OBJ export resolution settings. Annoyingly slow exporting speed
There are no controls available to set the mesh resolution for .obj export. It is what it is!
The .obj export is done through an online/cloud exporter. Sometimes that's just slow and there's nothing that can be done by the user.
It isn’t if you keep an eye on the mesh resolution. But only .stl export offers a control mechanism for that.
They might be useless for your specific use case (baking normal maps), but I've been successful in using exported .stl files in renders. But then I don't create models for computer games.
As a matter of fact, the vast majority of CAD users (90%+) don't use the software for that purpose so it isn't a surprise that the mesh export implementations are lacking. I'd love to have better FBX export with the ability to define mesh resolution on a per-object basis but I don't believe that'll happen any time soon.
I can also tell you for sure that aggressive and juvenile attitudes rarely result in added features!
So I did some research on the topic of custom vertex normals and I've learned something!
They can make a significant difference in a render! I created a simple scene to highlight the issue roughly based on a model I've seen online. Here is a link that explains what custom vertex normals are and this youtube tutorial based around Blender also provides some visual examples surrounding normals.
The image below shows a.obj export from Fusion 360, imported into Blender and rendered with LuxCore. The mesh has 21146 triangles/faces:
This image shows the same object but was exported/imported as a .stl with a similar face **** of 21182. The artifacts due to missing custom vertex normals (custom split normals in Blender terminology) are clearly visible:
The only workaround - which might only work for this scene - is to export a rather ridiculously high .stl file with 644349 faces. That is hardly a practical option for many scenes:
I'll take this to the EE Slack channel and solicit some feedback from the Fusion 360 team.
@hansvaneven wrote:
... I think this is basics, please get this right ..
I would also love to see this improved, but this isn't basic. If you can name one mainstream CAD software that provides this ability then I'd love to hear it!
A feasible workaround is to export the design in STEP format and use Plasticity CAD and its Blender Bridge to render it in Blender.
That provides all the control you need!
I have asked the Fusion team to provide a tool like the Blender Bridge. I don't think I received a response!
@hansvaneven wrote:
So we're in 2024 and still no optons to export the whole F360 project into high quality .obj or .fbx files ?
If you right click the top folder in the browser and use save as mesh you can export to OBJ and have control over the mesh refinement settings.
Mark Hughes
Owner, Hughes Tooling
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I don't know why they don't make this more widely known, but if you right click a component there is a little option to export the mesh in the dialogue there that works perfectly every time. No need to use the Export option when sending to Blender, and it also exports your file in an instant rather than having to wait for the cloud (which I agree is ridiculous behavior for such a high end software).
Hope that helps you as much as it has me 😉
@glencandle wrote:
Oh, yeah, I didn't even consider exporting all the mesh objects
separately. I usually just go into Blender in Edit mode and hit L + P
to quick separate all the combined meshes into parts.
Yes, but as opposed to .fbx the .obj exports don't maintain the assembly structure and proper instancing.
Anther problem with the export resolution is that the set export resolution applies to the entire geometry that is exported.
If you want to make a closeup of a larger assembly, the resolution of the object(s) in focus might not be good enough.
What I do is to export in .fbx at the risk that it might take a while for the cloud exporter to do its job. Then I export those objects that I need in higher resolutions and replace them in Blender manually. When you are using .fbx for the overall assembly, because it maintains the assembly and instancing structure, replacing an instanced object, replaces all instances.