Inventor to 3ds Max 5

[Anonymous]

I am having trouble opening Inventor files in Max 5. The geometry comes over fine but I cannot get textures to show when rendering. I place a UV Map modifier on the mesh but textures still do not show during renders. What's going on with the IPT file type and Max? If I use the other file types such as IGES or STL and even SAT to Autocad then out to 3ds, everything is fine. I'm just curious about the IPT file type and why UV's don't work. It would also be cool if Inventor textures automatically came into Max with out having to reasign them. For example: In Inventor you can set different surfaces to have various materials like a casting material and machined surfaces. Max cannot read this as a multi sub-object material when opening the IPT file type. That would save time in reworking the material ID's right?

Thanks, Mark S.

[Anonymous]

Mark

For a start this issue is probably unrelated to
Inventor. Importing models into Mav/Viz is quite different in the background
appossed to Acad and others. The Max Inventor Importer uses the Inventor Kernal
to interprit Face count, Vertex counts and transforms etc. The standard
importers do it inside Max with what ever intellegence is build into the
importer. (the DLI or DLE plugin file)

Once a model is imported into Max it is no longer
associated with Inventor. If you make a change in Inventor that change is not
carried through to Max. Your problem is inside the Max Environment. I have never
seen what you are seeing as when a material with bitmap texture and UV
is applied to objects they render. To test your model export it
out of Max as DXF and reimport it. Then apply UV mapping and see. This normally
fixes quirks in models where vertexs are not welded and other
quirks.

Colin 

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"mssolly" <
href="mailto:marksolly@houston.rr.com">marksolly@houston.rr.com> wrote
in message
href="news:f1966d5.-1@WebX.maYIadrTaRb">news:f1966d5.-1@WebX.maYIadrTaRb...

I
am having trouble opening Inventor files in Max 5. The geometry comes over
fine but I cannot get textures to show when rendering. I place a UV Map
modifier on the mesh but textures still do not show during renders. What's
going on with the IPT file type and Max? If I use the other file types such as
IGES or STL and even SAT to Autocad then out to 3ds, everything is fine. I'm
just curious about the IPT file type and why UV's don't work. It would also be
cool if Inventor textures automatically came into Max with out having to
reasign them. For example: In Inventor you can set different surfaces to have
various materials like a casting material and machined surfaces. Max cannot
read this as a multi sub-object material when opening the IPT file type. That
would save time in reworking the material ID's right?

Thanks, Mark S.

[Anonymous]

I have had a lot of problems with this Plugin for
Inventor/Max.

1. I told discreet .. they said talk to autodesk
they wrote the plugin

2. I told autodesk ... they thought it would be
funny to send me to

discreet

3. and so on

It seems this plugin has trouble with welding the
wireframe after

importing it into max. That would cause the UV not
to work properly.

U can check the problem when u import a part with a
lot of roundings.

Then save it and reopen it. then check the part
again u will see the

smoothing has gone wrong.

One day in a future far from now it might work when
a developer

decides that it would be fun to remove the
last bug that by then

everybody has got used to 😉

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"mssolly" <
href="mailto:marksolly@houston.rr.com">marksolly@houston.rr.com>
schrieb im Newsbeitrag
href="news:f1966d5.-1@WebX.maYIadrTaRb">news:f1966d5.-1@WebX.maYIadrTaRb...

I
am having trouble opening Inventor files in Max 5. The geometry comes over
fine but I cannot get textures to show when rendering. I place a UV Map
modifier on the mesh but textures still do not show during renders. What's
going on with the IPT file type and Max? If I use the other file types such as
IGES or STL and even SAT to Autocad then out to 3ds, everything is fine. I'm
just curious about the IPT file type and why UV's don't work. It would also be
cool if Inventor textures automatically came into Max with out having to
reasign them. For example: In Inventor you can set different surfaces to have
various materials like a casting material and machined surfaces. Max cannot
read this as a multi sub-object material when opening the IPT file type. That
would save time in reworking the material ID's right?

Thanks, Mark S.

