[Solved] Smart materials break every once in a while on a newly imported model

[Marcurios]

i'm using 3D-Coat for a few years now, but every once in a while (more often then i'd like) the smart materials won't work.
they're all distorted and striped and smeared in the preview, and the actual result after applying is nowhere like it should be, and completely different from the preview too.

If i keep exporting my mesh from Maya or 3DSMax as Obj with lock normals set, sometimes it fixes itself, but mostly, once it does that, there is no getting it right, whatever i do.
In the past i sometimes could get it fixed by throwing away all layers except layer 0 and start adding layers again, but often it doesnt either.

I use the Demo version, i'd like to buy the full version, but since it has been so glitchy for years it's not worth the money for me, i'm not rich, so if i save my money for something like this, it needs to work flawlesly, infact, i have been thinking about switching to Substance painter cause it never glitches on me, it's just a little less user friendly, that why i keep trying 3D-Coat.

This is what i mean (attachment) , why does it do this, and how can i fix it when it happens ?

 

[Marcurios]

I noticed that when i let 3D-Coat set normals that it fixes it, but if i import the obj that i exported from 3DSMax into Maya the normals are fine.
Yet when i set the normals locked on import in 3D-Coat, it completely messes up the normals, like they go everywhere for no apparent reason.
I'd like to keep my exported smoothing groups from my original mesh and not have to recalculate them into a single 30 degree group on import.

Is the normal importing routine broken in 3D-Coat perhaps ?

I also noticed i can only import 2012 fbx files, all other fbx files are invisible, is this broken too or just not implemented ?

[Marcurios]

Hmmmm, seems i was wrong, i just imported the mesh i exported into Maya, and 3DSMax messed up all the normals on my mesh, the mesh consist of 5 parts, i hid 4 parts and added a modifier to a singlepart to set the normals, this destroyed the normals on the hidden parts it seems, al my smoothing groups where messed up.

I fixed them in Maya and exported the mesh in Maya instead of 3DSMax, since Maya is the program i work with the most and know very well, and now it's all good.

I hope i remember this next time it happens, i'll make a note of it.

[Carlosan]

Hi 

Glad you found a solution.

Try latest version, several other issues was fixed.