Forum - Tech Help - Hand held props issue

Forum - Tech Help - Hand held props issue - Messages http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic3225-hand-held-props-issue.aspx Forum - Tech Help - Hand held props issue - Messages en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Jitbit AspNetForum Mon, 02 Dec 2013 19:09:47 GMT Mon, 02 Dec 2013 19:09:47 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic3225-hand-held-props-issue.aspx Message from primaveranz ukBerty wrote:

You help is much appreciated.

You are welcome. Anything to keep your movie juggernaut a'rollin! !

]]> Mon, 02 Dec 2013 19:09:47 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic3225-hand-held-props-issue.aspx Message from ukBerty Mon, 02 Dec 2013 09:32:50 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic3225-hand-held-props-issue.aspx Message from primaveranz ukBerty wrote:

primaveranz - thanks for your time on this. It now imports OK and I understand the principles involved.

One question for you - looking at the torch in SU, how do I tell which faces I need to reverse. The faces have textures so look the same when I reverse them. Is it just a case of importing into Muvizu and seeing what it doesn't like ?

Glad I could help

To see what faces you need to reverse, choose the "View" Menu then choose "Face Style" and the "Monochrome". That will show the object in Black and white and it should be obvious which faces need reversed. A warning though, you will probably need to use the eye dropper to copy the texture that is applied to the backface before you reverse it and then apply it to the front face. This is obvious if (as was the case here with the glass ) a backface has a transparent texture applied. When you reverse the transparent backface, the frontface will be opaque. So you copy the transparent texture first, reverse the face, apply that texture to the newly revealed frontface and it will become transparent again.

Cheers.]]> Mon, 02 Dec 2013 09:14:20 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic3225-hand-held-props-issue.aspx Message from ukBerty primaveranz - thanks for your time on this. It now imports OK and I understand the principles involved.

One question for you - looking at the torch in SU, how do I tell which faces I need to reverse. The faces have textures so look the same when I reverse them. Is it just a case of importing into Muvizu and seeing what it doesn't like ?

A question for the devs - Why are the import routines different for importing objects and importing hand held objects ? This makes no sense to me. If a model imports OK as an object then it surely should look the same as a hand held object. I know the answer will be "the object is badly made" - which is a fair point, but the tolerance within the import routines should be consistent across the application. Could this be tidied up in a future version please (although please don't change the object import to be the same as the hand held import - I'll never get any footage done !)

Cheers, Berty.]]> Mon, 02 Dec 2013 08:38:21 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic3225-hand-held-props-issue.aspx Message from primaveranz https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz7oh4SWxJEFdTRWZm5WUTVuZms/edit?usp=sharing

It is SketchUp version 6 so should be openable by later versions.

Basically when you create a "Face" with most 3D editors, one side of the face is the Front and the other is the "Backface", in some cases this is used by a rendering program to decide whether to bother drawing it or assume it won't be seen (e.g. because it is inside the model) and save on the processing time. SketchUp seems to randomly assign Backfaces when you are building an object. It probably isn't really random but I have never spotted the pattern

If you build something in SU but don't texture it you will see some faces look white and some look a dull grey blue. The latter are "Backfaces". If you see one on the outside of your model, right-click on it and choose"Reverse face". The front face will now show white. Then you can paint it , and all should be well. Often when importing to other software you have to override the Backfaces by specifying something as being 2-sided, and the importing program should know not to treat a Backface as such. However I don't think this always works and it doesn't seem to be the case in Muvizu from what you describe.

Here is the .ASE version:- https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz7oh4SWxJEFWTlzM2l4M0E4NlE/edit?usp=sharing

Hope it helps.
edited by primaveranz on 02/12/2013]]> Mon, 02 Dec 2013 08:06:16 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic3225-hand-held-props-issue.aspx Message from ukBerty primaveranz wrote:

See if this version works - I'll leave you to do the export to .ase and .fbx

Thanks Primaveranz, but sadly I can't open this file. I can't upgrade from Sketchup 8 for licensing restrictions. The file also comes up with an exception when trying to import into Autodesk 2013.

Could you do the export so I can test it and if it's OK then I'm afraid you'll need to explain what on earth "the backfaces are all facing out" means !]]> Mon, 02 Dec 2013 06:25:57 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic3225-hand-held-props-issue.aspx Message from ukBerty urbanlamb wrote:

also the link is broken

All fixed....]]> Mon, 02 Dec 2013 06:15:46 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic3225-hand-held-props-issue.aspx Message from urbanlamb
also the link is broken

edited by urbanlamb on 01/12/2013]]> Sun, 01 Dec 2013 17:40:06 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic3225-hand-held-props-issue.aspx Message from primaveranz
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz7oh4SWxJEFRkhQd1pmdVdKLWM/edit?usp=sharing]]> Sun, 01 Dec 2013 07:07:27 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic3225-hand-held-props-issue.aspx Message from primaveranz are all facing out. I'll swap them round...]]> Sun, 01 Dec 2013 06:57:59 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic3225-hand-held-props-issue.aspx Message from primaveranz ukBerty wrote:

Thanks primavaranz - all fixed

I don't know enough about the way Muvizu handles things ukBerty (I only have the free version) but I wonder if it is worthwhile simplifying the model by getting rid of e.g. the bulb filament and the "spring" in the battery case at the base. Also the writing on the side. I can imagine the number of polys might be an issue. I can do this for you if you want.]]> Sun, 01 Dec 2013 06:50:26 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic3225-hand-held-props-issue.aspx Message from ukBerty Sun, 01 Dec 2013 06:18:59 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic3225-hand-held-props-issue.aspx Message from primaveranz

Might the original SketchUp file have the backfaces showing outwards?
edited by primaveranz on 01/12/2013]]> Sun, 01 Dec 2013 04:15:25 GMT http://www.muvizu.com/Forum/topic3225-hand-held-props-issue.aspx Message from ukBerty
I pretty much can't import anything as a hand held prop.

So I find a prop from the sketchup 3d warehouse or archive3d.net. I put it through my normal process to get it ready for Muvizu. I can import the .ASE it into Muvizu via create > import and it's all lovely.

When I import the same .ASE as a hand held object it looks like a single/double sided issue (although I'm told this isn't the issue - that's what it looks like).

This happens on 99% of the models I'm trying to use.

If I use FBX then I seem to have the problem however I import it.

Here's an example....

The ASE exported from Sketchup using the plugin. This works as an object but mot a hand held object.

The FBX. Saved out of Sketchup as an FBX, imorted into Autodesk and exported with default options.

I have packaged all files here -
http://www.rodneyandberty.com/downloads/torch.zip

So I'm guessing it's something that Sketchup does that upsets things.

Could one of the you modelling gurus have a quick look and tell me what is wrong with this model so I can apply this to everything else.

Thanks in advance.... Berty.
edited by ukBerty on 02/12/2013]]> Sat, 30 Nov 2013 07:22:41 GMT