3d Studio Max animation export to U3D format.

[Anonymous]

Searching for a good solution and or workflow to take a handful of short animations created in 3D Studio Max 2017 and export them to U3D format.

Already found several 3rd party solutions and a few threads that were several years old but nothing current.

I am hoping that someone with actual experience exporting short animations and 3D objects to U3D format for the purpose of adding to PDFs will chime in with any tips, suggestions or recommended solutions. 

Thank you for your time in advance.

[irishman_team_kilber]

to my knowledge and what i read online you cannot export a animation as a PDF so you would need to export it as SWF have you emailed ultimate 3d to see if they have an extension to import 3ds max 2017?

[dgorsman]

Perhaps you could explain a bit more about "add an animation to a PDF".  Typically animation would be a movie container, and PDF is a document container (but also has some 3D support).  But you reference U3D which is for games and VR.  So you can see where there would be some confusion.

[Anonymous]

Hello brant,

I search for you for this converter problem . I found a plugins called ( Okino PolyTrans )

I'm sure that's plugins convert what you need

Hope this Help you friend

Best Regards;

Fadi Al-Qurainy

Senior 3D Artist

[Alfred.DeFlaminis · Accepted solution]

Hello @Anonymous,

This is a tricky question.  As you've noted, there's no native U3D export in 3ds Max and many of the old scripts and plugins are not updated, largely because the U3D format didn't reach ubiquitous status.  That being said, the modern workflow that has been described to me is to bring the 3D objects into Photoshop as 3ds or obj files and then export the U3D from Photoshop.  

This doesn't however keep the animation and that's a bit of a problem.  As noted, PolyTrans may be able to do this, but my personal suggestion is that you're better off rendering a movie and embedding it into the PDF.  Or, perhaps I am not fully understanding and I thank you for more details if possible.  

Have you made any progress thus far?  Thanks for the update!

Best Regards,

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

Hello @Anonymous,

I just wanted to follow up here, any progress on this issue?

Best Regards,

[gdohanish]

Little known, there used to be a great way to do this.

3DS Max still exports .ase files.

In version 7 and 8 of Adobe Acrobat 3D Writer  you were able to import .ase files that would contain, the 3D model, animation and textures.

The neat thing is that anyone could access the PDF in 3D mode and using the model tree in Acrobat, turn layers on and off, navigate the model and it's animation, scroll the animation, change lighting and display styles.

Now all you have to do is get ahold of a copy of Adobe 3D writer version-8.

After version 9, Adobe removed this capability for some reason I could never learn.

Must have been some infringement or other.

Anyway, I like Autodesk's viewer but a 3D PDF is hard to beat.

One advantage to the Adesk Viewer is you can import (sub-object) deformable animations, you can only import mechanical animations in Acrobat.

I have the old version, found a rare license copy back a ways.

I still use it, it even has a 3D editing mode which is probably where they had some issues that made Adobe change this great feature.

[Anonymous]

Right Click the 3d layer and export as

[Anonymous]

ROAD MAP #1
3d Studio Max export to U3D format via Adobe Photoshop Extended, 3D Mode - NOTES: Artur Sá Menezes

[Anonymous]

PDF-3D FILE, RESULTANT (resulting):
Available at Google Drive, link
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1D0tYs5qf-E8XXvvfMhTMwl1cU-dgUBBN

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Not sure why notification replies were being marked as spam but caught them now after logging in. 

Sorry for the delay. 

Ended up not using animations in the 3D PDFs as the only workflow i could find for making animations and exporting them out in U3D format involved using a program called DAZ3D and with it only being 2 animations there was no justification to spend a crazy amount of money on any plugins or addons to do it. 

It is a shame as 3D PDFs are still pretty useful in certain industries. 

[Anonymous]

unfortunately that doesn't have an animation. 

Ideally it would be for simple animations for example: 

• 4 screws coming out of for corners of a wall panel
• panel being removed showing multiple circuit breakers 
• one circuit breaker being removed

[hagen.deloss]

Hello @Anonymous

I am wondering, have you tried exporting a DWG file? I'm not sure it would hold onto the animations, but it would import the 3D model into the PDF at least without using blender or Daz3d. Otherwise, I don't believe Adobe PDF's support 3D animations, so like @Alfred.DeFlaminis mentioned, you would need to convert the animation into a mp4 or quicktime video to embed into the PDF.

Here is a video on embedding DWG files into your PDF.

[video]

I hope this information helps!

Please select the Accept as Solution button if a post solves your issue or answers your question.

[malekmelkij]

Exporting animations from 3D Studio Max to U3D format is not the easiest task, but it is doable. Solution options may be as follows:

Use the Right Plugin: Try the Okino PolyTrans plugin. It supports export from 3ds Max to U3D format. It is one of the most reliable solutions on the market, but may be paid.

Intermediate Formats: Export your animations to FBX or OBJ format, and then use programs that can convert these formats to U3D, such as Deep Exploration.

Blender as a Bridge: Export a model and animation from 3ds Max to FBX format, then import them into Blender. Blender has options to export models to U3D, though additional customizations and scripts may be needed.

Adobe Acrobat 3D: If PDF integration is the goal, you can use Adobe Acrobat 3D to import 3D objects and animations into PDF. While this is not a direct solution, it works for the end result.

Try different options and you'll find what works for you!