Exporting as .3ds from Sketchup but keeping the materials

[Dave Buckley]

Trying to export a model from Google Warehouse in Sketchup to 3ds max, i have no problem doing this, the difficulty comes when it comes to exporting the materials with it. When i import into max it appears all of the materials have disappeared. Does any1 know how to export materials also?

[AJLynn]

You need to check texture maps in the Sketchup export options, and when importing into Max you need to make sure the texmap files from Sketchup are where Max is going to find them (e.g. in the same directory as the Max file).

[Dave Buckley]

ok, so that helps a little but the models i am using are downloaded from the google warehouse, the textures are already on the models (i have not created them) when i export from sketchup as .3ds, will the textures automatically be in the same place, if not how do i take the textures from the model and put them in the same directory

[stefkeB]

If your textures are not using the MS-DOS 8.3 filenames, they will be truncated in the old 3DS file format. So you might have to reapply them in 3ds max. They should maintain their mapping from SketchUp, though...

 

(the 3ds format is really old and thus has certain historic limitations)

[Dave Buckley]

when i export from 3ds and check all of the necessary material options, it says exported ok but number of materials that has been exported is 2. there should be around 22, i don't have the original texture map files as the models are from google warehouse

[dream]

ok, beside 3ds, is there any format files to do that?

Thanks

[Ernest Burden III]

ok, beside 3ds, is there any format files to do that?

Thanks

 

OBJ is great. Does Max have a good .obj importer?

[vlad2048]

I'm trying to export from sketchup6 to 3dsmax2008. It's a big model (36000 triangles) with 40 materials. I export to .3ds and then import in max.

It seems the exporter creates the material approximately right as a multi/sub object in max. But the assignment of the submaterials to the triangles is mostly broken. A few (100 maybe) faces have the right sub material and the rest is set to submaterial 1

 

The same problems happens with the .obj format.

 

Any idea guys ? That's be really great if I get that working

Thanks !

[vlad2048]

I've just fixed it.

I think I had to export double sided from sketchup to .3ds, that did the trick

[bjornkn]

If that did the trick then the model was faulty in the first place, with lots of flipped polys. In SU you can view the model with Front/Back-color, which makes it easy to see where the backfaces are facing outwards. Then you can select a face, rclick and select OreientFaces. If the model is a mix of "solids" and "sheets" it may have problems orienting them right, but you could lways flip individual faces, or group problem parts, orient faces, and explode the group again.