[Anonymous]

Hey thanks guys. I'm glad I'm not the only one experiencing this. I put the question up on Discreet's forum and no has responded. My work around is to export to SAT then bring that into AutoCAD. From there out as 3ds. The smoothing issue's dissapear when doing that way. I too noticed the Inventor geometry not being completely smooth. I also noticed this with the IGES file type from Inventor and Max converting that geometry to NURBS. Now I didn't try cleaning up the NURBS file by blending seams and stuff like that but my first impressions are to stay with the AutoCAD import and export as an inbetween. The FACETRES command in AutoCAD helps me control the tessilation on rounded surfaces. FTI, FACETRES has no effect on planer surfaces, it only controls fillets and rounds ect. This is to your advantage because when Max opens the Inventor file type you have no control over Poly counts like you do with AutoCAD. Anyways, thanks. Mark S.

[Anonymous]

Ok Hold on , We were discussing mapping, not
smoothing. I am aware of the smoothing problem as it bit me is the (edited by Moderator) a
few months ago. The simple solution to it, was to select all the Inventor
Objects and apply a "MeshSmooth" modifier.
 
All rounded corners and fillets became clean. You
now have parametric smoothing at your disposal. The objects i got caught
with, were all cylindrical in nature.
 
Colin

[Anonymous]

setup your material as "two sided".

[Anonymous]

Colin, you are right, we first started talking about UV Mapping and how that didn't work with Inventor files and then we got off the subject and started talking about smoothing. Be very careful when applying the Mesh Smooth Modifier on tessilated geometry that has been imported. It could kill your model. Mesh Smooth works best with Quads. I always start with a Smooth Modifier and select the Auto Smooth and Prevent Indirect Smoothing options. If worse comes to worse apply a Tessilation Modifier. The very best way to get organized polys with good smoothing is to work with quads hense "Editable Poly" new to Rel. 4. I'm in the middle of a small video production where I teach the steps involved with taking Mechanical objects from AutoCAD solids to Surfaces then Import that geometry into Lightwave 3D and Max. You get super accurate, organized mechanical models that can flex and bend like the characters seen in TV comercials. I can go from Inventor, Solid Works and Mechanical Desktop to Lighwave and Max using this method but I still cannot get Inventor UV's to Max. Smoothing is a minor issue for me. Mark S.

[Anonymous]

Mark

Please send me a part that offends the UV mapping.
I would like to see it and offer some help. If this is a problem lurking some
where, I would rather find a solution now than when I have no time in a
production later. I like your method for smoothing. Good call.

Colin

cmclean@sbcglobal.net

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"mssolly" <
href="mailto:marksolly@houston.rr.com">marksolly@houston.rr.com> wrote
in message
href="news:f1966d5.5@WebX.maYIadrTaRb">news:f1966d5.5@WebX.maYIadrTaRb...

Colin,
you are right, we first started talking about UV Mapping and how that didn't
work with Inventor files and then we got off the subject and started talking
about smoothing. Be very careful when applying the Mesh Smooth Modifier on
tessilated geometry that has been imported. It could kill your model. Mesh
Smooth works best with Quads. I always start with a Smooth Modifier and select
the Auto Smooth and Prevent Indirect Smoothing options. If worse comes to
worse apply a Tessilation Modifier. The very best way to get organized polys
with good smoothing is to work with quads hense "Editable Poly" new to Rel. 4.
I'm in the middle of a small video production where I teach the steps involved
with taking Mechanical objects from AutoCAD solids to Surfaces then Import
that geometry into Lightwave 3D and Max. You get super accurate, organized
mechanical models that can flex and bend like the characters seen in TV
comercials. I can go from Inventor, Solid Works and Mechanical Desktop to
Lighwave and Max using this method but I still cannot get Inventor UV's to
Max. Smoothing is a minor issue for me. Mark S.

