File link Rhino file into 3D Studio

[Devin Johnston]

My workflow until today has been either Revit or Sketchup file linked into 3d Studio, updating is a dream and necessary when dealing with constant changes.  Now the office is beginning to use Rhino and I'm finding that every file format I save out of it has some problem when trying to file link.  I've tried .fxb, .obj, .dwg and even .skp with no luck.  I've been using  Miauu's Manage Links for all my Sketchup file linking, when I import a Rhino exported Sketchup file the model comes in fine but when I go to update the model all of the materials are stripped off of it.  This happens with the native Max file linking also for .fbx and .dwg files and so I'm left wondering if this is even possible.  I've looked around the web and can't find any examples of this being done successfully and I don't even know if it's a Max or Rhino problem.  Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on how this might be done?    

[Francisco Penaloza]

 I don't have a solution per say. But I am on the same situation, moving away from Sketchup in to Rhino company wise.

What works better for us is saving the Rhino as Sketchup and import that in to Max. I did tested the FBX but I noticed the group or changing object created many issues and there was no consistency, like with Revit.

Materials get imported but since we use V Ray for render, then I have to transfer from the Stupid Autodesk to Physical materials and then in to V-Ray materials. when I do that sometimes I lose some textures. Again is not consistent, not sure what creates this issue. The geometry comes clean to edit in 3D Max but materials are all over.

I import OBJ Material comes more organized, but the geometry is all heavily triangulated.

One workflow that I was surprised to 'discover' was exporting the rhino Model as V Ray scene. If your architects use Enscape then everything gets exported, people and plants included. This ways if the geometry change in Rhino you update your VRay scene and it updates correctly in 3D Max. The only drawback is you can not edit the geometry inside 3D Max, because it shows as a proxy.  So any changes has to b done in Rhino.

Again there is not a perfect system yet. and 3D Max still clumsy working with other CAD apps as usual.

I didn't know about Miauu's Manage link, it look good, but it does have a warning about the new version of 3D Max, so maybe that's the issue you are facing. not sure.

 

 

[Devin Johnston]

Ok for those who are having this problem I've found a solution that works very well, it's a combination of a Max plugin and a script you have to run in Rhino when you export to set the correct scale.  The Mirza Link Manager allows you to file link .OBJ files in max, it even cleans up the mesh so you don't have to deal with all those triangles.  If your using 3D Studio Max with Imperial units you have to run this script in Rhino to convert the scale from Metric to Imperial.  You have to use this scale factor (39.37) when exporting to make sure the scale is converted properly. 

https://www.mirarkitektur.com/mirzasoftwares/index.php?menu=presentationProduit&product=Mirza Link Manager

https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/obj-export-scale-request/77567/7

 

[Francisco Penaloza]

1 hour ago, Devin Johnston said:

Ok for those who are having this problem I've found a solution that works very well, it's a combination of a Max plugin and a script you have to run in Rhino when you export to set the correct scale.  The Mirza Link Manager allows you to file link .OBJ files in max, it even cleans up the mesh so you don't have to deal with all those triangles.  If your using 3D Studio Max with Imperial units you have to run this script in Rhino to convert the scale from Metric to Imperial.  You have to use this scale factor (39.37) when exporting to make sure the scale is converted properly. 

https://www.mirarkitektur.com/mirzasoftwares/index.php?menu=presentationProduit&product=Mirza Link Manager

https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/obj-export-scale-request/77567/7

 

That look interesting, I'll definitely take a look.