MatCreator

Took a bit for me to orientate myself with SolidWorks and then upgrading my existing 3D Coat, but I think I have a good start. Many thanks for your responses, but standardizing the best practice method will take time to develop. Generating the mesh from the Model room as opposed to the Voxel room made a HUGE difference in output. The first 2 models shown are .obj (straight edges, non smoothed) and .igs (the "smoother" model). The 3rd was generated in 3D Coat v.4 Model room and exported as .stl. I will have to experiment a little more to refine the process, but overall was satisfied the overall shape was kept intact through the process. Maybe not the best practice for metalworking, but that operation I think should be in the minds for future use and needs continued development. CNCs are quickly becoming easily available to the general public, and 3D Coat IS a viable option as opposed to Fusion 360 or MasterCAM. (Im using student edition, but Makers license is VERY affordable) Another application for consideration is plastics... Down the line, taking a highly detailed customized character from something like Character Creator into an action figure is something I may want to explore. I havent tried yet, but if I want to Id like to have a good grip on the process. Again, many thanks =)

im not concerned with the model, im focused on the "process". i could care less about the model actually, i only wanted to understand the process. if i can learn the appropriate method of going from 3d coat to solidworks, that would be great. im hoping/thinking that when i understand how to do it, the model, whether best suited or not for solidworks, should still work, have the mesh intact and have the same form/shape as created in 3d coat.

Because I didnt know what to expect from the SolidWorks end, I tried EVERY export option from the File>Export option. The model added to this post is not UV mapped, but even the one that was mapped (automaped) yielded the same result. Does a mesh need to be uv mapped to work inside SolidWorks? I didnt think it necessary...

Hey everyone, hope all is well... I started using SolidWorks which is pretty awesome, and have a few questions. I modeled a simple test to see if I could bring it into SolidWorks with the hope of having it give me the G-Code for the CNC. I generated the mesh from voxels, and on import into SolidWorks it was a hot chunky mess. Looked like a chewed on and melted clod, total loss of shape. I tried several export options, but my lack of knowledge on how best to model in 3D Coat for SolidWorks, and then the import into SolidWorks, clearly the culprit. Can someone tell me the best way to prepare a model for export for use in SolidWorks? Are straight, hard edges possible?!? I was planning on using aluminum or brass for the final piece, and would have to machine the raw material to size for the CNC, but I don't know if voxels can translate for metalworking. Just to note, I cranked the model density to 16x, hoping a higher resolution would give better results. Any info would be golden, many thanks. CNC-Test_001.obj

if there was a better way to show a preview, my apologies...

hey guys... these are some sets i made that use textures (diffuse/bump/gloss) set up as something like a smart material fake. in previous versions we could make materials just from having the correct channels set properly for import, and those were the basis of my painting presets... a nice mix in there, rock, terrain, metal, organic... hope it can be of use to you in your artistic endeavors =) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DaPOTi6JqVhtKfzp9CtVFCj7jg0PUjeP/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/135vC9in0-HYVfEzVF2Agx1x-mfRY6SuA/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DTv1oPpWl2unKtayCSCHT5MISy0dbeui/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HScdHf9lC6JnmrLDqRuhfaX65QYL6YBG/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CCGcch7xZ0Mhc8od_jm9mYNYPDno-_DC/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IrgeG1wq2sFzv12jlNP8qPfoFjmCxHxy/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/185bTIK4dfGT80yCgvTy5zqZLTfb3KqU_/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CT0o-cgUcwLglfEdsp31E3gsJ_4xU61c/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/16-F4BIXmXzQIfeuS46XM-R4SaucYtnTt/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g5OM5reu5kUxd60BHoEgP6FF8RPhN3n4/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gJnjBiph_KptNFxxzw6oy77zp4CtJdVZ/view?usp=sharing also posted here is an export preset for blender users that makes it easy to export materials for the node wrangler. thats all i got for now =P Node Wrangler.xml

high five and many thanks =) i have files to share as well, but finding a spot to host them is another story. my sets are big =/ (thats what she said)

but where are they now???

There is an option in iclone/cc4 to check or uncheck >UDIM< either way makes no difference, still getting the uv too big prompt on import. if i let it automap, no texture. if i set to keep texture, it will load ONLY if file is imported from exact location it was created. as always, youre awesome with the help, thanks. while i think expecting the -perfect- import is out of andrews hands, i still think something is wrong w/ how its rotating, the discrepancy between how yours and mine load, and it definitely shouldnt matter where an .fbx is read from so long as the textures are still within the folder structure it was generated in. but not loading because the entire folder was moved, thats off and worth investigating right?!?

i will check to see if there is something i can do on the files way "out" from iclone, but pretty much the export setting is set up to work for the targeted program, so changing anything on that end is likely to cause some other issue down the line. im kind of stuck with how i have to export my files to ensure they work for the untended program. im curious why they are exporting at different angles on your system. also the slight difference in angle of the arm. both my blender and ue5 version occupy the exact same space, you dont see any difference. for this post i left z-coordinate system and no center snap UNCHECKED.

took a fresh start... i think 3dc is looking for material files in a "specific" location rather than searching in the folder where the .fbx file is?!? thats computer tech stuff thats way over my head, but i notice that if i move or rename the folder or location where the .fbx was originally created, the textures wont load. also, we have the option in cc4/iclone to export the mesh/skeleton or the mesh/skeleton w/ animations. for some reason, the mesh only option files take exponentially longer to load in 3dc.

how come in your screencap your window reads "swap x and y axis"?!? mine reads: "z-up coordinate system". im using 2022.29, but all versions read the same. no big deal... so i tried the same files again... forgot to mention that ALL files gave the uv too big prompt on import. so of course as it automatically switches to auto-map you lose the textures. i tried the >import tiles as uv sets< that didnt work. but switching back to >keep mapping<, the textures import as they should. i think... as far as the rotation of the file on import, checking the >no center snap< gives a much better result of the import, as the figure is places on the plane, center of the grid. both blender and ue5 come in 90 clockwise, and both use the z up coordinate system in their native programs. also, when exporting from iclone, both default to the "z" system in the export options. but at least now on the floor and in the center, progress, ka-plah! does making the adjustments to the import setting affect the model at all?!? even if its just for the textures, would this impact any feature of the exported file? did you not get the uv too big prompt on import?

looking at the options more closely, a lot of what you say makes sense, and i DO have control over the rotation during the export process from iclone8/cc4... there is a "secondary" set of options one has to access w/i cc4/iclone. however, if i adjust the export option to work for 3dc, it may not work for the intended target. thats expected, no ones fault, and that isnt something i would expect to be fixed or addressed. the blender export option changes the up axis, so im sure if i play around i can figure something out. in the past, i would export 2 files, one for the target program, and one i can use in 3dc, just for manipulating or creating the textures for the figure. logic dictates i make an export option that would import -perfectly- in 3dc... as always, many thanks.

And a generic MakeHuman figure... no problems, imports -perfectly- MakeHuman.zip