Digital Art Zone

I downloaded an item from ShareCG that came as obj and mtl files and a folder of Maps. I understand that I need to “import” them into DS 4.5, but do I copy them to some specific place in My Library before I use the import command? Or does the “import” copy them from my downloads folder to the right place in My Library?

last time I did that I just did an import and selected the OBJ

Oh and import was a one time thing, I never saved the object to be a part of my library or anything.

barbult - 16 October 2012 09:43 PM

I downloaded an item from ShareCG that came as obj and mtl files and a folder of Maps. I understand that I need to “import” them into DS 4.5, but do I copy them to some specific place in My Library before I use the import command? Or does the “import” copy them from my downloads folder to the right place in My Library?

OBJ’s and MTL’s go together anywhere you want.

I’ve got a folder called OBJ with subfolders for vehicles/houses/whatever ... that’s where I put those files, in a folder with the name of item and the name of the creator. I like to give credits for things I am rendering.

Yes, like Kerya I have a folder called OBJ, just on my hard drive, not associated with any program in particular, as they can be imported into a variety of apps.

If I’m going to be using the OBJ mostly in DS, I’ll load it and then save it out as a Prop from DS.  If I’m using it in several packages, I’ll put it in a general purpose storage area for OBJs and navigate to it when I wish to “import” it.

Kendall

Thank you all for the information I needed. I successfully imported my obj and it was textured with the mtl information. But I don’t know how to save it as a prop for later use in DS 4.5. I saved it as a scene subset, since that is the only thing I know how to do.

How do I save something as a prop that I can access in my Content Library?

Probably Save As > Support Asset > Figure/Prop Assets.

Give that a try and see if it works.

Make sure that your imported object is at the 0,0,0 point otherwise your origin will be off and you’ll have problems with translation and rotation.

Then select File->Save As->Support Asset->Figure/Prop Assets

Give it a name that makes sense and you’re good.

Kendall

Yes, as Jimmy, and Kendall pointed out, Figure/Prop Asset is what you want, but beware of a small caveat that goes with this save attribute.

If your OBJ is a multi-part (parented to main part, or not) prop, and not a combined/group-welded parts prop, It will only save the last actual part selected.

If there is only one part to select in the scene tab than you have nothing to worry about, but if the prop is multi-parts you will need to make sure to select/save all parts one at a time.  I usually create a sub-folder alongside the main prop part, and call it “props-name” parts.

Example would be a MAC-11 Cobray model that I just saved in DSPro4.5.  It was comprised of several separate parts, so I needed to save each individual parts separately, and when I want to use the model I load the main prop, and then all the subsequent parts.

You could just save back out the OBJ, and then re-import it to solidify the prop as one OBJ mesh, but in cases such as the MAC-11 (and no doubt, others) you could lose specific functionality that the creator implemented for use with the model.

Note to others;  If anyone can verify a work-around that circumvents this caveat with the Figure/Prop Asset, please let us know.  I have been unsuccessful in my trials to find an alternative other than saving to library in Poser 6, and loading into DS4.5 through Poser library instead of just saving via DS4.5.

Thank you all for your help! I feel empowered now. I was successful in saving my obj as a prop. I created metadata for it and now it shows up in Smart Content and everything. I appreciate the tips about making sure it is at 0,0 and the problem with multi-part obs. I was lucky, I guess. The one I was using did not have nested parts.