Microstation to Max File Problem...

[Claudio Branch]

Anyone out there ever imported a Microstation file into Max and had the following happen?:

 

1. Mesh geometry is very unsmooth

2. Multiple vertices at simple corners

3. Irregular splines (poor quality for camera/target paths)

4. Objects shaking (even when camera/target path is created in Max)

 

Is this a standard translation irregularity for going between these two packages or is there a simple work-around that someone can share?

 

Thanks!

 

Claudio

[RyanSpaulding]

There are many probs in this dept (I dispise Bentley's unwillingness to integrate with other apps). I'm assuming you're using DWGs so have you tried messing with the Entity Mapping in Microstation's DWG Export options? Not that I know the solution...but fiddle.

[Claudio Branch]

DWG is correct...

 

The model rendered in MicroStation looks fine, but the translation chews it up pretty bady!

 

I will have to investigate further, thanks for the tip...

[Justin Hunt]

I model in MS and File Link the exported DWG into Max. Works a treat.

 

In the export options, just make all the 3D entities , polyface mesh and all 2D entities 3D Polylines. In Max play with the Curve steps and Surface deviation values to what is best for your model.

 

JH

[Claudio Branch]

Justin,

 

thanks for the info. I have a couple of further concerns though...

 

I generate splines from imported geometry and usually they are too irregular to use as constraints for camera paths or for objects to follow.

 

I have tried to remedy the problem by smoothing the spline and adding a Normalize Spline modifier in Max, but to no avail.

 

Also, I have imported geometry (Microstation/Geopak) shaking around earthquake-ishly as the camera flies through the scene! I have no idea what is causing this to happen...

 

Perhaps using your initial suggestions I could expect a useable spline from the imported geometry at least.

 

Claudio

[balloonman]

For what it's worth - nobody has mentioned the need to get your model in Microstation as close to 0,0,0 as possible - can't quite remember how it's done - I think I tried something like (in the key in) GO=0 and then just moved my whole model as close to the origin as possible

 

This is because Max likes things at the centre and I wa getting jagged edges with the model being so far from it

 

Maybe someone else could explain this better - it's been a while

[ktm07]

What version of Microstation are you using? I assume V8? To insure the best translation it is best to do modeling in solids and NOT surfaces.

[hockley91]

I think I posted a solution a few years ago? I don't remember....it was awhile ago....okay just checked it was a different board I guess.

 

I will not mess with .dgn files again until they fix the translation. My former co-worker was helping me on a huge project and he could only model in Microstation. I was modeling in Autocad, so we had lot's of problems you can imagine.

 

I remember exporting to .dwg or .dxf wasn't working quite well when I would import into 3dsmax. Things were not all there.

 

I had to export the .dgn to .dwg then open it in autocad first to see if it was all correctly translated.

 

I then saved the individual layers as separate .dwg files and imported them one at a time into Max.

 

I think this was how I got it to work. This was a few years ago, so maybe the software has gotten better, but it took some experimenting in order for me to get a 100% translation.