Adjusting Coordinates of Imported Objects

[ptlkoutjoe]

Hi All,

I am working on a project where I am importing a bunch of bricks from Rhino into Max, over 10,000 of them. I am trying to map a gradient of color that is always red on the inside of the circle and then fades to blue on the outside. The problem is that every way I've tried importing the bricks creates a coordinate system that is based off of the bounding box of the brick, not the actual brick itself. If I create the geometry in Max, it works perfectly, but unfortunately I don't have the time or skills to recreate the entire model in Max.

Is there any way to quickly remap the local coordinates to match the geometry of the brick? Or is there a way to import the bricks so the coordinate system stays consistent?

I've attached a screenshot better illustrating the issue.

Thanks!

Joe

[PROH]

Hi. Need some more information.

- Are the bricks UVW mapped correct in Rhino?
- Are they Instanced, or a lot of unique objects?
- How do you get the file into Max?
- Have you tried other export/import methods?

[ptlkoutjoe]

Hi PROH,

Thanks for the response. Here's all the info:

- The bricks are all copies of the same object, but I am not sure if they are mapped properly in Rhino. How could I determine this, and fix it?
-Right now they are a lot of unique objects. Is there a way to bring them in to Max as instances of each other?
-I used DWG at first
- I have tried .obj, .max, and .stl, but maybe there's a setting I am missing?

I hope this helps! I am thinking the instance method could work, but that might require converting everything to blocks in Rhino? Right now all of the Rhino geometry is polymesh, and it was created in grasshopper so it might be tricky to recreate with blocks.

Thanks!

[PROH · Accepted solution]

Hi. I think the only way to determine if they are instanced and if the are mapped correct is to test it in Rihno.

- Give them a texture that shows you how they are mapped. If they are OK, it's a matter of finding an export/import method that preserves the UVW mapping. If not, then I hope they are Instanced, so you only need mapping one brick. Otherwise you got a lot of work to do...

Since you already tested it with OBJ export, they are most likely not mapped correct, since this format should preserve the UVW's 😞

- If they are Instanced in Rihno, you need to find an export method that support this. Here's a few options (there might be more):
1) Export to DWG in a way that makes the instances to DWG Blocks, and import these to Max. It might mess up you UVW, but since they are instanced, you only need to remap one brick.
2) Export to the FBX format. The latest versions of this format handles instances (unlike almost every other format). This format also preserves the UVW's. I don't know if Rhino supports export to FBX (I don't use Rhino), but if not, maybe you can find a 3rd party plugin or a script.
3) The 3rd option would be, to import the native Rhino format, but AFAIK Max can't do that - unless you find a script or plugin that makes it possible. I don't know any, but sure could use one.

It always a challenge to import things from Rhino, and it very often takes a serious amount of time to fix it after import. But 10.000 unique bricks is an extraordinary hard challenge. Might be easier to rebuild it in Rhino, in a way that exports correct, or maybe even to rebuild it in Max 🙂

Hope it helps.

[ptlkoutjoe]

Thanks! A lot of good advice. I am going to test out the npower plugin. If it works, I'll let you know.