Greetings!

Welcome to Scifi-Meshes.com! Click one of these buttons to join in on the fun.

RenderingElement 3d Model Issue

Jedi PowerJedi Power171 Posts: 25Member
All,

You have inspired me through the years to try and learn how to make some scenes with 3D models using Element 3D so I am just getting started.

I ran into an issue with several free Star Wars models I have loaded not showing as complete or not reading the textures properly like the jpeg or mtl files for the objects. Any thoughts would be great on how to get the models to work correctly. Thanks!
Post edited by Guerrilla on
Tagged:

Posts

  • GuerrillaGuerrilla789 HelsinkiPosts: 2,865Administrator
    Element 3D as in the After Effects plugin?

    Without knowing the specific models in question or any examples of the specific problems they have it's a little difficult to come up with any specific solutions to fix them. So, as a more general solution, maybe grab a copy of Blender and see, if you can open some of the files with it. If they open fine, the problem is with importing to E3D, if not the problem may be with the models themselves.
    Comco: i entered it manually in the back end
    Join our fancy Discord Server!
  • Jedi PowerJedi Power171 Posts: 25Member
    Thank you for responding! Yes. The Element 3D After Effects plugin. One of the models is Ansel Hsiao's (Fractalsponge) Star Destroyer from Sci-Fi 3D. The coloration is weird and dark and the rear engines are only partially there.

    Will Blender work on these models? I know many models are listed as 3DS or many have Max. Can I fix model problems made with a different software in Blender? Sorry for being so poorly informed. I wasn't really looking to make or edit models. Just use the ones already developed to try and learn how to create Star Wars scenes.
  • GuerrillaGuerrilla789 HelsinkiPosts: 2,865Administrator
    It depends. OBJ files should open fine in Blender (or pretty much anything; it's an easy format). 3ds should be pretty easy to open as well, but very limited geometry (hard limit on vertices) and material-wise. Max files pretty much only open in Max.

    If you can get the file open, you can fix it in Blender. It's a very capable software, but I understand that it might be a pretty daunting task. Can you take a screenshot of what it looks like, when you open the model in AE, so we have a better idea on what we're dealing with?
    Comco: i entered it manually in the back end
    Join our fancy Discord Server!
  • MadKoiFishMadKoiFish9712 Posts: 5,302Member
    yeah this sounds like incompatible export files on import. OBJ is terrible as each software does it's own thing with it. 3ds does the same, but not as bad BUT as mentioned you can only go so large with it. I suggest looking at what other formats that plugin can open and try converting to those using blender.

    I suggest seeing if the plugin can import FBX and try opening or importing into blender with the original file then saving out or exporting out to fbx then into plugin.

    Anyhow I don't know the tool so Im just guessing but the comments made reminded me of importing obj and 3ds files in the past. maybe 1 in 50 would load ok, most if all needed major repair work or something done to them and rarely did any ever import materials properly.
    Each day we draw closer to the end.
  • Jedi PowerJedi Power171 Posts: 25Member
    Guerrilla, here are a few screenshots of what I am getting in Element 3D. The textures are not working on them either.
    jvhcif84x4uh.jpg
    vonumo6ggy6n.jpg
    xszctadtwida.jpg
    c4vgz4mrpf02.jpg



  • GuerrillaGuerrilla789 HelsinkiPosts: 2,865Administrator
    C4D is another proprietary file format, obviously used by Cinema4D, which makes it a little tricky to troubleshoot the issue without a copy of the software. I think E3D only supports Cinema4D R12 or newer and there are some options you need to enable for export. From the documentation:
    Cinema 4D users do not need to export OBJ files but instead import C4D files natively. However, in order to preserve complex geometry, you must allow the additional polygon data to be available by turning on the "Save Polygons For Melange" checkbox from the Cinema 4D file Preferences. This will work as if you were importing an OBJ file, so it will not keep material settings or animations in tact. Requires Cinema 4D R12 or newer to import inside Element.

    So unfortunately, I don't think you can fix these particular models without getting pretty deep into Cinema4D. Did you try any of the OBJ files? I haven't really worked in E3D, but I know it supports OBJ as well.
    Comco: i entered it manually in the back end
    Join our fancy Discord Server!
  • Jedi PowerJedi Power171 Posts: 25Member
    It is funny all the examples I picked were C4D. Yes. I have some that are obj as well that are not doing what they should. At least most of the model is there on the obj files.
  • GuerrillaGuerrilla789 HelsinkiPosts: 2,865Administrator
    Comco: i entered it manually in the back end
    Join our fancy Discord Server!
  • GuerrillaGuerrilla789 HelsinkiPosts: 2,865Administrator
    I grabbed Fractal's ISD from Scifi3d in OBJ format, and it opened fine in Modo, so the geometry is all there. Materials worked fine too, although the OBJ version didn't have any maps, just colors.

    You should check out the documentation and make sure your import options are setup right:
    https://www.videocopilot.net/docs/element/importing_3d_objects_into_element_3d/3d_object_troubleshooting/

    If that helps with the issues, great! If not, you'll unfortunately probably need to a fully featured 3d modeler to fix them. Basically, import the model, make the fixes (assing materials, flip some polygons, make sure it's only tris or quads, sort out smoothing, freeze all geometry, collapse all modifiers and so on, depending on the specific problems a particular model has) and then re-export in a format that E3D understands (probably OBJ, if you don't have C4D).
    Comco: i entered it manually in the back end
    Join our fancy Discord Server!
  • MikeFinleyMusicMikeFinleyMusic172 Posts: 60Member
    edited December 2019 #11
    Based on the issues I've had with E3D, you need to make sure all the normals are facing the right way. That's been the number one cause of the files I've exported not opening correctly in the plugin anyway, with the missing geometry. Also you need to make sure all the modifiers have been applied - mirror, subsurf etc - and (definitely in the case of C4D) all the meshes need to be editable.
    You'll need a dedicated 3d program to do it - Blender is a great one for OBJ, FBX and the like, but C4D will need C4D.

    Have a read through this: https://www.videocopilot.net/docs/element/importing_3d_objects_into_element_3d/3d_object_troubleshooting/
    Post edited by MikeFinleyMusic on
    Guerrilla
Sign In or Register to comment.