi Nikita,

re:
> What is the usual useful work process to export the object in high poly and further work
> in other 3D programs with that model?

Usually the process would be to do an n-gon export like you've done.

What file format are you using for the transfer into Cinema4D ? (Edit: I see you used .obj)

Are you editing the object in some after you have imported it, or removing the normals tag?


Here is what I'm seeing over here saving your model to an .obj using Angle = 8 and N-gons, and loading it into a really old version of Cinema4D. I can't find any artifacts like you show:



- Michael

I have similar issues when I export as an obj with ngons and import into 3D Coat as a surface object (not voxel object). The topology is terrible. I am told by the 3D Coat crowd 3D Coat does not like ngons or tris and prefers quads. Yet when I export using the quad option, I get way more tris than quads.

Too bad MOI3D did not have an all quad export option with as few tris as possible.

Hi Kenmo, for output to a displacement brush app like 3D Coat or ZBrush it's a good idea to use the "Divide larger than" option to dice the output up into smaller more regular sized pieces, see here for an example:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=2833.5

re:
> I am told by the 3D Coat crowd 3D Coat does not like ngons or tris and prefers quads.

Quads being preferable to triangles is only applicable if sub-d smoothing is being applied,

If you're not applying sub-d smoothing then quads vs triangles is irrelevant - it's more about working on polygons that have a more uniform even size which is usually how meshes made for sub-d smoothing are constructed.

So use "Divide larger than" when exporting out from MoI to generate more uniformly sized polygons and not have any individual polygons that stretch out across a large distance across the model. That's going to work with displacement better, it makes displacement effect more localized.

Probably best to use just "triangles only" output if it's going to be used for displacement.

- Michael

"""""""For example, I want to select this section to put a different material than the body and so on but it would take a lot of time to select every triangle of that selection/edge to have a clean selection of that surface. Is there a workaround?""""""

You can select those areas in MoI "FIRST" and assign it a material and an object name.

These should transfer into your poly app through obj for "selection" or whatnot.

I transfer stuff to 3dcoat alot. I go high poly with divide larger than/all option Michael points to... like 200,000-400,000

Then in 3dcoat i can "autopo" for a down and dirty all quad. Then of course, retopo if you need perfection....

But i have never gotten more tris than quads in MoI's mesher.... but, i havent found a poly app that handles ngons well either.

But, since you are going to 3dcoat as "surfaces" which doesn't need solids and volumes, try ngons and untick welding edges and vertices... or even separate the model in MoI and export ngons from the unjoined surfaces.

Thanks Michael, really appreciate the reply. But as I said I am not voxeling the model for sculpting on, bump map or displacement map creation. I am importing as a surface object.

I simply want to UV map it and apply textures within 3DC Coat. I've been told by the 3D Coat base that 3DC prefers good edge loops which are only really obtained through quad topology. 3DC really does not like tris when it comes to good UV mapping . Yes it can be done but boy is it messy.

One of the reasons I use MOI3D is it's ease of use and ability to create awesome bevels, chamfers and fillets. If I have to retopo my model within 3DC , I loose all of those bevels, fillets and chamfers. Prior to MOI3D, I used Groboto 3D which is awesome at exporting proper quad models but Groboto is no longer being developed due to Groboto now being an Modo addon - ala Mesh Fusion.

Hi Kenmo, that's basically a limitation of 3D Coat - other programs like Modo, Cinema4D, are able to work fine with UV mapping on N-gon meshes and do not require only all quad sub-d type mesh structure to do those tasks.

If you're not going to be applying any displacement at all then probably 3D Coat is not the best tool to use, at least in combination with MoI.

If you need all quad edge loop topology as your output then you would generally be better of creating your model in a sub-d modeling program from the start rather than creating it in a CAD program and trying to automatically generate all quad sub-d edge loop type geometry from a non-edge-loop based source model.

- Michael

@Kenmo - why aren't you using Modo with Mesh Fusion for your modeling now if it generates the type of model that you need?

Right now you're trying to use a faulty toolchain basically. You're starting in MoI which has no focus whatsoever (not in modeling nor in export conversion) on making all quad edge flow based model structures and then your downstream tool requires only all quad edge flow based model data.

You're setting yourself up for a lot of pain and suffering by trying to force a toolchain together that does not connect together.

You should probably pick which side you spend the most time on (modeling or uv mapping/texturing) and swap out the other side for something that is compatible.

- Michael

Modo is way too expensive for me.

I love MOI3D. it's very simple to use and produces excellent models. And well worth the money.
I also model in Silo3D and Blender 3.1.

But 3DC is my preferred tool for uv mapping & texturing. I do not do a lot of sculpting as I am more interested in modeling cars, space ships, buildings and other similar hard surfaces.

MOI3D is also a big step up from Sketchup and Form-Z for me.

Sorry I an mot complaining, just asking questions.

Hi Kenmo, I'm sorry I don't know how to explain it any better than I did above. You're trying to combine 2 tools that are each focused on totally different types of 3D model data. So it's going to be frustrating.

- Michael

May be I don't understand, but if you use blender why not uvmap in blender. It is deals with ngons fine. It's my preferred uvmapping program. I use fbx export over obj, never have a problem.

I only use Blender for modeling. I am more comfortable uv mapping and texturing in 3D Coat especially since 3DC has a built in link for exchanging files & layers with Photoshop. Since I am more of a photographer, I am very comfortable in Photoshop.

I also much prefer 3DC's PBR shaders over DAZ Studio's IRAY or anything Blender has to offer. I also use e-onsoftware's Vue and much prefer 3DC over Vue's materials as well.

I use MOI3D for the same type of models that many Blender modelers go to addons Hardops & Box cutter or Fluent to produce. I have Fluent but find MOI3D much easier and a lot more straight forward.

I do think MOI3D has a place in my car modeling, perhaps not for car bodies but it appears ideal for creating car frames, wheels, tires, engines, car differentials, etc.

My initial reason to get into 3D modeling over 20 years ago was to produce assets to be used in my Vue (e-onsoftware) renders and later DAZ Studio.