[Anonymous]

I take back everything bad I may have said about UV's not working properly from Inventor to Max. I was applying a Noise Bump to get a cast surface effect and the Bump wasn't showing up. It was the size of the Noise Map that made the difference. I had to make it really small (.01)or so. I will explore this further but my first thoughts are it's my default units of Max vs. Inventor (Max metric/Inventor English). My surfaces are looking fine now. USER ERROR! At any rate, it could be helpful information for others. Consiquently my Inventor Assemblies are coming into Max just fine and I'm not having any smoothing issues as of yet. I love compatability! Good Job Autodesk. Mark S.

[Anonymous]

As a Tip

When viewing texures and mapping in your viewport,
Proceeduaral textures (Noise etc) can show in viewports, but they do not reflect
the correct mapping/scale like a regular bitmap does. Dont get caught by this.

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"mssolly" <
href="mailto:marksolly@houston.rr.com">marksolly@houston.rr.com> wrote
in message
href="news:f1966d5.7@WebX.maYIadrTaRb">news:f1966d5.7@WebX.maYIadrTaRb...

I
take back everything bad I may have said about UV's not working properly from
Inventor to Max. I was applying a Noise Bump to get a cast surface effect and
the Bump wasn't showing up. It was the size of the Noise Map that made the
difference. I had to make it really small (.01)or so. I will explore this
further but my first thoughts are it's my default units of Max vs. Inventor
(Max metric/Inventor English). My surfaces are looking fine now. USER ERROR!
At any rate, it could be helpful information for others. Consiquently my
Inventor Assemblies are coming into Max just fine and I'm not having any
smoothing issues as of yet. I love compatability! Good Job Autodesk. Mark
S.

[Anonymous]

so mark have you improved on my tire and wheel
yet?

Donovan Cox

former student

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"mssolly" <
href="mailto:marksolly@houston.rr.com">marksolly@houston.rr.com> wrote
in message
href="news:f1966d5.-1@WebX.maYIadrTaRb">news:f1966d5.-1@WebX.maYIadrTaRb...

I
am having trouble opening Inventor files in Max 5. The geometry comes over
fine but I cannot get textures to show when rendering. I place a UV Map
modifier on the mesh but textures still do not show during renders. What's
going on with the IPT file type and Max? If I use the other file types such as
IGES or STL and even SAT to Autocad then out to 3ds, everything is fine. I'm
just curious about the IPT file type and why UV's don't work. It would also be
cool if Inventor textures automatically came into Max with out having to
reasign them. For example: In Inventor you can set different surfaces to have
various materials like a casting material and machined surfaces. Max cannot
read this as a multi sub-object material when opening the IPT file type. That
would save time in reworking the material ID's right?

Thanks, Mark S.

[Anonymous]

Well Hello there Donavan. I'm glad you are here to join us. Yes I have a great suggestion for you on that tire and wheel project. Come by one day and I'll show you a book by Jon Duff (Autodesk Viz in Manufacturing Design) ISBN 1401884202. He has a very good tutorial rims and tires. We should try some of this with Inventor to see how well it works. Contact me off this forum and we can talk some more about it.

Colin, have you herd anyone who has successfully gotten Inventor Materials crossed over into Max? That would be wonderful and a huge time savor. Polytran cannot do it as of yet. Mark S.

[Anonymous]

next semester Mark. I've got a motorcycle engine
i'm slowly going through that i'll want tips on

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"mssolly" <
href="mailto:marksolly@houston.rr.com">marksolly@houston.rr.com> wrote
in message
href="news:f1966d5.10@WebX.maYIadrTaRb">news:f1966d5.10@WebX.maYIadrTaRb...

Well
Hello there Donavan. I'm glad you are here to join us. Yes I have a great
suggestion for you on that tire and wheel project. Come by one day and I'll
show you a book by Jon Duff (Autodesk Viz in Manufacturing Design) ISBN
1401884202. He has a very good tutorial rims and tires. We should try some of
this with Inventor to see how well it works. Contact me off this forum and we
can talk some more about it.

Colin, have you herd anyone who has successfully gotten Inventor Materials
crossed over into Max? That would be wonderful and a huge time savor. Polytran
cannot do it as of yet. Mark S.

