> My fiancee is a SketchUp user and is already asking be how to get her stuff
> into MoI so she can detail it.

Unfortunately SketchUp to MoI is a difficult direction to go, since SketchUp is Polygon based, and MoI doesn't work on polygons, only NURBS.

You can go the other way because MoI has a method to dice up NURBS surfaces into polygons.

But going polygons to NURBS is a problem. It's kind of like trying to go from applesauce back to apples...


> The way you have MoI designed I may never have to touch the keyboard
> during the modeling process, and as a Wacom user that is a huge improvement
> on other apps.

Great, I'm glad you like it! Yes, the ability to model without touching the keyboard is a pretty unique feature of MoI. It was difficult to get it set up, it meant I had to throw out a bunch of typical conventions, especially for stuff with modifier keys like holding down shift, etc...

But not having to touch the keyboard opens up some nice possibilities - you can have different postures, like leaning back in your chair, or also use different devices such as a TabletPC.


> I am also reading up on Rhino tutorials to getter a better feel for the nurbs
> modeling workflow. It seems a lot of it will carry over well to MoI.

Yes, definitely a lot will carry over. Some of the specific details will be different, but the overall strategies will carry over well.

If you have other questions, please post them here.

- Michael

Hello Michael, Hello all friends of MOI,

since two weeks i play around with MOI, MOI is very great !!!! the best software of accurate 3d-drafting i have ever seen!!
until now i have made only a few sketches. Import from Sketchup via Amapi 3D 6.1 iges works. But only edges were import, no faces.

I LOVE MOI !!!!!!!!

Cheers!

Hi Trudel - thanks, I'm glad you like MoI!

> Import from Sketchup via Amapi 3D 6.1 iges works. But only edges were import, no faces.

IGES is mostly designed to hold NURBS surface data, not polygon data. So when you try to export polygon data to an IGES file, Amapi decides to put the edge curves of the polygons into the IGES file so that there will be something in there instead of nothing...

It is difficult to try to bring the Sketchup data straight into MoI because Sketchup works on polygon data, and MoI works only on smooth surface data. So the basic type of geometry that each program works on is sort of different.

MoI is able to export smooth surfaces to a polygon format by dicing the smooth surface up into facets. But it is difficult to go the other way - from facets to smooth data, that is sort of like trying to go from applesauce back into apples again...

- Michael

> Unfortunately SketchUp to MoI is a difficult direction to go, since SketchUp is Polygon based, and MoI doesn't work on polygons, only NURBS.

For some reason after trying out SketchUp a while back it felt like a nurbs system. The workflow of being able to draw on surfaces and push/pull them with nice smooth curves felt foreign to a poly/subd modeler like myself, so I assumed nurbs where utilized underneath the hood. Of course my point of introducing my fiancee to MoI is to wean her off of SketchUp, because she wants to create more detailed work. Her concept art for environments, buildings, and objects are very often organic and flowing, which once she attempts to create them in SketchUp end up with a boxy, unfinished feel that leaves her unsatisfied. I think MoI would be a great next step for her.

Also, I think people are getting the idea that I want to convert poly objects to nurbs objects, but I am not actually interested in that workflow. For example, I have a Mudbox sculpted character that is almost complete and I would like to create armor for him using nurbs, because as far as I can tell I could get extreme detail without resorting to displacement maps (the Brazil renderer does not utilize displacement maps). So if I could just import it as an .obj or .3ds to use as reference it would be great, no need to convert it to a solid first.

I guess I get this workflow from my poly/subd experience and studying Blur Studios' Brazil renderer workflow. For example, create a hi-res sculpted creature/humanoid mesh in something like ZBrush or Mudbox, then bring it into 3ds Max as reference and retopoligize it using a tool like PolyBoost to create a much more efficient medium-res, animation friendly, subd mesh. Now if I could drop that mesh in MoI and use it as reference to build any hard surface parts, say a robotic arm, hi-tech armor, or weapons, I think that would be great because as far as I can tell Max's nurbs tools are lacking in comparison and trying to create hard surface objects in subd or Mudbox is hell for me.

> But not having to touch the keyboard opens up some nice possibilities - you can have different postures, like leaning back in your chair, or also use different devices such as a TabletPC.

It's funny that you mention this because last night while modeling a sci-fi techy looking door I caught myself leaning back with my right arm behind my head! It was a shock, because as a left-handed Wacom user I'm usually hunched over my desk, left hand on the stylus, right hand hovering back and forth over the keyboard and mouse, shoulder and wrist sore... and if it is a hard surface model using subd modeling... stressed out.