From SU to 3ds Max 2011 - Materials/UV settings?

[nickdk]

Hello Everyone

 

Does anyone here have some experience with a good SU to 3ds Max 2011 workflow? I would like to model in SU, apply materials and setup the right UV location within SU and then import the SU file in MAX with all the material info intact?

 

My great masterplan is to have a SU material library with low quality materials and then my VRAY library with the high res textures ready for when the SU file is loaded in MAX so the materials are swapped to the right ones with the right UV mappings, how is this possible?

 

I hope someone here can help me out

[Dave Buchhofer]

As long as you pay attention to your sketchnup face normals, you should be fine in max, just be aware that sketchup allows you to put 2 materials on a single face (Front and back materials) whereas max only works with the front of a face. inconsistant face normals cause most of the sketchup->max problems.

 

I personally am 99% max unless i'm trying to clean up someones crappy sketchup file, but I found Ronen's tips helpful http://www.ronenbekerman.com/9-sketchup-tips-for-better-3d-modeling-workflow/

 

If done right it works like a champ, sloppy intern modeling and poor model handoff between people with differing styles causes most of my headaches with sketchup.

[nickdk]

Thank you for taking the time to reply Dave

 

I am aware that Max can import .skp files directly, but i'm not sure how to apply/adjust a low quality placeholder texture in SU and then swap this to the real render quality texture within Max without too much of as hassle?

 

lets say I have a Vray "Brick" material in the Max library, how is this applied to the SU model and adjusted precisely as the low quality placeholder "Brick" material?

 

I have read the great posts by Ronen, but it's still a bit unclear to me

Thanks again!

[jinsley]

When you import your model from SU into Max... what do you see as far as materials?

 

Do you get a lot of multi-mats?

 

What options are you using when you import your SU model?

 

If you are getting multi-materials, why not build you high quality vray material and then instance it into the slot where it is needed?

[nickdk]

Jinsley: I have tried to both import the .skp file directly and to export to .3ds from Sketchup The latter gives more option, but I'm not sure which works better yet. I do get multi materials, and I have managed to swap a sub material to the higher version so i think i'm on the right track