Meshlab will export your obj to dae files..

Autodesk also has a converter:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?siteID=123112&id=6837478

And Blender will do it too.

All free.

Didn't know MeshLab did it. Did know blender did it. I believe Wings also does it. Thank you for letting me know about meshlab.

I am vaguely aware that a format is a lot of work and there is functionality that is more important at the moment. I was just letting people know that there are still people interested in this format so please leave it on the backburner and please don't drop it by accident behind the stove.

And of course... since there was talk of a 3 beta, I was hoping for a collada export on a 3 that's finished. Hoping mind you... not expecting... just hoping...

Hi southpaw, well it is on the radar, but so is SVG, DXF (for 2D curves and lines) and improved PDF support, and also making improvements to existing format support for exporting style assignments to more formats than just OBJ and LWO as is currently the case. So that's already a fair amount of file format work kind of queued up for working on for v3, so it's hard to know if collada will make the cut for v3. But priorities can change based on user requests so it's great that you requested it - if it would help out more apps and more people then it would tend to gain in priority and the only way I find out about such things is by requests like this one.

Right now my current feel though is that for file format work some focus on some 2D formats and on adding style support to existing formats (like SKP, FBX, and 3DS) seems like it would be higher priority for now just since those seem to be requested more often so far.

- Michael

Hi Michael,

SVG and Collada. What a sweet spot. I can completely see SVG as a priority. One of the ridiculous things about shade that I like is the host of formats that work with adobe's production suite(.ai,.psd,.swf,.mov,etc..) SVG... illustrator/inkscape/w3c... just beautiful.

Better existing format support (DXF, OBJ, LWO)... It's definitely logical. I know Manga Studio 4 Ex supports .lwo and .lws(lightwave scene files), though I've yet to have a reason to use that support.

Well... I'll still hope for collada. With one collada file, I can use it in modo5, houdini11, 3ds max2012, maya2012, shade12, sketchup8, blue mars, second life, torque3d(game engine), etc... Maybe 3, maybe 4...

I admit you've been friendly on these forums; I really appreciate it. Thank you.