[Anonymous]

Mark

To answer your question "No". The reality is, other
than the metalic materials in Inventor (Chrome etc) dont look
very real. They are good but dont carry through the bump and real
translucent looks that a good render engine can provide. I prefer in Max to redo
them my self to suit the scene lighting etc

Colin 

"mssolly" <
href="mailto:marksolly@houston.rr.com">marksolly@houston.rr.com> wrote in
message
href="news:f1966d5.10@WebX.maYIadrTaRb">news:f1966d5.10@WebX.maYIadrTaRb...

style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">Well
Hello there Donavan. I'm glad you are here to join us. Yes I have a great
suggestion for you on that tire and wheel project. Come by one day and I'll
show you a book by Jon Duff (Autodesk Viz in Manufacturing Design) ISBN
1401884202. He has a very good tutorial rims and tires. We should try some of
this with Inventor to see how well it works. Contact me off this forum and we
can talk some more about it.

Colin, have you herd anyone who has successfully gotten Inventor Materials
crossed over into Max? That would be wonderful and a huge time savor. Polytran
cannot do it as of yet. Mark S.

[Anonymous]

Colin, I agree with you 100%. However I find Inventor's ability to change a surface's material quickly is facinating. Depending on the shape of your model it can take some time to select the polys in Max and assign material ID's. If Autodesk could fix it so the materials we set up in Inventor would transfer directly to Max, we would be able save a tremendous amount of time. Think of it like a Lightscape material, you know multi-subobject materials when you inspect the imported geometry. They did it with Lightscape long long ago and Max 6 is now promoting Arch Desktop's materials coming in flawlessly. The main point is that selecting surfaces in Inventor is extreamly easy and I love it. Too bad for us the surface ID's don't transfer like it does in the 3ds file type. I don't think this ability would ever make it to the wish list for Max and Inventor like it did for Arch Desktop and Max. It only applies to us few who would need such things and they have more important issues to tackle right now. In the next perfect world for animators, right? Mark S.

[Anonymous]

Mark

I use another program called Poser 5 . This program
does character creation. It renders characters well with its renderer etc.
I use a 3rd party plugin to bring its data into Max. The data  once brought
into Max is as accurate as the native program. Material sub object id's are
honored to the T. A single human character can have as much as 20 - 30 sub
mat id's and more.

Beleive me when I say even a perfect render in
Poser would mean a major Environment tweek in Max as the 2 are totally different
render engines. I believe If Inventor materials were possible to bring into Max
the same would apply. Adjusting materials and lights to look nice. The harsh
reality is, there is no such thing as a quick fix in this industry. I have
been doing Max Character animation and mechanical modelling since its Dos days
and even then moving data beteen apps always meant tweeking out the ying
yang.

For simple quick projects where intense detail is
not required Inventor Rules. You are right, I must admit,  even though
it is not a full blown render engine, Inventor does a very nice job and it would
be nice to bring those attributes into Max with a subtle tweek here and there to
mabe polish it.

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"mssolly" <
href="mailto:marksolly@houston.rr.com">marksolly@houston.rr.com> wrote
in message
href="news:f1966d5.13@WebX.maYIadrTaRb">news:f1966d5.13@WebX.maYIadrTaRb...

Colin,
I agree with you 100%. However I find Inventor's ability to change a surface's
material quickly is facinating. Depending on the shape of your model it can
take some time to select the polys in Max and assign material ID's. If
Autodesk could fix it so the materials we set up in Inventor would transfer
directly to Max, we would be able save a tremendous amount of time. Think of
it like a Lightscape material, you know multi-subobject materials when you
inspect the imported geometry. They did it with Lightscape long long ago and
Max 6 is now promoting Arch Desktop's materials coming in flawlessly. The main
point is that selecting surfaces in Inventor is extreamly easy and I love it.
Too bad for us the surface ID's don't transfer like it does in the 3ds file
type. I don't think this ability would ever make it to the wish list for Max
and Inventor like it did for Arch Desktop and Max. It only applies to us few
who would need such things and they have more important issues to tackle right
now. In the next perfect world for animators, right? Mark
S.