obj revisited

Tel750 · Post by **Tel750** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 4:50 am

My apologies to LM (realising you answer a lot of questions on this one) to start with I searched obj import posts but could not find anything specific to the problem I am experiencing. I have found that Carrara 3 can export an object with texture map using the wavefront format. What is happening though is that the files save separately, so one is the 3d object (though not specifically named .obj) and the other file is the texture map. If I import just the object that is what I get, no texture map. If I also import the texture map still no colour. I looked at the 3d tut (6.8_2 I think) but the obj imported was all in one and I could not pull it apart anymore to see if the texture file was in a sub folder. Is this something I am doing wrong or a Carrara file export limitation?

Cheers

Terry

Post by **Lost Marble** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 5:07 am

The way OBJ files work is that there are two separate files, one for the geometry (sample.obj), and one for material properties (sample.mtl). The OBJ file itself refers to the material file which holds information about color and texture, and possibly links to texture map images.

So, you would expect to see multiple files. There can be problems if you move these files around - if you're not careful, they may not be able to link up to each other anymore, depending on their original pathnames. For example, if you open an OBJ file in a text editor, you might see something like this:

mtllib C:\Folder1\sample.mtl

However, if you moved the files around and sample.mtl is no longer in Folder1, then Moho won't know where to find it. Unfortunately, it can get a little messy. If you can post a link to your OBJ file (including the material file(s) and texture maps), I could get more specific about this particular case.

Finally, be sure that your texture map image is in a format that Moho accepts. (In the Reference section of the Moho manual you can look up what image formats Moho can import.)

Tel750 · Post by **Tel750** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 5:26 am

I was saving the file to the desktop. Maybe I should keep it saved in Carrara. The texture map I was saving as a jpeg, no png avaliable. The is all the extra info I can offer at the moment as I am at work.

Cheers

Terry

bupaje · Post by **bupaje** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 7:37 pm

I mneiotned some problems with the Carrara export related to version 4, so not sure if it applies, but mention it in case it helps. In version 4 while you can save to PNG I believe it was in the mtl file -that refers to the texture- had the wrong extension; think it was .bmp or .jpg so I had to fix that. In version 4 you also have some export options -have to see in three- but if you are using a shader you had to 'export as texture' I believe and also there is an option to export the full path etc.

Sorry I am at work as well and my memory is iffy at best. Sure LM can figure it from the file but offer this for what it's worth.

Tel750 · Post by **Tel750** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 5:04 am

Hey bupaje
I have found the answer to our problem. I posted to the Carrara group on yahoo and ask the question but no reply , but I noticed that someone else was having problems exporting in dxf to move to another 3d program. Some one suggested using 'baker' and here its is. http://www.inagoni.com/news.php. I will purchase it in a week or so , so if you use it before me let me know how it goes. They have a demo which is limited to 128 x 128.
Cheers
Terry

bupaje · Post by **bupaje** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 5:29 am

I tried the demo and it is on my list as well. Be nice if they fixed the export but Baker is pretty cool. They also have a Toon shader -different author but not sure that it will work with Baker as it is a post process effect applied to the render -in other words I 'm not sure you can apply the toon effect and export the toon textures but would be nice if you can.